The last issue of the abolitionist magazine The Liberator is published in Boston.
February 13 – The first daylight bank robbery in United States history during peacetime takes place in Liberty, Missouri. This is considered to be the first robbery committed by Jesse James and his gang, although James role is disputed.
February 26 – The Calaveras Skull is discovered in California. Purported to be evidence of humans in North America during the Pliocene epoch, it turns out to be a hoax.
March 13 – The United States Congress overwhelmingly passes the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal legislation to protect the rights of African-Americans; President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill on March 27, and Congress overrides the veto on April 9.[1]
July 25 – The U.S. Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army (modern-day "5-star general"); Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank.
July 30 – The New Orleans massacre, a deadly attack on a constitutional convention promoting black suffrage in Louisiana, is led by Mayor John Monroe.[2]
^Alexander, Leslie, ed. (2010). "Civil Rights Act of 1866". Encyclopedia of African American History. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 699.
^Reynolds, Donald E. (1964). "The New Orleans Riot of 1866, Reconsidered". Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association. 5 (1): 5–27. ISSN 0024-6816.
^"Fast Facts". The College of Wooster. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
^Orso, Miranda (2002). "Victor, Metta Victoria Fuller". Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
^"James J. Corbett | American boxer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
Further readingedit
American Annual Cyclopaedia ... 1866, NY: D. Appleton & Co. – via HathiTrust
External linksedit
Media related to 1866 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons