24th United States Congress - Major Events

Major Events

• December 28, 1835: The Second Seminole War began. Seminole fighter Osceola and his warriors attack government agent Thompson outside Fort King in central Florida.
• 1835: Toledo War fought between Ohio and Michigan Territory over the city of Toledo and the Toledo Strip.
• February 3, 1836: United States Whig Party held its first convention in Albany, New York.
• February 23, 1836: Siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio, Texas.
• July 11, 1836: President Andrew Jackson issued the Specie Circular, beginning the failure of the land speculation economy that would lead to the Panic of 1837.
• July 13, 1836: U.S. patent #1 was granted after filing 9,957 unnumbered patents.
• November 3 - December 7, 1836: 1836 presidential election: Martin Van Buren defeated William Henry Harrison, but Virginia's electors refused to vote for Van Buren's running mate, thereby denying victory to any Vice Presidential candidate.
• December 4, 1836: Whig Party held its first national convention, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
• December 15, 1836: The U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) burned in Washington, DC.
• February 8, 1837: Richard Mentor Johnson became the first and (so far) only Vice President of the United States elected by the United States Senate.