Events on January 16 in history

Hartley Colliery disaster (January 16, 1862)

Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.

The Hartley Colliery disaster (also known as the Hartley Pit disaster or Hester Pit disaster) was a coal mining accident in Northumberland, England, that occurred on 16 January 1862 and resulted in the deaths of 204 men and children. The beam of the pit's pumping engine broke and fell down the shaft, trapping the men below. The disaster prompted a change in British law that required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.

References

Hartley Colliery disaster

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Events on 1862

30 Jan

USS Monitor
The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
31 Jan

White dwarf
Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University.
13 Mar

Emancipation Proclamation
American Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
15 May

Abraham Lincoln
President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
17 Aug

Dakota War of 1862
American Indian Wars: The Dakota War of 1862 begins in Minnesota as Lakota warriors attack white settlements along the Minnesota River.

Events on January 16 in history

Hartley Colliery disaster (January 16, 1862)

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1862

USS Monitor

White dwarf

Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln

Dakota War of 1862