Editing 1853 (section)

=== January–March ===
* [[January 6]] – 
**[[Florida Governor]] [[Thomas Brown (Florida politician)|Thomas Brown]] signs legislation that provides public support for the new East Florida Seminary, leading to the establishment of the [[University of Florida]].
**U.S. President-elect [[Franklin Pierce]]'s only living child, Benjamin "Benny" Pierce, is killed in a [[Train wreck|train accident]].
* [[January 8]] – [[Taiping Rebellion]]: [[Zeng Guofan]] is ordered to assist the governor of [[Hunan]] in organizing a militia force to search for local bandits.
* [[January 12]] – Taiping Rebellion: The Taiping army occupies [[Wuchang, Hubei|Wuchang]].
* [[January 19]] – [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s opera ''[[Il Trovatore]]'' premieres in performance at [[Teatro Apollo]] in Rome.
* [[February 10]] – Taiping Rebellion: Taiping forces assemble at [[Hanyang District|Hanyang]], [[Hankou District|Hankou]], and [[Wuchang District|Wuchang]], for the march on [[Nanjing]].
* [[February 12]] – The city of [[Puerto Montt]] is founded in the [[Reloncaví Sound]], [[Chile]].
* [[February 22]] – [[Washington University in St. Louis]] is founded as Eliot Seminary.
* [[March 5]] &ndash; Saint Paul Fire and Marine, as predecessor of [[The Travelers Companies]], a worldwide [[Insurance|insurance service]], founded in [[Minnesota]], United States.
* [[March 20]] – Taiping Rebellion: A rebel army of around 750,000 seizes Nanjing, killing 30,000 Imperial troops.
* [[March 29]] – [[Manchester]] is granted [[city status in the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21426|pages=950–951|date=1853-04-01}}</ref>
* [[March]] – The clothing company [[Levi Strauss & Co.]] is founded in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.levistrauss.com/sites/default/files/librarydocument/2010/4/History_Levi_Strauss_Biography.pdf |first=Lynn |last=Downey |title=Levi Strauss: a short biography |publisher=Levi Strauss & Co. |year=2008 |access-date=1 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723005530/http://www.levistrauss.com/sites/default/files/librarydocument/2010/4/History_Levi_Strauss_Biography.pdf |archive-date=July 23, 2011 }}</ref>