Editing 1855 (section)

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 1]] &ndash; [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], is incorporated as a city.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Bytown |url=https://www.runottawa.ca/a-brief-history-of-bytown |website=Run Ottawa |access-date=2 May 2021 |archive-date=2 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502205416/https://www.runottawa.ca/a-brief-history-of-bytown |url-status=live}}</ref>'<ref name="Rayburn2001">{{cite book |author=Alan Rayburn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PA231 |title=Naming Canada: Stories About Canadian Place Names |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8020-8293-0 |page=231 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520061253/https://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PA231 |archive-date=20 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":Canadian Encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ottawa (ON) |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ottawa-ont |access-date=24 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213081108/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/ottawa-ont/ |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> 
* [[January 5]] &ndash; [[Ramón Castilla]] begins his third term as [[President of Peru]].
* [[January 23]]
** The first bridge over the [[Mississippi River]] opens in modern-day [[Minneapolis]], a predecessor of the [[Father Louis Hennepin Bridge]].
** The 8.2–8.3 {{M|w}} [[1855 Wairarapa earthquake|Wairarapa earthquake]] claims between five and nine lives near the [[Cook Strait]] area of [[New Zealand]].
* [[January 26]] &ndash; The [[Point No Point Treaty]] is signed in the [[Washington Territory]].
* [[January 27]] &ndash; The [[Panama Railway]] becomes the first railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
* [[January 29]] &ndash; [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen|Lord Aberdeen]] resigns as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], over the management of the [[Crimean War]].
* [[February 5]] &ndash; [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]] becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
* [[February 11]] &ndash; Kassa Hailu is crowned [[Tewodros II]], [[Emperor of Ethiopia]].
* [[February 12]] &ndash; [[Michigan State University]] (the "pioneer" [[Land-grant university|land-grant college]]) is established.
* [[February 15]] &ndash; The [[North Carolina General Assembly]] incorporates the [[Western North Carolina Railroad]], to build a rail line from [[Salisbury, North Carolina|Salisbury]] to the western part of the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historync.org/railroad-WNCRR.htm|title=Railroad — Western North Carolina Railroad|work=North Carolina Business History|year=2006 |publisher=historync.org |access-date=2013-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030140855/http://www.historync.org/railroad-WNCRR.htm |archive-date=2013-10-30}}</ref>
* [[February 22]] &ndash; [[Pennsylvania State University]] is founded, as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania.
* [[March 2]] &ndash; [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] ascends the Russian throne, upon the death of his father [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]].
* [[March 3]] &ndash; The [[United States Congress]] appropriates $30,000 to create the [[U.S. Camel Corps]].
* [[March 16]] &ndash; [[Bates College]] is founded by abolitionists in [[Lewiston, Maine]].
* [[March 17]] &ndash; [[Taiping Rebellion]]: A Taiping army of 350,000 invades [[Anhui]].
* [[March 30]] &ndash; Elections are held for the first [[Kansas Territory]] legislature. Missourian '[[Border Ruffian]]s' cross the border in large numbers to elect a pro-[[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] body.