Sgt William H Barnes (1842 - 1866)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during William's lifetime.

In 1842, in the year that Sgt William H Barnes was born, in January, William E. Clarke - a medical student at Berkshire Medical College - became the first person to use an inhaled anesthetic. He administered the anesthetic to pull a tooth.

In 1850, at the age of just 8 years old, William was alive when on March 7th, Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts delivered the "Seventh of March" speech. Trying to avoid a civil war, he endorsed "slave states" and "free states" and the Fugitive Slave Law, which directed federal officials to "recapture and return runaway slaves".

In 1857, William was merely 15 years old when on December 16th, a 7.0 earthquake struck the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies - Southern Italy. It had a maximum Mercalli intensity of 11 (Extreme) and killed about 10,000 people..

In 1866, in the year of Sgt William H Barnes's passing, on April 10th, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - the ASPCA - was created. New Yorker Henry Bergh was the first President of the Society and the leader in its creation. He later formed the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.