1810 - Born on December 8th in New Britain, Connecticut. American crusader for peace and a code of international law.
1826 - At sixteen he was apprenticed to a blacksmith, and he made this his trade both there and at Worcester, Massachusetts.
1828 - He supported the plan of William Ladd, founder of the American Peace Society, for a congress of nations to formulate international law and for a court of nations to interpret that law.
1840 - He mastered Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian and German, and by the age of thirty could read nearly fifty languages.
1848 - He organized peace congresses in Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt am Main, London, and other cities.
- He wrote, for insertion in European newspapers, a succession of single pages called Olive Leaves, presenting pacifist arguments with emphasis on an international law code.
1865 - He was U.S. consul at Birmingham.
1873 - Among his much-read books were Sparks from the Anvil and Ten Minute Talks.