Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar).

Events of 1836

January -> March

• January 5 - Davy Crockett arrives in Texas.
• January 12
• Battle of Wetumka, Florida.
• HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin reaches Sydney.
• January 18 - Dade County, Florida, is formed.
• February 23 - The Alamo is surrounded by Santa Anna's army, in a 13-day ordeal.
• February 25 - Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver, the first revolving barrel multishot firearm.
• March 1
• Antonio García Gutiérrez's play El Trovador is performed for the first time in Madrid, Spain.
• A Convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities gathers in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
• March 2 - The Republic of Texas officially declares independence from Mexico.
• March 6 - The Battle of the Alamo ends; 189 Texans are slaughtered by about 1,600 Mexicans.
• March 17 - Texas abolishes the slave trade.

April - June

• April 20 - The Territory of Wisconsin is created.
• April 21 - Battle of San Jacinto: Mexican forces under General Santa Anna are defeated at San Jacinto, Texas.
• April 22 - Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston capture Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
• May 7 - The settlement of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico is elevated to the royal status of villa by the government of Spain.
• May 15 - Francis Baily, during an eclipse of the sun, observes the phenomenon named after him as Baily's beads.
• May 19 - Fort Parker massacre: Among those captured by Native Americans is 9-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker; she later gives birth to a son named Quanah, who becomes the last chief of the Comanche.
• June 15 - Arkansas is the 25th state admitted into the United States of America.

July - September

• July 13 - The first numbered U.S. patent #1 (after filing 9,957 unnumbered patents) is granted, for locomotive wheels.
• July 20 - Charles Darwin climbs Green Hill on Ascension Island.
• July 21 - The first Canadian railroad opens, between Laprairie and St. John, Quebec.
• July 27 - Adelaide, South Australia is founded.
• July 30 - The first English newspaper is published in Hawaii.
• August 17 - The HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin leaves South America, headed back to England.
• August 30 - The city of Houston, Texas is founded.
• September 1 - Rebuilding begins at the Synagogue of Rabbi Judah Hasid in Jerusalem.
• September 5 - Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas.

October - December

• October 2 - Charles Darwin returns to England aboard the HMS Beagle with biological data he will later use to develop his theory of evolution.
• October 22 - Sam Houston is inaugurated as first elected President of the Republic of Texas.
• October 24 - A. Phillips patents the match.
• December 4 - Whig Party holds its first national convention, in Harrisburg, PA.
• December 7 - U.S. presidential election, 1836: Martin Van Buren defeats William Henry Harrison.
• December 15 - The U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) burns in Washington, DC.
• December 26 - The colony of South Australia is officially proclaimed (now celebrated in the state of South Australia as Proclamation Day).
• December 27 - An avalanche at Lewes Sussex, England kills 8 of 15 buried.
• December 28 - Spain recognizes the independence of Mexico.
• December 30 - The Lehman theater in Saint Petersburg catches fire; hundreds die.

Undated

• The first printed literature in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic is produced by Justin Perkins, an American Presbyterian missionary.
• The New Board brokerage group is founded in New York City.
• Parliament passes a law making census data available to the public (a boon for genealogists and historians).
• James Peter Allaire's company, the Howell Works, is at its peak.
• George Catlin ends his 6-year tour of 50 tribes in the Dakota Territory.

Births

January - June

• January 2 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian Yiddish writer (d. 1917)
• January 10 - Charles Phillip Ingalls, Pioneer father of author Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. June 8, 1902)
• January 14 - Henri Fantin-Latour, French painter (d. 1904)
• January 27 - Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer (d. 1895)
• February 16 - Robert Halpin, Irish mariner and cable layer (d. 1894)
• February 18 - Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Bengali religious leader (d. 1886)
• February 21 - Léo Delibes, French composer (d. 1891)
• February 24 - Winslow Homer, American painter. 1910)
• March 12 - Isabella Beeton, British cook and expert on household management (d. 1865)
• March 20
• Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American politician (d. 1886)
• Sir Edward Poynter, French-born artist (d. 1919)
• April 27 - Major Charles Bendire, U.S. Army captain and ornithologist (d. 1897)
• May 27 - Jay Gould, American financier (d. 1892)
• May 28 - Alexander Mitscherlich, German chemist (d. 1918)
• May 31 - Jules Chéret, French printmaker (d. 1932)

July - December

• July 8 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (d. 1914)
• July 9 - Camille de Renesse, Belgian Count (d. 1904)
• August 13 - Bishop Nikolai of Japan, Russian Orthodox priest (d. 1912)
• August 25 - Bret Harte, American writer (d. 1902)
• September 7 - Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1908)
• September 11 - Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American author (d. 1870)
• September 17 - William Jackson Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs, Colorado (d. 1836)
• October 15 - James Tissot, French artist (d. 1902)
• November 11 - Thomas Bailey Aldrich, American poet and novelist (d. 1907)
• November 18 - W. S. Gilbert, British playwright and librettist best known for his collaborations with Arthur Sullivan (d. 1911)

Deaths

January - June

• January 1 - Bernhard Meyer, German physician and ornithologist (b. 1767)
• January 11 - John Molson, Canadian entrepreneur (b. 1763)
• January 30 - Betsy Ross, Made the first American flag (b. 1752)
• March 6 (at the Alamo)
• Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and soldier (b. 1786)
• William Barret Travis Texan revolutionary (b. 1809)
• James Bowie Texan revolutionary (b. 1796)
• March 16 - Nathaniel Bowditch, American Mathematician (b. 1773)
• March 27 - James Fannin, Texas Revolutionary (b. 1804)
• April 29 - Simon Kenton, Frontiersman; American Revolutionary Militia General (b. 1755)
• June 10 - André-Marie Ampère, physicist (b. 1775)
• June 28 - James Madison, 4th President of the United States (b. 1751)

July - December

• August 21 - Claude-Louis Navier, French engineer and physicist (b. 1785)
• August 26 - Jeremiah Colegrove, Continental Army officer (b. 1758)
• September 5 - Ferdinand Raimund, Austrian playwright (b. 1790)
• September 12 - Christian Dietrich Grabbe, German playwright (b. 1801)
• September 14 - Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United States (b. 1756)
• September 17 - Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (b. 1748)
• November 5 - Karel Hynek Mácha, Czech poet (b. 1810)
• November 6 - King Charles X of France (b. 1757)
• November 16 - Christian Hendrik Persoon, Dutch mycologist (b. 1761)
• December 27 - Stephen F. Austin, American pioneer (b. 1793)