1848 was a BA year in the Goergian Calendar and a DC year in the Julian Calendar
January[]
- Joseph Jakens Roberts becomes the first president of The republic of Liberia
- Hristo Botev, a Bulgarian revolutionary, is born
- John F Staris, a businessman, is born; Isaac D'Israeli, an asuthor, died
- Christian VII of Denmark, king of Denmark, died
- Henri Duparc, a composer, is born
- James W Marshall finds gold in Coloma, California starting the California gold rush; Vasily Surikov, painter, is born
- Togo Heihachiro, Japiness admiral, is born
- Construction of the Washington Monument begins
February[]
- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the Mexican-American War; The first Oratory in the english langauge is founded by John Henry Newman in Old Oscott, England
- Joris-Karl Huysmans, an author, and Belle Starr, an aoutlaw, were born
- Benjamin Baillaud, an astronomer, was born
- Hermann von Boyen, a Prussia field marshal, died
- Octave Mirbeau, an art critic and novelist, was born
- Louis Comfort Tiffany, a glass artist, was born
- The Communist Manifesto, pulished by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, is published in London
- Wilhelmine Reichard, first German female balloonist, died
- François Guizot resigns as Prime Minister of France; John Quincy Adams, 6th president of the United States, died
- The French second Republic is proclaimed by Alphonse de Lamartine after the king of France, Louis Philippe, abdicates; Grant Allen, an author, and Andrew Inglis Clark, a Tasmanian politican, were born
- King William II of Württemberg was born
- Hubert Parry, a composer, was born