• In the Pastry War, France blockades Mexico, bombards the Mexican fortress of San Juan de Ulua, and lands troops in Veracruz after a French pastry cook, claiming his shop had been ruined by looting Mexican soldiers, appeals to France's King Louis-Philippe for restitution.

These people were born in 1838:

• Future Japanese prime minister Yamagata Aritomo
• Future queene Lili'uokalani, last monarch of Hawaii.
• Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth.
• American historian and noted autobiographer Henry Adams.
• Famed American circus midget Tom Thumb.

These people died in 1838:

• French statesman Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand Perigord.

1837 - 1838 - 1839

19th century

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