Taylor Dies in Office: Fillmore Becomes President
President Zachary Taylor attended Fourth of July celebrations at the Washington Monument on a blisteringly hot day in 1850, then reportedly consumed large quantities of raw cherries and iced milk. He fell ill within hours and died five days later on July 9, likely from acute gastroenteritis, though conspiracy theories about arsenic poisoning persisted until his body was exhumed in 1991 and tested negative. Taylor had been the last obstacle to the Compromise of 1850, opposing the package of bills because it made too many concessions to slaveholders. His successor, Millard Fillmore, signed every one of them, temporarily averting civil war by admitting California as a free state while strengthening the Fugitive Slave Act.
July 9, 1850
176 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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