-
Edgar’s Allan Poe birth & James Madison is inaugurated as the fourth president. -
George III’s period begin and his son takes over rules as a prince regent. -
Napoleon's Grand Army invades Russia & the US faces 1812 War (declares war over British interference with maritime shipping and expansion). -
Battle of Boston Harbor & Madison 's second inauguration. -
Treaty of Ghent, French is defeated by allies in Liberation War, Napoleon is exiled to Elba, Bourbon king Louis XVIII takes the French throne & George Stephenson builds the first practical steam locomotive. -
Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon is defeated by Wellington & victorious allies change the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna. -
USA: James Monroe is inaugurated as the fifth president. -
USA: Spain agrees to cede Florida to the United States.
Landmark Supreme Court decision upholds the right of Congress to establish a national bank, a power implied. England: Peterloo massacre at St Peter's field. -
USA: Missouri Compromise. England: George IV becomes king. -
Great Britain formally acknowledges American independence in the Treaty of Paris. World: Guatemala, Panama, and Santo Domingo proclaim their independence from Spain. -
Boston: Boston is incorporated as a city. World: Greeks proclaim a republic and independence from Turkey.
- Turks invade Greece.
- Russia declares war on Turkey .
- Greco-Turkish War Brazil becomes independent of Portugal. -
USA: Monroe Doctrine & Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation (first constitution). -
World: Mexico becomes a republic, three years after declaring independence from Spain.
- Bolivar liberates Peru; becomes its president. USA: Landmark Supreme Court decision broadly defines Congress's right to regulate interstate commerce. -
USA: John Quincy Adams is inaugurated as the sixth president. England: First passenger-carrying railroad in England. -
Joseph-Nicphore Niepce takes the world's first photograph. -
USA: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the first public railroad.
- Congress meets for the first time at Federal Hall in New York City.
- Washington is inaugurated as president at Federal Hall in New York City. -
England: The police force is founded in London. USA: Andrew Jackson is inaugurated as seventh president.
- The nation's first census shows that the population has climbed to nearly 4 million. -
USA: President Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act. World: French invasion of Algeria. England: King George IV dies without legitimate issue and the duke of clarence succeeds him as William IV. -
USA: Nat Turner, an enslaved African American preacher, leads the most significant slave uprising in American history.
- Increases the demand for slave labor due to the cotton gin. World: Polish revolt against Russia fails. Belgium separates from the Netherlands. -
England: The houses of parliament are destroyed by fire. -
USA: Texas declares its independence from Mexico. -
England: Victoria comes to the throne after the death of William IV. USA: Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth president. -
England: Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' is published.
- People's Charter advocates social and political reform.
- London-Birmingham line opens and the railway boom starts. USA: More than 15,000 Cherokee Indians were forced to march from Georgia to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. -
England: Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne resigns and sparks a political crisis. World: First Opium War (to 1842) between Britain and China, over importation of drugs into China. -
England: Vaccination for the poor is introduced. -
England: Sir Robert Peel forms a Conservative government. USA: William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth president. He dies one month later and is succeeded in office by his vice president, John Tyler. -
England: Income tax is introduced for the first time during peacetime. World: Crawford Long uses first anesthetic. -
England: Church of Scotland splits over separation of church and state. -
USA: annexes Texas by joint resolution of Congress.
- James Polk is inaugurated as the 11th president. BOSTON: Edgar Allan Poe publishes The Raven and Other Poems. England: Irish potato famine begins. -
USA: Oregon Treaty-
- The U.S. declares war on Mexico. England: Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel resigns after the Corn Laws are repealed. -
USA: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. England: Irish nationalist John Mitchel is arrested for treason.
- Public Health Act aims to reduce death rates. World: Revolt in Paris: Louis Philippe abdicates; Louis Napoleon elected president of French Republic. -
England: Important artists establish the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. USA: Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill in California.
- Women's rights convention is held at Seneca Falls, N.Y.
- Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the 12th president.