Directory

1811 CE

The Carlton House Fête is held at the Prince Regent's London residence Carlton House to celebrate the establishment of the Regency era. British explorer David Thompson posts a notice at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers (in modern-day Washington), claiming the area for the United Kingdom. Inventor John Stevens' boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry service, between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March 28 – Henri Christophe is proclaimed King Henri I, turning the northern State of Haiti into the Kingdom of Haiti.source
  • May 14 – Paraguay declares independence from the Spanish Empire (recognised May 15).source
  • July 5 – Venezuela declares its Independence from the Spanish Empire.source
  • October 17 – The silver deposits of Agua Amarga in Chile are discovered becoming, in the following years, instrumental for the Patriots to finance the Chilean War of Independence.source
  • October 26 – The Argentine Government declares freedom of expression for the press.source
  • November 17 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.source
  • December 21 – The first Constitution of the Republic of Venezuela, after it declares its independence from Spain, goes into effect.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 8 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes, in St. Charles and St. James Parishes, Louisiana.source
  • January 17 – Mexican War of Independence – Battle of Calderón Bridge: A heavily outnumbered Spanish force of 6,000 troops defeats nearly 100,000 Mexican revolutionaries.source
  • January 22 – The Casas Revolt begins in San Antonio, Spanish Texas.source
  • January 26 – First Siege of Badajoz: French troops (17,000 men) under Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult begin the siege at the fortress of Badajoz.source
  • February 5 – British Regency: George, Prince of Wales becomes prince regent, because of the perceived insanity of his father, King George III of the United Kingdom.source
  • February 19 – Peninsular War – Battle of the Gebora: An outnumbered French force under Édouard Mortier routs and nearly destroys the Spanish, near Badajoz, Spain.source
  • March 1 – Citadel Massacre in Cairo: Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali kills the last Mamluk leaders.source
  • March 5 – Peninsular War – Battle of Barrosa: A French attack fails, on a larger Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish force attempting to lift the Siege of Cádiz in Spain.source
  • March 13 – Battle of Lissa: The British fleet defeats the French.source
  • March 27 – Battle of Anholt: The British Navy defeats Denmark.source
  • April 5–6 – Revolutionary riots occur in Buenos Aires.source
  • May 3–5 – Peninsular War – Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro: An Anglo-Portuguese Army under General Arthur Wellington defeats the French forces under Marshal André Masséna.source
  • May 16 – Peninsular War – Battle of Albuera: Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain defeat the French.source
  • May 18 – Battle of Las Piedras near Las Piedras, Banda Oriental: The independentists of Uruguay gain their first victory.source
  • June 15 – The Klågerup riots erupt in Sweden.source
  • July 30 – Mexican War of Independence: Priest and military leader Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla is executed as a rebel, by the Spanish government of New Spain.source
  • November 4 – Luddite uprisings, in which workers destroy industrial machines, begin in northern England and the Midlands. According to one historian, "The first attack on textile machines by men who used the name 'General Ludd' and called themselves his followers, was on the night of 4th November 1811 in the village of Bulwell, four miles north of Nottingham, when a small band of men gathered in the darkness and marched to the home of a master weaver called Hollingsworth," then destroyed six of his weaving machines.source
  • November 7 – Battle of Tippecanoe: American troops led by William Henry Harrison defeat the Native American spiritual leader Tenskwatawa, also known as The Prophet (Chief Tecumseh's brother).source

Exploration & Expansion

  • July 9 – British explorer David Thompson posts a notice at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers (in modern-day Washington), claiming the area for the United Kingdom.source
  • July 14 – David Thompson reaches the mouth of the Columbia River, finding Fort Astoria under construction.source
  • December 2 – Reverend Samuel Marsden sends the first commercial shipment of wool from New South Wales to England.source
  • The Red River Colony is founded in Manitoba, Canada.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 11 – The Russian Empire removes Anton II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, from his office, placing a Russian-appointed bishop at the head of the Georgian church.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • March 22 – The Commissioners' Plan for Manhattan is presented.source
  • October 11 – Inventor John Stevens' boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry service, between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.source

Science & Discovery

  • March 25 – The Great Comet of 1811 is discovered by Honoré Flaugergues.source
  • Iodine was discovered by French chemist Bernard Courtois.source

Health & Medicine

  • October 23 – José Gervasio Artigas and 16,000 orientales leave the Banda Oriental del Uruguay, to go into exile.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • July 9 – The Great Podil fire breaks out in Kiev, Ukraine.source
  • July 26 – Forest fires break out in the Tyrol region of Switzerland, reportedly destroying 64 villages and hamlets.source
  • December 26 – The Richmond Theatre fire in Virginia kills 72 people, including the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia, Abraham B. Venable.source

Climate & Environment

  • June 10 – A volcanic eruption briefly creates Sabrina Island (Azores).source
  • December 16 – The New Madrid earthquake in the Mississippi Valley, near New Madrid, reverses the course of the river for a while. Other earthquakes along the fault occur on January 23, 1812 and February 7, 1812.source

Culture & Society

  • June 19 – The Carlton House Fête is held at the Prince Regent's London residence Carlton House to celebrate the establishment of the Regency era.source
  • July 14 – Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro publishes his memoir about the molecular content of gases.source
  • August 3 – Jungfrau, the third highest summit in the Bernese Alps, is first ascended.source
  • September – Nathan of Breslov leads the first annual Rosh Hashana kibbutz (pilgrimage) of Breslov Hasidim, to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine.source
  • The first novel by Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, was published.source

Births

  • January 6 – Charles Sumner, American senator, civil rights activist (d. 1874)source
  • February 3 – Horace Greeley, American journalist, editor, and publisher (d. 1872)source
  • February 13 – François Achille Bazaine, French general (d. 1888)source
  • February 15 – Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian politician, writer and father of education (d. 1888)source
  • May 11 – Chang and Eng Bunker, Siamese twins and sideshow performers (d. 1874)source
  • June 14 – Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author, abolitionist (d. 1896)source
  • June 24 – John Archibald Campbell, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1889)source
  • July 13 – George Gilbert Scott, British architect (d. 1878)source
  • August 11 – Judah P. Benjamin, Cabinet officer of the Confederate States (d. 1884)source
  • September 2 – J.C. Jacobsen, Danish industrialist, founder of Carlsberg Group (d. 1887)source
  • September 30 – Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, German empress (d. 1890)source
  • October 24 – Georg August Wallin, Finnish orientalist, explorer and professor (d. 1852)source
  • October 27 – Stevens Thomson Mason, first governor of Michigan (d. 1843)source
  • December 21 – Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1882)source

Deaths

  • February 9 – Nevil Maskelyne, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1732)source
  • February 24 – James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan, English noble and politician (b. 1715)source
  • February 26 – Mateo de Toro Zambrano, 1st Count of La Conquista, Governor of Chile (b. 1727)source
  • March 12 – Judah Leib Ben-Ze'ev, Galician Jewish modern Hebrew philologist, lexicographer, Biblical scholar and poet (b. 1764)source
  • March 14 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1735)source
  • May 28 – Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, British minister (b. 1742)source
  • June 19 – Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1741)source
  • June 26 – Ignacio Allende, captain of the Spanish Army in Mexico (b. 1769)source
  • July 30 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican War of Independence (b. 1753)source
  • August 2 – William Williams, Connecticut politician, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (b. 1731)source
  • August 12 – Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet, Prime Minister of Naples (b. 1736)source
  • September 8 – Peter Simon Pallas, German zoologist (b. 1741)source
  • September – Ulrich Jasper Seetzen, German explorer (b. 1767)source
  • November 21 – Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (suicide) (b. 1777)source