Directory

1812 CE

Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman River, and invades Russia. 18 – Battle of Smolensk: The Grande Armée (180,000 men) under Emperor Napoleon I defeats the Russian army on the road to Moscow. The M6.9–7.5 San Juan Capistrano earthquake affects Alta California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong) to IX (Violent), killing 40 parishioners at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 1 – The Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire.source
  • February 24 – Prussia and France sign the Treaty of Paris, a military alliance.source
  • February 27 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina (which he designed) in the city of Rosario, for the first time.source
  • February 27 – English poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the British House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against industrialism, in his home county of Nottinghamshire.source
  • March 14 – France and Austria sign the Treaty of Paris.source
  • March 19 – The Cortes of Cádiz creates the first modern Spanish constitution.source
  • March 26 – In the United States, the Boston Gazette prints a political cartoon coining the term Gerrymander, after former Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry's approval (on February 11) of legislation creating oddly shaped electoral districts, designed to help incumbents win re-election.source
  • April 30 – Louisiana is admitted as the 18th U.S. state.source
  • May 16 – Russian field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War (1806–12) and annexing Bessarabia to Imperial Russia.source
  • June 4 – Following Louisiana's admittance as a U.S. state, the territory previously known by that name is renamed the Missouri Territory.source
  • October 12 – The capital of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is permanently moved from Lancaster to Harrisburg.source
  • November 5 – 1812 United States presidential election: James Madison defeats DeWitt Clinton.source
  • November 10 – 1812 United Kingdom general election: The Tory Party is victorious, under Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.source
  • December 30 – The Convention of Tauroggen is signed.source
  • The Ranikot Fort is reconstructed in Sindh.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 16–April 6 – Siege of Badajoz (Peninsular War): The Anglo-Portuguese Army, under the Earl of Wellington, besieges Badajoz, Spain and forces the surrender of the French garrison.source
  • May 11 – Assassination of Spencer Perceval, the British Prime Minister, by John Bellingham, in the lobby of the British House of Commons in London.source
  • June 18 – The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom begins the War of 1812 between the U.S., Britain and Canada.source
  • June 24 – Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman River, and invades Russia.source
  • July 12 – Americans invade Canada at Windsor, Ontario.source
  • July 18 – Russia's Patriotic War – Battle of Klyastitsy: Kulnev defeats Oudinot, but sustains a mortal wound.source
  • July 22 – Peninsular War – Battle of Salamanca: British forces led by the Earl of Wellington defeat French troops near Salamanca, Spain.source
  • August 5 – War of 1812: Tecumseh's Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.source
  • August 12 – Peninsular War: The combined English and Portuguese army under the command of Wellington enters Madrid, following the Battle of Salamanca.source
  • August 15 – War of 1812 – Battle of Fort Dearborn: Potawatomi warriors overrun the United States fort in Illinois Territory.source
  • August 16 – War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit, without a fight, to the British Army.source
  • August 16–18 – Battle of Smolensk: The Grande Armée (180,000 men) under Emperor Napoleon I defeats the Russian army on the road to Moscow.source
  • August 19 – War of 1812: defeats the British frigate , off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British shot is said to have bounced off Constitutions sides, earning her the nickname "Old Ironsides".source
  • August 24 – Siege of Cádiz: Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult abandons the two-and-a-half-year siege at Cádiz. He withdraws eastward with his forces to join King Joseph Bonaparte and Louis-Gabriel Suchet in Valencia.source
  • September 7 – Napoleonic Wars – French invasion of Russia – Battle of Borodino: The bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars so far ends in a tactical victory for Napoleon. There are at least 70,000 casualties, with a minimum of 6,562 dead from the French Grande Armée alone.source
  • September 14 – French invasion of Russia and Fire of Moscow: Napoleon's troops enter Moscow, which is deliberately set on fire by Muscovites, on orders of Fyodor Rostopchin. Later accounts report that France lost 40,000 troops during four days of fire between September 17 and 20, and that 20,000 Russian soldiers were killed in what would be described in 1876 as "the greatest example in history of national self-sacrifice for the destruction of an invader."source
  • October 9 – War of 1812: American naval forces under Lieutenant Jesse Duncan Elliott capture two British warships, and .source
  • October 13 – War of 1812 – Battle of Queenston Heights: As part of the Niagara campaign in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops, led by Sir Isaac Brock (who dies during the battle).source
  • October 21 – Siege of Burgos: British troops under Arthur Wellington are forced to abandon the siege of Burgos after a month. Meanwhile, Joseph Bonaparte makes plans to recapture Madrid. He assembles an army led by Louis-Gabriel Suchet and Jean-de-Dieu Soult to drive Wellington out of central Spain.source
  • October 23 – Malet coup of 1812: General Claude François de Malet attempts unsuccessfully to overthrow the Napoleonic régime in Paris.source
  • October 24 – Napoleonic Wars – Battle of Maloyaroslavets: An inconclusive encounter between the French vanguard and a Russian force leads Napoleon to decide to retreat along the same line as his advance, with disastrous results.source
  • November 3 – Napoleonic Wars – Battle of Vyazma: The rearguard of Napoleon's retreating army is defeated.source
  • November 15–18 – Napoleonic Wars – Battle of Krasnoi: Napoleon's retreating army is again defeated in a series of skirmishes.source
  • December 14 – The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • July 19 – Beethoven and Goethe meet each other in Teplice, Bohemia.source

Religion & Belief

  • April 8 – The capital of Finland is moved from Turku to Helsinki, when Russia's Tsar Alexander I signs an edict moving the Government Council of the Grand Duchy of Finland.source
  • The Bishop James Madison Society is founded at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.source

Economy & Finance

  • April 4 – U.S. President James Madison enacts a 90-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.source
  • June 16 – New York State charters the City Bank of New York (later Citibank).source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The Woodford Reserve Bourbon whiskey distillery, established in 1780 along Glenn's Creek in Woodford County, Kentucky, passes to the control of Oscar Pepper.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 12 – Napoleon I authorizes the usage of Mesures usuelles, the basis of the metric system.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 15 – Luddites attack the wool-processing factory of Frank Vickerman in West Yorkshire.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • May 25 – Felling mine disaster: A mine explosion at the Felling colliery near Jarrow, England, leaves 96 dead.source

Climate & Environment

  • February 7 – The last New Madrid earthquake strikes New Madrid, Missouri, with an estimated moment magnitude of over 8.source
  • March 26 – The 1812 Caracas earthquake destroys Caracas, capital of Venezuela.source
  • December 8 – The M6.9–7.5 San Juan Capistrano earthquake affects Alta California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong) to IX (Violent), killing 40 parishioners at Mission San Juan Capistrano.source

Culture & Society

  • February 13 – The first Chilean newspaper Aurora de Chile deals with political philosophy, and stands in favor of the new national government.source
  • December 18 – The first Spanish Christmas Lottery is drawn, in Cádiz; it will be continuing more than two centuries later. The first Lotería Nacional was drawn on March 4.source
  • December 20 – The first volume of Grimms' Fairy Tales is published in Germany.source

Births

  • February 3 – William Fraser Tolmie, Scottish-Canadian scientist, politician (d. 1886)source
  • February 11 – Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)source
  • February 15 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler, co-founder of Tiffany & Co. (d. 1902)source
  • March 1 – Augustus Pugin, English-born architect (d. 1852)source
  • March 6 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American watch manufacturer (d. 1895)source
  • March 27 – William Robinson (Canadian architect), Canadian architect and land surveyor (died 1894)source
  • April 14 – George Grey, Portuguese-born British colonial governor, 11th Premier of New Zealand (d. 1898)source
  • April 22 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Genevan orientalist (d. 1894)source
  • April 23 – Frederick Whitaker, English-New Zealand lawyer, politician, 5th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)source
  • May 12 – Edward Lear, English artist, nonsense poet (d. 1888)source
  • June 14 – Fernando Wood, American politician (d. 1881)source
  • July 31 – Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Empress consort of Brazil (d. 1873)source
  • September 18 – Herschel Vespasian Johnson, American politician (d. 1880)source
  • December 14 – Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, British Viceroy of India (d. 1862)source

Deaths

  • January 23 – Robert Craufurd, British general (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1764)source
  • February 2 – Isaac Titsingh, Dutch scholar, merchant-trader and ambassador (b. 1745)source
  • April 14 – William Nicholas (officer), English army officer, at the Siege of Badajoz (b. 1785)source
  • April 20 – George Clinton, 4th Vice President of the United States (b. 1739)source
  • April 25 – Edmond Malone, Irish scholar (b. 1741)source
  • May 11 – Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated) (b. 1762)source
  • May 12 – Martha Ballard, American diarist and midwife (b. 1734 or 1735)source
  • August 30 – George Mathews, American army officer and politician (b. 1739)source
  • September 13 – Leonardo Bravo, Mexican general who fought in the Mexican War of Independence, father of Nicolas Bravo, executed (b. 1764)source
  • September 21 – Emanuel Schikaneder, German dramatist, actor and singer (b. 1751)source
  • September 24 – Pyotr Bagration, Russian general and prince of Georgian origin (b. 1765)source
  • October 13 – Isaac Brock, British general (killed in action) (b. 1769)source
  • December 15 – Schneur Zalman, Polish rabbi and founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement (b. 1745)source
  • December 20 – Sacagawea, Shoshone guide (b. ca. 1788)source