Directory

1819 CE

June 21 – The French slave ship Le Rodeur sails from Bonny in West Africa to Guadeloupe in the West Indies. In the course of the transatlantic voyage many onboard become blind, and 30 slaves are thrown overboard as a consequence. The first Hep-Hep riots, communal pogroms against Ashkenazi Jews in the German Federation begin at Würzburg in Bavaria. They continue until October with many Jews killed. Salon of 1819 opens in Paris. Amongst the exhibits is The Raft of the Medusa.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 6 – The Treaty of Singapore, is signed between Hussein Shah of Johor and Sir Stamford Raffles of Britain, to create a trading settlement in Singapore.[https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=92bb56f0-e821-40d1-bd8c-cf8fa7e7f172]source
  • February 15 – The United States House of Representatives agrees to the Tallmadge Amendment, barring slaves from the new state of Missouri (the opening vote in a controversy that leads to the Missouri Compromise).source
  • February 22 – Adams–Onís Treaty: Agreement is reached for Spain to cede Florida (already under USA's domination) to the United States in exchange for renunciation of American claims on Texas arising from the Louisiana Purchase, American payment of $5 million to settle citizens' claims regarding Florida, and definition of international borders. Following ratification, the treaty takes effect in 1821.source
  • April 7 (N.S.) (March 26 O.S.) – The Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire emancipates its peasants from serfdom.source
  • October 13 – A treaty is entered between the Raja of Cutch Deshalji II, and East India Company, placing the Cutch State under Company rule.source
  • December 14 – Alabama is admitted as the 22nd U.S. state.source
  • December 17 – The Republic of Gran Colombia is formally established, with Simón Bolívar as its first president.source

Conflict & Security

  • March 23 – In Mannheim, Duchy of Baden, German dramatist August von Kotzebue is assassinated by Karl Ludwig Sand.source
  • August 2 – The first Hep-Hep riots, communal pogroms against Ashkenazi Jews in the German Federation begin at Würzburg in Bavaria. They continue until October with many Jews killed.source
  • August 7 – Battle of Boyacá: Simón Bolívar is victorious over the Royalist Army in Colombia. Colombia acquires its definitive independence from Spanish rule.source
  • August 16 – Peterloo Massacre: A yeomanry unit charges into a crowd of radical protesters in Manchester, England, resulting in 15 deaths and over 600 injuries.source
  • September 20 – The Carlsbad Decrees are issued throughout the German Confederation in response to the March assassination of August von Kotzebue, suppressing liberal and nationalist views.source
  • November 2 – Bagyidaw is crowned as Emperor of Burma, at the imperial capital of Inwa.source
  • November 3 – The becomes the first American warship to visit China, landing at Lintin Island, off of the coast of Canton.source
  • November 25 – A British expeditionary force reaches Ras Al Khaimah in the Persian Gulf, preparatory to the bombardment and invasion of the town, which led to the signing of the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 between the British and what were to become known as the Trucial States.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • February 19 – Captain William Smith sights Williams Point, the northeast extremity of Livingston Island in the South Shetlands, the first land discovered south of latitude 60° S.source
  • April 6–June 21 – The French slave ship Le Rodeur sails from Bonny in West Africa to Guadeloupe in the West Indies. In the course of the transatlantic voyage many onboard become blind, and 30 slaves are thrown overboard as a consequence.source
  • May 22 – The leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrives at Liverpool, England, nearly a month later, on June 20, although only a fraction of the trip is made under steam.source
  • July 21 – Explorer William Parry, sailing in the Arctic in a quest for the Northwest Passage through North America, guides the ships HMS Hecla and HMS Griper through an iceberg-laden passage that will later be named the Parry Channel.source
  • October 15 – Desolation Island, in the South Shetland Islands of the Antarctic, is discovered by Captain William Smith.source
  • The United States African Slave Trade Patrol is founded to stop the slave trade on the coast of West Africa.source
  • A British Arctic expedition under William Parry, comprising HMS Hecla and HMS Griper, reaches longitude 112°51' W in the Northwest Passage, the furthest west which will be attained by any single-season voyage for 150 years.source

Economy & Finance

  • January 2 – The Panic of 1819, the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States, begins.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • August 25 – Salon of 1819 opens in Paris. Amongst the exhibits is The Raft of the Medusa.source
  • The city of Fernandina de Jagua (later Cienfuegos) is founded in Cuba.source

Science & Discovery

  • January 29 – Sir Stamford Raffles lands on the island of Singapore.source
  • July 1 – German astronomer Johann Georg Tralles discovers what will be called the Great Comet of 1819.source
  • December 17 – The new astronomical observatory of Capodimonte in Naples starts operating. The astronomer Carlo Brioschi made the first observation by measuring the position of ⍺ Cassiopeiae.source

Crime & Justice

  • Early – Denis Johnson of London markets his "pedestrian curricle", a form of dandy horse, velocipede or kick scooter.source

Climate & Environment

  • June 16 – The Rann of Kutch earthquake, estimated at at least 7.7 kills at least 1,543 people in India in what is now the state of Gujarat at the Arabian Sea, causing an 80 - 150 stretch of land to be raised as much as 6 m and creating a natural dam, the Allahbund.source

Culture & Society

  • January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia.source
  • April 21 – In a period of about a month starting today during his "Living Year", English poet John Keats writes "La Belle Dame sans Merci" and most of his major odes.source
  • May 22 – The city of Memphis, Tennessee, is founded.source
  • July 24 – A cabinet meeting is convened by British Prime Minister Lord Liverpool to discuss a report of an adulterous affair involving the wife of George, Prince of Wales, the regent for his ailing father King George III. Despite reports that Princess Caroline is involved with her servant, Bartolomeo Pergami, the cabinet concludes that the trial of Caroline for adultery would be an embarrassment to the nation.source
  • August 6 – Norwich University is founded by Captain Alden Partridge in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.source
  • November 19 – The Museo del Prado opens in Madrid. Initially, it has 311 significant paintings.source

Births

  • February 8 – John Ruskin, English writer, artist, and social critic (d. 1900)source
  • February 20 – Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)source
  • March 31 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1901)source
  • April 23 – Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1901)source
  • May 31 – Walt Whitman, American poet (d. 1892)source
  • June 10 – Gustave Courbet, French painter (d. 1877)source
  • June 20 – Jacques Offenbach, German-born French composer (d. 1880)source
  • August 1 – Herman Melville, American novelist (d. 1891)source
  • August 9 – William Thomas Green Morton, American dentist who first administered ether (d.1868)source
  • August 13 – Sir George Gabriel Stokes, Irish mathematician, physicist (d. 1903)source
  • August 26 – Lawrence Dudley Bailey, American abolitionist and jurist who served on the Kansas Supreme Court from 1861 to 1869 (d. 1891)source
  • September 13 – Clara Schumann, German composer, pianist (d. 1896)source
  • September 28 – Narcís Monturiol, Catalan intellectual, artist and engineer (d. 1885)source
  • October 20 – The Báb, Persian founder of the Bábi Faith (d. 1850)source

Deaths

  • January 9 – Princess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, Queen of Württemberg (b. 1788)source
  • January 19 – Elsa Beata Bunge, Swedish botanist (b. 1734)source
  • March 10 – Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher (b. 1743)source
  • March – Nonosabasut, Beothuk (indigenous Canadian) leadersource
  • April 15 – Oliver Evans, American inventor, engineer and businessman (b. 1755)source
  • May 8 – Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (b. 1738)source
  • July 1 – the Public Universal Friend, American preacher (b. 1752)source
  • July 6 – Sophie Blanchard, French aeronaut (b. 1778)source
  • August 21 – Haim Farhi, Jewish adviser to the Ottoman Empire (assassinated) (b. 1760)source
  • August 23 – Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval officer (b. 1785)source
  • October 7 – William Samuel Johnson, American Founding Father (b. 1727)source
  • November 7 – Caleb Strong, American politician (b. 1745)source
  • December 15 – Daniel Rutherford, Scottish physician, chemist and botanist (b. 1749)source
  • December 19 – Thomas Fremantle, English naval officer, politician (b. 1765)source