Directory

1821 CE

The first edition of the Manchester Guardian newspaper (from 1959 simply The Guardian) is published in England. Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1820–1824): King Badi VII of Sennar surrenders his throne and realm without a fight to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of the Funj Sultanate in Sudan. Battle of Carabobo: Simón Bolívar wins Venezuela's independence from Spain.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • May 12 – Congress of Laibach finally ends having overseen the successful Austrian intervention in Italy. A planned Congress of Verona in 1822 is agreed as the next meeting.source
  • July 4 – Return of John VI from Brazil to Portugal who approves on that day the Bases da Constituição.source
  • July 28 – Argentine general José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from the Spanish Empire.source
  • August 10 – Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.source
  • August 24 – The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico, ratifying the Plan of Iguala of February 24 for Mexico's independence from Spain and, although not recognised by the latter, effectively concludes the Mexican War of Independence.source
  • August 30 – At the Congress of Cúcuta, the Republic of Gran Colombia (a federation covering much of present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador) is established, with Simón Bolívar as the founding President, and Francisco de Paula Santander as vice president.source
  • September 4 (O.S.)/September 16 (N.S.) – Ukase of 1821: Russia proclaims territorial sovereignty over Northwestern North America, modern-day Alaska.source
  • September 15 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica gain independence from Spain by the Act of Independence of Central America. On October 29, the newly independent First Mexican Empire proposes that Guatemala should be annexed with it.source
  • September 27 – The Army of the Three Guarantees enters Mexico City, and the following day the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain is proclaimed, following the Mexican War of Independence.source
  • November 28 – Panama declares independence from Spain, joining Gran Colombia.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 10 – In Mexico, the Embrace of Acatempan takes place between Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero, which seals the peace between the viceroyalty troops and the insurgents.source
  • February 28 – Congress of Laibach formally comes to an end. However the leading participants remain as fresh uprisings break out in Northern Italy and Greece.source
  • March 7 – The Battle of Rieti is fought in Italy between intervening Austrian forces and Neapolitan rebels.source
  • March 21 – Austrian forces under Johann Frimont enter Naples and restore the authority of Ferdinand I.source
  • May 8 – Greek War of Independence: At the Battle of Gravia Inn, a 120-man Greek force led by Odysseas Androutsos repulses an Ottoman army of 8,000.source
  • June 7 (O.S.)/June 19 (N.S.) – Battle of Drăgășani, Wallachia: The Filiki Eteria are decisively defeated by the Ottomans.source
  • June 14 – Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1820–1824): King Badi VII of Sennar surrenders his throne and realm without a fight to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of the Funj Sultanate in Sudan.source
  • June 24 – Battle of Carabobo: Simón Bolívar wins Venezuela's independence from Spain.source
  • August 7 (O.S.)/August 19 (N.S.) – Navarino massacre: Greek rebels massacre 3,000 inhabitants of the city of Navarino.source
  • September 23 (O.S.)/October 5 (N.S.) – The Siege of Tripolitsa ends when Greek rebels capture the city of Tripoli, Greece; the massacre of 8,000 civilians follows. (Greek forces under the command of General Theodoros Kolokotronis have besieged the city for several months during the Greek War of Independence from Turkey and the Ottoman Empire.)source
  • December 1 – History of the Dominican Republic: On the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, General José Núñez de Cáceres ends the España Boba era of Spanish rule in the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo by establishing the Republic of Spanish Haiti. It will last for three months before being invaded by Haiti.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 28 – Alexander Island, the largest in Antarctica, is first discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen.source
  • August 21 – Jarvis Island is discovered in the Pacific by the crew of the Eliza Frances.source
  • October 8 (O.S.)/October 20 (N.S.) – Tsar Alexander I of Russia issues an imperial ukase guaranteeing freedom of commerce in Russia by merchants from Persia.source
  • November 16 – American Old West: The Santa Fe Trail is first used by William Becknell.source
  • December 6 – The South Orkney Islands are discovered by seal hunters George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 25 (O.S.)/April 6 (N.S.) – Metropolitan bishop Germanos of Patras raises the revolutionary flag of Greece at the Monastery of Agia Lavra (according to oral tradition), symbolically marking the beginning of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire; later celebrated as Greece's traditional Independence Day.source
  • April 10 (O.S.)/April 22 (N.S.) – Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is blamed by the Ottoman government for being unable to suppress Greek independence, and is hanged outside the main gate of the Patriarchal Cathedral immediately after the celebration of Pascha.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • The town of Al-Ubayyid, Sudan is established.source

Science & Discovery

  • January 21 – Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen.source

Health & Medicine

  • January 26 – Congress of Laibach convenes to deal with outstanding international issues, particularly the outbreak of a revolution in southern Italy.source

Crime & Justice

  • September 4 – Chilean general José Miguel Carrera is executed by an Argentinian military tribunal, in the city of Mendoza.source

Climate & Environment

  • December 19 – The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland begins to erupt.source

Culture & Society

  • February 9 – Columbian College in the District of Columbia is chartered by President James Monroe (it becomes George Washington University).source
  • May 5 – The first edition of the Manchester Guardian newspaper (from 1959 simply The Guardian) is published in England.source
  • July 19 – George IV is crowned King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. His estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick, is turned away from the ceremony.source
  • September 18 – Amherst College is founded in Massachusetts.source
  • December 15 – The world's first geographical society, the Société de géographie, is established in Paris.source
  • Widener University is founded in Wilmington, Delaware, as The Bullock School for Boys.source

Births

  • January 1 – Francisco de Paula Milán Mexican officier of the Mexican Army (d. 1883)source
  • January 8 – James Longstreet, American Confederate general (d. 1904)source
  • February 17 – Lola Montez, Irish-Spanish dancer, royal mistress (d. 1861)source
  • March 1 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (d. 1896)source
  • July 2 – Sir Charles Tupper, 6th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1915)source
  • July 13 – Nathan Bedford Forrest, American Confederate Civil War General, first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (d. 1877)source
  • July 16 – Mary Baker Eddy, American founder of Christian Science (d. 1910)source
  • July 18 – Lucy Smith Millikin, early Latter Day Saint and sister of Joseph Smith (d. 1882)source
  • August 31 – Hermann von Helmholtz, German physician and physicist (d. 1894)source
  • September 28 – Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, African-American minister, politician (d. 1874)source
  • October 13 – Rudolf Virchow, German physician, pathologist, biologist, and politician (d. 1902)source
  • November 11 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian writer (d. 1881)source
  • November 30 – Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1902)source
  • December 25 – Clara Barton, first president of American Red Cross (d. 1912)source

Deaths

  • January 4 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American saint (b. 1774)source
  • February 26 – Joseph de Maistre, French-Savoyard philosopher (b. 1753)source
  • March 4 – Princess Elizabeth of Clarence, daughter of William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) (b. 1820)source
  • March 13 – John Hunter, second Governor of New South Wales (b. 1737)source
  • April 20 – Franz Karl Achard, German chemist, physicist and biologist (b. 1753)source
  • May 2 – Hester Thrale, Welsh diarist and friend of Dr Johnson (b. 1741)source
  • June 17 – Martín Miguel de Güemes, Argentine military leader (b. 1785)source
  • June 23 – Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre, Duchess of Orléans, heiress, wife of Philippe Égalité (b. 1753)source
  • July 14 – Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguayan captain (b. 1786) (suicide)source
  • August 20 – Dorothea von Medem, Latvian diploma, duchess of Courland (b. 1761)source
  • August 24 – John William Polidori, English physician, writer (b. 1795) (suicide)source
  • September 4 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean general, founding father (b. 1785)source
  • October 11 – John Ross Key, American judge, lawyer, father of songwriter Francis Scott Key (b. 1754)source
  • December 7 – King Pōmare II of Tahiti (b. 1782)source