1812

{{Year dab|1812|the work by Tchaikovsky|1812 Overture{{!}}1812 Overture|the war|War of 1812}}

File:PercevalShooting.jpg: British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated.]]

File:Fire of Moscow 1812.jpg: Moscow's Military Governor Rostopchin orders the Russian capital to be evacuated and burned down in advance of Napoleon's invasion.]]

File:Siege of Badajoz, by Richard Caton Woodville Jr.jpg – April 6: Siege of Badajoz]]

Events

= January–March =

January 1 – The Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire.{{Cite web |title=ÖNB-ALEX - Justizgesetzsammlung |url=https://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex?aid=jgs&datum=10120003&seite=00000275 |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=alex.onb.ac.at}}
January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo is stormed by the Anglo-Portuguese Army, under the Earl of Wellington.{{cite web | last=lipscombe | year=2019 | url=http://www.nick-lipscombe.net/Papers/Ciudad%20Rodrigo%20-%20A%20Paper.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124616/http://www.nick-lipscombe.net/Papers/Ciudad%20Rodrigo%20-%20A%20Paper.pdf | archive-date=9 February 2019 | access-date=28 May 2021 | title=The Sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo 1810 & 1812}}
February 7 – The last New Madrid earthquake strikes New Madrid, Missouri, with an estimated moment magnitude of over 8.[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1996AREPS..24..339J The Enigma of the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811–1812]. Johnston, A. C. & Schweig, E. S. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Volume 24, 1996, pp. 339–384. Available on SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
February 12 – Napoleon authorizes the usage of Mesures usuelles, the basis of the metric system.{{cite web

|url=http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/metro/aquoisert/metre.htm|title=Un historique du mètre|language=fr|author=Denis Février|publisher=Ministère de l'Economie, des Finances et de l'Industrie|access-date=2011-03-10}}

February 13 – The first Chilean newspaper Aurora de Chile deals with political philosophy, and stands in favor of the new national government.{{cite journal|title=Early Relations of the United States with Chile|author=John J. Johnson|journal=The Pacific Historical Review|volume=13|issue=3| pages=266|type = JSTOR|date=September 1944|doi=10.2307/3635952|jstor=3635952}}
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.{{Cite book|title= Grandes protagonistas de la Historia Argentina: Manuel Belgrano|last= Luna|first= Félix|year= 2004|publisher=Grupo Editorial Planeta

|location= Argentina|page=77|language= es|isbn= 950-49-1247-8}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1812/feb/27/frame-work-bill#S1V0021P0_18120227_HOL_7|title=Frame Work Bill. (Hansard, 27 February 1812)|website=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|access-date=23 June 2023|archive-date=14 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514082629/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1812/feb/27/frame-work-bill#S1V0021P0_18120227_HOL_7|date=27 February 1812|url-status=live}}
February 24 – Prussia and France sign the Treaty of Paris, a military alliance.{{cite book |first=Hannsjoachim W. |last=Koch |title=A History of Prussia |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxford |orig-year=1978|pages=193–194 |year=2014}}
March 14 – Prussia and Austria sign the Treaty of Paris.
March 15 – Luddites attack the wool-processing factory of Frank Vickerman in West Yorkshire.
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.{{cite book | last=Fletcher | first=Ian | year=2001 | title=In Hell before Daylight: The Siege and Storming of the Castle of Badajoz, March–April 1812 | publisher=Spellmount Ltd. | isbn=1-873376-26-X}}
March 19 – The Cortes of Cádiz creates the first modern Spanish constitution.Thiessen, Heather. "Spain: Constitution of 1812." Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 5, p. 165. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
March 26

File:The Gerry-Mander Edit.png

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.{{cite book|last=Griffith|first=Elmer|title=The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=6o2HAAAAMAAJ |page=73 }} |pages=72–73|location=Chicago |publisher=Scott, Foresman and Co |year=1907 |oclc=45790508}}
The 1812 Caracas earthquake destroys Caracas, capital of Venezuela.{{Cite web|title=Nacimiento de una nación; Terremoto de 1812|url=http://www.fpolar.org.ve/Encarte/fasciculo7/fasc0709.html|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060820151845/http://www.fpolar.org.ve/Encarte/fasciculo7/fasc0709.html |archivedate = August 20, 2006|language=spanish}}

= April–June =

April 4 – U.S. President James Madison enacts a 90-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.
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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.helsinki200.fi/en/helsinki-1812-2012/1812-emperor-alexander-i-promotes-helsinki-capital-grand-duchy/ |title=Helsinki 200: 8 April 1812 Emperor Alexander I promotes Helsinki to the capital of the Grand Duchy. |access-date=August 1, 2017 |archive-date=August 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810032003/http://www.helsinki200.fi/en/helsinki-1812-2012/1812-emperor-alexander-i-promotes-helsinki-capital-grand-duchy/ |url-status=dead }}
April 30 – Louisiana is admitted as the 18th U.S. state.
May 11 – John Bellingham assassinates British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, in the lobby of the British House of Commons.{{cite book |last= Treherne| first= Philip |title=The Right Honourable Spencer Perceval |url=https://archive.org/stream/righthonourables00trehuoft#page/n7/mode/2up |publisher= T. Fisher Unwin |location = London | year = 1909 |pages=193–194 |oclc = 5825009 |url-status = live |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160408120735/https://archive.org/stream/righthonourables00trehuoft |archive-date = 2016-04-08 }}
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.
May 25 – Felling mine disaster: A mine explosion at the Felling colliery near Jarrow, England, leaves 96 dead.
June 1 – War of 1812: U.S. President James Madison asks the U.S. Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom.
June 4 – Following Louisiana's admittance as a U.S. state, the territory by that name is renamed the Missouri Territory.
June 16 – New York State charters the City Bank of New York (later Citibank).
June 18 – The War of 1812 between the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom begins with US declaration.
June 22 – France declared war on Russia.
June 24 – Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman River, and invades Russia.{{cite book |last=Lieven |first=D. C. B. |date=2010 |title=Russia against Napoleon |url=https://archive.org/details/russiaagainstnap00liev_0 |access-date=15 April 2021 |publisher=Viking |page=134 |isbn=9780670021574}}

= July–September =

July 12 – Americans invade Canada at Windsor, Ontario.
July 18 – Russia's Patriotic War – Battle of Klyastitsy: Kulnev defeats Oudinot, but sustains a mortal wound.
July 19 – Beethoven and Goethe meet each other in Teplice, Bohemia.
July 22 – Peninsular War – Battle of Salamanca: British forces led by the Earl of Wellington defeat French troops near Salamanca, Spain.
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.
August 12 – Peninsular War: The combined English and Portuguese army under the command of Wellington enters Madrid, following the Battle of Salamanca.
August 15 – War of 1812 – Battle of Fort Dearborn: Potawatomi warriors overrun the United States fort in Illinois Territory.
August 16 – War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit, without a fight, to the British Army.
August 19 – War of 1812: {{USS|Constitution}} defeats the British frigate {{HMS|Guerriere|1806|2}}, off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British shot is said to have bounced off Constitution{{'}}s sides, earning her the nickname "Old Ironsides".{{cite book |isbn = 978-0-393-05847-5 |oclc = 70291925 |location = New York |title = Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy |last = Toll |first = Ian W. |publisher = W. W. Norton |year = 2006 |page=350 |url = https://archive.org/details/sixfrigatesepich00toll }}
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.{{cite journal|last1=Kuehn |first1=John T. |title=The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov (review) |journal=The Journal of Military History |date=26 October 2008 |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=1295–1296 |doi=10.1353/jmh.0.0141 |s2cid=161057504 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/251445 |access-date=5 September 2020 |language=en |issn=1543-7795|url-access=subscription }}
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.""Fires, Great", in The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Connected with the Origin and Progress of Insurance, Cornelius Walford, ed. (C. and E. Layton, 1876) p. 67

= October–December =

October 9 – War of 1812: American naval forces under Lieutenant Jesse Duncan Elliott capture two British warships, {{HMS|Detroit|1812|6}} and {{HMS|Caledonia|1807|6}}.
October 12 – The capital of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is permanently moved from Lancaster to Harrisburg.I. Daniel Rupp, History of Lancaster County: To which is Prefixed a Brief Sketch of the Early History of Pennsylvania(Gilbert Hillis, 1844; reprinted by Heritage Books, 1990) p. 434
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).
October 18–20 – Second Battle of Polotsk – Russians attack and defeat a Franco-Bavarian force in Belarus.
October 19 – Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow.
October 23 – Malet coup of 1812: General Claude François de Malet attempts unsuccessfully to overthrow the Napoleonic régime in Paris.
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.
November 3 – Napoleonic Wars – Battle of Vyazma: The rearguard of Napoleon's retreating army is defeated.
November 5 – 1812 United States presidential election: James Madison defeats DeWitt Clinton.
November 10 – 1812 United Kingdom general election: The Tory Party is victorious, under Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.
November 15–18 – Napoleonic Wars – Battle of Krasnoi: Napoleon's retreating army is again defeated in a series of skirmishes.
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.
December 14 – The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.selae.es/en/web-corporativa/quienes-somos/la-empresa/historia.corporativa|title=History|publisher=Loterías y Apuestas del Estado|accessdate=2024-12-11}}
December 20 – The first volume of Grimms' Fairy Tales is published in Germany.
December 29 – War of 1812: {{USS|Constitution}} defeats the British frigate {{HMS|Java|1811|6}}, off the coast of Brazil.
December 30 – The Convention of Tauroggen is signed.

= Date unknown =

The Bishop James Madison Society is founded at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
The Woodford Reserve Bourbon whiskey distillery, established in 1780 along Glenn's Creek in Woodford County, Kentucky, passes to the control of Oscar Pepper.
The Ranikot Fort is reconstructed in Sindh.
Approximate date – Battle of Shela: The people of Lamu Island are victorious against those from other parts of the Kenya coast.

Births

File:Dickens Gurney head.jpg]]

File:Henry Wilson, VP of the United States.jpg]]

File:Fernando Wood - Brady-Handy.jpg]]

File:The Duchess of Abercorn and Child by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873).jpg]]

January 6 – Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary hero (d. 1919)
January 13 – Victor de Laprade, French poet, critic (d. 1883)
February 3 – William Fraser Tolmie, Scottish-Canadian scientist, politician (d. 1886)
February 7 – Charles Dickens, English novelist (d. 1870){{cite book|author=Norman Page|title=Charles Dickens: Family History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xf2QqVI19b8C&pg=PA23|year=1999|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-22233-4|pages=23}}
February 11 – Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
February 15 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler, co-founder of Tiffany & Co. (d. 1902){{cite book|title=The Ministers Manual: A Study and Pulpit Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=foM9AAAAYAAJ|year=1961|publisher=Harper|page=5}}
February 18 – Nils Johan Berlin, Swedish chemist, professor (d. 1891)
February 29 – Sir James Milne Wilson, Premier of Tasmania (d. 1880)
March 1
Nicolae Crețulescu, 2-time prime minister of Romania (d. 1900)
Augustus Pugin, English-born architect (d. 1852)
March 6 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American watch manufacturer (d. 1895)
March 22 – Stephen Pearl Andrews, American anarchist, abolitionist (d. 1886)
April 14 – George Grey, Portuguese-born British colonial governor, 11th Premier of New Zealand (d. 1898)
April 20 – Pauline Åhman, Swedish harpist (d. 1904)
April 22 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Genevan orientalist (d. 1894)
April 23 – Frederick Whitaker, English-New Zealand lawyer, politician, 5th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
April 27
Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (d. 1883){{cite book|title=The New Kobbé's Opera Book|publisher=Ebury Press|year=1997|isbn=9780091814106|page=231}}
William W. Snow, American politician (d. 1886)
April 29 – Emilie Högquist, Swedish dramatic star (d. 1846)
May 6 – Madame Restell, American abortion provider (d. 1878)
May 7 – Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889){{cite book|author=John Bryson|title=Robert Browning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtjXAAAAMAAJ|year=1967|publisher=British Council and the National Book League|isbn=978-0-582-01106-9|page=5}}
May 12 – Edward Lear, English artist, nonsense poet (d. 1888){{cite book|author=John Lehmann|title=Edward Lear and his World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yL9jd5mxkMC|year=1977|page=10}}
May 27 – George K. Teulon, English-Texian journalist and freemason (d. 1846){{cite book|editor-last=Bannerman|editor-first=W. Bruce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1xIAAAAYAAJ|title=Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica|volume=II|series=4th series|year=1908|publisher=Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 140 Wardour Street W.|publication-place=London|page=204|via=Google Books}}
June 9 – Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
June 13 – Gustavus H. Scott, American admiral (d. 1882)
June 14 – Fernando Wood, American politician (d. 1881)
July 2 – Nathaniel de Rothschild, French wine grower (d. 1870)
July 3 – Selina Jenkinson, British aristocrat (d. 1883)
July 8 – Louisa Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn (b. 1905)
July 31 – Amélie of Leuchtenberg, Empress consort of Brazil (d. 1873)
August 8 – John Rodgers, American admiral (d. 1882)
August 25
Percival Drayton, United States Navy officer (d. 1865)
Nikolay Zinin, Russian organic chemist (d. 1880)
August 27 – Bertalan Szemere, 3rd Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1869)
September 2 – William Fox, 2nd Premier of New Zealand (d. 1893)
September 18 – Herschel Vespasian Johnson, American politician (d. 1880)
October 12 – Ascanio Sobrero, Italian chemist (d. 1888)
October 20 – Austin Flint I, American cardiologist (d. 1886)
November 14 – Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (d. 1878)
November 19 – Edmond Jurien de La Gravière, French admiral, naval historian, and biographer (d. 1892)
December 6 – Ana María Martínez de Nisser, Colombian heroine and writer (d. 1872)
December 8 – Henry Varnum Poor, American financial analyst (d. 1905)
December 14 – Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, British Viceroy of India (d. 1862)
December 17 – Vilhelm Petersen, Danish painter (d. 1880)
December 24 – Karl Eduard Zachariae von Lingenthal, German jurist (d. 1894)

Deaths

File:Spencer Perceval.JPG]]

File:Mayer Amschel Rothschild.jpg]]

January 23 – Robert Craufurd, British general (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1764)
February 2 – Isaac Titsingh, Dutch scholar, merchant-trader and ambassador (b. 1745)
March 7 – Isaac Swainson, English botanist (b. 1746)
March 11 – Philip James de Loutherbourg, English artist (b. 1740)
April 14 – William Nicholas (officer), English army officer, at the Siege of Badajoz (b. 1785)
April 15 – Michael Atkins, Irish actor and theatre manager (b. 1746)
April 20 – George Clinton, 4th Vice President of the United States (b. 1739)
April 25 – Edmond Malone, Irish scholar (b. 1741)
May 11 – Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated) (b. 1762)
May 12
Martha Ballard, American diarist and midwife (b. 1734 or 1735)
Charles Sturt, English politician (b. 1763)
May 18 – John Bellingham, British assassin of Spencer Perceval (b. 1769)
May 27 – Manuela Gandarillas, Bolivian freedom fighter (born c. 1740s)[http://www.oas.org/en/americas/default.asp Américas], vol.52, pp.28, 31, Organization of American States, 2000.
July 4 – Victurnien-Jean-Baptiste de Rochechouart de Mortemart, French general and politician (b. 1752)
August 1 – Yakov Kulnev, Russian military leader (b. 1763).
August 12 – Anna Strong, Patriot spy during the American Revolutionary War (b. 1740)
August 30 – George Mathews, American army officer and politician (b. 1739)
September 13 – Leonardo Bravo, Mexican general who fought in the Mexican War of Independence, father of Nicolas Bravo, executed (b. 1764){{cite web|url=http://mexicolindoyquerido.com.mx/mexico2/science/60-biografias-de-la-independencia-de-mexico/1753-biografia-de-leonardo-bravo|title=Biografía de Leonardo Bravo|date=April 25, 2017|access-date=May 31, 2019|publisher=Mexico Lindo y Querido|language=es}}
September 19
Auguste-Jean-Gabriel de Caulaincourt, French general (b. 1777)
Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker (b. 1744)
September 21 – Emanuel Schikaneder, German dramatist, actor and singer (b. 1751)
September 24
Pyotr Bagration, Russian general and prince of Georgian origin (b. 1765)
Juana Galán, Spanish heroine (b. 1787)
October 13 – Isaac Brock, British general (killed in action) (b. 1769)
December 15 – Schneur Zalman, Polish rabbi and founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement (b. 1745)
December 20 – Sacagawea, Shoshone guide (b. ca. 1788)
December 24 – George Beck, American artist and poet (b. 1749)