1812

This article is about the year 1812. For the overture by Tchaikovsky, see 1812 Overture; for the war, see War of 1812.

1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events

• January 1 - the Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, the Austrian civil code enters into force in the Austrian Empire.
• February 2 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, California.
• February 7 - The last New Madrid Earthquake strikes New Madrid, Missouri, with an estimated moment magnitude of over 8.
• February 11 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry invents gerrymandering.
• February 27 - Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
• March 15 - Luddites attack wool processing factory of Frank Vickerman in West Yorkshire.
• March 26 - An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.
• April 30 - Louisiana is admitted as the 18th U.S. state.
• May 11 - Bankrupt banker assassinates British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
• May 25 - Mine explosion at Felling colliery near Jarrow, England - 92 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 was renamed to Missouri Territory.
• June 18 - The War of 1812 begins between the United States and the United Kingdom.
• June 24 - Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Niemen river and invades Russia (see Patriotic War of 1812).
• July 12 - Americans invade Canada at Windsor, Ontario.
• July 22 - Peninsular War: Battle of Salamanca - British forces led by Lord Wellington defeat French troops near Salamanca in 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: Wellington enters Madrid following the Battle of Salamanca.
• 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 Guerrière off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British shot is said to have bounced off the Constitution 's sides, earning her the nickname "Old Ironsides".
• September 7 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Borodino - Napoleon defeats the Russian army of Alexander I near the village of Borodino.
• September 14 - Napoleon's troops enter Moscow but the retreating Russian troops burn the city.
• October - The Capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States was permanently moved from Lancaster to Harrisburg.
• October 9 - War of 1812: In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships; HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia.
• 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 (although he dies during the battle).
• October 19 - Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow.
• October 24 - Napoleonic Wars - Battle of Maloyaroslavets - an indecisive 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 - James Madison defeats De Witt Clinton in U.S. presidential election.
• Bishop James Madison Society founded at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
• Spanish Cortes, in exile at Cádiz, create the first modern Spanish constitution.
• The Old Oscar Pepper Distillery (now the Labrot & Graham Distillery), the oldest Kentucky Bourbon distillery, is established along Glenn's Creek in Woodford County, Kentucky.
• Coffee is banned in Sweden.
• Cholera in Jessore, India.
• Capital of Finland moved from Turku to Helsinki.

Ongoing events

• Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)-Peninsular War/Sixth Coalition/Patriotic War of 1812
• War of 1812 (1812-1815)

Births

• January 10 - Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebel (d. 1864)
• January 13 - Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
• February 7 - Charles Dickens, English writer (d. 1870)
• February 11 - Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
• February 15 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler (d. 1902)
• March 1 - Augustus Pugin, English-born architect (d. 1852)
• March 6 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison American watch manufacturer (d. 1895)
• March 22 - Stephen Pearl Andrews, American anarchist and abolitionist (d. 1886)
• April 22 - Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-born orientalist (d. 1894)
• April 27 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (d. 1883)
• May 7 - Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889)
• June 9 - Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
• July 2 - Nathaniel de Rothschild, French wine grower (d. 1870)
• November 14 - Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (d. 1878)
• December 24 - Karl Eduard Zachariae, German jurist (d. 1894)
• Mohan Lal (Zutshi), Indian traveler (d. 1877)

Deaths

• January 23 - Robert Craufurd, British general (mortally wounded in battle) (b. 1764)
• May 11 - Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated) (b. 1762)
• September 19 - Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German banker (b. 1744)
• October 13 - Isaac Brock, British general (killed in battle) (b. 1769)
• December 20 - Sacagawea, Shoshone guide
• December 24 - George Beck, American artist and poet (b. 1749)