Historical Events in 1815

  • Jan 3 France, the United Kingdom, and Austria form an alliance against Russia and Prussia
  • Jan 8 Battle of New Orleans (War of 1812); the war had ended on 24th December 1814 but none of the combatants knew
  • Jan 15 War of 1812: the USS President, an American frigate, is captured by four British frigates

Library of Congress

Jan 30 Burned US Library of Congress re-established with Thomas Jefferson's 6,500 volumes

  • Feb 3 World's first commercial cheese factory established, in Switzerland
  • Feb 6 New Jersey issues 1st US railroad charter (John Stevens)
  • Feb 13 The Cambridge Union Society is founded.

Treaty of Ghent

Feb 17 Treaty of Ghent ratified by the US Senate and signed by President James Madison ending War of 1812, over a month after it was signed in Europe

Napoleon Leaves Elba

Feb 26 Napoleon Bonaparte and his supporters leave Elba to start a 100 day re-conquest of France

  • Mar 1 Sunday observance in Netherlands regulated by law
  • Mar 2 Signing of Kandyan treaty by British invaders and Sri Lankan King
  • Mar 3 US declares war on Algiers for taking US prisoners & demanding tribute
  • Mar 16 Willem I proclaimed King of the Netherlands, including Belgium
  • Mar 20 Napoleon enters Paris after escape from Elba, begins 100-day rule
  • Mar 24 Handel & Haydn Society of Boston founded

Eruption of Mount Tambora

Apr 5 Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies, has its first violent eruption after several centuries of dormancy

  • Apr 6 British militia shoots prisoners, 100's killed
  • Apr 10 Austria declares war on Kingdom of Naples
  • Apr 10 Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies experiences a cataclysmic eruption, one of the most powerful in history, killing around 71,000 people, causes global volcanic winter
  • May 3 Battle at Tolentino: Austria beats King Joachim of Naples
  • May 16 The Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, officially names the town of Blackheath in the upper Blue Mountains
  • May 24 George Evans discovers Lachlan River, Australia
  • Jun 1 Napoleon Bonaparte swears fidelity to the Constitution of France
  • Jun 8 39 German states unite under Act of Confederation
  • Jun 9 End of the Congress of Vienna: New European political situation is set
  • Jun 16 Battle at Quatre-Bras: allies strike French
  • Jun 16 French army under Napoleon defeats Prussia in the Battle of Ligny, Napoleon's last military victory
  • Jun 17 Stephen Decatur conquers Algerian frigate Mashouda
  • Jun 22 2nd abdication of Napoleon (after Waterloo)
  • Jun 30 US naval hero Stephen Decatur ends attacks by Algerian pirates

Event of Interest

Jul 9 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord takes office as the first Prime Minister of France

Event of Interest

Jul 9 King Louis XVIII leaves Ghent for France

  • Jul 15 1st flat horse race held at English race track Cheltenham on Nottingham Hill
  • Jul 15 Napoleon surrenders to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS Bellerophon at Rochefort after his earlier defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
  • Aug 6 US flotilla ends piracy by Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli
  • Aug 9 Napoleon Bonaparte sets sail for exile on St Helena on board British ship the Northumberland
  • Sep 21 King Willem I takes oath in Brussels
  • Sep 26 Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord resigns as Prime Minister of France
  • Sep 26 Russia, Prussia and Austria sign the Holy Alliance
  • Sep 28 Joachim Murats fleet sails from Corsica to Naples
  • Sep 29 Dutch King William I forms the Dutch Order of the Lion, oldest and highest civilian order of chivalry in the Netherlands
  • Oct 8 Joachim Murat's French forces land at Pizzo, Italy
  • Oct 12 Ex-king Joachim Murat of Naples sentenced to death
  • Oct 15 Napoleon Bonaparte arrives on island of St Helena to begin his exile
  • Oct 31 Cornishman Sir Humphry Davy patents miner's safety lamp
  • Nov 20 Russia, Prussia, Austria and England sign an Alliance "for the maintenance of peace in Europe" on the same day as the Treaty of Paris
  • Nov 20 Second Treaty of Paris: France and her allies agree France will pay indemnities after Battle of Waterloo, ending the Napoleonic Wars
  • Nov 27 Adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland
  • Nov 27 City of Kraków (Poland) declared a free republic state by the Congress of Vienna
  • Dec 5 Foundation of Maceió in Brazil.

Music History

Dec 15 Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (24) gets commission from Teatro Argentina to write his opera "Almaviva", later known as "Il barbiere di Siviglia" (The Barber of Seville)

Historic Publication

Dec 23 "Emma" novel by Jane Austen is published by John Murray in London [1]

  • Dec 24 Karol Kurpiński's melodramatic opera "The Reward, or the Revival of the Polish Kingdom" premieres at the Warsaw Opera