Historical Events in 1817

Jan 18 José de San Martín leads a revolutionary army over the Andes to attack Spanish royalists in Chile

Mar 4 James Monroe is inaugurated as the 5th President of the United States

Mar 8 The New York Stock Exchange is founded
Mar 25 Tsar Alexander I recommends formation of Society of Israeli Christians
Apr 15 1st American school for the deaf opens (Hartford, Connecticut)
Apr 17 1st US school for deaf (Hartford, Connecticut)
Apr 22 Curacao prohibits use of white paint due to fierce sunlight
May 15 Ambonese uprising against Dutch authority (modern Indonesia), under Thomas Matulesia (aka Kapitan Pattimura)
May 15 First private mental health hospital opens in the US, Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 16 Mississippi River steamboat service begins
Jul 4 Chief Engineer James Geddes begins construction on the Erie Canal, (Rome, New York), one of the first great engineering works in North America
Jul 12 1st flower show held in Dannybrook, County Cork, Ireland
Jul 12 Karl Drais von Sauerbronn demonstrates bicycle course
Aug 18 60-70ft sea serpent sightings reported offshore in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Sep 9 Alexander Twilight, probably first African American to graduate from a US college, receives BA degree at Middlebury College

Sep 22 John Quincy Adams becomes US Secretary of State