Events in year of 1817
- 01-072nd Bank of US opens
- 01-22English freighter Diana sinks off Malaysia
- 02-051st US gas co incorporated, Baltimore (coal gas for street lights)
- 02-171st US city lit by gas (Baltimore)
- 03-021st Evangelical church building dedicated, New Berlin, Penn
- 03-03Mississippi Territory is divided into Alabama Territory and Mississippi
- 03-25Tsar Alexander I recommends formation of Society of Israeli Christians
- 04-151st American school for the deaf opens (Hartford Conn)
- 04-171st US school for deaf (Hartford, Conn)
- 04-22Curacao prohibits use of white paint due to fierce sunlight
- 05-15Ambonese uprising against Dutch authority, under T Matulesia
- 05-16Mississippi River steamboat service begins
- 06-241st coffee planted in Hawaii on Kona coast
- 07-04Construction on Erie Canal begins
- 07-121st flower show held (Dannybrook, County Cork, Ireland)
- 07-12Karl Drais von Sauerbronn demonstrates bicycle course
- 08-18Gloucester, Mass, newspapers tells of wild sea serpent seen offshore
- 09-09Alexander Lucius Twilight, probably 1st black to graduate from US college, receives BA degree at Middlebury College
- 09-22John Quincy Adams becomes Secretary of State
- 10-09University of Gent officially opens
- 10-201st Mississippi "Showboat, " leaves Nashville on maiden voyage
- 11-201st Seminole War begins in Florida
- 11-251st sword swallower in US performs (NYC)
- 11-27US soldiers attack Florida Indian village, beginning Seminole War
- 12-10Mississippi admitted as 20th state
- 12-16Leaders of Molukkas uprising hanged in Ambon
- 12-301st coffee planted in Hawaii (Kona)
People born in year of 1817
- 01-08John Selden Roane: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1867
- 01-14Harmen S Sytstra: Dutch poet / editor (Iduna)
- 01-15Lewis Golding Arnold: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1871
- 01-18Jacques Gregoir: Composer
- 01-31Antony Winkler Prins: Dutch writer (Groiler Encyclopaedia)
- 02-02John Glover: English chemist (sulfuric acid)
- 02-02Jose Maria de la Purificacion Ventura: Composer
- 02-03Emile Racine Gauthier Prudent: Composer
- 02-03Samuel Ryan Curtis: Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1866
- 02-07Leroy Pope Walker: US lawyer / Confederate Minister of War (1861)
- 02-08Richard Stoddert Ewell: Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), died in 1872
- 02-14Frederick Douglass: African-American abolitionist / lecturer / editor
- 02-15Charles F Daubigny: French restauranteur / painter
- 02-18Lewis Addison Armistead: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
- 02-18Walter Page Lane: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1892
- 02-19Willem III: Last male King of the Netherlands (1849-90)
- 02-21Jose Zorrilla y Moral: Vallodolid, Spain -- Poet / dramatist (El rey Loco)
- 02-22Niels Wilhelm Gade: Danish violinist / composer / conductor
- 02-23George Watts: London, England -- Painter
- 02-28James Craig: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1888
- 03-05Austen H Layard: British archaeologist / diplomat
- 03-19Lewis Henry Little: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1862
- 03-22Braxton Bragg: Gen (Confederate Army), died in 1876
- 03-24Aime Maillart: Composer
- 03-26Herman Haupt: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
- 03-28Mariano Soriano Fuertes y Piqueras: Composer
- 03-29Constantine S Aksakov: Russian historian / poet
- 04-01Johannes J van Oosterzee: Dutch theologist
- 04-02Teodulo Mabellini: Composer
- 04-04John Wilson Sprague: Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1893
People died in year of 1817
- 01-01Martin H Klaproth: German chemist (uranium), dies at 73
- 01-14Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny: Composer, dies at 87
- 01-16Antonin Josef Alois Volanek: Composer, dies at 55
- 01-28Friedrich Ludwig Emilius Kunzen: Composer, dies at 55
- 02-09Franz Wilhelm Tausch: Composer, dies at 54
- 02-18Giacomo Quarenghi: Master builder (Hermitage Theater), dies at 72
- 02-20Martin de Ron: Composer, dies at 27
- 03-01Luigi Gatti: Composer, dies at 77
- 03-13Matej Sojka: Composer, dies at 77
- 03-18Johann Jakob Walder: Composer, dies at 67
- 04-06Bonaventura Furlanetto: Composer, dies at 78
- 04-12Charles Messier: "comet ferret" and catalogs famous "M objects"
- 05-21Johann Friedrich Christmann: Composer, dies at 64
- 06-18Joannes Siberg: Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies (1801-05)
- 06-23Otto Carl Erdmann Kospoth: Composer, dies at 63
- 06-30Abraham Gottlob Werner: German geologist
- 07-18Jane Austen: Writer
- 09-09Paul Cuffe: Civil rights activist (Sierre Leone), dies at 58
- 10-12Johann Franz Xaver Sterkel: Composer, dies at 66
- 10-15Tadeusz AB Kosciusko: Polish Lieutenant General / freedom fighter
- 10-16Manuel C Piar: Curacaos / Venezulian freedom writer
- 11-01Giovanni Calisto Andrea Zanotti: Composer, dies at 79
- 11-07Francesco Pasquale Ricci: Composer, dies at 85
- 11-08Andrea Appiana: Italian royal Painter of Napoleon, dies at 63
- 12-01Justin Heinrich Knechtl: Composer, dies at 65
- 12-07William Bligh: British naval officer of "Bounty" fame, dies at 63
- 12-11Max von Schenkendorf: German poet, dies at 34
- 12-15Maria Walewska [Leszczinska]: Lover of Emperor Napoleon I
Events in year of 1818
- 01-01Official reopening of the White House
- 01-30Keats composes his sonnet, "When I Have Fears"
- 02-071st successful US educational magazine "Academician, " begins (NYC)
- 02-12Chile gains independence from Spain
- 02-17Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun patents "draisine" (early bicycle)
- 03-18Congress approves 1st pensions for government service
- 04-04Congress decided US flag is 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars
- 04-07Gen Andrew Jackson conquers St. Marks, Florida from Seminole indians
- 04-14US Medical Corp forms
- 04-16Senate ratifies Rush-Bagot amendment (unarmed US-Canada border)
- 04-28Monroe proclaims naval disarmament on Great Lakes and Lake Champlain
- 05-04Netherlands and England sign treaty against illegal slave handling
- 05-11Cincinnati Reds Hod Eller no-hits St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0
- 05-24Gen Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola Florida
- 05-281st steam-vessel to sail Great Lakes launched
- 06-03Maratha Wars between British and Maratha Confederacy in India ends
- 08-22Grand duchy of Bathe forms
- 09-30Congress of Aken: Russia, Austria, Prussia, France and England
- 10-082 English boxers are 1st to use padded gloves
- 10-09Congress of Aken returns to France from Libya
- 10-19US and Chicasaw Indians sign a treaty
- 10-2049th parallel forms as border between US and Canada
- 10-20US and Britain agree to joint control of Oregon country
- 10-24Felix Mendelssohn, 9, performs his 1st public concert (Berlin)
- 12-03Illinois becomes 21st state USA (Admission day)
- 12-24"Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day
- 12-24Franz Xaver Gruber composes "Silent Night"
- 12-251st known Christmas carol ("Silent Night, Holy Night") sung (Austria)
People born in year of 1818
- 01-11John Reese Kenly: Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1891
- 01-17Antoine Dorion: (L) joint Premier of Canada (1858, 1863-64)
- 01-18Johannes van Vloten: Dutch literary / theologist
- 01-28George Sewall Boutwell: MC (Union), died in 1905
- 01-31William Raine Peck: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1871
- 02-06William Maxwell Evarts: (Union), died in 1901
- 02-08Austin Blair: Gov / MC (Union), died in 1894
- 02-10Isham Green Harris: Gov (Confederacy), died in 1897
- 02-12Otto Ludwig: German writer (Die Heiterethei)
- 02-23Jeremy F Gilmer: Major General / Chief Engineer Confederate War Department
- 03-10George Wythe Randolph: Confederate States Secretary of War, died in 1867
- 03-11John Wilkins Whitfield: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1879
- 03-12John Lorimar Worden: Captain (Union Navy), died in 1897
- 03-13Albion Parris Howe: Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1897
- 03-23Don Carlos Buell: Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1898
- 03-25Isaac Ingalls Stevens: Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
- 03-27Jakob Axel Josephson: Composer
- 03-28Wade Hampton: South Carolina, United States -- Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), died in 1902
- 04-05Lewis Baldwin Parsons: Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
- 04-06Francis Henry Brown: Composer
- 04-08Christaan IX: King of Denmark (1863-1906)
- 04-22Cadwallader Colden Washburn: Major General (Union volunteers)
- 04-23James Anthony Froude: Historian
- 04-23John Gill Shorter: Gov (Confederacy), died in 1872
- 04-25Marek Konrad Sokolowski: Composer
- 04-29Alexander II N Romanov: Tsar of Russia (1855-81)
- 05-20William George Fargo: Founder (Wells Fargo)
- 05-25Jacob Burckhardt: Switzerland -- Cultural historian
- 05-28Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard: US Confederate General (Hero of Sumter)
- 05-31John Albion Andrew: Gov (Union), died in 1867
People died in year of 1818
- 01-01Fedele Fenaroli: Composer, dies at 87
- 02-01Giuseppi Gazzaniga: Composer, dies at 74
- 02-14John C Hespe: Dutch journalist / politician, dies at 61
- 02-15Charles XIII: King of Sweden (1809-18) / Norway (1814-18), dies at 69
- 02-28Adriaan Loosjes Pzn: Dut publisher / writer (Moral Stories), dies at 56
- 03-23Nicolas Isouard: Composer, dies at 42
- 03-28Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi: Composer, dies at 62
- 04-18Pieter PJQ Ondaatje: Ceylon / Dutch lawyer, dies at 59
- 05-02Herman W Daendels: Governor-General of Guinea (1815-18), dies at 55
- 05-07Leopold Jan Antonin Kozeluh: Composer, dies at 70
- 05-08Franz Ignaz Kaa: Composer, dies at 78
- 05-10Paul Revere: American patriot
- 05-26Michael A Barclay de Tolly: Russian Field Marshal / War Minister
- 06-04John van Well: Choreographer / mime (Pierrot), dies at 44
- 06-29Carl P Fohr: German Painter / cartoonist, dies at 22
- 08-22Warren Hastings: 1st Governor-General of India (1773-84), dies at 85
- 08-28Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable: Trader, founder of Chicago
- 09-18Olaf Swaertz: Botanist
- 10-22Joachim H Campe: German theory / author, dies at 72
- 10-28Abigail Adams: 2nd first lady (1797-1801), dies at 73
- 11-17Charlotte Sophia von Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Queen of England
- 12-05Bruno Daalberg / Anonymus Belga: Secretary of High Council Adel, dies at 60
- 12-31Jean-Pierre Duport: Composer, dies at 77
Events in year of 1819
- 01-16Godert baron van der de Capellen becomes Governor of Dutch-Indies
- 01-28Sir Stamford Raffles 1st lands in Singapore
- 02-06Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds freeport harbor Singapore
- 03-02Territory of Arkansas organized
- 03-02US passed its 1st immigration law
- 04-021st successful agricultural journal ("American Farmer") begins
- 04-26Odd Fellows Lodge forms
- 05-211st bicycles (swift walkers) in US introduced in New York City
- 05-221st steam propelled vessel to cross Atlantic (Savannah leaves Ga)
- 06-12Dutch colonial troops driven out of Palembang Sumatra
- 06-20320 ton Savannah becomes 1st steamship to cross any ocean (Atlantic)
- 07-031st savings bank in US (Bank of Savings in NYC) opens its doors
- 07-04William Herschel makes last telescopic observation of 1819 comet
- 08-021st parachute jump in US
- 08-16Manchester Massacre: English police charge unemployed demonstrators
- 09-06Thomas Blanchard patents lathe
- 09-171st whaling ship arrives in Hawaii
- 10-221st ship sails by Erie-channel (Rome-Utica)
- 12-14Alabama admitted to Union as 22nd state
People born in year of 1819
- 01-01Arthur Hugh Clough: Poet, friend of Matthew Arnold
- 01-01George Foster Shepley: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1878
- 01-03Thomas Hill Watts: Attorney General (Confederacy), died in 1892
- 01-12Zealous Bates Tower: Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1900
- 01-14Fabio Campana: Composer
- 01-14Frederick Steele: Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1868
- 02-01Henry Lawrence Eustis: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1885
- 02-04Joshua Norton: San Francisco, California -- Norton I, Emperor of USA
- 02-08John Ruskin: Writer / critic / artist / Gothic Revivalist (Prerafaelite)
- 02-10Richard Storrs Willis: Composer
- 02-11Samuel Parkman Tuckerman: Composer
- 02-14James Green Martin: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1878
- 02-15Christopher Sholes: Mooresburg, Pennsylvania -- Inventor (typewriter)
- 02-18Joseph Philbrick Webster: Composer
- 02-19Mark Prager Lindo: English / Dutch author / Novelist / writer
- 02-22Bernardo Calvo Puig: Composer
- 02-22James Russell Lowell: Poet / critic / diplomat / abolitionist
- 03-04Charles Oberthur: Composer
- 03-11Henry Tate: English sugar producer (Tate Gallery)
- 03-11Marius Petipa: French ballet dancer / choreographer (Don Quiotte)
- 03-19David Henry Williams: Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1891
- 03-22William Wirt Adams: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1888
- 03-26Francisco Eduardo da Costa: Composer
- 03-26Louise Otto: Germany -- Author / feminist
- 03-29Edwin Drake: Drilled 1st productive US oil well
- 03-29Isaac Mayer Wise: Rabbi / founder (American Hebrew Congregations)
- 04-06Johann A H Scheler: Belgian librarian
- 04-07Hubert Leonard: Composer
- 04-14Charles Halle: Pianist / conductor / founder (Halle Orch)
- 05-01William Steele: Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1885
People died in year of 1819
- 01-08Christian Gottlob Saupe: Composer, dies at 55
- 01-20Carlos IV: King of Spain (1788-1808), dies at 70
- 03-09Janos Fusz: Composer, dies at 41
- 03-10Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi: Writer
- 03-16Nicolas Sejan: Composer, dies at 73
- 03-23August v Kotzebue: Writer
- 05-11Caspar Furstenau: Composer, dies at 47
- 05-16Alexander van Bylandt: Military, dies at 75
- 05-22John H van Kinsbergen: Lieutenant Admiral / founder (Corps Marines), dies at 84
- 06-26Johann Wilhelm Stadler: Composer, dies at 71
- 06-26Slome Duikelar [Abraham J Swalff]: Yiddish writer
- 06-30Ernst Ludwig Gerber: Composer, dies at 72
- 07-20John Playfair: Scottish geologist / mathematician
- 07-24Sophie Gail: Composer, dies at 43
- 08-23Oliver Hazard Perry: Naval hero, dies on 34th birthday
- 09-06Georg Druschetzky: Composer, dies at 74
- 09-07Jean-Louis Duport: Composer, dies at 69
- 09-08Franz Stanislaus Spindler: Composer, dies at 56
- 09-14Erik Acharius: Swedish botanist
- 09-28Karl Haack: Composer, dies at 68
- 09-30Nicolas Roze: Composer, dies at 74
- 10-06Charles Emanuel II: King of Sardinia (1796-1802) / Jesuit
- 10-13Giovanni Battista Gaiani: Composer, dies at 61
- 10-15F Louise W: Daughter of Viceroy Willem V, dies at 48
- 10-20Lambert-Francois Godecharle: Composer, dies at 66
- 11-05Dirk van den Boetzelaer: Regent of Holland, dies at 55
- 12-09Ann C Coleman: Fiancee of President Buchanan, commits suicide
- 12-20Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis: Composer, dies at 50