- October 21
- The Royal Navy, led by Admiral Horatio Nelson, attacks the Franco-Spanish Fleet at Cape Trafalgar. The British capture or destroy 22 of the 33 ships, with no British ship losses. An estimated 14,000 allied forces are killed wounded, or captured, with British losses totalling 1690. Admiral Nelson is struck by a bullet and is killed. [1] [5] [472.84] [696.24]
- October 23
- Sailing ship Aeneus sinks off Newfoundland, killing 340. [1]
- November 7
- William Clark (Lewis and Clark exposition) sights the Pacific Ocean for the first time. [1] [541.36]
- November 8
- The Lewis and Clark expedition arrives at the Pacific Ocean, the first European explorers to do so by an overland route from the east. [129]
- December 2
- Napoleon defeats Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz. [1]
- December 9
- Comet 3D/1805 V1 (Biela) approaches within 0.0366 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1]
- December 26
- France and Austria sign Peace of Pressburg. [1]
- December 31
- End of French Republican calendar; France returns to Gregorianism. [1]
1806
- January 8
- Cape colony becomes English colony. [1]
- January 10
- Dutch in Cape Town, South Africa, surrender to the British. [1]
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- January 12
- French evacuate Vienna. [1]
- January 19
- Britain occupies the Cape of Good Hope. [1]
- January 23
- Death of William Pitt the Younger at age 46; Prime Minister of Great Britain (1783-1806). [1]
- January 30
- Prussia takes possession of Hanover. [1]
- April 5
- Isaac Quintard patents apple cider. [1]
- April 18
- US Congress passes an act forbidding imports of certain goods from Great Britain. [767.84]
- June 5
- First trotter (horse racing) to break 3-minute mile (Yankee). [1]
- Batavian Republic becomes the Kingdom of Holland. [1]
- June 27
- Buenos Aires captured by British. [1]
- July 3
- Michael Keens exhibits first cultivated strawberry. [1]
- August 6
- Holy Roman Empire ends; it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire. [1]
- September 2
- A side of Rossberg Peak collapses into Goldau Valley, Switzerland, kills 500. [1]
- October 7
- Patent granted in London, England for "apparatus for producing duplicates of writings", paper saturated with ink then dried (carbon paper). [5] [55.33]
- October 14
- Battle of Auerstadt: French beat Prussians. [1]
1807
- January 1
- Curaçao is taken by English. [1]
- January 12
- Gunpowder ship explodes in Leiden, Netherlands; 150 die. [1]
- January 20
- Napoleon convenes the great Sanhedrin, in Paris, France. [1]
- January 28
- London's Pall Mall is first street lit by gaslight. [1]
- February 8
- Napoleon defeats Russians in battle of Eylau. [1]
- February 19
- British squadron under Admiral Duckworth forces passage of Dardanelles. [1]
- February 24
- Seventeen die and 15 wounded in a crush to witness execution of Holloway, Heggerty and Elizabeth Godfrey in England. [1]
- March 2
- US Congress bans slave trade effective January 1, 1808. [1]
- March 25
- First railway passenger service begins in England. [1]
- British Parliament abolishes slave trade. [1]
- George Canning becomes British Minister of Foreign Affairs. [1]
- May 22
- Townsend Speakman first sells fruit-flavored carbonated drinks (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA). [1]
- June 22
- British board USS Chesapeake, a provocation leading to War of 1812. [1]
- July 7
- France's Emperor Napoleon and Russia's Tsar Alexander meet on a raft floating in Neman River near Tilsit, to negotiate peace treaty and alliance. [1379.6]
- August 17
- Robert Fulton's American steamboat Clermont leaves New York City, inaugurating the world's first commercial steamboat service. [1] [5] [245.4]
- August 21
- Fire at Spa, burns two days, almost whole town. [811.90]
- August 27
- British occupy Curacao. [1135]
- November 27
- Portuguese queen Maria I escapes to Brazil. [1433.8]
- December 22
- Congress passes the Embargo Act, prohibiting all international trade to and from American ports. [767.84]
1808
- January 1
- African Benevolent Society (education) forms. [1]
- Sierra Leone becomes a British colony. [1]
- January 10
- Herman Daendels succeeds A. Wiese as Governor-General of Netherlands Indies. [1]
- January 19
- Louis Napoleon signs first Dutch aviation law. [1]
- February 11
- Anthracite coal first burned as fuel, experimentally, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. [1]
- February 21
- Russia attacks Finland, declaring intentions to annex it. [7]
- March 19
- King Charles IV of Spain abdicates. [479.50] [1157.91]
- March 23
- Napoleon's brother Joseph takes the throne of Spain. [1]
- March 31
- French-created Kingdom of Westphalia orders Jews to adopt family names. [1]
- April 9
- Mayor Wolters offers French king Louis Napoleon townhall as a palace. [1]
- April 17
- Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships. [1]
- April 30
- First practical typewriter finished by Italian Pellegrini Turri. [1]
- May 2
- Uprising against French occupation begins in Madrid. [1]
- May 5
- Former king Charles IV of Spain relinquishes his rights to rule. [1157.91]
- May 6
- King Ferdinand VII of Spain is forced to abdicate. [1157.91]
- May 30
- Napoleon annexes Tuscany and gives it seats in French Senate. [1]
- June 22
- Zebulon Pike reaches his peak. [1]
- (month unknown)
- Portuguese ruler Dom Joao VI declares Rio the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarve. This is the first and only time a European capital is not located in Europe. [1310.8]
- July 2
- Simon Fraser completes his trip down Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada, lands at Musqueam. [1]
- July 5
- Battle of Buenos Aires. [1]
- July 21
- Junta Barcelonesa in Spain authorizes peseta denomination coins. [458.40]
- August 11
- In Spain, the Council of Castile declares the abdication of Ferdinand VII null and void. [1157.91]
- August 24
- Ferdinand VII is proclaimed King of Spain. [1157.91]
- September 15
- Gabriel J. de Yermo stages a coup in Mexico, replacing provisional governor José de Iturrigaray with General Pedro de Garibay. [479.50]
- November 10
- December 7
- James Madison elected US President, with George Clinton as Vice-President. [1]
1809
- January 1
- Holland Brigade under Brigadier General Chassé reaches Madrid, Spain. [1]
- January 5
- Treaty of Dardanelles concluded between Britain and France. [1]
- January 12
- British take Cayenne (French Guiana) from the French (until 1814). [1]
- January 14
- British government acknowledges Ferdinand VII as King of Spain. [1157.91]
- January 25
- The Admiral Gardiner ship wrecks off the coast of England in the Straits of Dover, with loss of one life, and taking down 46 tons of newly minted 1808 10- and 20-cash copper coins for use in India. [910.150]
- February 1
- Dutch King Louis Napoleon accepts metric system. [1]
- February 3
- US Territory of Illinois is organized (including present-day Wisconsin). [1]
- February 8
- Franz I of Austria declares war on France. [1]
- February 11
- Robert Fulton patents the steamboat. [1]
- February 13
- French take Saragossa, Spain after a long siege. [1]
- March 13
- In Sweden, army officers arrest King Gustav IV Adolf in his castle. The king is forced to abdicate, deposed together with his heirs, and expelled from the country. [7]
- March 24
- Farmers Exchange Bank of Glocester, Rhode Island becomes first US bank to fail. [711.34]
- April 14
- Napoleon defeats Austria in the Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria. [1]
- April 18
- First run of 2,000 guineas horse race at Newmarket, England. [1]
- April 22
- Battle at Eckmühl - Napoleon beats Austria arch duke Karl. [1]
- May 5
- Citizenship is denied to Jews of Canton of Aargau, Switzerland. [1]
- May 17
- Papal States annexed by France. [1]
- May 21
- Battle at Aspern-Essling: Austrian arch duke Karl beats Napoleon. [1]
- May 24
- Dartmoor Prison opens to house French prisoners of war. [1]
- (month unknown)
- A Jesuit College is rebuilt at Baden Baden, with gambling facilities. [811.100]
- August 10
- Ecuador declares independence from Spain. [1]
- September 17
- Sweden is forced to make peace with Russia, ceding all of Finland, the Åland islands, and a north-eastern strip of Sweden. In total, Sweden loses one-third of its territory. [7]
- September 18
- The Royal Opera House in London opens. [5]
- October 4
- Spencer Perceval becomes British Prime Minister. [1321.10]
- December 10
- Sweden signs a peace treaty with Denmark. [7]
- December 16
- Napoleon Bonaparte divorces Empress Josephine by the French Senate. [1]
- December 26
- English invasionary troops leave Vlissingen. [1]
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