Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Historical Events in 1811

Event of Interest

Jan 2 Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts becomes 1st US Senator censured by the body, for revealing confidential documents of President Thomas Jefferson [1]

  • Jan 8 Louisiana slave revolt by Charles Deslondes at German Coast
  • Jan 9 1st Women's Golf Tournament held
  • Jan 10 Louisiana slaves rebel in 2 parishes
  • Feb 2 Russian settlers establish Ft Ross trading post, north of San Francisco

George Made Prince Regent

Feb 5 Prince George, Prince of Wales, later George IV, is appointed as Prince-Regent after his father King George III is recognized as insane due to mental illness

  • Feb 11 President Madison prohibits trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years
  • Feb 20 Austria declares bankruptcy
  • Mar 1 Egyptian king Muhammad Ali Pasha oversees ceremonial murder of 500
  • Mar 1 French Civil Code of Criminal law accepted by Netherlands Mamelukes in Cairo's Citadel
  • Mar 25 Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for his publication of the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism
  • Apr 12 The first US colonists on the Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment, Washington
  • May 14 Paraguay gains independence from Spain (National Day)
  • May 16 Peninsular War: Allies defeat French at Albuera
  • May 18 Battle of Las Piedras: The first great military triumph of the revolution of the Río de la Plata in Uruguay lead by Jose Artigas

Venezuela Declares Independence

Jul 5 Venezuelan Declaration of Independence: Seven provinces declare themselves independent of Spain

Avogadro’s Law

Jul 11 Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro publishes his memoir on the molecular content of gases

  • Jul 27 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Spanish Catholic priest, and leader Mexican independence, defrocked and excommunicated by the church
  • Jul 30 Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed after being found guilty of treason by the Spanish military in Chihuahua, Mexico

Invasion of Java

Sep 18 British East India Company force led by Baron Minto conquers Java, part of the Dutch East Indies, Stamford Raffles appointed lieutenant governor

  • Oct 6 French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte visits Utrecht
  • Oct 11 The Juliana, 1st steam-powered ferryboat, begins operation

Sense and Sensibility

Oct 28 First known purchase of Jane Austen's novel "Sense and Sensibility" by the Prince Regent (later George IV), a fan

  • Oct 29 1st Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans
  • Nov 5 El Salvador's 1st battle against Spain for independence

Battle of Tippecanoe

Nov 7 Battle of Tippecanoe: General William Henry Harrison defeats the Native Americans of the Tecumesh Confederation

  • Nov 9 Karol Kurpiński's opera "Lucifer's Palace" premieres at the Warsaw Opera
  • Nov 11 Cartagena Colombia declares independence from Spain

Coup d'état in Chile

Nov 15 José Miguel Carrera takes control of the Chilean government in a coup d’état becoming the country's first President

  • Dec 16 Earthquake hits New Madrid, Missouri, causing widespread damage
  • Dec 26 A theater fire in Richmond, Virginia kills the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable.