January–March •
January 1 • The importation of slaves into the United States is formally banned, as the 1807
Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves takes effect. However Americans still continue the slave trade by transporting Africans to
Cuba and
Brazil. •
Sierra Leone becomes a British Crown Colony. •
January 22 –
Transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil:
John (Dom João), Prince Regent, and the
Braganza royal family of Portugal arrive in their colony of
Brazil in exile from the French occupation of their home kingdom. •
January 26 –
Rum Rebellion: On the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the
colony of
New South Wales, disgruntled military officers of the
New South Wales Corps (the "Rum Corps") overthrow and imprison
Governor William Bligh and seize control of the colony. •
February 2 – French troops take
Rome as part of the
Napoleonic Wars. •
February 6 – The ship
Topaz (from Boston April 5, 1807, hunting seals) "rediscovers" the
Pitcairn Islands; only one
HMS Bounty mutineer is still alive,
John Adams, who is using the pseudonym Alexander Smith. •
February 11 – In
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,
Jesse Fell becomes the first known person to burn
anthracite coal as residential heating fuel. •
February 21 • The
Finnish War begins as Russian troops cross the border into Finland without a
declaration of war. • Russia issues an ultimatum to
Sweden, to join Napoleon's
Continental System against the
United Kingdom. •
March 1 – The slave trade is abolished by the United Kingdom in all of its colonies as the
Slave Trade Act 1807 takes effect. This year, the British
Royal Navy establishes the
West Africa Squadron on the coast of
West Africa to enforce the abolitionist
Blockade of Africa. •
March 2 • Russian troops occupy
Helsinki and threaten
Sveaborg. • The inaugural meeting of the
Wernerian Natural History Society, a Scottish
learned society, is held in
Edinburgh (preliminary meeting January 12). •
A minor naval battle which takes place off the coast of Scarborough results in the capture of the Danish brig
Admiral Yawl, commanded by Danish adventurer
Jørgen Jørgensen. •
March 7 –
Transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil: The Portuguese royal court arrives in
Rio de Janeiro, making it the centre of the
Portuguese Empire. •
March 11 – Russian troops occupy
Tampere in Finland. •
March 13 – Upon the death of
Christian VII,
Frederick VI becomes king of Denmark. The next day (
March 14), Denmark declares
war on Sweden. •
March 19 –
Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favor of his son,
Ferdinand VII. •
March 22 • Russian troops occupy
Turku in Finland. •
English Wars (Scandinavia):
Battle of Zealand Point – British ships defeat those of Denmark and Norway.
April–June •
April • A volcano erupts from an unknown location in the western Pacific. This causes a localized drop in marine air temperatures during this year and a worldwide drop in marine air temperature for the following decade. • Prussian philosopher
Johann Gottlieb Fichte publishes his
Addresses to the German Nation, having delivered them over the winter at the
Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin before crowded audiences. •
April 6 –
John Jacob Astor incorporates the
American Fur Company. •
April 16 – Troops under Colonel
Carl von Döbeln clash with Russian troops in
Pyhäjoki, Finland. •
May 2 –
Peninsular War:
Dos de Mayo Uprising – The people of
Madrid rise up against the
French troops. •
May 3 •
Finnish War: The fortress of
Sveaborg is lost by Sweden to Russia. • The Madrid rebels who rose on May 2 are executed near the hill of
Príncipe Pío (
Goya paints the fight and the execution in
1814). •
May 6 –
Ferdinand is forced to abdicate as King of Spain by Napoleon. This effectively ends the
Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808) as the United Kingdom allies with Spain and Portugal against the French in the
Peninsular War. •
June 12 –
Finnish War: A landing of Swedish troops at Ala-Lemu, near
Turku, fails. •
June 15–
August 14 –
Peninsular War:
First siege of Zaragoza – Spanish resist the French. •
June 19 –
Finnish War: A second landing of Swedish troops at Ala-Lemu fails. •
June 30 •
Finnish War – Battle of Turku: The Swedish
archipelago fleet defeats the Russians. • English chemist
Humphry Davy informs the
Royal Society of London of his isolation and discovery of two elements by electrolysis. From
lime, he has produced
calcium and established that lime is calcium oxide; by heating
boric acid and
potassium in a copper tube, he creates a substance he calls
boracium, which is eventually called
boron. This year he also isolates
magnesium and
strontium.
July–September •
July 5 –
Wooster, Ohio, established and named for
General Wooster. •
July 8 –
Joseph Bonaparte approves the
Bayonne Statute, a royal charter intended as the basis for his rule as King of Spain, during the
Peninsular War. •
July 14 –
Finnish War: Swedish troops under Colonel
Adlercreutz force the Russians to withdraw in
Lapua. •
July 22 –
Battle of Bailén: French General Dupont surrenders to Spanish irregular forces. •
August 1 –
Peninsular War: British expeditionary force lands near
Porto. •
August 21 –
Peninsular War:
Battle of Vimeiro – British-Portuguese troops under Wellesley defeat the French under General
Jean-Andoche Junot. •
September 13 –
Finnish War –
Battle of Jutas – Swedish forces under Lieutenant General
Georg Carl von Döbeln beat the Russians, making von Döbeln a Swedish war hero. •
September 27 – The
Congress of Erfurt, between the emperors
Napoleon I of France and
Alexander I of Russia, begins. •
September 29 –
Finnish War: A truce is declared between Swedish and Russian troops in Finland.
October–December •
October 12 –
Banco do Brasil, a major
financial group in
South America, founded in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. •
November 8 –
1808 United States presidential election:
James Madison defeats
Charles C. Pinckney, winning 122 electoral votes to Pinckney's 47. Ten of the 17 states choose their electors by popular vote, the rest choose through state legislatures.
George Clinton, who is separately elected as vice president, gets six electoral votes for president. •
November 12 – Four large French frigates under the command of
Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, including the
Venus, are sent to operate from
Isle de France (Mauritius) against British trade in the
Indian Ocean, triggering the
Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811. •
November 15 –
Mahmud II (1808–
1839) succeeds
Mustafa IV (
1807–1808), as
sultan of the
Ottoman Empire. •
November 19 – A new truce at Olkijoki ends fighting in Finland, and Swedish troops concede that area to Russia. •
November 23 –
Battle of Tudela: French
Marshal Lannes defeats a Spanish army. •
December 1 –
Tsar Alexander I of Russia proclaims
Finland a part of Russia. •
December 5 –
Napoleon joins his army in Spain. •
December 9 – At 20:34 UTC,
Mercury occults Saturn (there are no observation records). •
December 20 •
Peninsular War:
Second siege of Zaragoza begins. • The original
Covent Garden Theatre in London is destroyed by a fire, along with most of the scenery, costumes and scripts. •
December 22 –
Beethoven concert of 22 December 1808:
Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and plays piano in a marathon
benefit concert, at the
Theater an der Wien in
Vienna, consisting entirely of first public performances of works by him, including
Symphony No. 5,
Symphony No. 6,
Piano Concerto No. 4 and
Choral Fantasy.
Date unknown •
Goethe's
Faust, Part One (Faust. Eine Tragödie, erster Teil) is published in full in
Tübingen. • The
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich is given the title of Royal Academy of Fine Arts by King
Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. • The
Rijksmuseum moves from
The Hague to
Amsterdam, where it is located temporarily at the
Royal Palace. == Births ==