1808

1808 (MDCCCVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (dominical letter CB) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter ED) of the Julian calendar, the 1808th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 808th year of the 2nd millennium, the 8th year of the 19th century, and the 9th year of the 1800s decade. As of the start of 1808, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1918.

Events

January–March

• January 1 – The importation of slaves into the United States is banned by the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves; this is also the earliest day under the United States Constitution that an amendment can be made restricting slavery.
• January 12 – The organizational meeting leading to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
• January 22 – The Bragança Portuguese Royal Family arrives in Brazil, fleeing from the French army.
• 26 January – 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 – Russia issues an ultimatum to Sweden to join Napoleon's Continental System against Great Britain and Ireland.
• February 2 – French troops occupy the Papal States (Vatican).
• February 6 – The ship Topaz (from Boston April 5, 1807, hunting seals) rediscovers the Pitcairn Islands; only one HMS Bounty mutineer is still alive, Alexander Smith (John Adams).
• February 11 – Anthracite coal is first burned as residential heating fuel by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
• February 21 – Finnish War: Russian troops cross the border into Finland without a declaration of war.
• March 2 – Russian troops occupy Helsinki and threaten Sveaborg.
• March 2 – The inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
• March 8 – Brazil: With the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil (1808), the colony became the seat of Portuguese Empire.
• March 11 – Russian troops occupy Tampere.
• 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.

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.^[1]
  • The 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: The people of Madrid rise up against the French troops.
• May 3
  • Finnish War: The fortress of Sveaborg is lost by Sweden to Russia.
  • Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose on May 2 are executed near Príncipe Pío Hill (Francisco Goya paints the fight and the execution in 1814).
• June 12 – Finnish War: A landing of Swedish troops at Ala-Lemu, near Turku, fails.
• June 19 – Finnish War: A second landing of Swedish troops at Ala-Lemu fails.
• June 30 – Finnish War: The Swedish archipelago fleet defeats the Russians in the naval battle of Turku.

July–September

• July 14 – Troops under Colonel Adlercreutz force the Russians to withdraw in Lapua.
• July 22 – French General Dupont surrenders to Spanish irregular forces following the Battle of Bailén.
• August 10 – Troops under Carl von Döbeln defeat a Russian attack in Kauhajoki.
• August 17 – Battle of Roliça: An Anglo-Portuguese army under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeat an outnumbered French army under General Henri Delaborde.
• August 21 – Battle of Vimeiro: British troops under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeat the French under General Jean-Andoche Junot.
• September 27 – The Congress of Erfurt between the emperors Napoleon I of France and Alexander I of Russia starts.
• September 29 – A truce is declared between Swedish and Russian troops in Finland; it ends on October 19.

October–December

• November 15 – Mahmud II (1808–1839) succeeds Mustafa IV (1807–1808) as sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
• November 19 – A new truce ends fighting in Finland.
• November 23 – Battle of Tudela: French Marshal Lannes defeats a Spanish army.
• November
  • Swedish troops evacuate Finland. Tsar Alexander I of Russia proclaims Finland a part of Russia.
  • James Madison defeats Charles C. Pinckney in the U.S. presidential election.
• December – Napoleon joins his army in Spain.
• December 9 – At 20:34 UTC Mercury occults Saturn (there are no observation records).
• December 20 – 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 the Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 6, Piano Concerto No. 4 and Choral Fantasy.

Date unknown

• The British Royal Navy establishes the West Africa Squadron on the coast of West Africa to enforce the abolitionist Blockade of Africa.
• Four large French frigates under the command of Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin are sent to operate from Isle de France (Mauritius) against British trade in the Indian Ocean, triggering the Mauritius campaign of 1809–11.
• Goethe's Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy is published in full in Tübingen.
• The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich is founded.
• Barium, calcium, magnesium and strontium are isolated by Humphry Davy in England.
• 1808–1865 – 500,000 African slaves arrive in Cuba.

Births

January–June

Carl Spitzweg

Napoleon III

• January 6 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American naval officer (d. 1864)
• January 13 – Salmon P. Chase, American politician and Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1873)
• January 19 – Lysander Spooner, American philosopher (d. 1887)
• January 27 – David Strauss, German theologian (d. 1874)
• February 5 – Carl Spitzweg, German painter (d. 1885)
• February 26 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
• March 1 – Edward "Ned" Kendall, American bandleader and instrumentalist (keyed bugle) (d. 1861)
• March 17 – Pierre-Louis Dietsch, French composer and conductor (d. 1865)
• April 13 – Antonio Meucci, Italian-born inventor (d. 1889)
• April 20 – Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (d. 1873)
• May 6 – William Strong, American politician and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1895)
• May 18 – Venancio Flores, Uruguayan general and president of Uruguay (d. 1868)
• May 21 – David de Jahacob Lopez Cardozo, Dutch Talmudist (d. 1890)
• May 22 – Gérard de Nerval, French writer (d. 1855)
• June 3 – Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States (d. 1889)
• June 13 – Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, French general and politician, first president of the Third Republic (1875-1879) (d. 1893)
• June 16 – James Frederick Ferrier, Scottish metaphysical writer and philosopher (d. 1864)
• June 17 – Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian author (d. 1845)
• June 20 – Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (d. 1888)

July–December

• July 9 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and military leader (d. 1887)
• September 7 – William Lindley, English Sanitary Engineer (d. 1900)
• September 9 – Wendela Hebbe, Swedish journalist (d. 1899)
• September 15 – John Hutton Balfour, Scottish botanist (d. 1884)
• September 29 – Henry Bennett, American politician (d. 1868)
• October 6 – King Frederick VII of Denmark (d. 1863)
• October 20 – Karl Andree, German geographer (d. 1875)
• November 1 – John Taylor, American religious leader (d. 1887)
• November 2 – Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (d. 1889)
• November 6 – Friedrich Julius Richelot, German mathematician (d. 1875)
• December 29 – Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (d. 1875)

Deaths

January–June

• January 4 – Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais, Italian general in the French Revolution (b. 1741)
• February 14 – John Dickinson, American lawyer and governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania (b. 1732)
• March 13 – King Christian VII of Denmark (b. 1749)
• May 18 – Elijah Craig, American minister and inventor
• May 28 – Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer (b. 1720)

July–December

• September 3 – John Montgomery, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1722)
• September 5 – John Home, Scottish writer (b. 1722)
• September 6 – Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (b. 1723)
• September 13 – Saverio Bettinelli, Italian writer (b. 1718)
• September 17 – Benjamin Bourne, American politician (b. 1755)
• October 9 – John Claiborne, U.S. politician (b. 1777)
• November 3 – Theophilus Lindsey, English theologian (b. 1723)
• November 10 – Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, British soldier and governor of Quebec (b. 1724)
• November 17 – David Zeisberger, Moravian missionary (b. 1721)

Date unknown

• Omie Wise, subject of a murder ballad (b. 1789)

References