1812 - What happened in 1812 ?

February 1812

Sunday 02:

Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, along the California coast.

Friday 07:

The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.

Tuesday 11:

Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry gerrymanders for the first time.

Thursday 27:

Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.

March 1812

Thursday 26:

An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.

April 1812

Saturday 04:

U.S. President James Madison enacted a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.

Thursday 30:

The Territory of Orleans becomes the 18th U.S. state under the name Louisiana.

May 1812

Monday 11:

Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, London.

June 1812

Monday 01:

War of 1812: U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom.

Thursday 04:

Following Louisiana's admittance as a U.S. state, the territory previously known by that name was renamed the Missouri Territory.

Thursday 18:

War of 1812: The U.S. Congress declares war on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Wednesday 24:

Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's invasion of Russia begins.

July 1812

Sunday 12:

War of 1812: The United States invades Canada at Windsor, Ontario.

Wednesday 22:

British forces led by Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) defeat French troops near Salamanca, Spain.

August 1812

Wednesday 05:

War of 1812: Tecumseh's Indian force ambushes Thomas Van Horne's 200 Americans at Brownstone Creek, causing them to flee and retreat.

Sunday 16:

War of 1812: American General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit without a fight to the British Army.

Wednesday 19:

War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerrière off the coast of Nova Scotia.

September 1812

Monday 07:

Napoleon defeats the Russian army of Alexander I near the village of Borodino.

Monday 14:

The Russian army burns Moscow to prevent Napoléon from capturing it.

Tuesday 15:

The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.

October 1812

Friday 09:

War of 1812: In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships; the HMS Detroit and the HMS Caledonia.

Wednesday 14:

Work on London's Regent's Canal starts.

Monday 19:

Napoleon I of France retreats from Moscow.

Friday 23:

Claude François de Malet, a French general, begins a conspiracy to overthrow Napoleon Bonaparte, claiming that the Emperor died in Russia and that he was now the commandant of Paris. De Malet was executed on October 29.

Saturday 24:

Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow.

December 1812

Saturday 26:

Delaware and Chesapeake blockaded during the War of 1812