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.

Tuesday 13:

On the Niagara frontier in Ontario, Canada, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer are repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock.

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