George Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill trials (it was the only one to complete the trial!)
First Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race
London Metropolitan Police Force formed, nicknamed 'Bobbies' after Sir Robert Peel
Louis Braille invents his system of finger-reading for the blind
St Katharine Docks in London opened (designed by Thomas Telford)
Ohm's Law published
Stockton to Darlington Railway opens ? world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains
National Gallery in London opens to the public
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) founded (called the 'National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck' until 1854)
RSPCA established
Portland cement patented
US President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts (the 'Monroe Doctrine')
New laws concerning marriage by license ? 'very troublesome' according to some the Act was repealed all in a hurry at the beginning of the next session
Peel begins penal reforms ? death penalty abolished for over 100 crimes
Rugby Football 'invented' at Rugby School
Rubberised waterproof material produced by MacIntosh
Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society
Napoleon Bonaparte dies on St Helena
Faraday publishes 'Principles of electro-magnetic rotation'
Constable paints 'The Hay Wain'
Trial of Queen Caroline to prove her infidelities so George IV can divorce her ? George tries to secure a Bill of Pains and Penalties against her ? Caroline is virtually acquitted because bill passed by such a small majority of Lords
Regent's Canal in London opens
Accession of George IV, previously Prince Regent
Cato Street Conspiracy ? plot to assissinate British cabinet
Abolition of the Spanish Inquisition
Peterloo Massacre at Manchester ? a large, orderly group of 60,000 meets at St. Peter's Fields, Manchester ? demand Parliamentary Reform ? mounted troops charge on the meeting, killing 11 people and and maiming many others
SS 'Savannah' first steamship to cross Atlantic reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26 Days reaching Liverpool 20 June 1819 (26 Days mostly under sail)
Primitive bicycle, the Dandy Horse, becomes popular
Britain returns to gold standard
Singapore founded by Sir Stamford Raffles
'Convention of 1818' signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its length
Manchester cotton spinners' strike
March of the Manchester Blanketeers; Habeas Corpus suspended
Constable painted 'Flatford Mill'
Income tax abolished
For the first time British silver coins were produced with an intrinsic value substantially below their face value ? the first official 'token' coinage
Climate: the 'year without a summer' ? followed a volcanic explosion of the mountain 'Tambora in Indonesia the previous year the biggest volcanic explosion in 10000 years
Large scale emigration to North America
Trans-Atlantic packet service begins
The Battle of Waterloo: Napoleon defeated and exiled to St. Helena
Trial by Jury established in Scotland
Davy develops the safety lamp for miners
Treaty of Ghent signed ending the 1812 war between Britain and the US
'The Times' first printed by a 'mechanical apparatus' (at 1100 sheets per hour)
The British burn the White House
Convention of London signed, a treaty between the UK and the Dutch
Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba
Invasion of France by Allies
Ireland: First recorded '12th of July' sectarian riots in Belfast
Jane Austen wrote 'Pride and Prejudice'
Napoleon retreats from Moscow with catastrophic losses
Start of American 'War of 1812' (to 1814) against England and Canada
Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, assassinated ? shot as he entered the House of Commons by a bankrupt Liverpool broker, John Bellingham, who was subsequently hanged
Prince of Wales (future George IV) made Regent after George III deemed insane
John McAdam begins road construction in England, giving his name to the process of road metalling
Royal Opera House opens in London
Birth of Charles Darwin
Beethoven premieres his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy together in Vienna
'Hot Wednesday' ? temperature of 101?F in the shade recorded in London
Gas lighting in London streets
Parliament passes Act prohibiting slavery and the importation of slaves from 1808 ? but does not prohibit colonial slavery
Nelson buried in St Paul's cathedral, London
Dartmoor Prison opened (built by French prisoners)
Battle of Austerlitz; Napoleon defeats Austrians and Russians
Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar
London docks opened
Spain declares war on Britain
Napoleon declares himself Emperor of the French
John Wedgwood (eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood) founds The Royal Horticultural Society
Richard Trevithick runs his railway engine on the Penydarren Railway (9.5 miles from Pen-y-Darren to Abercynon in South Wales) this hauled a train with 10 tons of iron and 70 passengers. It was commemorated by the Royal Mint in 2004 in the form of A ?2 coin.
Matthew Flinders recommends that the newly discovered country, New Holland, be renamed 'Australia'
First public railway opens (Surrey Iron Railway, 9 miles from Wandsworth to Croydon, horse-drawn)
Peace of Amiens ends ? resumption of war with France ? The Napoleonic Wars (1803-18l5)
Louisiana Purchase: Napoleon sells French possessions in America to United States
Poaching made a Capital offense in England if capture resisted
Richard Trevithick built another steam carriage and ran it in London as the first self-propelled vehicle in the capital and the first London bus
Semaphore signaling perfected by Admiral Popham
English
1813 - 1829 (16 years) 