Year by year · 19th century
1812
1812 in world history: 20 events, 10 births, 7 deaths, 3 works, 4 states founded and 4 that came to an end. 1,122 recorded states existed that year.
Events
Strongest of the New Madrid earthquakes strikes the Mississippi valley
The last and largest of a series of great earthquakes hit near New Madrid, Missouri. It created waterfalls and made the Mississippi briefly run backwards near the epicentre.
Lord Byron's maiden speech defends the Luddites
In the House of Lords, the young poet spoke against the Frame-Breaking Bill, which made wrecking machinery a capital crime. He blamed the desperation of the weavers on poverty, but the bill passed.
Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is shot in the Commons lobby
John Bellingham, a merchant with a grievance against the government, shot Perceval dead. He remains the only British prime minister to be assassinated.
Madison asks Congress for war with Britain
President Madison's message cited the impressment of American sailors and British restrictions on neutral trade. Congress declared war on 18 June, beginning the War of 1812.
United States declares war on Britain
Madison signed the declaration after Congress narrowly voted for war. The War of 1812 ended in stalemate in 1815, but gave Americans 'The Star-Spangled Banner'.
USS Constitution defeats HMS Guerriere
The American frigate Constitution dismasted and captured HMS Guerriere off Nova Scotia. Seeing shot rebound from her oak hull, sailors nicknamed her 'Old Ironsides'.
Napoleon and Kutuzov fight the Battle of Borodino
Some 70,000 men fell at Borodino, the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars. The Russians withdrew, and a week later Napoleon entered an abandoned Moscow that was soon ablaze.
Napoleon's army enters Moscow
The Grande Armée entered a largely deserted Moscow, and fires soon destroyed much of the city. Napoleon waited five weeks for a peace offer that never came before beginning his disastrous retreat.
Campaign
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia was Napoleon's campaign of 1812, known in Russia as the Patriotic War.
Treaty · Peace
Treaty of Bucharest (1812)
The Treaty of Bucharest, signed on 28 May 1812, ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812.
Battle
Battle of the Berezina
The Battle of the Berezina, fought from 26 to 29 November 1812, was the crossing of the Berezina River in present-day Belarus by Napoleon's retreating Grande Armée under Russian attack.
Event
Fire of Moscow (1812)
The Fire of Moscow broke out in September 1812, shortly after Napoleon's army occupied the city.
In the profiles
Russian EmpireNapoleon's Grande Armée invades Russia and is destroyed in the winter retreat
Principality of MoldaviaRussia annexes Bessarabia by the Treaty of Bucharest
Wars and longer events
Born in 1812 10
Died in 1812 7
Works 3
States founded 4
States that came to an end 4
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1812. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1812
- MLA
- “1812.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1812. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “1812.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1812.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1812’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1812 (Accessed: ).