| Year |
World Events |
Significant Musical Events |
Composer Births & Deaths |
| 1800 |
· Napoleon names himself First Consul of the French Republic
· Washington, DC becomes permanent US capitol
· First zinc/copper battery made
· Thomas Jefferson is 3rd US President |
· Boieldieu: The Caliph of Bagdad
· Cherubini: Les Deux Journees
· Beethoven: Piano Concerto #3 |
|
| 1801 |
· Admiral Nelson defeats the Danish fleet
· Prussian Army enters Hanover
· Robert Fulton builds first submarine
· Union Jack adopted as official flag of Great Britain |
· Haydn: The Seasons
· Boieldieu: Harp Concerto in C
· Beethoven: Violin Sonata in F (Spring)
· Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 (Moonlight) |
· Vincenzo Bellini born
· Josef Lanner born
· Albert Lortzing born |
| 1802 |
· Napoleon declares himself President of the Italian Republic
· John Dalton introduces atomic theory into chemistry; |
· Beethoven: Symphony #2
· Beethoven: Piano Sonata #17 |
|
| 1803 |
· Louisiana Purchase
· France and England renew their war
· Hard bullet shell invented by Henry Shrapnel |
· Beethoven: Violin Sonata #9 (Kreutzer)
· Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E Flat |
· Adolphe Adam born
· Hector Berlioz born
· Franz Xaver Sussmayer died |
| 1804 |
· Napoleon crowned Emperor
· Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in duel |
· Beethoven: Symphony #3 (Eroica)
· Beethoven: Triple Concerto in C
· Beethoven: Piano Sonata #21 (Waldstein) |
· Mikhail Glinka born
· Johann Strauss (Sr.) born |
| 1805 |
· Admiral Nelson defeats Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar: dies in the battle
· Napoleon becomes King of Italy |
· Beethoven: Piano Sonata #23 (Appassionata)
· Paganini: 24 Caprices |
Luigi Boccherini died |
| 1806 |
· Napoleon conquers Germany
· Beaufort wind scale is devised; |
· Beethoven: Fidelio
· Beethoven: String Quartets, Op. 59 (Razumovsky)
· Beethoven: Leonore Overture #3
· Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D
· Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4 in G
· Beethoven: Symphony #4
· Rossini: Demetrio a Polibio |
|
| 1807 |
· Napoleon suppresses Tribune to consolidate his power
· Fulton's paddle steamboat sails Hudson River
· Gas street lighting common in London |
· Beethoven: Coriolan Overture
· Beethoven: Leonore Overture #3
· Spontini: La Vestale
· Jan Dussek: Piano Sonata in F Sharp Minor |
|
| 1808 |
· U.S. Congress outlaws slave importation from Africa |
· Mauro Giuliani: Guitar Concerto #1 in A
· Beethoven: Symphony #5 in C Minor
· Beethoven: Symphony #6 (Pastoral)
· Beethoven: Piano Trio in D (Ghost)
· Beethoven: Choral Fantasy |
|
| 1809 |
· James Madison: 4th US President
· Pope Pius VII becomes a prisoner as Napoleon annexes Papal States
· Washington Irving: Rip Van Winkle
· Braille invents reading system for the blind |
· Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 (Emperor)
· Spontini: Fernand Cortez |
· Felix Mendelssohn born
· Franz Josef Haydn died |
| 1810 |
· Having divorced Josephine, Napoleon marries Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria and annexes plenty of European real estate
· Emergence of Simon Bolivar in S. America
· Scott: The Lady of the Lake |
· Beethoven: Piano Sonata #26 (Les Adieux)
· Beethoven: Egmont Overture
· Beethoven: Bagatelle (Fur Elise)
· Rossini: The Marriage Contract |
· Frederic Chopin born
· Otto von Nicolai born
· Robert Schumann born |
| 1811 |
· Austria declares bankruptcy
· Battle of Tippecanoe
· Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility |
· Beethoven: Piano Trio in B Flat (Archduke)
· C.M. von Weber: Abu Hassan
· C.M. von Weber: Clarinet Concerti #1 & #2 |
Franz Liszt born |
| 1812 |
· British-American War of 1812
· Assassination of British Prime Minister
· Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign
· Brothers Grimm: Fairy Tales |
· Beethoven: Symphony #7
· Beethoven meets Goethe |
Friedrich von Flotow born |
| 1813 |
· Napoleon's army defeated at Leipzig
· Simon Bolivar assumes control in Venezuela
· Mexico declares independence
· Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice |
· Beethoven: Wellington's Victory
· Paganini: Violin Concerto #1
· Rossini: Italian Girl in Algiers |
· Andre Gretry died
· Giueseppe Verdi born
· Richard Wagner born |
| 1814 |
· Napoleon abdicates: banished to Elba
· Louis XVIII takes French throne
· Washington, DC burned by British troops
· Pope Pius released from prison |
· Schubert: Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel
· Francis Scott Key: Defense of Fort McHenry (later 'Star Spangled Banner')
· John Field: Nocturnes
· Invention of metronome by Maelzel |
|
| 1815 |
· Battle of New Orleans
· Napoleon escapes Elba, returns to power (i.e. 'The Hundred Days'), abdicates again and banished to St. Helena
· Invention of miner's safety lamp
· U.S.S. Fulton becomes first steam-powered warship
|
Schubert: Erl-King |
· Robert Volkmann born
· Robert Franz born |
| 1816 |
· First German constitution approved by Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar
· Massive emigration from England to Canada and US (due to British economic crisis)
· Invention of the stethoscope and kaleidoscope |
· Hummel: Piano Concerto in A Minor
· Spohr: Violin Concerto #8
· Cherubini: Requiem in C Minor
· Rossini: The Barber of Seville
· Schubert: Symphony #5 in B Flat |
|
| 1817 |
· Inauguration of 5th US President: Monroe
· Venezuela claims independence
· Erie Canal construction begins |
· Rossini: Cinderella
· Rossini: Thieving Magpie
· Clementi: Gradus ad Parnassum (piano studies) |
|
| 1818 |
· Chile declares independence
· The 49th parallel is chosen as the US/Canadian border
· Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley: Frankenstein |
· Beethoven: Piano Sonata #29 (Hammerklavier)
· Rossini: Moses in Egypt
· Donizetti: Enrico, Conte di Borgogna
· Mohr & Huber: Silent Night (Christmas carol) |
Charles Gounod born |
| 1819 |
· Spain sells Florida to US
· Simon Bolivar attains presidency of Colombia
· England restricts minors to 12-hour workdays |
· C.M. von Weber: Invitation to the Dance
· Schubert: Piano Quintet in A (Trout)
· Beethoven becomes profoundly deaf |
· Jacques Offenbach born
· Clara Wieck (later Schumann) born |
| 1820 |
· Spanish Revolution
· Missouri Compromise
· Scott: Ivanhoe |
Beethoven: Piano Sonata #30 |
Henri Vieuxtemps born |
| 1821 |
· Death of Napoleon
· Constable: The Hay Wain
· Discovery of Thermoelectricity |
· C.M. von Weber: Der Freischutz
· Danzi: Wind Quintet
· Danzi: Concertante in B Flat, Op. 41 |
|
| 1822 |
· Greece invaded by Turkish armies
· Invention of the diorama
· Gas street lights appear in Boston
· First iron railroad bridge (Massachusetts) |
· Schubert: Symphony #8 (Unfinished)
· Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy
· Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #31 & #32
· Liszt makes pianistic debut (Vienna) |
Cesar Franck born |
| 1823 |
· The Monroe Doctrine
· Invention of waterproof fabric |
· Fernando Sor: Mozart Variations, Op. 9
· Spohr: Jessonda
· Jan Vaclav Vorisek: Symphony in D, Op. 24
· Beethoven: Diabelli Variations
· Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
· Rossini: Semiramide
· Schubert: Die Schone Mullerin
· Schubert: Rosamunde Incidental Music
· Weber: Euryanthe |
|
| 1824 |
· US Presidential election: none of the four candidates wins a majority of votes; House of Representatives selects John Q. Adams |
· Beethoven: Symphony #9 (Choral)
· Schubert: String Quartet #13 (Rosamunde) & #14 (Death and the Maiden) |
· Anton Bruckner born
· Peter von Cornelius born
· Bedrich Smetana born |
| 1825 |
· Nicholas I becomes Russian Czar, suppresses Decembrist revolt
· In France, sacrilege is a capital offense |
· Schubert: Symphony #9 (Great C)
· Schubert: Ave Maria
· Boieldieu: La Dame Blanche
· Mendelssohn: Octet in E Flat |
· Johann Strauss, Jr. born
· Antonio Salieri died |
| 1826 |
· War in Burma ends with Yandabu Treaty
· Death of Thomas Jefferson
· James Fenimore Cooper: The Last of the Mohicans |
· Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream Overture
· Paganini: Violin Concerto #2
· C.M. von Weber: Oberon |
Carl Maria von Weber died |
| 1827 |
· War rages between Turkey and Greece
· J.J. Audubon publishes Birds of North America |
· Schubert: Die Winterreise
· Bellini: Il Pirate |
Ludwig van Beethoven died |
| 1828 |
· Russia begins war with Turkey
· Alexandre Dumas: The Three Musketeers
· Construction of the Baltimore & Ohio, the first U.S. railroad, begins |
· Schubert: Piano Trios #1 & #2
· Schubert: Schwanengesang
· Auber: Mute Girl of Portici |
Franz Schubert died |
| 1829 |
· Andrew Jackson: 7th US President
· Detroit's William Burt granted first patent for the typewriter |
· Rossini: William Tell
· Bellini: La Straniera
· Chopin's public debut
· Mendelssohn revives Bach's 'St. Matthew Passion' (Leipzig) |
· Louis Moreau Gottschalk born
· Anton Rubinstein born |
| 1830 |
· Algeria falls to France: meanwhile, in Paris, yet another revolution
· Ecuador declares independence
· Mormon religion founded by Joseph Smith |
· Auber: Fra Diavolo
· Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave)
· Mendelssohn: Symphony #5 (Reformation)
· Chopin: Piano Concerto #1 in E Minor
· Chopin: Piano Concerto #2 in F Minor
· Donizetti: Anna Bolena
· Bellini: The Capulets & The Montagues
· Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique |
· Karl Goldmark born
· Eduard Remenyi born |
| 1831 |
· Nat Turner leads Southhampton (Virginia) slave revolt
· Charles Darwin, aboard the H.M.S. Beagle, sails to South America & Australia
· Cholera outbreak across Asia & Europe
· Victor Hugo: Notre Dame |
· Meyerbeer: Robert the Devil
· Schumann: Papillons
· Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto #1 in G Minor
· Chopin: Nocturne in E Flat, Op. 9, No. 2
· Bellini: La Sonnambula
· Bellini: Norma
· Herold: Zampa |
· Joseph Joachim born
· Ignaz Pleyel died |
| 1832 |
· Egypt defeats the Turks
· Boston is site of first New England Anti-Slavery Society
· Death of Goethe |
· Chopin: Etudes, Op. 10
· Donizetti: L'Elisir d'Amore
· Herold: Le Pre aux Clercs |
· Muzio Clementi died
· Leopold Damrosch born |
| 1833 |
· Santa Anna becomes Mexican president
· Davy Crockett's autobiography is popular
· Slavery abolished throughout Britain |
· Mendelssohn: Symphony #4 (Italian)
· Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia |
Johannes Brahms born |
| 1834 |
· Official end of Spanish Inquisition
· US Senate censures President Jackson as part of the Bank of the United States scandal
· Victor Hugo: Hunchback of Notre Dame
· Reaping machine patented by McCormick |
· Berlioz: Harold in Italy
· Adolphe Adam: Le Chalet |
· Alexander Borodin born
· Francois Adrien Boieldieu died |
| 1835 |
· Texas secedes from Mexico
· Reappearance of Halley's comet
· The first of many P.T. Barnum exhibitions |
· Schumann: Carnaval
· Chopin: Impromptu in C Sharp Minor
· Paganini: Moto Perpetuo in C
· Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
· Bellini: I Puritani
· Halevy: La Juive |
· Vincenzo Bellini died
· Cesar Cui born
· Camille Saint-Saens born
· Henryk Wieniawski born |
| 1836 |
· Battle of the Alamo (death of Davy Crockett)
· Charles Dickens: Pickwick Papers |
· Cherubini: Requiem in D Minor
· Glinka: A Life for the Tsar
· Meyerbeer: Les Huguenots
· Mendelssohn: St. Paul Oratorio
· Chopin: Etudes, Op. 25 |
Leo Delibes born |
| 1837 |
· Martin Van Buren becomes 8th US President
· Queen Victoria begins her reign
· Electric telegraph patented
· U.S. Congress passes Gag Law to suppress debate on slavery
· Influential Russian playwright Pushkin killed as result of a duel |
· Lortzing: The Tsar and the Carpenter
· Schumann: Symphonic Etudes
· Schumann: Fantasiestucke for Piano
· Chopin: Scherzo #2 in B Flat Minor
· Berlioz: Requiem
· Auber: Le Domino Noir |
· Mily Balakirev born
· Emile Waldteufel born
· John Field died
· Johann Nepomuk Hummel died |
| 1838 |
· First trans-Atlantic voyage by steamship
· Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist |
· Adam: O Holy Night
· Schumann: Arabeske
· Schumann: Kreisleriana
· Schumann: Scenes from Childhood
· Schumann: Fantasia in C
· Liszt: Paganini Etudes
· Chopin: Polonaise in A (Military)
· Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini
· Chopin begins affair with Georges Sand |
· Georges Bizet born
· Max Bruch born |
| 1839 |
· Argentine-Uruguay War
· Opium War (Britain/China)
· E. A. Poe: Fall of the House of Usher
· Rubber vulcanization discovered by Charles Goodyear
· Rules of baseball devised by A. Doubleday |
· Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in D Minor
· Chopin: Piano Sonata (Funeral March)
· Chopin: Preludes, Op. 28
· Berlioz: Romeo and Juliet |
|
| 1840 |
· Wedding of Queen Victoria/Prince Albert
· James Fenimore Cooper: The Pathfinder |
· Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben
· Schumann: Dichterliebe
· Donizetti: La Fille du Regiment
· Donizetti: La Favorita
· Clara Schumann: Lieder, Op. 12
· Invention of the harmonium
· Robert Schumann marries Clara Wieck |
· Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky born
· Nicolo Paganini died
|
| 1841 |
· William Henry Harrison inaugurated as 9th US President, dies one month into office and is succeeded by John Tyler
· First appearance of Punch (London periodical)
· James Fenimore Cooper: The Deerslayer |
· Adam: Giselle
· Rossini: Stabat Mater
· Schumann: Symphony #1 (Spring)
· Chopin: Fantasy in F Minor
· Berlioz: Les Nuits D'Ete
· Invention of the saxophone |
Antonin Dvorak born |
| 1842 |
· Canadian frontier defined by Webster- Ashburton Treaty
· China cedes Hong Kong to Britain
· First use of ether as surgical anesthetic
· E. A. Poe: Masque of the Red Death |
· Lortzing: Der Wildschutz
· Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla
· Mendelssohn: Symphony #3 (Scottish)
· Verdi: Nabucco
· Chopin: Polonaise, Op. 53 (Heroic)
· Donizetti: Linda di Chamounix
· Wagner: Rienzi |
· Arrigo Boito born
· Jules Massenet born
· Arthur Sullivan born
· Luigi Cherubini died |
| 1843 |
· After military revolt, Isabella II crowned Queen of Spain
· Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol
· Paris is site of world's first night club |
· Balfe: The Bohemian Girl
· Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream Incidental Music
· Wagner: The Flying Dutchman
· Verdi: I Lombardi
· Donizetti: Don Pasquale |
· Edvard Grieg born
· Hans Richter born |
| 1844 |
· Sweden's King Charles XIV dies
· Invention of wood pulp paper
· YMCA founded in England |
· Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor
· Verdi: Ernani
· Chopin: Piano Sonata in B Minor
· Chopin: Lullaby in D Flat
· Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture
· Flotow: Alessandro Stradella |
· Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov born
· Pablo de Sarasate born |
| 1845 |
· James K. Polk is 11th US President
· Maori uprising in New Zealand
· E. A. Poe: The Raven
· Opening of U.S. Naval Academy |
· Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor
· Wagner: Tannhauser
· Lortzing: Undine |
· Charles Marie Widor born
· Gabriel Faure born |
| 1846 |
· After revolts break out in Poland, Russian and Austrian troops divide Krakow
· U.S. & Mexico at war
· Herman Melville: Typee
· Sewing machine invented and patented
· Potato famine in Ireland |
· Schumann: Symphony #2
· Mendelssohn: Elijah
· Chopin: Barcarolle in F Sharp
· Chopin: Polonaise-Fantasy in A Flat
· Berlioz: Damnation of Faust
· Clara Schumann: Piano Trio in G Minor
· Lortzing: Der Waffenschmied |
|
| 1847 |
· Mexico City captured by US troops
· Salt Lake City founded by Mormons
· Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights |
· Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel: Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 11
· Verdi: Macbeth
· Chopin: 'Minute' Waltz
· Flotow: Martha
· Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2 in C Sharp Minor |
· Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel died
· Felix Mendelssohn died |
| 1848 |
· Napoleon's son Louis becomes French President after (yet another) Paris revolt
· Three revolutions in Vienna results in abdication of Emperor
· First successful appendectomy performed
· First California gold rush |
· Johann Strauss, Sr.: Radetzky March
· Glinka: Kamarinskaya
· Liszt: Les Preludes |
· Hubert Parry born
· Gaetano Donizetti died |
| 1849 |
· Zachary Taylor: 12th US President
· Dostoyevsky sentenced to Serbian prison
· Charles Dickens: David Copperfield
· Death of E. A. Poe
· Speed of light measured |
· Nicolai: The Merry Wives of Windsor
· Bruckner: Requiem in D Minor
· Meyerbeer: The Prophet
· Verdi: Luisa Miller
· Liszt: Years of Pilgrimage: Italy
· Berlioz: Te Deum
· Wagner flees Dresden after revolt |
· Frederic Chopin died
· Otto von Nicolai died
· Johann Strauss, Sr. died |
