What happened in 1820

13 events　North America 3, Europe 9, Latin America 1

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Highlights of 1820

Jan 29EuropeKing George IV becomes the new British monarch upon the death his father George III after 59+ years on the throne. The elder George's death ends the 9-year period known as the British Regency.
JanNorth AmericaMarch 3 and 6 – The Missouri Compromise becomes law, allowing admission of Missouri and Maine, as slave and free states respectively, as U.S. states.
Mar 10EuropeThe Astronomical Society of London is founded.
Mar 26North AmericaJoseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, receives his First Vision in Palmyra, New York.
Dec 3North AmericaJames Monroe is re-elected, virtually unopposed, in the 1820 United States presidential election. One elector, William Plumer of New Hampshire, casts his vote for John Quincy Adams in order to protest the administration of Monroe and Daniel Tompkins while also establishing Adams as a contender for the election in 1824.
Latin AmericaConstruction work is completed on the Citadelle Laferrière in Haiti, the largest fortification in the Americas, built on the orders of Henri Christophe to defend the country against potential French reoccupation.

North America3

JanMarch 3 and 6 – The Missouri Compromise becomes law, allowing admission of Missouri and Maine, as slave and free states respectively, as U.S. states.
Mar 26Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, receives his First Vision in Palmyra, New York.
Dec 3James Monroe is re-elected, virtually unopposed, in the 1820 United States presidential election. One elector, William Plumer of New Hampshire, casts his vote for John Quincy Adams in order to protest the administration of Monroe and Daniel Tompkins while also establishing Adams as a contender for the election in 1824.

Europe9

Jan 1A constitutionalist military insurrection at Cádiz leads to the summoning of the Spanish Parliament to meet on March 7, becoming the nominal beginning of the "Trienio Liberal" in Spain.
Jan 29King George IV becomes the new British monarch upon the death his father George III after 59+ years on the throne. The elder George's death ends the 9-year period known as the British Regency.
Feb 13The Assassination of the Duke of Berry takes place in Paris. The Duke of Berry, nephew of Louis XVIII, is stabbed to death while attending the Paris Opera.
Feb 23The Cato Street Conspiracy, a plot to assassinate Britain's Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, and his Cabinet is thwarted when police in London arrest 13 plotters after being warned by an informant.
Mar 9King Ferdinand VII of Spain accepts the new constitution, beginning the Trienio Liberal.
Mar 10The Astronomical Society of London is founded.
Apr 1A proclamation, signed "By order of the Committee of Organisation for forming a Provisional Government", begins the "Radical War" in Scotland.
May 1The last judicial decapitation in the United Kingdom is meted out to the principals in the Cato Street conspirators after their public hanging for treason in London. Legally, the post-hanging beheading is a mitigation of the last sentence in Britain of "hanging, drawing and quartering".
Jul 26Union Chain Bridge opens across the River Tweed, between England and Scotland. Its span of 449 ft (137 m) is the world's longest for a vehicular bridge at this time.

Latin America1

Construction work is completed on the Citadelle Laferrière in Haiti, the largest fortification in the Americas, built on the orders of Henri Christophe to defend the country against potential French reoccupation.