What happened in 1821

26 events　World 1, North America 3, Europe 11, USSR / Russia 1, Middle East 2, Latin America 8

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Highlights of 1821

World1

  • May 12Congress of Laibach finally ends having overseen the successful Austrian intervention in Italy. A planned Congress of Verona in 1822 is agreed as the next meeting.

North America3

  • Feb 9Columbian College in the District of Columbia is chartered by President James Monroe (it becomes George Washington University).
  • Sep 18Amherst College is founded in Massachusetts.
  • Nov 16American Old West: The Santa Fe Trail is first used by William Becknell.

Europe11

  • Jan 26Congress of Laibach convenes to deal with outstanding international issues, particularly the outbreak of a revolution in southern Italy.
  • Mar 7The Battle of Rieti is fought in Italy between intervening Austrian forces and Neapolitan rebels.
  • AprMarch 25 (O.S.)/April 6 (N.S.) – Metropolitan bishop Germanos of Patras raises the revolutionary flag of Greece at the Monastery of Agia Lavra (according to oral tradition), symbolically marking the beginning of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire; later celebrated as Greece's traditional Independence Day.
  • AprJune 7 (O.S.)/June 19 (N.S.) – Battle of Drăgășani, Wallachia: The Filiki Eteria are decisively defeated by the Ottomans.
  • May 5Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on Saint Helena of stomach cancer.
  • May 5The first edition of the Manchester Guardian newspaper (from 1959 simply The Guardian) is published in England.
  • May 8Greek War of Independence: At the Battle of Gravia Inn, a 120-man Greek force led by Odysseas Androutsos repulses an Ottoman army of 8,000.
  • Jul 19George IV is crowned King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. His estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick, is turned away from the ceremony.
  • JulAugust 7 (O.S.)/August 19 (N.S.) – Navarino massacre: Greek rebels massacre 3,000 inhabitants of the city of Navarino.
  • OctSeptember 23 (O.S.)/October 5 (N.S.) – The Siege of Tripolitsa ends when Greek rebels capture the city of Tripoli, Greece; the massacre of 8,000 civilians follows. (Greek forces under the command of General Theodoros Kolokotronis have besieged the city for several months during the Greek War of Independence from Turkey and the Ottoman Empire.)
  • Dec 15The world's first geographical society, the Société de géographie, is established in Paris.

USSR / Russia1

  • JulSeptember 4 (O.S.)/September 16 (N.S.) – Ukase of 1821: Russia proclaims territorial sovereignty over Northwestern North America, modern-day Alaska.

Middle East2

  • AprApril 10 (O.S.)/April 22 (N.S.) – Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is blamed by the Ottoman government for being unable to suppress Greek independence, and is hanged outside the main gate of the Patriarchal Cathedral immediately after the celebration of Pascha.
  • Jun 14Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1820–1824): King Badi VII of Sennar surrenders his throne and realm without a fight to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of the Funj Sultanate in Sudan.

Latin America8

  • Feb 10In Mexico, the Embrace of Acatempan takes place between Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero, which seals the peace between the viceroyalty troops and the insurgents.
  • Jun 24Battle of Carabobo: Simón Bolívar wins Venezuela's independence from Spain.
  • Jul 28Argentine general José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from the Spanish Empire.
  • Aug 24The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico, ratifying the Plan of Iguala of February 24 for Mexico's independence from Spain and, although not recognised by the latter, effectively concludes the Mexican War of Independence.
  • Sep 4Chilean general José Miguel Carrera is executed by an Argentinian military tribunal, in the city of Mendoza.
  • Sep 15Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica gain independence from Spain by the Act of Independence of Central America. On October 29, the newly independent First Mexican Empire proposes that Guatemala should be annexed with it.
  • Sep 27The Army of the Three Guarantees enters Mexico City, and the following day the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain is proclaimed, following the Mexican War of Independence.
  • Nov 28Panama declares independence from Spain, joining Gran Colombia.