Also Within This Year in History:
1814
The War of 1812 raged on in 1814 as British troops captured Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol, the White House and other landmarks. (The war ended in December with the Treaty of Ghent.) Francis Scott Key, observing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, wrote a poem that would be set to music as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated his throne and went into exile on the island of Elba—though he’d escape the next year.
The funeral of Dr. Joseph‑Ignace Guillotin, the namesake of the infamous execution device, takes place outside of Paris, France. Guillotin had what he felt were the purest motives for inventing the…
European forces allied against Napoleonic France march triumphantly into Paris, formally ending a decade of French domination on the Continent. Napoleon, one of the greatest military strategists in history, seized…
On April 11, 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to…
On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812 between the United States and England, British troops enter Washington, D.C. and burn the White House in retaliation for the American…
On August 24, 1814, an iconic portrait of George Washington is removed from the White House walls, to prevent it being looted by British troops during the War of 1812.…
During the Battle of Plattsburg on Lake Champlain, a newly built U.S. fleet under Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough destroys a British squadron, forcing the British to abandon their siege of…
On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star‑Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled…
The Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America is signed by British and American representatives at Ghent, Belgium, ending the War of…
