| January 10 | French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I and Josephine |
| January 19 | Overnight temp at Portsmouth, New Hampshire drops 50 degrees F (10 degrees C) |
| February 1 | 1st insurance co managed by blacks, American Insurance Company of Philadelphia |
| February 1 | Seville, Spain surrenders to French |
| February 1 | U.S. Population: 7,239,881, Black population: 1,377,808 (19%) |
| February 11 | Napoleon marries Marie-Louise of Austria |
| February 28 | 1st U.S. fire insurance joint-stock company organized, Philadelphia |
| March 6 | Illinois passes 1st state vaccination legislation in U.S. |
| March 11 | Emperor Napoleon married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise |
| March 18 | "Converse," 1st U.S. opera, premieres in New York |
| May 3 | Lord Byron swims Hellespont |
| May 25 | Argentina declares independence from Napoleonic Spain (National Day) |
| June 23 | John Jacob Astor organizes Pacific Fur Co (Astoria, Oregon) |
| July 1 | Louis Napoleon resigns as king of the Netherlands |
| July 4 | French troops occupy Amsterdam |
| July 10 | Emperor Napoleon corpse leaves Netherlands for France |
| July 20 | Colombia declares independence from Spain |
| September 16 | Mexico issues Grito de Dolores, which called for the end of Spanish rule Mexican Independence Day celebrates this event |
| September 18 | Chile declares independence from Spain (National Day) |
| October 26 | U.S. annexes western Florida |
| October 27 | U.S. annexes West Florida from Spain |
| December 10 | Tom Cribb (GB) beats Tom Molineaus (US-Negro) in 1st interracial boxing championship (40 rounds) |
| December 15 | 1st Irish magazine in U.S., Shamrock, is published |
| December 22 | British frigate Minotaur sinks killing 480 |