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1 January 1801 The Act of Union of Great Britain and Ireland goes into effect.  Hereafter, the nation shall be styled The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the three-cross Union Jack its symbol.

In his Palermo observatory, Giuseppe Piazzi becomes the first human being to discover an asteroid, Ceres.  Ceres was a Roman goddess associated with Sicily.

The Dutch East India Company is dissolved and the Netherlands East Indies becomes a Dutch colony.

11 January 1801 14:00  Domenico Cimarosa dies in Venice, aged 51 years, 25 days.  The cause of death is probably stomach cancer, although rumor has it that he was poisoned by agents of Queen Maria Carolina of Naples.  See 5 April 1801.

12 January 1801 A requiem mass in honor of Domenico Cimarosa takes place in Chiesa di Sant’Angelo, Venice after which his mortal remains are laid to rest in the church.  The music is provided free by the Venetian musicians.  (Since the demolition of the church in 1837, the exact burial place is unknown.

14 January 1801 The British government orders an embargo on Denmark, Russia and Sweden.

15 January 1801 Austria and France conclude an armistice at Treviso, 25 km north of Venice.

17 January 1801 Seven days after his death, Domenico Cimarosa’s dramma tragico per musica Artemisia to words of Jamejo (pseud. of Colloredo), is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.  It was left unfinished at his death.

20 January 1801 Stepan Alyeksyevich Kolychev is named acting State Chancellor of Russia.

A fire breaks out in the Treasury building near the White House in Washington.  It is put out by a bucket brigade of citizens, including one John Adams, President of the United States.

27 January 1801 Toussaint L’Ouverture enters Santo Domingo at the head of his army, thus unifying Hispaniola under his command.  Santo Domingo was ceded by Spain to France in 1795 but the terms of the treaty have not, until now, been executed.

29 January 1801 France and Spain demand that Portugal close its ports to British vessels.  The Portuguese ignore the ultimatum.

6 February 1801 Johann Friedrich Reichardt’s (48) tragedia per musica Rosmonda to words of Filistri is performed for the first time, at the Nationaltheater, Berlin.

9 February 1801 Peace between France and Austria is signed today in Lunéville, 24 km east of Nancy.  France receives the left bank of the Rhine.  Tuscany becomes the Kingdom of Etruria.  Recognition is given to the Batavian, Cisalpine, Helvetian and Ligurian Republics.  The act virtually destroys the Holy Roman Empire.

11 February 1801 The votes of the presidential electoral college are opened in Washington.  They show a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.

17 February 1801 L’irato, ou l’emporté, a comédie-parade by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (37) to words of Marsollier des Vivetières, is performed for the first time, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.  It is extremely popular and will receive over 100 performances during the composer’s life.

After seven days and 36 ballots, the United States House of Representatives elects Thomas Jefferson to the office of President of the United States.

24 February 1801 Das Pfauenfest, a singspiel by Johann Rudolph Zumsteeg (41) to words of Werthes, is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.

27 February 1801 The War of the Oranges begins when Spain declares war on Portugal.

Due to the embargo announced 14 July, Denmark joins Russia and Sweden in the Northern Confederacy against Britain.

3 March 1801 Prussia joins Russia, Sweden, and Denmark in the Northern Confederacy against Britain.

4 March 1801 Prince Alyeksandr Borisovich Kurakin replaces Stepan Alyeksyevich Kolychev as State Chancellor of Russia.

Thomas Jefferson replaces John Adams as President of the United States.  Eight hours earlier, at 04:00, Adams departed Washington, with two assistants, by public conveyance.  The Seventh Congress of the United States convenes with an increase of 22 seats for President Jefferson’s Republicans and a majority in the House of Representatives.  Republicans also hold a thin majority in the Senate.

7 March 1801 The first edition of the Leeds Mercury under the direction of Edward Baines is issued.  Under the leadership of Baines, the Mercury will become an important force in Liberal politics and social and political reform.

8 March 1801 A British expeditionary force lands at Abukir Bay, Egypt.

9 March 1801 The Duchies of Jülich and Kleve, the Archbishopric of Cologne, The Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, the Seigneury of Freudenberg, parts of Mainz and Trier, and the County of Birkenfeld are annexed by France.

10 March 1801 The first modern census in Great Britain takes place.

14 March 1801 King George III of Great Britain refuses to assent to the emancipation of Roman Catholics in his realm, causing Prime Minister William Pitt to resign after 17 years in power.

17 March 1801 Henry Addington replaces William Pitt as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

20 March 1801 The Royal Navy takes the Swedish colony of Saint Bartholemew in the Caribbean.

21 March 1801 British forces defeat the French near Alexandria (El Iskandariya).

The Treaty of Aranjuez is concluded between France and Spain.  Elba is ceded to France.

24 March 1801 The Royal Navy takes the Swedish colony of Saint Martin in the Caribbean.

25 March 1801 The publication of three piano sonatas op.1 by John Field (18) is advertised in the London Morning Post.

28 March 1801 The Peace of Florence is signed between France and Naples.  Naples agrees to bar British ships from its ports.

Piombino is attached to the Kingdom of Etruria.

A British invasion force lands on the Danish island of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

The Creatures of Prometheus, a ballet by Ludwig van Beethoven (30), is performed for the first time, in the Hofburgtheater, Vienna.  An approving Joseph Haydn (68) is in the audience.

29 March 1801 Denmark closes its ports to British ships while Danish forces enter Hamburg to close the Elbe.

The Royal Navy captures the Danish islands of Saint Thomas and Saint John (US Virgin Islands).

30 March 1801 Jery und Bätely, a singspiel by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (48) to words of Goethe, is performed for the first time, at the Nationaltheater, Berlin.

31 March 1801 Danish authorities on the Saint Croix (US Virgin Islands) surrender to the invading British.

2 April 1801 A British fleet under Lord Nelson defeats a Danish fleet off Copenhagen.

3 April 1801 Prussian forces overrun Hanover.

4 April 1801 Believing Tsar Pavel to be mad (with some justification), conspirators led by Count Peter von Pahlen, with the consent of the heir-apparent, Grand Duke Alyeksandr, overthrow the Tsar of all the Russias, strangling him to death in the process.

5 April 1801 The Venetian government publishes a medical report that asserts that Domenico Cimarosa died of cancer, not poison as has been rumored.  See 11 January 1801.

9 April 1801 Denmark consents to a truce with Great Britain.  The Danes are required to remove themselves from the Northern Confederacy against Britain.

12 April 1801 The Théâtre Feydeau, Paris ceases operations.

News reaches Paris of the death of Tsar Pavel eight days ago.  He was a close ally of France.

14 April 1801 Great Britain suspends the Habeas Corpus Act in order to detain political suspects without trial for the duration of the present war.

16 April 1801 British forces take the French islands of Sint Eustatius and Sabá in the Caribbean.

19 April 1801 The French département of Guadeloupe is made a French colony.

21 April 1801 A dramma serio eroico per musica, Ginevra di Scozia, with music by Simon Mayr (37) to words of Rossi after Ariosto, is performed for the first time, in Trieste, at the inauguration of the Teatro Nuovo.

24 April 1801 Franz Joseph Haydn’s (69) oratorio Die Jahreszeiten, to words of van Swieten after Thomson is performed for the first time, at the palace of Prince Schwarzenberg, Vienna, under the direction of the composer.  Griesinger records that the work evoked “silent devotion, astonishment and loud enthusiasm.”

14 May 1801 Yusuf Karamanli, Pasha of Tripoli orders the removal of the flag from the United States Consulate, precipitating war.  An alliance is concluded between the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the United States of America against their common enemy, Tripoli.

20 May 1801 Spanish troops enter Portugal and occupy Olivença.

21 May 1801 Rodrigo Domingos de Sousa Coutinho, Teixeira de Andrade, conde de Linhares replaces Luís Pinto de Sousa Coutinho, visconde de Balsemão as Secretary of State (prime minister) of Portugal.

29 May 1801 Franz Joseph Haydn (69) directs the first public performance of his oratorio Die Jahreszeiten in the Redoutensaal, Vienna.  In spite of its great success in a private performance 24 April, the hall is only half-full.

7 June 1801 War between Spain and Portugal is ended by the Treaty of Badajoz.  The treaty is antedated to 6 June to make it appear that it preceded an ultimatum from Napoléon.  Portugal pays an indemnity and grants commercial concessions to France, and cedes part of Guiana to Spain.  Spain takes the border town of Olivença.

10 June 1801 Tripoli declares war on the United States.

13 June 1801 The Theater-an-der-Wien opens in Vienna to house the company led by Emanuel Schikeneder.

17 June 1801 Britain, Prussia and Russia sign a peace settlement in St. Petersburg.  This effectively ends the Northern Confederation against Britain.

21 June 1801 The County of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein becomes a principality.

28 June 1801 French defenders of Cairo surrender the city to the surrounding British and Turks.

29 June 1801 In a letter to Franz Gerhard Wegeler in Berlin, Ludwig van Beethoven (30) first mentions his deafness.  “...if someone speaks in a low voice, I can barely understand; I hear the sounds but not the words.  If anyone shouts it is unbearable.  What is to become of me, heaven only knows...I have cursed my fate many times already...I shall, if it is at all possible, challenge my fate, although there will be moments when I shall be God’s most unhappy creature.”

30 June 1801 Livonia, Estonia and Courland are formally joined into one province under a single governor at Riga.  They are styled the Baltic Sea Provinces.

6 July 1801 The Royal Navy engages French ships and Spanish shore batteries off Algeciras, Spain.  The French beat off the attacking British.  Over 400 people are killed.

7 July 1801 Giovanni Paisiello (61) is granted a full pardon for any part he may have played in the Parthenopaean Republic.  He is reinstated to his former court posts by the King of Naples. 

8 July 1801 Toussaint L’Ouverture promulgates a constitution for St. Domingue (Hispaniola).  Slavery is abolished and Toussaint is named governor-general for life.

12 July 1801 For the second time in a week, the Royal Navy engages French and Spanish forces off Algeciras.  This time, the British are victorious.  2,000 allied sailors die in the battle.

15 July 1801 A concordat is signed between France and the Papacy.  French clergymen henceforth will be appointed by the government.  The Pope is allowed to keep the Papal States except for Ferrara, Bologna and Romagna.  Relations between the two governments are normalized.

23 July 1801 João de Almeida Melo e Castro replaces Rodrigo Domingos de Sousa Coutinho, Teixeira de Andrade, conde de Linhares as Secretary of State (prime minister) of Portugal.

24 July 1801 British forces occupy Madeira for the next six months.

25 July 1801 Mahmud Shah replaces Zaman Shah as King of Afghanistan.

26 July 1801 Maximilian Franz, Elector of Cologne, officially Beethoven’s (30) employer, dies in exile in Vienna.

27 July 1801 Karl II Ludwig Johann Grand Duke of Austria replaces Maximilian Franz, Grand Duke of Austria as Prince-Grand Master of Mergentheim.

31 July 1801 Lord Elgin begins removing sculptures from the Parthenon for transport to London.  Everything he takes will be called collectively the Elgin Marbles.

3 August 1801 Pursuant to the Peace of Lunéville, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany becomes the Kingdom of Etruria under King Ludovico I.

7 August 1801 Anton Viktor, Archduke of Austria and son of Emperor Leopold II, becomes Elector-Archbishop of Cologne.

18 August 1801 Le due giornate, a dramma eroicomico per musica by Simon Mayr (38) to words of Foppa after Bouilly, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

2 September 1801 French forces surrender Alexandria (El Iskandariya) to the British, thus ending the French fiasco in Egypt.  Surviving soldiers will be transported to France on British ships.

12 September 1801 Tsar Alyeksandr I of Russia reaffirms his father’s annexation of Georgia.

13 September 1801 Die Schöpfungsmesse by Franz Joseph Haydn (69) is performed for the first time, at Eisenstadt for the name day of Princess Maria Hermenegild.

16 September 1801 The Théâtre Feydeau, originally the Théâtre de Monsieur, merges with the Opéra Comique National, originally the Comédie Italienne, to form the new Opéra-Comique.

19 September 1801 The first national “exposition publique des produits de l'industrie française” opens in the courtyard of the Louvre, Paris.  Among the 300 exhibitors is Joseph-Marie Jacquard, who demonstrates his new invention, an automated loom run by punch cards.  It will revolutionize the textile industry and become known as the Jacquard Loom.

23 September 1801 France officially adopts a decimal system of weights and measures.

29 September 1801 Peace is concluded between France and Portugal in Madrid.  Portugal adheres to the Continental System and closes its ports to British ships and is charged an additional indemnity over that of the Treaty of Badajoz.  Portugal gives up part of Guiana to France.

1 October 1801 Great Britain and France sign a preliminary peace treaty in London.

8 October 1801 Russia and France sign a Treaty of Peace in Paris.

9 October 1801 Peace is concluded between France and Turkey in Paris.  France restores Egypt to Turkish sovereignty.

11 October 1801 Engineer Philippe Lebon demonstrates gas lighting in Paris.  He illuminates a garden at the Hotel de Seignelay in rue Saint-Dominique.  Spectators report a bad odor.

23 October 1801 Denmark adheres to the Treaty of St. Petersburg with Great Britain and Russia.

Gustav Albert Lortzing is born in Berlin, second of two children born to Johann Gottlob Lortzing, a hide merchant, and Charlotte Sophie Seidel.

26 October 1801 The publication of Muzio Clementi’s (49) Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte op.42 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.

28 October 1801 Publication of three string quartets op.18/4-6 and two violin sonatas opp.23&24 by Ludwig van Beethoven (30) is announced.

29 October 1801 The publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (41) two piano sonatas C.184-5 is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.

3 November 1801 Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini is born in Catania on the east coast of Sicily, the eldest of seven children in a family of musicians.  He is the son of Rosario Bellini, composer, maestro di cappella and music teacher in Catania, and Agata Ferlito, daughter of a bookkeeper.

Gli amanti in cimento, o sia Il geloso audace, a dramma giocoso by Gaspare Spontini (26) to words perhaps by Bertati, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Valle, Rome.

7 November 1801 Le casque et les colombes, an opéra-ballet by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (60) to words of Guillard, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra to celebrate peace with Great Britain.

23 November 1801 Volume One of Muzio Clementi’s (49) Clementi’s Practical Harmony is published in London.

26 November 1801 English chemist Charles Hatchett reads his paper An Analysis of a Mineral Substance from North America Containing a Metal Hitherto Unknown before the Royal Society in London.  It describes a new element, Columbium, which eventually will be called Niobium.

1 December 1801 Muzio Clementi (49) reports that he has received the right to print music composed by Jan Ladislav Dussek (41) in England.

12 December 1801 Russia formally annexes Georgia.

24 December 1801 Passengers are carried in a motorized vehicle for the first time.  Richard Trevithick carries eight passengers up a hill in Camborne, Cornwall in his steam-powered carriage called Captain Dick’s Puffer.

26 December 1801 I virtuosi, a farsa by Simon Mayr (38) to words of Rossi, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Luca, Venice.

27 December 1801 Nicolò Paganini (19) is appointed first violin in the national orchestra of the Republic of Lucca.

28 December 1801 Simon Mayr’s (38) dramma eroico per musica Argene, to words of Rossi, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro La Fenice, Venice.

©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger

6 July 2012