1800
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1 January 1800 The Dutch East India Company, having gone bankrupt, ceases to exist. Its property reverts to the government of the Netherlands.
About this date, Robert Owen takes over management of the cotton mills and village of New Lanark, Scotland. He will turn them into a “model community” for the industrial revolution.
9 January 1800 French troops occupy Lucca for a second time.
14 January 1800 Karl Theodor Anton Maria Freiherr von Dalberg replaces Maximilian Christoph von Rodt as Prince-Bishop of Constance.
16 January 1800 Les deux journées, ou Le porteur d’eau, a comédie lyrique by Luigi Cherubini (39) to words of Bouilly, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris. It is an enormous success with press and public.
17 January 1800 Leaders of the Vendée revolt submit to the rule of Napoléon in the Treaty of Montluçon.
18 January 1800 First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte creates the Banque de France to deal with the post-revolutionary recession.
25 January 1800 A setting of Veni sancte spiritus by Antonio Salieri (49) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
28 January 1800 French commander in Egypt, Louis Desaix, surrenders his army to British Commodore Sir William Sydney Smith at al-Arish. Smith allows the French to retain their arms and return to France. But these terms will be overruled by Lord Keith, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet. Fighting will resume.
9 February 1800 Napoléon Bonaparte orders ten days of mourning in the French army for the death of George Washington.
11 February 1800 William Herschel discovers infrared radiation at his residence in Slough.
17 February 1800 A special prefecture of police is created in Paris.
19 February 1800 Napoléon Bonaparte establishes himself as First Consul in the Tuileries. The entire government, including cabinet ministers and the Council of State, is transferred from the Luxembourg Palace, the home of the Directory, to the Tuileries. There is an enormous procession of bureaucrats accompanied by 3,000 troops.
22 February 1800 Lorenzo da Ponte, partner in a publishing firm with Jan Ladislav Dussek (40) and Domenico Corri, goes bankrupt in London.
24 February 1800 Jan Ladislav Dussek (40) makes his first performance on the continent since fleeing his English creditors last autumn, at Eimbeck House, Hamburg.
2 March 1800 US peace commissioners sent from President John Adams reach Paris.
14 March 1800 Giorgio Barnaba Luigi Chiaramonti becomes Pope Pius VII in Venice.
Epicure, an opéra composed by Luigi Cherubini (39) and Etienne-Nicolas Méhul (36) to words of Demoustier, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris. The hostility of the audience is heard even before the final curtain. The poetry is found faulty, the music praised.
20 March 1800 French forces defeat Turks and Mamelukes at Heliopolis (Masr el Gedîda), opening their advance on Cairo.
Alessandro Volta reports his invention of the electric battery to Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society in London.
Maria Anna Aloysia Apollonia Keller, estranged wife of Joseph Haydn (67), dies in Baden, attended by her husband.
21 March 1800 Giorgio Barnaba Luigi Chiaramonti is crowned Pope Pius VII in Venice. A fake tiara has to be used. The real one is currently in the hands of the French.
22 March 1800 The Royal College of Surgeons is granted a charter.
24 March 1800 Tekle Giyorgis I Yohannes replaces Demetros Arqedewos as Emperor of Ethiopia.
28 March 1800 Both houses of the Irish Parliament approve the Act of Union.
Franz Joseph Haydn’s (67) Trumpet Concerto is performed for the first time, in the Vienna Burgtheater, by Anton Weidinger, inventor of the “organisierte Trompete”, for whom Haydn composed the work.
31 March 1800 Johann Friedrich Reichardt’s (47) liederspiel Lieb’ und Treue to his own words is performed for the first time, in the Nationaltheater, Berlin.
2 April 1800 Ludwig van Beethoven (29) gives the first public concert for his benefit, at the Burgtheater, Vienna. The program includes a Mozart (†8) symphony, an aria and duet from Haydn’s (68) The Creation, a piano concerto and improvisations by Beethoven, and the first performance of the Septet op.20 and the Symphony no.1. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung calls it “the most interesting concert in a long time.”
6 April 1800 Austrian forces begin a major offensive, driving towards Savona and splitting the French in two.
8 April 1800 Publication of Jan Ladislav Dussek’s (40) piano sonatas C.177-8 is announced in the Morning Post, London.
18 April 1800 Sonata for french horn and piano op.17 by Ludwig van Beethoven (29) is performed for the first time, in the Hofburgtheater, Vienna, the composer at the keyboard. The applause is so great that the entire work is repeated.
19 April 1800 Domenico Corri, father-in-law to Jan Ladislav Dussek (40) and partner with Dussek and Lorenzo da Ponte in a publishing firm, goes bankrupt. Dussek already fled England in 1799 to escape his creditors. There is no evidence that he will ever see his wife or daughter again.
21 April 1800 Samuel Wesley (34) is soloist in one of his own organ concertos played between sections of an early London presentation of Haydn’s (68) The Creation. It is probably the Organ Concerto in D.
24 April 1800 The Library of Congress is founded in Washington.
28 April 1800 Three Grand Sonatas for piano accompanied by violin and cello by Leopold Kozeluch (52) are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
29 April 1800 The French restore the Cisalpine Republic in Lombardy.
1 May 1800 The French Army of the Rhine routs Austrian forces at Stockach, 100 km south of Stuttgart.
2 May 1800 English chemist William Nicholson builds one of the first batteries, based on the work of Alessandro Volta. He is the first to attach wires to the battery’s poles and place the wires in water. Bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen are released--electrolysis. This proves that electricity can cause a chemical reaction.
4 May 1800 Caty Mason has all four of her children baptized by Rev. Dr. Thomas Prentiss, in the Medfield (MA) Congregational Church, including the eldest, Lowell (8).
Ich freue mich for chorus and strings by Johannes Herbst (64) is performed for the first time.
5 May 1800 First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte departs Paris to join his troops in his first offensive as leader of the country.
7 May 1800 Vito Niccolò Marcello Antonio Giacomo Piccinni dies in Passy, near Paris, aged 72 years, three months and 21 days. He was in Passy in a vain attempt to recover his health. His mortal remains are laid to rest there.
9 May 1800 French forces defeat Austrians at Biberach, 90 km southeast of Stuttgart.
14 May 1800 The publication of Muzio Clementi’s (48) op.39, consisting of 12 waltzes for piano, tambourine and triangle, is announced in the Morning Herald, London.
The US Congress meets in Philadelphia for the last time.
15 May 1800 Bullets are fired at King George III of Great Britain on two separate occasions today. One shot intended for him in Hyde Park hits a man standing beside him. Two shots fired at him in Drury Lane Theatre miss. The assailant will be judged insane.
16 May 1800 After a forced march over the Alps, French troops capture Aosta.
17 May 1800 French troops force the Austrians out of Châtillon.
27 May 1800 French forces reach Vercelli and in two days will cross the River Sesia.
28 May 1800 French troops reach the River Po at Chivasso and find Austrians occupying the far bank.
2 June 1800 French troops capture Milan, to the general rejoicing of the population.
Cesare in Farmacusa, a dramma eroicomico by Antonio Salieri (49) to words of Defranceschi, is performed for the first time, in the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna. It is well received.
The first vaccination against smallpox in North America takes place in Trinity, Newfoundland, performed by Dr. John Clinch.
3 June 1800 John Adams becomes the first US President to reside in the District of Columbia when he visits to inspect how construction is proceeding. He will lodge at a hotel for ten days.
4 June 1800 After a siege of six weeks, the French garrison in Genoa capitulates to the Austrians.
6 June 1800 Austrian and British forces enter Genoa. The Most Serene Republic of Genoa is reestablished.
7 June 1800 French forces cross the River Po and capture Piacenza from the Austrians.
8 June 1800 Béniowski, ou Les exilés du Kamtchatka, an opéra-comique by Adrien Boieldieu (24) to words of Duval after Kotzebue, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
10 June 1800 Johann Abraham Peter Schulz dies in Schwedt an der Oder, Prussia, aged 53 years, two months and ten days.
14 June 1800 Lord Nelson arrives in Livorno and will stay until 10 July.
At the Battle of Marengo, French forces seem to be losing but then break through and send the Austrians in headlong flight towards Alessandria. There are 21,000 total casualties. Austria signs the Convention of Alessandria this night, agreeing to withdraw east of Ticino and to surrender all holdings in Piedmont and Lombardy, and to cease all military operations while considering Napoléon’s peace offer.
Jean-Baptiste Kléber, commander of French forces in Egypt, is stabbed to death in Cairo by a Turkish fanatic.
After the defeat of the Austrians at Marengo, Giuseppe Rossini, father of Gioachino (8), is freed from prison in Pesaro.
Friedrich Schiller’s play Maria Stuart is performed for the first time, in Weimar.
La dansomanie, a ballet-pantomime by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (36) to a scenario by Gardel, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra.
17 June 1800 First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte leaves his army in northern Italy and returns to Paris.
19 June 1800 French forces defeat Austrians at Höchstädt, 35 km northwest of Augsburg.
21 June 1800 Der Jubel oder Juchhei, a liederspiel by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (47) to his own words is performed for the first time, in the Nationaltheater, Berlin.
23 June 1800 The Papal States are reconstituted. The temporal power of the Pope is restored.
24 June 1800 The French reenter Genoa and reestablish the Ligurian Republic.
25 June 1800 Humphry Davy signs the introduction to his book Researches, Chemical and Philosophical; Chiefly Concerning Nitrous Oxide or Dephlogisticated Nitrous Air and its Respiration. He suggests the use of nitrous oxide as an anaesthetic in surgery.
28 June 1800 Il carretto del venditore d’aceto, a farsa by Simon Mayr (37) to words of Foppa, is performed for the first time, at the Teatro San Angelo, Venice.
2 July 1800 First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte arrives back in Paris to great acclaim after his Italian victories over the Austrians.
3 July 1800 Brought by an Austrian ship, the new Pope Pius VII makes a joyous and triumphant entry into Rome.
4 July 1800 Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (37) lends Ignace Pleyel (43) the sum of 10,000 francs to expand his business.
9 July 1800 The Republic of Lucca is reestablished by the French. Modena and Reggio are attached to the Cisalpine Republic.
1 August 1800 Royal Assent is granted to the Act of Union creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland next 1 January.
2 August 1800 The Irish Parliament meets for the last time before union.
28 August 1800 Gli Elisi delusi, a melodramma buffo by Gaspare Spontini (25) to words of Monti, is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Santa Cecilia, Palermo.
5 September 1800 British forces capture Valetta, the last French garrison on Malta.
6 September 1800 Lord Nelson begins a four-day visit to Eisenstadt. Among his party is Sir William Hamilton and his wife, Lady Hamilton, who is a particular admirer of Haydn (68). During the stay, Lady Hamilton will sing Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos and The Battle of the Nile accompanied by the composer at the piano.
8 September 1800 Franz Friedrich Anton replaces Ernst Friedrich as Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
9 September 1800 Sieber announces the publication of Sonate à quatre mains pour le clavecin ou forte-piano, oeuvre VI par Louis Vanbee-Thoven. It is the first extant mention of Beethoven (29) in the French press.
15 September 1800 The Commune of Lucca is restored by the Austrians, overthrowing the republic.
16 September 1800 Le calife de Bagdad, an opéra-comique by Adrien Boieldieu (24) to words of Saint-Just, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
26 September 1800 William Billings dies in Boston, aged 53 years, eleven months and 19 days.
28 September 1800 The earthly remains of William Billings are laid to rest in Boston in an unmarked grave, usually reserved for paupers or social outcasts.
1 October 1800 By a secret Treaty of San Ildefonso between France and Spain, Louisiana is transferred to France. In return, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany is made into the Kingdom of Etruria and the throne is given to Duke Ludovico of Parma, the son-in-law of King Carlos IV.
3 October 1800 France and the United States conclude a treaty averting war at the Chateau Mortefontaine, north of Paris. Two days ago, unknown to the American negotiators, Spain ceded Louisiana to France.
6 October 1800 Publication of the glee Methinks I hear the full celestial Choir by William Crotch (25) to words of Thomson is entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
4 October 1800 Friedrich Albrecht Ludwig Ferdinand replaces Christian Heinrich as Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Lord of Vallendar und Neumagen.
8 October 1800 Ludwig van Beethoven (29) receives 200 florins from Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz for the String Quartets op.18/4-6.
9 October 1800 The Republic of Lucca is reestablished by the French.
A plot to kill First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte, set to go off tomorrow, is foiled by police and the conspirators arrested. They will be executed.
14 October 1800 Jakob Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (9) makes his public performing debut, playing Mozart’s (†8) d minor piano concerto K.466.
16 October 1800 Tamerlan, a tragedy by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (47) to words of Mandenville (translated by Schaum), is performed for the first time, in the Königlichestheater, Berlin. It was intended for production in Paris in 1786 but the composer was forced to return to Berlin on the death of King Friedrich II.
22 October 1800 Antonio Salieri’s (50) opera buffa L’Angiolina ossia Il matrimonio per sussurro, to words of Defranceschi after Jonson, is performed for the first time, at the Kärntnertortheater, Vienna.
1 November 1800 Thoughts and Details on Scarcity by Edmund Burke is published in Britain, three years after his death by his literary executors. It was originally a memorandum to Prime Minister Pitt in 1795.
President John Adams and two assistants arrive in Washington. He takes up residence in the uncompleted White House.
2 November 1800 On his second day in the White House, John Adams writes to his wife, “I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”
5 November 1800 L’equivoco, ovvero Le bizzarie dell’amore, a dramma giocoso by Simon Mayr (37) to words of Foppa, is performed for the first time, at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
7 November 1800 Russia bars British ships from its ports until Britain restores Malta to the Knights of St. John.
The first North American report of the Convention of Mortefontaine appears in a Baltimore newspaper.
16 November 1800 Abigail Adams arrives in Washington. She is the first First Lady to live in the White House.
17 November 1800 The Congress of the United States convenes in Washington for the first time.
22 November 1800 Backed by Great Britain, Austria resumes hostilities with France.
24 November 1800 Das Waldmädchen, a romantic comic-opera by Carl Maria von Weber (14) to words of von Steinsberg, is performed for the first time, in the Buttermarkt, Freiberg.
27 November 1800 English physician Thomas Young reads his paper “On the Mechanism of the Eye” to the Royal Society of London. It is the first description of astigmatism and its cause.
1 December 1800 Two musicians, Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Ambrosius Kühnel, found a publishing firm called the Bureau de Musique (Edition Peters) in Leipzig.
2 December 1800 Lucien Bonaparte is received at the Escorial as French ambassador to Spain. He will become a patron of Luigi Boccherini (57) over the next year.
3 December 1800 French forces defeat the Austrians at Hohenlinden, near Munich, and advance on Vienna.
9 December 1800 L’imbroglione e il castiga-matti, a farsa giocosa by Johann Simon Mayr (37) to words of Foppa, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Moisè, Venice.
10 December 1800 The Archbishop of Salzburg flees the city before the advancing French, granting three months salary to all his employees, including Michael Haydn (63).
Three Piano Sonatas accompanied by violin and cello op.48 by Leopold Kozeluch (53) are entered at Stationers’ Hall, London.
13 December 1800 Pedro Cevallos Guerra replaces Mariano Luis de Urquijo y Muga as First Secretary of State of Spain.
14 December 1800 French troops enter Salzburg.
15 December 1800 Two French Hussars knock on the door of Michael Haydn’s (63) house in Salzburg. As he answers, they level pistols at him and demand everything of value in the house, which they take, including his three months salary.
Georg Joseph Vogler (51) delivers his famed treatise Data zur Akustik in Berlin.
16 December 1800 The Northern Confederacy is formed by Russia, Denmark, and Sweden to oppose Great Britain.
24 December 1800 20:00 As First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine are traveling to the Opéra to hear the Paris premiere of The Creation, a carriage bomb goes off near them in the Rue Niçaise. 20 people are killed, 200 wounded but Napoléon and his wife are unhurt. Two royalists will be executed for the crime.
25 December 1800 The Armistice of Steyr is signed by France and Austria.
26 December 1800 Gli sciti, a dramma per musica by Johann Simon Mayr (37) to words of Rossi after Voltaire, is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
27 December 1800 Étienne-Nicolas Méhul’s (37) comédie mêlée de musique Bion to words of Hoffman after de Lantier, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Favart, Paris.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
5 July 2012
Last Updated (Thursday, 05 July 2012 05:49)