Year 1812 (MDCCCXII), a leap year, started on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar).
Events of 1812
January - March
- January 1 - The Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire.
- February 2 - Russia establishes a fur trading colony at Fort Ross, California.
- February 7 - The last New Madrid Earthquake strikes New Madrid, Missouri, with an estimated moment magnitude of over 8, Charles Dickens was born.
- February 11 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry invents gerrymandering.
- February 12 - Napoleon authorizes the usage of Mesures usuelles, the basis of the Metric System.
- February 13, first Chilean newspaper La Aurora de Chile is realise dealing with political philosofy and standing in favor of the new national government
- February 27 - Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
- March 12 - The Cádiz Cortes, in exile, create the first modern Spanish constitution.
- March 15 - Luddites attack the wool processing factory of Frank Vickerman in West Yorkshire.
- March 26 - An earthquake destroys Caracas, Venezuela.
April - June
July - September
October - December
Undated
Ongoing events
Births
January - June
- January 6 - Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary hero (d. 1919)
- January 13 - Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
- February 3 - William Fraser Tolmie, Scottish-Canadian scientist and politician (d. 1886)
- February 7 - Charles Dickens, English writer (d. 1870)
- February 11 - Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1883)
- February 15 - Charles Lewis Tiffany, American jeweler (d. 1902)
- March 1 - Augustus Pugin, English-born architect (d. 1852)
- March 6 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison American watch manufacturer (d. 1895)
- March 22 - Stephen Pearl Andrews, American anarchist and abolitionist (d. 1886)
- April 22 - Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-born orientalist (d. 1894)
- April 27
- May 7 - Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889)
- June 9 - Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
- June 14 - Fernando Wood, New York City Mayor (d. 1881)
July - December
Deaths
January - June
July - December
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