Events from the year

1799 Events January–March * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

–

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

–

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

(

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

) * Foreign Secretary –

Lord Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of the N ...

Events

* 9 January –

introduces an

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

of two

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s to the

pound Pound or Pounds may refer to: Units * Pound (currency), various units of currency * Pound sterling, the official currency of the United Kingdom * Pound (mass), a unit of mass * Pound (force), a unit of force * Rail pound, in rail profile * A bas ...

to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. * 20 March–21 May – British troops lend aid to the Ottoman defenders against the French Siege of Acre. * 4 May –

Battle of Seringapatam The siege of Seringapatam (5 April – 4 May 1799) was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British, with the allied Nizam Ali Khan, 2nd Nizam of H ...

: British forces defeat the Sultan of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

; his kingdom is divided between the

Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

and

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. * 1 July – Britain allies with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. * 12 July –

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

passes: ** The

Combination Act The Combination Act 1799 ( 39 Geo. 3. c. 81) titled "An Act to prevent Unlawful Combinations of Workmen", prohibited trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. The act received royal assent on 12 July 1799. An additional act, ...

to outlaw

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s. **

Unlawful Societies Act The Unlawful Societies Act 1799 ( 39 Geo. 3. c. 79) was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1799, as part of measures by Pitt the Younger to suppress republican opposition. It is also sometimes referred to as the Corresponding ...

to outlaw clandestine radical societies and require a printer's imprint on all published material. * 15–19 August – A combined French and Spanish fleet stands off the south west coast of England. * 27 August –

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and ...

: Britain and

send an expedition to the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...

. * 30 August – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland:

Vlieter Incident In the Vlieter incident of 30 August 1799, a squadron of the Batavian Navy, commanded by '' Schout-bij-nacht'' Samuel Story, surrendered to the British navy. The incident occurred during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. It occurred in t ...

– A squadron of the

's navy, commanded by Rear-Admiral

Samuel Story ''Schout-bij-nacht'' Samuel Story (2 October 1752 – 8 January 1811) was a Dutch naval officer who served in the French Revolutionary Wars. He is best known for commanding the Batavian Navy squadron which surrendered without a fight to the Royal ...

, surrenders to the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

under Sir

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank ...

and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell near

Wieringen Wieringen () is located in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Now a part of the municipality of Hollands Kroon, it was a separate municipality before 2012. Its name first appeared in 8th and 9th century records. By 1200 it was an i ...

without joining action. * 6 October – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland:

Battle of Castricum The Battle of Castricum (October 6, 1799) saw a Franco-Dutch force defeat an Anglo-Russian force near Castricum, Netherlands. The battle was fought during the War of the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France between French and Dutch for ...

– Franco-Dutch forces defeat the Russo-British expedition force. * 9 October – Sinking of , a famous treasure wreck, in the

West Frisian Islands The West Frisian Islands (, ; ) are a chain of islands in the North Sea off the Dutch coast, along the edge of the Wadden Sea. They continue further east as the German East Frisian Islands and are part of the Frisian Islands. From west to eas ...

. * 16 October –

Action of 16 October 1799 The action of 16 October 1799 was a minor naval engagement during the War of the Second Coalition between a squadron of Royal Navy frigates and two frigates of the Spanish Navy close to the naval port of Vigo in Galicia. Both Spanish ships were ...

: A Spanish treasure convoy worth more than £600,000 is captured by the Royal Navy off

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

. * 18 October – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: Capitulation of Anglo-Russian expedition forces in

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. * 23 October – The

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

ferry at The Tuckies, Jackfield, Shropshire capsizes and 28 workers from Coalport China Works are drowned. * 5 November – HMS ''Sceptre'' is wrecked in a storm in

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the fl ...

, South Africa, with the loss of 349 and 41 survivors. * The

Religious Tract Society The Religious Tract Society was a British evangelical Christian organization founded in 1799 and known for publishing a variety of popular religious and quasi-religious texts in the 19th century. The society engaged in charity as well as commerc ...

is established as an evangelical publisher in

Paternoster Row Paternoster Row is a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with booksellers operating from the street. Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area call ...

, London; as

The Lutterworth Press The Lutterworth Press, one of the oldest independent British publishing houses, has traded since the late eighteenth century, initially as the Religious Tract Society (RTS).

the imprint continues into the 21st century.

Ongoing

* Anglo-Spanish War, 1796–1808 *

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

Births

* January – James Meadows Rendel, civil engineer (died

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – The American sidewheel steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatl ...

) * 12 January – Priscilla Susan Bury, botanist (died

1872 Events January * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. *January 20 – The Cavite mutiny was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort S ...

) * 8 February –

John Lindley John Lindley Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidology, orchidologist. Early years Born in Old Catton, Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four c ...

, botanist (died

1865 Events January * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Fisher – Unio ...

) * 16 March –

Anna Atkins Anna Atkins (; 16 March 1799 – 9 June 1871) was an English botanist and photographer. She is often considered the first person to publish a book illustrated with photographic images. Some sources say that she was the first woman to create a ...

, botanist and photographer (died

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

) * 29 March –

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869), known as Lord Stanley from 1834 to 1851, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served three times as Prime ...

(died

1869 Events January * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's second oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – Elizabe ...

) * 17 April –

Eliza Acton Eliza Acton (17 April 1799 – 13 February 1859) was an English food writer and poet who produced one of Britain's first cookery books aimed at the domestic reader, '' Modern Cookery for Private Families''. The book introduced the now-un ...

, cookery writer (died

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are uni ...

) * 13 May –

Catherine Gore Catherine Grace Frances Gore (''née'' Moody; 12 February 1798 – 29 January 1861), was a prolific English novelist and dramatist. The daughter of a wine merchant from Retford, Nottinghamshire, she became among the best known of the silver fork ...

, author (died

1861 This year saw significant progress in the Unification of Italy, the outbreak of the American Civil War, and the emancipation reform abolishing serfdom in the Russian Empire. Events January * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico Ci ...

) * 21 May –

Mary Anning Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil collector, fossil trade, dealer, and palaeontologist. She became known internationally for her discoveries in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Cha ...

, paleontologist (died

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Fr� ...

) * 23 May –

Thomas Hood Thomas Hood (23 May 1799 – 3 May 1845) was an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs (poem), The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regularly for ''The London Magazine'', '' ...

, poet (died

1845 Events January–March * January 1 – The Philippines began reckoning Asian dates by hopping the International Date Line through skipping Tuesday, December 31, 1844. That time zone shift was a reform made by Governor–General Narciso ...

) * 18 June –

William Lassell William Lassell (18 June 1799 – 5 October 1880) was an English merchant and astronomer.1880 Events January *January 27 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the incandescent light bulb. Edison filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires." gr ...

) * 25 June – David Douglas, Scottish botanist (died

1834 Events January–March * January 1 – Zollverein (Germany): Customs charges are abolished at borders within its member states. * January 3 – The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City. * January – The W ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

) * 8 September –

James Bowman Lindsay James Bowman Lindsay (8 September 1799 – 29 June 1862) was a Scottish inventor and writer. He is credited with early developments in several fields, such as incandescent lighting and telegraphy. Life and work James Bowman Lindsay was bor ...

, Scottish inventor (died

1862 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – Second French intervention in Mexico, French intervention in Mexico: Second French Empire, French, Spanish and British ...

) * 21 December –

Ignatius Spencer Ignatius of St Paul, C.P. (born George Spencer; 21 December 1799 – 1 October 1864) was an English Catholic priest and nobleman as a son of the 2nd Earl Spencer. He converted from Anglicanism to the Catholicism and entered the Passionists in ...

, priest (died

1864 Events January * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song "Beautiful Dream ...

) *

James Townsend Saward James Townshend Saward (1798 – c. 1875) was a Victorian English barrister and forger also known by the nickname of Jem the Penman. In addition to his legal career he forged money orders for almost 30 years. Early life James Townshend S ...

, barrister and forger (date of death unknown) * Approximate date – William Simson, Scottish-born painter (died

)

Deaths

* 26 January – Gabriel Christie, Scottish-born general and settler in Montreal (born

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel '' Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), ...

) * 26 May –

James Burnett, Lord Monboddo James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714 – 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767, h ...

, Scottish judge and comparative linguist (born

1714 Events January–March * January 21 – After being tricked into deserting a battle against India's Mughal Empire by the rebel Sayyid brothers, Prince Azz-ud-din Mirza is blinded on orders of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar as punishment. * ...

) * 14 June – Sir

Patrick Warrender Sir Patrick Warrender of Lochend, 3rd Baronet (7 March 1731 – 14 June 1799) was a Scottish soldier and politician. He was a younger, but oldest surviving, son of Sir John Warrender, 2nd Baronet and his wife Henrietta Johnston, daughter of Sir ...

, Scottish soldier and politician (born

1731 Events January–March * January 8 – An avalanche from the Skafjell mountain causes a massive wave in the Storfjorden fjord in Norway that sinks all boats that happen to be in the water at the time and kills people on both sh ...

) * 4 August – John Bacon, sculptor (born

1740 Events January–March * January 8 – All 237 crewmen on the Dutch East India Company ship ''Rooswijk'' are drowned when the vessel strikes the shoals of Goodwin Sands, off of the coast of England, as it is beginning its second ...

) * 5 August –

Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving in the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations agai ...

, admiral (born

1726 Events January–March * January 23 – (January 12 Old Style) The Conventicle Act (''Konventikelplakatet'') is adopted in Sweden, outlawing all non-Lutheran religious meetings outside of church services. * January 26 – T ...

) * 25 August – John Arnold, watchmaker (born

1736 Events January–March * January 12 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, becomes the Second Field Marshal of Great Britain. * January 23 – The Civil Code of 1734 is passed in Sweden. * January 26 – Stanislaus I of P ...

) * 3 September – William Thomas, academic and Chancellor of Llandaff Cathedral (born

) * 6 October –

William Withering William Withering Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (17 March 1741 – 6 October 1799) was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and first systematic investigator of the bioactivity of digitalis. Withering was born in Wellington, S ...

, physician (born

1741 Events January–March * January 13 ** Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. ** Conventicle Act of 1741 is introduced in Denmark-Norway. *February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain ...

) *4 November –

Josiah Tucker Josiah Tucker (also Josias) (December 1713 – 4 November 1799), also known as Dean Tucker, was a Welsh churchman, known as an economist and political writer. He was concerned in his works with free trade, Jewish emancipation and American inde ...

, economist (born

1713 Events January–March * January 17 – Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore leads the Carolina militia out of Albemarle County, North Carolina, in a second offensive against the Tuscarora. Heavy snows force the troops to take ...

)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1799 Years in the Kingdom of Great Britain 1799 by country 1799 in Europe 1790s in Great Britain