This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1808.
Events
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
– ''
The Examiner'', "A Sunday paper, on politics, domestic economy, and theatricals", is established in London by
John Hunt, edited by his brother
Leigh Hunt
James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet.
Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...
.
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
* 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
* 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
* 1607 – An es ...
– The Théâtre St. Philippe opens in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, United States.
*
September 20
Events Pre-1600
*1058 – Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland.
*1066 – At the Battle of Fulford, Harald Hardrada defeats earls Morcar and Edwin.
* 1187 – Saladin ...
– The first
Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, established in
1732
Events
January–March
* January 21 – Russia and Persia sign the Treaty of Riascha at Resht. Based on the terms of the agreement, Russia will no longer establish claims over Persian territories.
* February 9 – The Swed ...
, is destroyed by fire along with most of the scenery, costumes and scripts. Rebuilding begins in December.
''Uncertain date''
*
Charles Thomson
Charles Thomson (November 29, 1729 – August 16, 1824) was an Irish-born Founding Father of the United States and secretary of the Continental Congress (1774–1789) throughout its existence. As secretary, Thomson prepared the Journals of the ...
's
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
Translation from the Greek (''
Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Covenant'') is printed by
Jane Aitken in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
(
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
).
New books
Fiction
*
James Norris Brewer
James Jupp Norris Brewer (11 September 1777 – March 1839) was an English topographer and novelist.
He wrote many romances and topographical compilations, he also contributed to the series called the ''Beauties of England and Wales''. All the fo ...
– ''Mountville Castle''
*
Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis
Caroline-Stéphanie-Félicité, Madame de Genlis (25 January 1746 – 31 December 1830) was a French writer of the late 18th and early 19th century, known for her novels and theories of children's education. She is now best remembered for her jo ...
– ''The Earl of Cork''
*
Sarah Green – ''Tankerville Family''
*
Elizabeth Hamilton – ''The Cottagers of Glenburnie''
*
Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (; 18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays ''The Prince of Homburg'', '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'' ...
– ''
Die Marquise von O...''
*
Francis Lathom
Francis Lathom (14 July 1774 – 19 May 1832) was a British gothic novelist and playwright. Most of his novels were out of print throughout the 20th century, but some have since been rediscovered and republished by Valancourt Books. His best kn ...
– ''The Northern Gallery''
*
Charles Maturin
Charles Robert Maturin, also known as C. R. Maturin (25 September 1780 – 30 October 1824), was an Irish Protestant clergyman (ordained in the Church of Ireland) and a writer of Gothic fiction, Gothic plays and novels.Chris Morgan, "Maturin, C ...
– ''The Wild Irish Boy''
*
Karoline Pichler
Caroline Pichler, also spelled Karoline, (7 September 1769 – 9 July 1843) was an Austrian historical novelist.
Life
She was born in Vienna to Hofrat Franz Sales von Greiner (1730–1798) and his wife Charlotte, Married and maiden names, née H ...
– ''Agathocles''
*
Joseph Strutt – ''
Queenhoo Hall'' (Completed by
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
)
*
Elizabeth Thomas – ''The Husband and Wife''
Children
*
Ann Taylor and
Jane Taylor – ''Hymns for Infant Minds''
Drama
*
James Nelson Barker
James Nelson Barker (June 17, 1784 – March 9, 1858) was an American soldier, playwright and politician. He rose to the rank of major in the Army during the War of 1812, wrote ten plays, and was mayor of Philadelphia.
Early life
Barker was born ...
– ''
The Indian Princess''
*
Matthäus Casimir von Collin
Matthäus Casimir von Collin (3 March 1779 – 23 November 1824) was a leading poet in Vienna. Some of his works have been set to music by Schubert, such as Licht und Liebe (D.352), Der Zwerg (D. 771), Wehmut (D. 772) and Nacht und Träume (D. ...
– ''Belas Krieg mit dem Vater'' (Béla's War with His Father)
*
Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland may refer to:
* Richard Cumberland (philosopher)
Richard Cumberland (15 July 1631 (or 1632) – 9 October 1718) was an English philosopher, and Bishop of Peterborough from 1691. In 1672, he published his major work, ''De leg ...
– ''
The Jew of Mogadore''
*
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
– ''
Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy'' (published)
*
Theodore Hook
Theodore Edward Hook (22 September 1788 – 24 August 1841) was an English Intellectual, man of letters and composer and briefly a civil servant in Mauritius. He is best known for his practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in ...
– ''
The Siege of St Quintin''
*
Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (; 18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays ''The Prince of Homburg'', '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'' ...
**''
Penthesilea
Penthesilea () was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope, and Melanippe. She assisted Troy in the Trojan War, during which she was killed by Achilles or Neoptolemus. The ...
''
**''
The Broken Jug
''The Broken Jug'' (, , also sometimes translated ''The Broken Pitcher'') is a comedy written by the German playwright Heinrich von Kleist. Kleist first conceived the idea for the play in 1801 after looking at a copper engraving in Heinrich Zsch ...
(Der zerbrochne Krug)''
*
Adam Oehlenschläger
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (; 14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthe ...
**''Baldur hin Gode''
**''Hakon Jarl''
*
John Tobin – ''The School for Authors''
Poetry
*
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
– ''
Milton'' (probable date)
*
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright.
He was born i ...
– revised version of "Ode to Joy", which formed the basis for the lyrics of
Beethoven's 9th Symphony
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and music ...
*
Friedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a Germans, German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticis ...
**"Der Rhein"
**"Patmos"
*
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
– ''
Marmion''
Non-fiction
*
Charles Fourier
François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...
– ''The Theory of the Four Movements''
*
J. F. Fries – ''Neue oder anthropologische Kritik der Vernunft (New Critique of Reason)''
*
Johann Heinrich Jung
Johann Heinrich Jung (12 September 1740, in Grund – 2 April 1817, in Karlsruhe), better known by his assumed name Heinrich Stilling, was a German author. He is often called by both surnames as "Jung-Stilling".
Life
He was born in the village ...
–
*
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel
Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel ( ; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German literary critic, philosopher, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figures of Jena Roma ...
–
*
Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert
Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert (26 April 1780, in Hohenstein-Ernstthal – 30 June 1860, in Laufzorn, a village in Oberhaching) was a German physician, Natural philosophy, naturalist and Romantic psychology, psychologist.
Biography
He began his ...
–
Births
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the ...
–
David Strauss
David Friedrich Strauss (; ; 27 January 1808 – 8 February 1874) was a German liberal Protestant theologian and writer, who influenced Christian Europe with his portrayal of the "historical Jesus", whose divine nature he explored via myth. St ...
, German theologian and writer (died
1874
Events
January
* January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx.
* January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time.
* January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...
)
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
*
*2 BC – Caesar Augustus is granted the title ''pater patriae'' by the Roman Senate.
*AD 62, 62 – AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
*756 – Chinese New Year; An Lushan proclaims himself E ...
–
Carl Spitzweg
Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romantic painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era.
Life and career
Spitzweg was born in Mun ...
, German poet (died
1885
Events
January
* January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam.
* January 17 – Mahdist ...
)
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
* 1270 – The Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battl ...
–
Gustave Planche
Jean Baptiste Gustave Planche (16 February 1808 – 18 September 1857) was a French art and literary critic.
Life and career
Already in his time as a medical student, Planche frequented artistic circles. This did nothing to promote the success of ...
, French critic (died
1857
Events January–March
* January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen.
* January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating.
* Ja ...
)
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burnt to death after the Fall of Montségur.
* 1355 – Amidst the Red Turban Rebellions, Han Lin'er, ...
–
Hannah T. King, British-born American writer and pioneer (died
1886
Events January
* January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885.
* January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...
)
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthel ...
–
Caroline Norton
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton, Lady Stirling-Maxwell (''née'' Sheridan; 22 March 1808 – 15 June 1877) was an active English social reformer and author.Perkin, pp. 26–28. She left her husband, who was accused by many of coercive behaviour, ...
(née Caroline Sheridan), English poet, pamphleteer and social reformer (died
1877
Events January
* January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India by the Royal Titles Act 1876, introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom .
* January 8 – Great Sioux War of 1876: Batt ...
)
*
March 25
Until 1752 it was the official date of the beginning of the year in England and its dominions (in the Julian calendar).
Events Pre-1600
* 410 – The Southern Yan capital of Guanggu falls to the Jin dynasty general Liu Yu, ending th ...
–
José de Espronceda, Spanish poet (died
1842
Events
January–March
* January 6– 13 – First Anglo-Afghan War – Massacre of Elphinstone's army (Battle of Gandamak): British East India Company troops are destroyed by Afghan forces on the road from Kabul to Jalalabad, Afghan ...
)
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara ...
–
Teréz Karacs
Teréz Karacs (18 April 1808 – 2 October 1892) was a Hungarian writer, educator, memoirist, and women's rights activist. She was a leading figure in the early feminist movement in Hungary, as well as the general social reform movement, and a fam ...
, Hungarian novelist, poet and memoirist (died
1892
In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west.
Events
January
* January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...
)
*
May 22
Events Pre-1600
* 192 – Dong Zhuo is assassinated by his adopted son Lü Bu.
* 760 – Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 853 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys undefended Damietta in Egypt.
...
–
Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855), the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romantici ...
, French poet and translator (died
1855
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city.'
* January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru.
* January 23
** The first bridge over the Mississippi River o ...
)
*
June 17
Events Pre-1600
* 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism.
*1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burn ...
–
Henrik Wergeland
Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develop ...
, Norwegian 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 ...
)
*
June 21
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarios sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily.
* 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mongols and Wuzong o ...
–
John Critchley Prince
John Critchley Prince (1808–1866) was an English labouring-class poet. His ''Hours of the Muses'' went through six editions.
Life
Born at Wigan, Lancashire, on 21 June 1808, Prince was the son of a poor reed-maker for weavers. He learned to read ...
, English poet (died
1866
Events January
* January 1
** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee.
** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published.
* January 6 – Ottoman troops clash ...
)
*
June 22
Events Pre-1600
*217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.
*168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Roman Republic, Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Luciu ...
–
Xavier Marmier, French writer and translator (died
1892
In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west.
Events
January
* January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...
)
*
June 28
Events Pre-1600
*1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha, Kerbogha of Mosul at the Battle of Antioch (1098), battle of Antioch.
*1360 – Muhammed VI, Sultan of Granada, Muhammed VI becomes the tenth Nasrid dynasty, Nas ...
–
James Spedding
James Spedding (28 June 1808 – 9 March 1881) was an English author, chiefly known as the editor of the works of Francis Bacon.
Life
He was born in Cumberland, the younger son of a country squire, and was educated at Bury St Edmunds and Trinit ...
, English author and editor (died
1881
Events January
* January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans.
* January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army ...
)
*
July 10
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Emperor Hadrian of Rome dies of heart failure at his residence on the bay of Naples, Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
* 420 – Having usurped the throne ...
–
Solomon Northup
Solomon Northup (July 10, — ) was an American abolitionist and the primary author of the memoir '' Twelve Years a Slave''. A free-born American of mixed race from New York, he was the son of a freed slave and a free woman of color. Northup ...
, African-American memoirist (died c. 1864)
*
September 9
Events Pre-1600
*337 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti.
* 1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age.
* 1141 &ndas ...
–
Wendela Hebbe
Wendela Hebbe (; 9 September 1808 – 27 August 1899), was a Swedish journalist, writer, and salon hostess. She was arguably the first permanently employed female journalist at a Swedish newspaper.Berger, Margareta, Pennskaft: kvinnliga journali ...
, Swedish playwright, journalist and novelist (died
1899
Events January
* January 1
** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...
)
*
October 21
Events Pre-1600
*1096 – A Seljuk Turkish army successfully fights off the People's Crusade at the Battle of Civetot.
* 1097 – First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toul ...
–
Julia Maitland
Julia Charlotte Maitland (21 October 1808 – 29 January 1864), ''née'' Barrett, first married name Thomas, was an English writer and traveller, and the grandniece of the novelists Fanny Burney and Sarah Burney. She and her husband ran a boys' s ...
, English writer on India and children's writer (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 ...
)
*
November 2
Events Pre-1600
* 619 – A qaghan of the Western Turkic Khaganate is assassinated in a Chinese palace by Eastern Turkic rivals after the approval of Tang emperor Gaozu.
* 1410 – The Peace of Bicêtre suspends hostilities in t ...
–
Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly
Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitl ...
, French novelist (died
1889
Events January
* January 1
** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada.
** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...
)
*''Unknown date'' –
Harriet Ward, English non-fiction and fiction writer (died
1873
Events January
* January 1
** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar.
** The California Penal Code goes into effect.
* January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat the Unit ...
)
Deaths
*
February 12
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular.
* 1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performed the first post- ...
–
Anna Maria Bennett, English novelist (born c. 1760)
*
April 4
Events Pre-1600
* 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines.
* 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground.
* 611 &nd ...
–
Lady Charlotte Murray, English writer and botanist (born
1854
Events
January–March
* January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the ''Samarang''.
* January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born.
* January 9 – The Te ...
)
*
May 2
Events Pre-1600
* 1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first royal charter.
* 1230 – William de Braose is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
* 1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and impris ...
–
John Collins, English poet and entertainer (born
1742
Events
January–March
* January 9 – Robert Walpole is made Earl of Orford, and resigns as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, effectively ending his period as Prime Minister of Great Britain. On his f ...
)
*
September 5
Events Pre-1600
* 917 – Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu.
* 1367 – Swa Saw Ke becomes king of Ava
*1590 – Alexander Farnese's army forces Hen ...
–
John Home
Rev John Home (2 September 1722 – 4 September 1808) was a Scottish minister, soldier and author. His play '' Douglas'' was a standard Scottish school text until the Second World War, but his work is now largely neglected. In 1783, he was ...
, Scottish poet (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), ...
)
*
September 13
Events Pre-1600
*585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia.
*509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hill ...
–
Saverio Bettinelli
Saverio Bettinelli (18 July 1718 – 13 September 1808) was an Italian Jesuit priest and writer. He became known as a polymath, dramatist, polemicist, poet, and literary critic. He was a friend of some of the leading authors of his times: V ...
, Italian man of letters (born
1718
Events
January – March
* January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discuss ...
)
*
September 25
Events Pre-1600
* 275 – For the last time, the Roman Senate chooses an emperor; they elect 75-year-old Marcus Claudius Tacitus.
* 762 – Led by Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Hasanid branch of the Alids begins the Alid Revolt ...
–
Richard Porson
Richard Porson (25 December 1759 – 25 September 1808) was an English classical scholar. He was the discoverer of Porson's Law. The Greek typeface '' Porson'' was based on his handwriting.
Early life
Richard Porson was born at East Ruston, ne ...
, English classicist (born
1757
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Seven Years' War: The British East India Company Army, under the command of Robert Clive, captures Calcutta, India.
* January 5 – Robert-François Damiens makes an unsuccessful assa ...
)
*
November 4
Events Pre-1600
* 1354 – War of the Straits: The Genoese fleet under Paganino Doria defeats and captures the entire Venetian fleet under Niccolò Pisani at the Battle of Sapienza.
* 1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Jo ...
–
Melchiore Cesarotti
Melchiorre Cesarotti (; May 15, 1730 – November 4, 1808) was an Italian poet, translator and theorist.
Biography
He was born in Padua, to a noble but impoverished family. He studied in the Seminary of Padua, where he obtained, immediately a ...
, Italian poet (born
1730
Events
January–March
* January 30 (January 19 O.S.) – At dawn, Emperor Peter II of Russia dies of smallpox, aged 14 in Moscow, on the eve of his projected marriage.
* February 26 (February 15 O.S.) – Anna of Russia ( ...
)
*
December 28
Events Pre-1600
* 418 – A papal election begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I.
* 457 – Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor.
* 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the V ...
–
John Duncan, English miscellanist (born
1721
Events
January–March
* January 6 – The Committee of Inquiry on the collapse of the South Sea Company in Great Britain publishes its findings.
* February 5 – James Stanhope, chief minister of Great Britain, dies a day after ...
)
*c. November/December –
Nólsoyar Páll
Nólsoyar Páll (originally, Poul Poulsen Nolsøe) (11 October 1766 – 1808 or 1809) is a Faroe Islands, Faroese Folk hero, national hero. He was a Sailor, seaman, trader, poet, farmer and boat builder who tried to develop direct trade betwe ...
, Faroese merchant and poet, lost at sea (born
1766
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") becomes the new House of Stuart, Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain, as King Charles III, and figurehead for Jacobitism.
* Januar ...
)
''Uncertain date''
*
Maria Riddell
Maria Banks Riddell (née Woodley; 1772–1808) was a West Indies-born poet, anthologist, naturalist, editor and travel writer, who was resident in Scotland and Wales. Robert Burns paid tribute to her as "a votary of the Muses".
Riddel was ...
– West Indies-born poet, naturalist and travel writer (born
1772
Events January–March
* January 10 – Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor of India, makes a triumphant return to Delhi 15 years after having been forced to flee.
* January 17 – Johann Friedrich Struensee and Queen Caroli ...
)
References
{{Year in literature article categories