| 1799–1825 | [maths] | The French mathematician and physicist Pierre-Simon Laplace publishes the five-volume Traité de mécanique céleste/Celestial Mechanics, which applies calculus to the motions of celestial bodies and Isaac Newton's theories of the Solar System to show how its stability is implicit in the law of gravitation. |
| 1800–1850 | USA [consumer products] | A revolution in retail and wholesale trade occurs: specialization transforms the urban retail market, replacing the general store with individual stores for hardware, groceries, dry goods, furnishing, books, tobacco, and so on. Cash-only sales policies are instituted around 1806. |
| 1810–1859 | USA [agriculture] | US cotton production, the vast majority of which is grown in the southern states, rises from 171,000 bales in 1810 to just under 5.4 million in 1859. |
| 1814 | Austria [music] | The Austrian composer Franz Schubert writes the song ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’/‘Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel’ (D 118). The text is from Goethe's Faust, published in 1808. He also completes his Mass in F major (D 105); and his String Quartets No. 7 (D 94) and No. 8 (D 112). |
| 1814 | Sweden [chemistry] | Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius publishes his An Attempt to Establish a Pure Scientific System of Mineralogy through the Use of the Electrochemical Theory of Chemical Proportions, an extensive chemical classification of minerals in which he classifies over two thousand chemical compounds. |
| 1814 | England [fiction] | The English writer Jane Austen publishes her novel Mansfield Park. |
| 1814 | Scotland [fiction] | The Scottish poet and novelist Walter Scott anonymously publishes his first novel, Waverley. Its popularity encourages him to turn from narrative verse to novels. |
| 1814 | Spain [painting] | The Spanish artist Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes paints The 2nd of May, 1808 and The 3rd of May, 1808. Both pictures depict atrocities carried out by the French during their invasion of Spain. He also paints Portrait of King Ferdinand VII of Spain in the Uniform of a General |
| 1814 | France, Europe [social theory] | The French social thinker Claude-Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, publishes De la Réorganisation de la société européenne/On the Reorganization of European Society. |
| 1814 | France [legislation] | The French government introduces legislation which makes abortion illegal, unless the mother's life is at risk. |
| 11 April 1814 | France, Italy [Napoleonic Wars (1803–15)] | By the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the French emperor Napoleon I abdicates unconditionally and is banished to the principality of Elba, an island off the west coast of Italy, on an annuity of 2,000,000 francs. Queen Marie-Louise is given the duchies of Gustalla, Parma, and Piacenza. |
| 4 May 1814 | Spain [legislation] | King Ferdinand VII of Spain annuls the liberal constitution of the cortes (national assembly), one of the first of a wave of antidemocratic acts performed by royalty returning to office after Emperor Napoleon I's defeat. |
| 29 May 1814 | France [births and deaths] | Joséphine de Beauharnais, empress of France 1804–10 and consort of Napoleon I, dies in Malmaison, France (50). |
| 25 July 1814 | Germany [physics] | German physicist Joseph von Fraunhöfer plots more than 500 absorption lines (Fraunhöfer lines) and discovers that the relative positions of the lines are constant for each element. His work forms the basis of modern spectroscopy. |
| 25 July 1814 | UK [railways] | English engineer George Stephenson constructs his first steam locomotive, called Bulcher. It is the first engine to be built with flanged wheels running on edge rails, as all later locomotives will do. |
| December 1814 | USA [treaties] | The USA and Britain sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. The most contested issues – Britain's impressment of US sailors, US commercial rights, and the Northwest boundary dispute – remain unresolved. |
