January 6
January 6
Frontiersman Jedediah Smith is born
Jedediah Strong Smith, one of America’s greatest trapper‑explorers, is born in Bainbridge, New York. Smith explored a stunningly large area of the American West during his short life. He began…
A Year In History: 1799
This Year in History:
1799
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
July 15
July 15
Rosetta Stone found
Although there is some debate about the exact date, on what was likely July 15, 1799, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign, a French soldier discovers a black basalt slab inscribed…
November 12
November 12
First recorded meteor shower in North America
On November 12, 1799, Andrew Ellicott, an early American astronomer, witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys. Ellicott wrote in his journal that the “whole…
December 14
December 14
George Washington dies at Mount Vernon
A major landholder and promoter of western settlement, George Washington dies on this day in 1799 at his Mount Vernon home along the banks of the Potomac. From an early…
December 14
December 14
George Washington dies
George Washington, the American revolutionary leader and first president of the United States, dies at his estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia. He was 67 years old. George Washington was born…
December 14
December 14
First U.S. President George Washington dies
On this day in 1799, George Washington, the man described by fellow soldier and Virginian Henry Lee as “first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of…
December 21
December 21
William Wordsworth moves into Dove Cottage
On this day in 1799, William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy move into Dove Cottage in Westmoreland, England, not far from the home of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth and Coleridge…
