1817

Events of 1817

The Alabama Territory is created by splitting the Mississippi Territory in half, 9 months before Mississippi becomes a U.S. state.
President James Madison vetoes John C. Calhoun's Bonus Bill.

July 4 - At Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
July 18 - Jane Austen, famous author, dies.
August 22 - City of Araraquara, Brazil founded.
August 23 - Earthquake near the site of the ancient Greek city of Helike results in 65 deaths.

October 31 - Emperor Ninkō accedes to the throne of Japan.
November 20 - The first Seminole War begins in Florida.
November 22 - Fredric Cailliaud discovers the old Roman emerald mines at Sikait, Egypt.
December 10 - Mississippi is admitted as the 20th U.S. state, separated from the Alabama Territory.

July 12 - Henry David Thoreau, American philosopher (d. 1862)
July 24 - Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1905)
August 3 - Archduke Albert, Austrian general (d. 1895)
August 14 - Alexander H. Bailey, American politician (d. 1874)
August 24 - Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, Russian writer (d. 1875)
October 17 - Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (Bahadaur) Founder of the Two Nation Theory for a future Pakistan (d. 1898)
November 3 - Leonard Jerome, American entrepreneur and grandfather of Sir Winston Churchill (d. 1891)
November 12 - Bahá'u'lláh, Persian founder of the Bahá'í Faith (d. 1892)
November 17 - Benjamin Champney, American painter (d. 1907)
November 30 - Theodor Mommsen, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1903)

January 12 - Juan Andres, Spanish Jesuit (b. 1740)
January 16 - Alexander J. Dallas, American statesman and financier (b. 1759)
April 4 - André Masséna, French marshal (b. 1758)
April 12 - Charles Messier, French astronomer (b. 1730)
June 24 - Thomas McKean, American lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1734)

July 14 - Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, French writer (b. 1766)
July 18 - Jane Austen, English novelist (b. 1775)
July 19 - John Palmer, Bath architect (b. c. 1738)
October 16 - Manuel Piar, Venezuelan military leader (b. 1774)
November 14 - Policarpa Salavarrieta, Colombian spy and revolutionary who worked for the Independence of Colombia (b. 1795)
November 30 - Jean-Baptiste-Melchior Hertel de Rouville, Canadian politician (b. 1748)
12 December - Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I of Ethiopia, (b. about 1751)