Media History Timeline: 1800s

19th Century: First Decade

Gallery

Silhouette
1800

Erie Canal
1800

Jacquard loom
(Shelburne Museum
copy) , 1804

Francisco Goya
Nude Maja, 1804

Camera Lucida
1807

1800-1809

1800: Romantic movement in Europe rebels against rationalism, reason, classicism.; 1800: Library of Congress is founded.; 1800: Starting in France, silhouettes are popular; decline when photography arrives.; 1800: Mozart's Requiem is published.; 1800: Friedrich Schleiermacher invents hermeneutics.; 1800: Semaphore-like system built between Boston and Martha's Vineyard.; 1800: In Germany, a simple sizing process for paper.; 1800: Inaugural voyage on the Erie Canal announced by a line of cannons firing.; 1800: In Japan, haiku verse form gains popularity.; 1800: Iron press permits printing on large sheets of paper, thicker fonts.; 1800: Wordworth's "Lyrical Ballads" will be the mainfesto of the Romantic movement.; 1800: Letter from Portland, Maine takes only 20 days to reach Savannah, Georgia.; 1800: In West Africa, the emir of Gwandu writes religious poetry.; 1800: Ludwig von Beethoven's 1st Symphony in C Major.; 1800: Parson Weem's The Life of Washington creates myths about the first president.
: 1801: Semaphore system built along the coast of France.; 1801: Beethoven's 1st and 2nd Piano Concertos.; 1801: Haydn's The Seasons.; 1801: In Germany, Carl Gauss lays foundation of modern number theory.; 1801: Thomas Jefferson begins tradition of annual presidential messages to Congress.
: 1802: Beethoven's 2nd Symphony, Moonlight Sonata.; 1802: Library of Congress established.; 1802: Thomas Wedgewood produces silhouettes with silver nitrate, but they darken.; 1802: Samuel Hutton's book on changes in earth's crust foreshadows Darwin.; 1802: In Japan, Jippensha Ikku begins work on satirical novel, Shank's Mare.
: 1803: The periodic table of atomic elements is created.; 1803: Semaphore code is used on ships.
: 1804: Fourdriner machines put into operation to increase paper output.; 1804: Beethoven's 3rd Symphony (Eroica) raises symphonic form to new heights.; 1804: Artist Francisco Goya's Nude Maja and Clothed Maja.; 1804: Joseph-Marie Jacquard loom uses punch cards, anticipates computers.

: 1805: Beethoven's Fidelio, 4th Piano Concerto.; 1805: Walter Scott's ballad epic, "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," is immediate success.
: 1806: Beethoven's 4thSymphony in B Flat, Violin Concerto (Op 61).; 1806: Noah Webster publishes A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language.; 1806: Carbon paper.
: 1807: Camera lucida is invented, improves image tracing.; 1807: Beethoven's Leonora No. 3, Coriolanus.; 1807: John Wiley & Sons publish books.; 1807: Charles and Mary Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare.; 1807: In Russia, Romani (Gypsies) are allowed to form a music chorus and perform.
: 1808: In "Speeches to the German Nation," Johann Fichte encourages nationalism.; 1808: Turri of Italy builds a typewriter for a blind contessa.; 1808: Beethoven's 5thSymphony and 6thSymphony (Pastoral).; 1808: Thomas Moore's "Irish Melodies" advance the cause of Irish nationalism.; 1808: Sweden's Berzelius publishes lectures changing awareness of life's processes.; 1808: The first war correspondent: Henry Robinson of the Times of London.
: 1809: Beethoven's 5thPiano Concerto.; 1809: George Gordon, Lord Byron, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.; 1809: John Dickinson invents a cylinder paper-making machine.; 1809: Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," who wakes after 20 years.