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William Blake publishes Songs of Innocence
Songs of Innocence was the first of Blake's illuminated books published in 1789. The poems and artwork were reproduced by copperplate engraving and colored with washes by hand. -
Charles and Mary Lamb publish Tales from Shakespeare
Tales from Shakespeare is an English children's book written by Charles Lamb with his sister Mary Lamb in 1807. The book reduced the archaic English and complicated storyline of Shakespeare to a simple level that children could read and comprehend. -
English artisans called Luddites riot and destroy textile machines
English artisans called Luddites riot and destroy textile machines, fearing that industrialism threatens their livelihoods. -
United States declares war on Great Britain
The War of 1812 was a 32-month military conflict between the United States and the British Empire and their Indian allies which resulted in no territorial change, but a resolution of many issues which remained from the American War of Independence. -
Brother's Grimm begin to publish Grimm's Fairytales
The Grimm brothers wrote classic fairytales such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White. The fairytales eventually totaled 209, according to Carnegie Mellon University. -
Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice
First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has consistently been Jane Austen's most popular novel. It portrays life in the genteel rural society of the day, and tells of the initial misunderstandings and later mutual enlightenment between Elizabeth Bennet and the haughty Darcy. -
Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was published in 1818, when Mary was 21, and became a huge success. The first edition of the book had an unsigned preface by Percy Shelley. Many, disbelieving that a 19-year-old woman could have written such a horror story, thought that it was his novel. -
Noah Webster publishes An American Dictionary of the English Language
In 1828, at the age of 70, Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language in two quarto volumes containing 70,000 entries as against the 58,000 of any previous dictionary. -
Victor Hugo publishes The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered, and is a metaphor for Esmeralda, the main character of the story. -
Slavery is abolished in British Empire
Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. This act gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom. The British government paid compensation to the slave owners. The amount that the plantation owners received depended on the number of slaves that they had.
