The European powers meet in Vienna to reorder the continent after the Napoleonic Wars, redrawing the map of Europe and establishing a balance of power.
British and Prussian forces defeat Napoleon Bonaparte, ending the Hundred Days and the Napoleonic Wars.
The United States declares war on Britain; fighting in North America and at sea ends with the Treaty of Ghent and no change in borders.
Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman into Russia and takes Moscow, but is forced into a winter retreat with catastrophic losses.
The bloodiest battle of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is fought near Moscow; the Russians withdraw, allowing the French to enter Moscow a week later.
Karl Marx, the influential philosopher and economic and political theorist, is born in Trier, Prussia.
Stamford Raffles signs a treaty establishing a British East India Company trading post at Singapore, beginning the modern port city.