What Happened in 1815 — Events, Births & Deaths

Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from exile on the island of Elba.

Francis Ronalds describes the first battery-operated clock in the Philosophical Magazine.

Participants at the Congress of Vienna declare Napoleon an outlaw following his escape from Elba.

The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people and affects Earth's climate for the next two years.

The Second Serbian Uprising: A second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.

End of the Congress of Vienna: The new European political situation is set.

Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, forcing Napoleon to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.

Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon.

Napoleon begins his exile on Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The Second Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1790 extent, imposing large indemnities, and prolonging the occupation by troops of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia for several more years.

The novel Emma by Jane Austen is first published.

The Handel and Haydn Society, oldest continually performing arts organization in the United States, gives its first performance.