Year 1800: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read is a mix of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1800. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, famous births and deaths, U.S. Census data, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: John Adams (Federalist Party—Massachusetts)
2. Vice President: Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican Party—Virginia)
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Oliver Ellsworth (Connecticut)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Theodore Sedgwick (Federalist Party—Massachusetts)
5. The 6th U.S. Congress was in session, and it was the last Congress “in which the Federalist Party controlled the presidency or either chamber of Congress.”
6. Inflation rate: 2.44%
7. $100.00 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,643.02 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.46% per year” between 1800 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 2,543.02%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 3.784% of what it could purchase back in 1800.
8. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 96% of its value since 1800.
9. $1.00 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $26.43 today.
10. $10.00 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $264.30 today.
11. As mentioned above, $100.00 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,643.02 today.
12. Finally, $1,000.00 in 1800 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $26,430.16 today.
13. Consumer price index (CPI): 12.600
14. In 1800, there were 16 U.S. states. In order of admission to the Union, they were Delaware (1787), Pennsylvania (1787), New Jersey (1787), Georgia (1788), Connecticut (1788), Massachusetts (1788), Maryland (1788), South Carolina (1788), New Hampshire (1788), Virginia (1788), New York (1788), North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), and Tennessee (1796). (It’s worth noting that no new states were admitted to the Union during 1800.)
15. U.S. population: 5,308,483, of whom 893,602 were slaves
16. The 1800 U.S. Census included the District of Columbia.
17. The most populated states were Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, South Carolina, and Massachusetts.
18. The most populous cities were New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and Charleston, South Carolina.
19. American companies established in 1800 included Alex. Brown & Sons, the first investment bank in the United States. Alexander Brown, an Irish linen merchant, established the firm in Baltimore, Maryland.
20. On April 24, President John Adams signed a bill designating $5,000 for the purchase of “essential books” for Congress, thus founding the Library of Congress. History.com tells us that “The first books, ordered from London, arrived in 1801 and were stored in the U.S. Capitol, the library’s first home. The first library catalog, dated April 1802, listed 964 volumes and nine maps. Twelve years later, the British army invaded the city of Washington and burned the Capitol, including the then 3,000-volume Library of Congress.”
21. On May 15, President Adams ordered the federal government “to pack up and leave Philadelphia and set up shop in the nation’s new capital in Washington, D.C.”
22. On June 3, President Adams arrived in Washington, D.C., and briefly resided in Georgetown before moving into the President's House, “the original name for what is known today as the White House.” When Adams arrived in Washington, its streets were not yet paved, and the major government buildings were still under construction.
23. On June 14, according to the legend, Napoleon's chef, Dunand, created the classic French chicken dish, chicken marengo.
24. On July 8, Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse—the first professor of physics at Harvard—successfully administered America’s first cowpox vaccination to his five-year-old son, Daniel.
25. On August 4, the 1800 U.S. Census began and was completed in nine months, in accordance with the “rules and directions” established by Congress on February 28, 1800.
26. On August 19, British social reformer Elizabeth Gurney married tea dealer Joseph Fry at the Norwich Quaker Meeting House in England.
27. On September 6, pioneering American educator Catherine Esther Beecher was born in East Hampton, New York. In 1823, she co-founded the Hartford Female Seminary in Connecticut “to provide women with the same rigorous academic training men received.”
28. On November 1, President Adams “moved into the newly constructed President’s House, the original name for what is known today as the White House.”
29. On December 29, American industrialist and inventor Charles Goodyear was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is best known for creating the vulcanisation process for rubber.
30. In 1800, London opened its first “organized soup kitchens” to feed the poor.
31. Key fiction books published in 1800 included Ann Ford’s The School for Fashion and William Linley’s Forbidden Apartments.
32. A noteworthy non-fiction work published in 1800 was American author and bookseller Parson Weems’ A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington.
33. Scottish essayist Elizabeth Hamilton published Memoirs of Modern Philosophers.
34. German philosopher Immanuel Kant published Logik, a textbook on formal logic.
35. Famous people born in 1800 included Charles Goodyear (entrepreneur), James Clark Ross (explorer), Mary Easton Sibley (educator), Millard Fillmore (U.S. president), and Nat Turner (civil rights leader).
36. Famous people who died in 1800 included John Rutledge (Supreme Court justice) and Mary Robinson (British playwright, poet, and novelist).
37. In 1800 as well, the words “academic year,” “anemia,” “Anglo,” “Boston,” “Buddhism,” “bureaucratic,” “caucus,” “counterattack,” “didactics,” “entranceway,” “fortnightly,” “gelatin,” “grand slam,” “headhunter,” “mannerism,” “methodology,” “myopic,” “piney woods,” “self-glorification,” “smock frock,” “pub,” “statistician,” “studio,” “touch and go,” “tranquilizer,” “uneventful,” and “wholesaler” all appeared in print for the first time.
38. 20 pounds of venison: 67 cents
39. 100 apple trees: $6.67
40. 100 fresh shad: $4.44
41. 100 pounds of hay: 40 cents
42. Four bushels of rye: $2.67
43. Nine pounds of beef: 60 cents
44. One bushel of buckwheat: 40 cents
45. One bushel of oats: 33 cents
46. One bushel of potatoes: 50 cents
47. One bushel of salt: $2.40
48. One bushel of wheat: $1.33
49. One dozen pigeons: 13 cents
50. One pound of butter: 13 cents
51. One pound of tobacco: 13 cents
52. One quart of soap: Seven cents
53. Six bushels of turnips: $1.20
54. Six pounds of pork: 40 cents
55. Three and one-half pounds of cheese: 47 cents
56. Three bushels of ashes: 27 cents
57. Three deerskins: $3.47
58. Three pounds of flax: 40 cents
59. Two pounds of bread: 13 cents
60. Two yards of tow cloth: 80 cents

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1800_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1800
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1800_in_literature
4. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1800.html
5. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1800.html
6. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1800
7. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1800
8. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/yearonlytimeline1800-1899.html
9. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-24/library-of-congress-established
10. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-15/president-john-adams-orders-federal-government-to-washington-d-c
11. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-1/john-adams-moves-into-white-house
12. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-3/president-adams-settles-in-new-capital

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor