Year 1802: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read is a mix of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1802. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, famous births and deaths, U.S. economic news, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: Thomas Jefferson (DR-Virginia)
2. Vice President: Aaron Burr (DR-New York)
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: John Marshall (Virginia)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nathaniel Macon (DR-North Carolina)
5. The 7th U.S. Congress was in session, and both chambers had a Democratic-Republican majority.
6. Inflation rate: -15.75%
7. $100.00 in 1802 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,112.34 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.55% per year” between 1802 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 3,012.34%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 3.213% of what it could purchase back in 1802.
8. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 97% of its value since 1802.
9. $1.00 in 1802 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $31.12 today.
10. $10.00 in 1802 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $311.23 today.
11. As mentioned above, $100.00 in 1802 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $3,112.34 today.
12. Finally, $1,000.00 in 1802 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $31,123.36 today.
13. Consumer price index (CPI): 10.700
14. American companies established in 1802 included DuPont (a Wilmington, Delaware-based gunpowder mill) and Gilbert & Dean (a banking and publishing firm located in Boston).
15. In 1802, 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 1802.)
16. On January 26, President Jefferson signed legislation that officially organized the Library of Congress, appointed a librarian, and granted borrowing privileges to the president and vice president.
17. On January 29, John Beckley of Virginia was appointed first librarian of Congress.
18. On February 2, the first leopard exhibition in the U.S. opened in Boston, Massachusetts. Admission was 25 cents, which is equivalent to around $8.00 today.
19. On February 8, American clockmaker Simon Willard received a U.S. patent for the banjo clock.
20. On February 11, Lydia Maria Francis Child, a 19th-century American abolitionist, author, and women's rights activist, was born in Medford, Massachusetts. She is best known for her anti-slavery writings and her “domestic advice” book, The Frugal Housewife.
21. On March 16, President Jefferson established the United States Military Academy at West Point.
22. On March 16, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was re-established.
23. On March 28, German astronomer Wilhelm Olbers discovered 2 Pallas, the second known asteroid.
24. On May 3, Washington, DC, was incorporated as a city.
25. On July 4, the first U.S. military academy opened in West Point, New York.
26. On July 7, one of America’s first comic books, The Wasp, was published in Hudson, New York. The satirical piece aggressively criticized President Jefferson and other Democratic-Republican politicians.
27. On October 4, the British Romantic poet William Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, his childhood friend.
28. On November 13, the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London, hosted Thomas Holcroft's A Tale of Mystery, the first English play “explicitly labeled a melodrama.”
29. On November 15, nineteen-year-old Washington Irving made his first appearance in print. He published “observational letters” to the New York Morning Chronicle under the pen name Jonathan Oldstyle.
30. Key fiction books published in 1802 included Jane Harvey’s Warkfield Castle and Mary Meeke’s Independence.
31. A noteworthy non-fiction work published in 1802 was Noah Webster’s The Rights of Neutral Nations in Time of War.
32. In 1802, Henry Boyd completed the first full English translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.
33. Famous people who were born in 1802 included Alexandre Dumas (a novelist), Dorothea Dix (an activist), John Cadbury (an entrepreneur), Thomas Davenport (an inventor), and Victor Hugo (a novelist).
34. Famous people who died in 1802 included Martha Washington (former American first lady).
35. In 1802 as well, the words “asteroid,” “binary system,” “café,” “chorizo,” “collaborator,” “cultural,” “documentary,” “drool,” “eau de cologne,” “galvanize,” “gumbo,” “handshake,” “Legion of Honor,” “melodrama,” “money order,” “overcoat,” “oxidize,” “peanut,” “phonetic,” “slave labor,” “surveillance,” “tirade,” and “veterinary surgeon” all appeared in print for the first time.

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1802_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/180
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1802_in_literature
4. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1802.html
5. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1802.html
6. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1802
7. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1802
8. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/yearonlytimeline1800-1899.html

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