Year 1811 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read is a mix of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1811. 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: James Madison (DR-Virginia)
2. Vice President: George Clinton (DR-New York)
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: John Marshall (Virginia)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Joseph Bradley Varnum (DR-Massachusetts)—Until March 4
5. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Henry Clay (DR-Kentucky)—Beginning on November 4
6. The 11th U.S. Congress was in session until March 4. On that date, the 12th U.S. Congress convened. Both chambers had a Democratic-Republican majority.
7. Inflation rate: 6.50%
8. $100.00 in 1811 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,542.14 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.52% per year” between 1811 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 2,442.14%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 3.934% of what it could purchase back in 1811.
9. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 96% of its value since 1811. $1.00 in 1811 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $25.42 today. $5.00 in 1811 is equivalent in spending power to around $127.11 today. $10.00 in 1811 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $254.21 today. As mentioned above, $100.00 in 1811 is equivalent in spending power to around $2,542.14 today. Finally, $1,000.00 in 1811 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $25,421.37 today.
10. Consumer price index (CPI): 13.100
11. American companies and brands established in 1811 included Warner Chappell Music (a music publishing company) and Girard Bank (a Philadelphia-based bank).
12. In 1811, there were 17 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), Tennessee (1796), and Ohio (1803). (It’s worth noting that no new states were admitted to the Union during 1811.)
13. On January 1, American writer James Fenimore Cooper married Susan Augusta de Lancey in Mamaroneck, New York.
14. On January 2, Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts became the first U.S. Senator to be censured by the chamber. The Senate “reprimanded him by a 20-7 vote after he read confidential foreign policy documents aloud on the Senate floor before the official injunction of secrecy had been lifted.”
15. On January 8, Charles Deslandes initiated an unsuccessful slave revolt St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
16. On February 9, American engineer and inventor Robert Fulton was issued his second U.S. patent for a steamboat.
17. On February 11, President Madison implemented the Non-Intercourse Act, which prohibited American trade with Great Britain. This embargo—”the third trade restriction in four years—sought to pressure the British into respecting neutral American shipping rights.”
18. On March 25, British writer Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford when he refused to answer questions about a pamphlet—The Necessity of Atheism—that he and his friend Thomas Jefferson Hogg had published anonymously.
19. On October 11, the first steam-powered ferryboat began operating between New York City and Hoboken, New Jersey.
20. On October 20, the New Orleans became the first steamboat to travel from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to New Orleans, Louisiana. It arrived in New Orleans in January 1812.
21. On October 30, British writer Jane Austen published her first novel—Sense and Sensibility.
22. On December 26, the devastating Richmond Theatre fire in Richmond, Virginia, killed 72 people, including George William Smith, the governor of Virginia.
23. According to the U.S. Census, there were an estimated 350 gristmills in the United States. (It’s worth noting that a gristmill is “a facility used to grind cereal grains—such as wheat, corn, or barley—into flour, meal, or animal feed.”)
24. Other fiction books published in 1811 included Elizabeth Thomas’ Mortimer Hall, Mary Brunton’s Self-Control, and Rachel Hunter’s The Schoolmistress.
25. Notable nonfiction works for the year were Barthold Georg Niebuhr’s Roman History and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s and Thomas Jefferson Hogg’s The Necessity of Atheism.
26. Noteworthy poetic works for 1811: Anna Maria Porter’s Ballad Romances, and Other Poems and Mary Russell Mitford’s Christina, the Maid of the South Seas
27. Top dramatic works for the year included Richard Leigh’s Where to Find a Friend.
28. Famous people who were born in 1811 included Elisha Otis (entrepreneur), Franz Liszt (pianist), and Harriet Beecher Stowe (non-fiction author who wrote the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin).
29. Famous people who died in 1811 were Samuel Chase (Supreme Court justice) and Samuel McIntire (architect).
30. In 1811, the words “antislavery,” “at cost,” “boxing glove,” “candelabrum,” “crop rotation,” “double-barrel,” “fluid ounce,” “gold standard,” “interestingly,” “mammal,” “mechanical drawing,” “nearsightedness,” “polarize,” “Poseidon,” “quotable,” “refuel,” “Regency,” “respiratory system,” “small-minded,” “tourism,” and “White House” all appeared in print for the first time.
31. Bacon: About 10 to 12 cents a pound
32. Beef: Around five or six cents for 1.5 pounds
33. Corn: About 50 cents per bushel
34. Rye or corn meal: 100 pounds for around $3.00
35. Whiskey: Around 75 cents a gallon

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1811
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1811
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1811_in_literature
5. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1811.html
6. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1811.html
7. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1811
8. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1811
9. htttps://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1811.html
10. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1811
11. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1811

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