Year 1813 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read is a mix of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1813. 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: Elbridge Gerry (DR-Massachusetts) - Beginning on March 4
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: John Marshall (Virginia)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Henry Clay (DR-Kentucky)
5. The 12th U.S. Congress was in session until March 4. On that date, the 13th U.S. Congress convened and met until March 4, 1815.
6. Inflation rate: 20.30%
7. $100.00 in 1813 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,081.38 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 1.44% per year” between 1813 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 1,981.38%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 4.805% of what it could purchase back in 1813.
8. Consumer price index (CPI): 16.000
9. American companies established in 1813 included the Fall River Manufactory (a textile mill), Schaghticoke Powder Company (a powder mill), and the Seth Thomas Clock Company.
10. In 1813, there were 18 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), Ohio (1803), and Louisiana (1812). (It’s worth noting that no new states were admitted to the Union during 1813.)
11. In 1813, the United States was in the second year of the War of 1812, which went in favor of the Americans during the crucial U.S. naval victory at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10. Other notable events during the year were the burning of York (Toronto) by American troops in April, followed by the British response at Fort Niagara in December.
12. On January 13, Gideon Hawley became the first state superintendent of “common schools” in New York and also became the first individual in the United States to hold such a position. In addition, he helped to establish New York State’s public school system.
13. On January 18, Joseph Farwell Glidden, an Illinois farmer and inventor, was born. On November 24, 1874, he received the first U.S. patent for commercial barbed wire.
14. On January 21, Spaniard Don Francisco de Paula y Marin planted coffee seedlings in Hawaii, which is recognized as “the earliest record of coffee cultivation” in the Aloha State.
15. On January 28, Jane Austen published her second novel, Pride and Prejudice.
16. On February 27, the U.S. Congress authorized the use of steamboats to transport mail.
17. On March 13, Lorenzo Delmonico, an American restaurateur who created one of “the first fine-dining establishments” in the United States, was born in Marengo, Switzerland.
18. On March 18, David Melville of Newport, Rhode Island, received a U.S. patent for a device to make coal gas.
19. War of 1812: On March 25, the USS Essex, commanded by Captain David Porter, “became the first U.S. Navy vessel to fly the American flag” while operating in the Pacific Ocean.
20. On March 29, future U.S. President John Tyler married his first wife, Letitia Christian Tyler.
21. War of 1812: On April 27, during the Battle of York, U.S. forces “captured and burned” York (now Toronto, Canada), which led “to a massive ammunition explosion that killed U.S. General Zebulon Pike.”
22. On April 29, Jacob F. Hummel received the first U.S. patent for rubber.
23. War of 1812: On August 2, at the Battle of Fort Stephenson, George Croghan commanded a small American force that “successfully defended this Ohio fort against a larger British and Indian attack.”
24. On August 23, Alexander Wilson, a Scottish naturalist and ornithologist, passed away in Philadelphia. He “revolutionized the study of North American birds” and earned the title of "Father of American Ornithology."
25. On September 4, The Religious Remembrancer, later renamed The Christian Observer, began publishing and became the first religious newspaper in the United States.
26. On September 7, the Troy Post in New York “published an early reference to ‘Uncle Sam’ as a nickname for the U.S. government.”
27. War of 1812: History.com reports that on September 10, in “the first unqualified defeat of a British naval squadron in history,” U.S. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry led “a fleet of nine American ships to victory over a squadron of six British warships at the Battle of Lake Erie.” After the battle, “Perry sent a famous dispatch to U.S. General William Henry Harrison that read, ‘We have met the enemy, and they are ours.’”
28. War of 1812: History.com reports that on October 5, General William Harrison’s American army defeated “a combined British and Native American force” at the Battle of the Thames in Ontario, Canada. The battle resulted in the death of Native American leader Tecumseh, who had once organized “a massive Native American confederacy to resist U.S. expansion into the Northwest Territory.”
29. October 28: In Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, Sancho Byers was hanged for stealing a loaf of bread and a shilling’s worth of butter.
30. On December 8, Ludwig van Beethoven conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 7 in A Major in Vienna, Austria.
31. On December 17, Antoine Augustin Parmentier, a French agronomist who promoted the potato as a food source in France, passed away.
32. Key fiction books published in 1813 included Barbara Holland’s The Daughter-in-Law, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Sarah Elizabeth Utterson’s Tales of the Dead.
33. Notable nonfiction works for the year were Charles Bucke’s The Philosophy of Nature, or, the Influence of Scenery on the Mind and Heart, and Robert Owen’s A New View of Society.
34. Noteworthy poetic works for 1813: Lord Byron’s The Giaour and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem
35. Top dramatic works for the year included Thomas Morton’s Education and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Remorse.
36. Famous people who were born in 1813 included David Livingstone (explorer), Giuseppe Verdi (composer), Henry Bessemer (entrepreneur), Richard Wagner (composer), and Søren Kierkegaard (philosopher).
37. In 1813, Yale professors earned around $1,000 annually, which included lodging. On the other hand, Yale tutors earned $333 annually.
38. A carpenter earned $1.00 to $1.40 per day.
39. Female household servants earned about 50 cents a week.
40. In 1813, the words “amigo,” “apple butter,” “battlefield,” “battlefront,” “benchmark,” “broad-minded,” “butterball,” “climatology,” “diplomat,” “divorcée,” “flammable,” “fluorine,” “Flying Dutchman,” “free verse,” “lithography,” “Midas touch,” “Mrs. Grundy,” “multicolor,” “music box,” “out-and-out,” “pins and needles,” “sauté,” “savings bank,” “sophomoric,” “soufflé,” “stagestruck,” “study hall,” “unattractive,” and “victimize” all appeared in print for the first time.

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1813_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1813
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_companies_established_in_1813
4. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1811.html
5. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1813
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1813_in_literature
7. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1813.html
8. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1813
9. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1813
10. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1813

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