1831

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( 1830s: )     1831
The French Foreign Legion is founded
Year 1831

Events

• February–March – Revolts in Modena, Parma and the Papal States are put down by Austrian troops.
• February 5 – Dutch naval lieutenant Jan van Speyk blows up his own gunboat in Antwerp rather than strike his colours on the demand of supporters of the Belgian Revolution.
• February 7 – The Belgian Constitution of 1831 is approved by the National Congress.
• March 10 – The French Foreign Legion is founded.
• March 29 – The Bosnian uprising (1831–32) against the Ottoman Empire begins.
• April 7 – Pedro I abdicates as Emperor of Brazil in favor of his 5-year-old son Pedro II, who will reign for almost 59 years.
• April 18 The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper is first published, as the Sydney Herald.
• May–June – Merthyr Rising: Coal miners and others riot in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, for improved working conditions.
• July 21 – Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is inaugurated as the first King of the Belgians, in Brussels.
• September 6–8 – Battle of Warsaw: The Russians take the Polish capital and crush resistance.
• September 8 – Coronation of King William IV of the United Kingdom (he will reign until 1837).
• September 22 – The House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Great Reform Bill to expand the franchise, but this is later defeated in the House of Lords.
• September 26–28: The first national presidential nominating convention is held in the United States, by the Anti-Masonic Party, in Baltimore, Maryland.
• October 9 – Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greek head of state and founder of Greek independence, is assassinated in Nafplion.
• October 29 – The 1831 Bristol riots ("Queen Square riots") in Bristol (England) begin, in connection with the Great Reform Bill controversy. Quelled by the authorities and the military on October 31, 100 city centre properties are destroyed, at least 120 are estimated to have been killed, 31 of the rioters will be sentenced to death and a colonel facing court-martial for failure to control the riot commits suicide.
• November 7 – Slave trading is forbidden in Brazil.
• November 17 – Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Gran Colombia.
• December 26 – Global financial services business Assicurazioni Generali is founded in Trieste (at this time in the Austrian Empire) as Imperial Regia Privilegiata Compagnia di Assicurazioni Generali Austro-Italiche.

 

Event

Event
Pax Brittanica

 

New Groups

Group	Image	Type	Description
University of Namur
Denison University		Private liberal arts	Served as a stop on the Underground Railroad for refugee slaves.
Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies		International security and defence think tank

 

A Death

Title	Born	Died	Place of death	Summary
James Monroe	28 April 1758	4 July 1831	New York U.S.	Politician

 

A Birth

Title	Born	Died	Summary	Description
James Garfield	19 November 1831	19 September 1881	Politician	A US president who was assassinated