Calendar of Literary Facts

1814

  • Francis Jeffrey publishes his famous review of William Wordsworth’s The Excursion which begins with the short, dry statement, “This will never do.”
  • George Stephenson develops his first steam locomotive
  • Gas streetlights are introduced in London
  • Emperor Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to the island of Elba
  • The Congress of Vienna takes place
  • Sir Walter Scott publishes Waverley
  • British troops enter Washington, D.C., burning the White House and destroying most of the Library of Congress
  • U.S. and British representatives sign the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812 (December 24)
  • Sheridan Le Fanu is born (August 28)