Full Name: Napoleone di Buonaparte
Profession: French Emperor
Biography: One of the most controversial, influential and celebrated figures in human history, Napoleon seized upon the opportunities created by the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 and became a general at age 29.
After the French Directory gave him control of the armed forces, his early military victories established him as a national hero, and he engineered a coup in 1799 that made him First Consul of the Republic. He went further and declared himself Emperor of the French in 1804.
Napoleon's stunning military victories over his European enemies - at Austerlitz in 1805, Friedland in 1807 and Wagram in 1809 - solidified his dominance of virtually the entire continent, and confirmed the rapid spread of his empire.
After launching the Peninsular War in Spain, Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, which ended in disaster and the collapse of his Grand Army. A Sixth Coalition defeated him at Leipzig, invaded France and forced him to abdicate in 1814. He was exiled to Elba, where he escaped and took control of France. He was finally defeated by a Seventh Coalition at Waterloo and exiled to St Helena in the South Atlantic where he died in 1821.
Napoleon's foreign and domestic achievements, particularly the Napoleonic Code, greatly influenced the foundations of most of the modern Western world.
Born: August 15, 1769
Birthplace: Ajaccio, Corsica, France
Star Sign: Leo
Died: May 5, 1821 (aged 51)
Cause of Death: Officially stomach cancer, but rumours of arsenic poisoning persist (possibly emitted by wallpaper)
Articles and Photos
A Salute to the Military Genius, Napoleon Bonaparte
A 15-year-old boy entered a soldiers’ training school in Paris on this day. He was to become the military genius and great commander known as Napoléon Bonaparte.
October 30, 1784
France Celebrates Bastille Day
July 14 is Bastille Day, marking the fall in 1789 of the massive Paris fortress, the start of the French Revolution and the end of the country’s monarchy.
July 14, 1789
Dutch Fleet Captured
Cavalry capturing the Dutch fleet at the battle of Den Helder
January 23, 1795
Coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon is crowned Emperor of the French at Notre-Dam on December 2, 1804, painting by Jacques-Louis David
December 2, 1804
Napoleon Meets the Tsar
Napoléon Bonaparte meets Alexander I of Russia in a pavilion aboard a raft in the middle of the Neman River to sign a peace treaty
July 7, 1806
Great Fire of Moscow
Napoleon retreats from Moscow as it burns, in a painting by Viktor Mazurovsky
September 18, 1812
Battle of Waterloo
'Wellington at Waterloo', by Robert Alexander Hillingford, depicting Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, during the final confrontation against Napoleon
June 18, 1815
The Quiet Passing of Halley’s Comet
Halley’s Comet has been skirting Earth over and over again for centuries and did so again on this day. Happily, the disasters predicted by some failed to happen
May 18, 1910
Historical Events
- 1784-10-30 Napoléon Bonaparte admitted to the elite École Militaire in Paris, the start of his military career
- 1785-09-28 Napoléon Bonaparte, aged 16, graduates from the elite École Militaire in Paris (42nd in a class of 51)
- 1796-03-02 Napoléon Bonaparte is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in Italy
- 1796-04-13 Battle of Millesimo, Italy: Napoleon's forces defeat allied armies of Austria and of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.
- 1796-04-21 Napoleon and the French defeat the Piedmontese at Battle of Mondovi
- 1796-04-28 Armistice of Cherasco between Sardinia and Napoleon Bonaparte at Cherasco, Piedmont gives France territories of Piedmont, Savoy and Nice
- 1796-05-10 Napoleon defeats Austria in Battle of Lodi Bridge
- 1796-05-15 First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph with French troops
- 1796-09-08 Battle of Bassano: Napoleon Bonaparte's French army defeat Austrian force during French Revolutionary Wars
- 1796-11-17 Battle of Arcole: French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte defeat an Austrian force led by József Alvinczi after a 3 day battle at Arcole, Republic of Venice
- 1797-05-12 First Coalition: Napoleon I of France conquers Venice
- 1797-06-14 Napoleon forms Ligurian Republic
- 1798-07-01 Napoleon's fleet reaches Alexandria, Egypt
- 1798-07-21 Napoleon Bonaparte wins Battle of Pyramids in Egypt (Battle of Embabeh) against Mamluk rulers, wiping out most of the Egyptian army
- 1798-07-23 Napoleon Bonaparte captures Alexandria, Egypt
- 1799-01-09 British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces income tax to raise funds for the war against Napoleon
- 1799-03-08 Napoleon Bonaparte's forces capture the city of Jaffa from the Ottoman Empire in Palestine, after a 5 day siege
- 1799-04-16 Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Mount Tabor - Napoleon drives Ottoman Turks across the River Jordan near Acre
- 1799-05-21 Napoleon and his forces abandon their siege of Acre after two months - turning point in French invasion of Egypt and Syria
- 1799-05-22 Napoleon makes statement in support of re-establishing Jerusalem for Jews
- 1799-07-15 The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign
- 1799-07-25 French-Egyptian forces under Napoleon I beat Turks at Battle of Abukir
- 1799-08-23 Napoleon leaves Egypt for France en route to seize power.
- 1799-11-09 Napoleon Bonaparte pulls off a coup and becomes the dictator of France under the title of First Consul
- 1799-12-24 Jacobin plot against Napoleon uncovered
- 1800-06-14 Battle of Marengo (Alessandria): Napoleon Bonaparte's French army overcomes Austrian forces in Piedmont, Italy
- 1801-04-02 Napoleonic Wars: The British led by Horatio Nelson destroy the Danish fleet in the naval Battle of Copenhagen
- 1801-07-16 Pope Pius VII & 1st consul Napoleon sign concord
- 1802-01-25 Napoleon Bonaparte elected president of Italian (Cisalpine) Republic
- 1802-08-02 Napoleon Bonaparte declared "Consul for Life" after winning national referendum
- 1802-08-07 Napoleon orders re-instatement of slavery on St Domingue (Haiti)
- 1804-05-18 Napoléon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate
- 1804-12-02 General Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned Emperor of the French at the Notre Dame de Paris in a ceremony officiated by Pope Pius VII
- 1805-05-26 Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy
- 1805-09-30 Napoleon Bonaparte's army draws into the Rhine
- 1805-11-11 Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein - 8000 French troops attempted to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force.
- 1806-01-01 Napoléon Bonaparte abolishes the French Republican calendar after 12 years of use
- 1806-11-21 The Continental System declared in the Decree of Berlin: Emperor Napoleon I bans all trade with Britain
- 1807-02-08 Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon's forces and the Russian Empire, first battle Napoleon isn't victorious
- 1807-02-09 Napoleon convenes "The Grand Sanhedrin", a Jewish high court, in Paris, gives legal sanction to the principles expressed by the Assembly of Notables
- 1807-06-14 Emperor Napoleon I's French Grande Armee defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Prussia (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending War of the Fourth Coalition
- 1807-07-07 French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte and Russian Tsar Alexander I meet on a raft in the middle of the Neman River and sign the first Treaty of Tilsit
- 1807-07-09 Second Treaty of Tilsit signed by France, Russia and Prussia
- 1807-07-20 Napoleon Bonaparte grants a patent for a Pyréolophore, an early combustion engine for a boat, to brothers Nicéphore and Claude Niépce
- 1807-09-02 The Royal Navy bombards Copenhagen with fire bombs and phosphorus rockets to prevent Denmark from surrendering its fleet to Napoleon.
- 1807-11-27 Portuguese Royal Family and its court of nearly 15,000 people leave Lisbon for their colony of Brazil to escape invading Napoleonic troops
- 1808-03-23 Napoleon's brother Joseph takes the throne of Spain
- 1808-04-17 Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships
- 1808-05-30 Napoleon Bonaparte annexes Tuscany and gives it seats in the French Senate
- 1808-07-20 Napoleon decrees all French Jews must adopt a fixed family name
- 1808-08-17 French Emperor Napoleon asks his brother, the King of Holland Louis Bonaparte for a Dutch Brigade to fight on the French side against Spain in the Peninsular War
- 1809-01-06 Napoleonic Wars: Invasion of Cayenne, by combined British, Portuguese and colonial Brazilian forces, begins
- 1809-04-20 Napoleon I and French forces defeat Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria
- 1809-04-22 Battle of Eckmühl: Napoleon's French and Bavarian force defeats the Austrians under the Archduke Charles at Eggmühl, Bavaria. Gives Napoleon the strategic initiative for the rest of the War of the Fifth Coalition.
- 1809-05-21 Battle of Aspern-Essling: Austrian Archduke Charles beats Napoleon and his army. Napoleon's first defeat in 10 years.
- 1809-07-06 Battle of Wagram: After a two day battle, Napoleon's French and allied army decisively defeats the Austrian army under Archduke Charles, leads to the breakup of the Austrian and British-led Fifth Coalition against France
- 1810-02-20 Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, executed.
- 1810-07-09 Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire
- 1810-08-09 Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire
- 1811-10-06 French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte visits Utrecht
- 1812-01-09 Swedish Pomerania (Germany) seized by Napoleon
- 1812-06-24 Napoleon Bonaparte's Grand Armée numbering half a million begin their invasion of Russia by crossing the Nieman River
- 1812-07-23 Battle of Mogilev: first significant fighting during Napoleon's invasion of Russia results in minor French victory
- 1812-09-07 Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Bonapartre wins a pyrrhic victory against Russian General Mikhail Kutuzov in the most ferocious battle of the Napoleonic era, 70,000 are killed
- 1812-09-14 Great Fire of Moscow begins as Napoleon approaches the city and retreating Russians burn it - fire continues to burn for five days
- 1812-09-15 Napoleon Bonaparte and his French army reach the Kremlin in Moscow, where they watch the flames of the Great Fire of Moscow spread and grow
- 1812-10-19 Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grande Armée begin their retreat from Moscow numbering just 100,000 (started campaign with 500,000)
- 1812-10-23 Failed coup against French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
- 1812-10-24 Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow, French army then forced to retreat through the snow towards Smolensk
- 1812-11-03 French Napoleonic armies defeated at Vyazma by a Russian force commanded by General Miloradovich
- 1812-11-17 Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Krasnoi during Napoleon's retreat from Moscow
- 1812-11-29 Napoleon's Grand Army crosses Berezina River in retreat from Russia
- 1812-12-14 The French invasion of Russia, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, officially ends with the French having lost as many as 530,000 people
- 1813-08-27 Battle of Dresden; Napoleon defeats Austrians
- 1813-10-16 Battle of Leipzig, largest battle in Europe prior to WWI, Napoleon's forces defeated by Prussia, Austria and Russia
- 1814-02-10 Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Champaubert, the French beat the Russians
- 1814-02-18 The Battle of Montereau; victory of French under Napoleon Bonaparte against Austrians and Württembergers under the King of Württemberg.
- 1814-03-07 Napoleon I of France wins the Battle of Craonne against combined Russian and Prussian force in northern France
- 1814-03-30 Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris after defeating Napoleon
- 1814-03-31 Forces allied against Napoleon capture Paris
- 1814-04-04 An officer mutiny forces French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte to abdicate for the first time in flavor of his son, who is not accepted by the Allies occupying Paris
- 1814-04-11 Napoléon Bonaparte abdicates unconditionally and is exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean
- 1814-05-30 Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition - the Treaty of Paris (1814) is signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent.
- 1814-10-01 Opening of the Congress of Vienna, redraws Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoléon Bonaparte
- 1814-11-01 Congress of Vienna opens to re-draw the European political map after the defeat of France, in the Napoleonic Wars
- 1815-02-26 Napoléon Bonaparte and his supporters leave Elba to start a 100 day re-conquest of France
- 1815-03-20 Napoléon Bonaparte enters Paris after his escape from Elba, begins 100-day rule
- 1815-06-01 Napoleon Bonaparte swears fidelity to the Constitution of France
- 1815-06-16 French army under Napoleon defeats Prussia in the Battle of Ligny, Napoleon's last military victory
- 1815-06-18 Battle of Waterloo; Napoleon Bonaparte and France defeated by British forces under Duke of Wellington and Prussian troops under Field Marshall von Blücher
- 1815-06-22 After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates for the second time, in favor of his son Napoleon II
- 1815-07-15 Napoleon surrenders to Captain Frederick Maitland of HMS Bellerophon at Rochefort after his earlier defeat at the Battle of Waterloo
- 1815-08-09 Napoleon Bonaparte sets sail for exile on St Helena on board British ship the Northumberland
- 1815-10-15 Napoleon Bonaparte arrives on island of St Helena to begin his exile
- 1815-11-20 Second Treaty of Paris: France and her allies agree France will pay indemnities after Battle of Waterloo, ending the Napoleonic Wars
- 1816-02-27 Dutch regain Suriname from the French after the defeat of Napoleon
- 1818-04-20 Napoleon Bonaparte bids emotional farewell to his old guard at Palace of Fontainebleau
- 1840-12-15 Napoleon Bonaparte receives a French state funeral in Paris 19 years after his death
Personal Life
- 1796-03-09 Napoléon Bonaparte (26) marries his first wife Joséphine de Beauharnais (32), changing her name from Rose
- 1809-12-16 Napoleon Bonaparte divorces Empress Joséphine by French Senate
- 1810-01-10 French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I and Empress Joséphine
- 1810-02-11 French leader Napoleon I marries 2nd wife Marie-Louise of Austria
References
Famous Emperors
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