The aftermath of the 1815 eruption of Tambora brought unusually cold, wet weather to the Northern Hemisphere in 1816. Frost and snow fell in New England in June and July, harvests failed in Europe, grain prices soared and hunger riots broke out in Britain and France. In Switzerland, a group of travellers confined by storms at the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva, including Lord Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley, wrote ghost stories, and Mary Shelley started Frankenstein. Hunger drove many families west across North America, and led to the creation of the first bicycle-like machines, since horses had no feed.
Before and after
- 18 June 1815Battle of Waterloo
- from 3 July 1815 to 3 August 1818Russian Rurik Expedition
- 10 December 1815Birth of Ada Lovelace
- from 1816 to 1858Seminole Wars
- 1816The Year Without a Summer
- 21 April 1816Birth of Charlotte Brontë
- 1 June 1816Founding of Austrian National Bank
- 27 August 1816Bombardment of Algiers
- 19 November 1816Founding of University of Warsaw
More in Earth & climate
- 2 July 1812Eruption of Tambora
- 24 September 1869Black Friday
- 1 March 1872Establishment of Yellowstone National Park
- 1 October 1890Establishment of Yosemite National Park
- 1905Establishment of Kaziranga National Park
- 6 January 1912Alfred Wegener proposes continental drift
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.