22 – The town of Araraquara, Brazil is founded. August 23 – An earthquake near the site of the ancient Greek city of Helike results in 65 deaths. August 26 – The University of Michigan is founded in Detroit, Michigan. September 11 – The Great Rebellion of 1817-18 begins in Sri Lanka. October–December October 9 - Official opening of the University of Ghent October 17 – Frigate is launched in Bombay for the British Royal Navy; she will still be afloat two centuries later. October 30 - The independent government of Venezuela is established by Simón Bolívar. October 31 – Emperor Ninkō accedes to the throne of Japan. November 3 - The Bank of Montreal opens in Montreal. November 5 – Third Anglo-Maratha War breaks out with the Battle of Khadki. November 20 – The first Seminole War begins in Florida. November 22 – Frédéric Cailliaud discovers the old Roman emerald mines at Sikait, Egypt. December 10 – Mississippi is admitted as the 20th U.S. state, formerly the Mississippi Territory. Date unknown The first cholera pandemic originates in Bengal, reaching Calcutta by September. A typhus epidemic occurs in Edinburgh and Glasgow. L'Anciente Mutuelle, as predecessor of Axa, a worldwide insurance and financial service is founded in Rouen, France. Births January–June January 8 – Sir Theophilus Shepstone, British-born South African statesman (d. 1893) January 28 – Francisco de Lersundi y Hormaechea, Spanish noble and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1874) February 17 – Édouard Thilges, 7th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1904) February 18 – Lewis Armistead, American Confederate general (d. 1863) February 19 – King William III of the Netherlands (d. 1890) February 22 – Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d. 1880) February 24 – Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot, French general (d. 1882) March 6 – Princess Clémentine of Orléans, daughter of King Louis Philippe I of France, mother of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1907) March 22 – Braxton Bragg, American Confederate general (d. 1876) April 1 – Nissen Shonin, Japanese Buddhist priest Honmon Butsuryū-shū, Kyoto city (d. 1890) April 15 – Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol College, Oxford (d. 1893) April 24 – Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac, Swiss chemist (d. 1894) May 15 – Debendranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (d. 1905) May 19 – Theodor August Heintzman, Canadian piano manufacturer (d. 1899) June 30 – Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist (d. 1911) July–December July 6 – Albert von