Events January–March January 21 – Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. January 28 – Alexander Island, the largest in Antarctica, is first discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. February 9 – Columbian College in the District of Columbia is chartered by President James Monroe (it becomes George Washington University). February 10 – In Mexico, the Embrace of Acatempan takes place between Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero, which seals the peace between the viceroyalty troops and the insurgents. March 4 – James Monroe begins his second term, as President of the United States March 5 – President James Monroe is sworn in, for his second term. April–June March 25 (O.S.)/April 6 (N.S.) – Metropolitan bishop Germanos of Patras raises the revolutionary flag of Greece at the Monastery of Agia Lavra (according to oral tradition, not historical record), symbolically marking the beginning of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire; later celebrated as Greece's traditional Independence Day. April 10 (O.S.)/April 22 (N.S.) – Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is blamed by the Ottoman government for being unable to suppress Greek independence, and is hanged outside the main gate of the Patriarchal Cathedral immediately after the celebration of Pascha. May 5 Emperor Napoleon dies in exile on Saint Helena of stomach cancer. The first edition of the Manchester Guardian newspaper (from 1959 simply The Guardian) is published in England. May 8 – Greek War of Independence: At the Battle of Gravia Inn, a 120-man Greek force led by Odysseas Androutsos repulses an Ottoman army of 8,000. May 26 (O.S.)/June 7 (N.S.) – The Peloponnesian Senate is established by the Greek rebels. June 14 – Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1820–1824): King Badi VII of Sennar surrenders his throne and realm without a fight to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of the Funj Sultanate in Sudan. June 7 (O.S.)/June 19 (N.S.) – Battle of Drăgășani, Wallachia: The Filiki Eteria are decisively defeated by the Ottomans. June 24 – Battle of Carabobo: Simón Bolívar wins Venezuela's independence from Spain. July–September October–December September 23 (O.S.)/October 5 (N.S.) – The Siege of Tripolitsa ends when Greek rebels capture the city of Tripoli, Greece; the massacre of 8,000 civilians follows. (Greek forces under the command of General Theodoros Kolokotronis have besieged the city for several months during the Greek War of Independence