Jane Austen's World - 1796 - 1805

1796: Fanny Burney publishes Camilla; Robert Burns dies; Jenner introduces a vaccination against smallpox; Napoleon marries Josephine.

1797: Edmund Burke dies; Ann Radcliffe writes The Italian; first copper pennies are minted in England and one-pound notes issued.

1798: French capture Rome; income tax of 10% of all incomes over £200 is introduced in Britain as a wartime measure.

1799: Napoleon overthrows the Directory, appoints Talleyrand as Foreign Minister, and becomes Consul. Balzac is born; Beaumarchais dies. Rosetta stone is discovered making the deciphering of hieroglyphics possible.

1800: Wm. Cowper dies; Maria Edgeworth publishes Castle Rackrent; Royal College of Surgeons founded in London; Napoleon defeats Austrians at the Battle of Marengo.*

1801: Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland; Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated as the third president of the United States; The Union Jack becomes the official flag of the UK.

1802: Two-year Peace of Amiens between France and Britain. Two powerhouses of French literature are born: Alexandre Dumas, Pere, and Victor Hugo. George Romney dies. Peerage is published in London by Debrett. The Baronetage (the only book that Sir Walter Elliot reads) is not published until 1808. West India Docks in London are built.

1803: Robert Emmet, Irish patriot, (Let no man write my epitaph.) is executed by British in Ireland; Benjamin West paints Christ Healing the Sick.

1804: Disraeli is born; Alexander Hamilton is killed in a duel with Aaron Burr.

1805: Turner paints Shipwreck; Paganini begins to tour Europe as violin virtuoso.

*The Battle of Marengo and Chicken: The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. The French defeated Austrian General Michael von Melas's surprise attack, driving the Austrians out of Italy, and enhancing Napoleon's political position in Paris. According to tradition Napoleon demanded a quick meal after the battle and his chef was forced to work with the meager results of a forage: a chicken, some eggs, tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs, olive oil, and crayfish. The chef cut up the chicken (reportedly with a sabre) and fried it in olive oil, made a sauce from the tomatoes, garlic and onions (plus a bit of cognac from Napoleon's flask), cooked the crayfish, fried the eggs and served them as a garnish, with some of the soldier's bread ration on the side. Napoleon reportedly liked the dish and (having won the battle) considered it lucky. Voila! Chicken Marengo! (Wikipedia)