Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi's earlier discovery of Ceres was mathematically confirmed, cementing the existence of an entirely new class of celestial object.

Franklin Pierce, who would become the 14th President of the United States and preside over the fractious years preceding the Civil War, was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.

Franklin Pierce, who would become the 14th U.S. president and preside over a nation sliding toward civil war, was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.

In Notre-Dame Cathedral, Napoleon Bonaparte took the crown from Pope Pius VII's hands and placed it on his own head, declaring himself Emperor of the French.