- death of Blessed Diego José of Cádiz
- death of Sister Maria Teresa of the Holy Trinity
- birth of Blessed Caterina Cittadini
- birth of Bishop Edward Barron
- birth of Blessed Luigi Biraghi
- birth of Blessed Marco Antonio Durando
- birth of Father Alessandro di Troja
- birth of Saint Teresa Eustochio
- birth of Venerable Cardinal John Henry Newman (21 February)
- suppression of the diocese of Aleria, Corsica
- suppression of the diocese of Verdun, France
- death of Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer (21 March)
- death of Benedict Arnold, American Revolution hero and traitor (14 June)
- death of Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (7 February)
- death of Frederick Muhlenberg, first Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (4 June)
- Russian Tsar Paul I murdered; succeeded by his son Alexander I of Russia (23 March)
- Treaty of Lunéville ends war between France and Austria (16 February)
- birth of Brigham Young, leader of the Mormons (1 June)
- birth of David Farragut, American naval commander (5 July)
- birth of Gijsbert Haan, founder of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (3 January)
- birth of Heber Kimball, Mormon leader (14 June)
- birth of János Kardos, Hungarian/Slovenian Lutheran preacher, teacher and writer (13 February)
- birth of Thomas Cole, American artist (1 February)
- birth of Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (3 November)
- coup d’état in the Netherlands (17 October)
- first census conducted in France
- first census conducted in Great Britain
- Giuseppe Piazzi discovers the first (and largest) asteroid Ceres
- Johann Wilhelm Ritter discovers ultraviolet radiation
- John Marshall appointed Chief Justice of the United States (21 January)
- Joseph-Marie Jacquard develops a loom where the pattern was controlled by punch cards
- Legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland completed under the Act of Union
- Napoleon signs the Concordat of 1801 with the Pope (18 July)
- pascha of Tripoli declares war on the United States (10 May)
- Thomas Jefferson elected President of the United States (19 February)
