1815

Events 
 Fresnel developed the theory of light diffraction.
 Napoleon loses the Battle of Waterloo and is sent to Saint Helena.

 Births 
January 10 – John A. Macdonald, first Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1891)
February 15 – Constantin von Tischendorf, German Biblical scholar (d. 1874)
April 1 – Otto von Bismarck, German statesman (d. 1898)
 April 1 – Edward Clark, Governor of Texas (d. 1880)
April 6 – Robert Volkmann, German composer (d. 1883)
April 24 – Anthony Trollope, British writer (d. 1882)
June 11 - Julia Margaret Cameron, British Indian photographer (d. 1879)
August 5 – Edward John Eyre, explorer
October 16 – Francis Lubbock, Governor of Texas (d. 1905)
October 31 – Karl Weierstraß, German mathematician (d. 1897)
November 2 – George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1864)
December 10 – Augusta Ada King (née Byron), Countess of Lovelace, early English computer pioneer (d. 1852)
November 12 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American women's rights activist (d. 1902)
December 21 – Thomas Couture, French painter (d. 1879)

 Deaths 
January 8 – Edward Pakenham, British general (killed in battle) (born 1778)
January 16 – Emma, Lady Hamilton, English mistress of Horatio Nelson (born 1765)
February 24 – Robert Fulton, American inventor (born 1765)
February 26 – Prince Josias of Coburg, Austrian general (born 1737)
March 4 – Frances Abington, English actress (born 1737)
March 5 – Franz Mesmer, German developer of hypnotism (born 1734)
April 21 – Joseph Winston, American patriot and Congressman from North Carolina (born 1746)
June 1 – Louis Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (born 1753)
June 16 – Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick, German noble and general (killed in battle) (born 1771)
June 18 – Thomas Picton, British general (killed in battle) (born 1758)
June 18 – Claude-Etienne Michel, French general (killed in battle) (born 1772)
June 18 – Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, French general (killed in battle) (born 1766)
August 2 – Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, French marshal (murdered) (born 1763)
August 6 – James A. Bayard (elder), U.S. Senator from Delaware (born 1767)
September 9 – John Singleton Copley, American painter (born 1738)
September 20 – Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist (born 1725)
October 13 – Joachim Murat, French marshal and King of Naples (executed) (born 1767)
December 3 – John Carroll (priest), first American Roman Catholic Archbishop (born 1735)
December 7 – Michel Ney, French marshal (executed) (born 1769)
December 29 – Saartjie Baartman, sideshow performer