Year 1822 Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historical Events

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1822. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, historic firsts, famous birthdays, retail prices, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: James Monroe (DR-Virginia)
2. Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins (DR-New York)
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: John Marshall (Virginia)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Philip P. Barbour (DR-Virginia)
5. In 1822, the 17th U.S. Congress was in session. Both chambers—the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives—had a Democratic-Republican majority.
6. Unemployment rate: During the 1820s, no state or federal agencies compiled “accurate tallies” of America’s unemployment rate. Only “rough estimates” of the U.S. jobless rate were available. However, during the Panic of 1819 (1819-23), there was a sharp rise in unemployment across the United States. For example, an estimated 50,000 people in major U.S. cities—including New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore—were either unemployed or sporadically employed.
7. Inflation rate: 3.54% (Adjusted for inflation, the dollar has lost about 96% of its value since 1822.)
8. Consumer price index (CPI): 11.700
9. American companies and brands established in 1822 included the Columbia Fur Company, Lehigh Coal Mining Company, Osgood Bradley Car Company, Tallman & Bucklin, and the William Underwood Company.
10. In 1822, about 75% of Americans were involved in agriculture, compared to an estimated 90% in 1800. Back then, most farms had enough land to feed one family, which was about 10 acres.
11. The 10 most populated U.S. cities were New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, Charleston (South Carolina), Northern Liberties (a neighborhood in North Philadelphia), Southwark (a neighborhood in South Philadelphia), Washington, DC, Salem (Massachusetts), and Albany (New York). (Just so you know, Northern Liberties and Southwark both became part of the City of Philadelphia in 1854.)
12. In 1822, there were 24 U.S. states. In order of admission to the Union, they were Delaware (1787), Pennsylvania (1787), New Jersey (1787), Georgia (1788), Connecticut (1788), Massachusetts (1788), Maryland (1788), South Carolina (1788), New Hampshire (1788), Virginia (1788), New York (1788), North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), Ohio (1803), Louisiana (1812), Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Maine (1820), and Missouri (1821).
13. During 1822, the United States was still in the midst of the Panic of 1819, a major economic crisis that lasted until 1823. During the financial downturn, the growth in commerce that followed the War of 1812 ended, agricultural prices dropped, numerous banks failed, mortgages were foreclosed, and unemployment rose nationwide. Multiple factors contributed to the panic, including the role played by the Second Bank of the United States, which began to “aggressively” call in loans and “demand repayment in gold and silver, causing further instability among state banks that had relied on issuing banknotes.”
14. On February 13, Jeremiah Bailey of Chester County, Pennsylvania, received a U.S. patent for the first “practical” lawnmower.
15. On February 23, the Massachusetts state government passed an act that incorporated Boston as a city, thus ending nearly 200 years of a “town-style” and “decentralized” government.
16. On March 4, Boston voters ratified a new charter that officially converted Boston from a “town” into a city.
17. On March 9, Charles Graham of New York City received a U.S. patent for dentures. Celebrate and Learn tells us that “False teeth had been around for centuries, but those dentures were made from human or animal teeth.” Graham’s dentures “were made from porcelain and were harder and more durable.”
18. On March 16, Italian opera composer Gioachino Rossini (The Barber of Seville and Cinderella) married opera singer Isabella Colbran in Bologna.
19. On March 30, Congress officially merged East Florida and West Florida to form the Territory of Florida and “set the stage” for Florida’s statehood in 1845.
20. On May 1, John Phillips became Boston’s first mayor.
21. On June 9, Paul Henderson, a Scottish-American scientist, was born in Pathhead, Scotland. He is known as the “Father of Horticulture” and published Gardening for Profit (1867), Practical Floriculture (1868), and Gardening for Pleasure (1875).
22. On July 2, Denmark Vesey, a free Black man and community leader in Charleston, South Carolina, was hanged for planning a major slave revolt.
23. On July 4, a 24th star was added to the United States flag, which commemorated Missouri’s admission to the Union in 1821.
24. On July 20, Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk and botanist, was born. He founded modern genetics “by discovering the principles of heredity” through a series of pea plant experiments.
25. On August 3, Thomas W. Shepherd published the first issue of The New England Farmer, an agricultural journal, in Boston.
26. On August 22, the British whaling ship, Orion, landed in Yerba Buena, in what is now modern-day San Francisco, to obtain wood and water.
27. On August 30, Rowland H. Macy, who founded the Macy’s department store chain in 1858, was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
28. On October 12, French novelist Victor Hugo (Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) married Adele Fourcher in Paris.
29. On October 20, the first edition of the London Sunday Times was published.
30. On December 12, the United States officially recognized Mexico as an independent nation.
31. On December 27, the renowned French virologist Louis Pasteur was born. He “showed that microorganisms were responsible for disease, food spoilage, and fermentation” and “developed the process for killing these organisms by heat, called pasteurization.” Pasteur also developed vaccines for anthrax, cholera, and rabies.
32. In 1822, the last major outbreak of yellow fever in New York City took place. The epidemic caused nearly 400 deaths and created widespread panic.
33. Key fiction works published during 1822 included Ann Hatton’s Guilty or Not Guilty, Catherine Maria Sedgwick’s A New England Tale, James Hogg’s The Three Perils of Man, Lady Caroline Lamb’s Graham Hamilton, Sarah Green’s Nuptial Discoveries, Sir Walter Scott’s The Fortunes of Nigel, Sir Walter Scott’s The Pirate, and Washington Irving’s Bracebridge Hall.
34. A key nonfiction work published during the year was John Claudius Loudon’s An Encyclopaedia of Gardening.
35. Literary works for children published in 1822 included Agnes Strickland’s The Moss-House: In Which Many of the Works of Nature Are Rendered a Source of Amusement to Children, Hans Christian Anderson’s Ghost at Palnatoke's Grave, Mary Martha Sherwood’s The History of Henry Milner, and Susannah Moodie’s Spartacus.
36. Famous poems published during 1822 were Lord Byron’s The Vision of Judgment and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Hellas.
37. Famous people born in 1822 included Andrew Allan (entrepreneur), Charles Reed Bishop (entrepreneur), Gregor Mendel (geneticist), Louis Pasteur (virologist), Matthew Brady (photographer), Rowland Hussey Macy Sr. (entrepreneur), Rutherford B. Hayes (future U.S. president), Sir Francis Galton (mathematician), and Ulysses S. Grant (future U.S. president).
38. Notable people who died in 1822 included Eva Marie Veigel (dancer), Percy Bysshe Shelley (poet), and William Herschel (astronomer).
39. In 1822 as well, the words “attaché,” “blouse,” “boyfriend,” “character assassination,” “consent decree,” “coupon,” “employee,” “fly-by-night,” “hairnet,” “kudo,” “narcissism,” “nuclear,” “paperweight,” “preparatory school,” “public defender,” “subway,” “treadmill,” and “tutorial” all appeared in print for the first time.
40. 20 bundles of straw: 20 cents
41. One bushel of apples: 25 cents
42. One bushel of beans: $1.00
43. One bushel of clover seed: $7.00
44. One bushel of onions: 30 cents
45. One bushel of potatoes: 50 cents
46. One bushel of rye: 91 cents
47. One pound of iron: Six cents
48. One pound of salt pork: Eight cents
49. One pound of tallow for making candles: Around 15 cents
50. One pound of veal: Five cents
51. One quart of salt: Six cents
52. One saddle: $16.00
53. One ton of coal for home heating: $1.50
54. Wages for one day of chopping: 40 cents
55. Wages for one day of mowing: 50 cents

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1822_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1822
3. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1822.html
4. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1822.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1822_in_literature
6. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1822
7. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1822
8. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1820.html
9. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1822
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor