Year 1823 Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historical Events

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1823. 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)—until March 4, 1823
5. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Henry Clay (DR-Kentucky)—Starting December 1, 1823
6. In 1823, the 17th U.S. Congress was in session until March 4. On March 4, the 18th U.S. Congress convened. Both chambers—the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives—had a Democratic-Republican majority.
7. 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 in the United States. For example, an estimated 50,000 people in major U.S. cities—including New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and New Orleans—were either unemployed or sporadically employed.
8. Inflation rate: -10.26% (Adjusted for inflation, the dollar has lost about 96% of its value since 1823.)
9. Consumer price index (CPI): 10.500
10. American companies and brands established in 1823 included Chemical Bank, Chickering & Sons, Consolidated Edison, Fairbanks-Morse, and the Nashua Manufacturing Company.
11. In 1823, 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.
12. 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.)
13. In 1823, 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).
14. On or about March 11, Samuel Read Hall, an American minister and educator, founded the Columbian School in Concord, Vermont. It was America’s first teacher-training institution “dedicated to preparing individuals for teaching careers.”
15. The first public performance of John Howard Payne's iconic song, Home Sweet Home, took place on May 8 in London.
16. On May 10, the first steamboat to navigate the upper Mississippi River—the Virginia—arrived in Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
17. On September 10, the 60-mile-long Champlain Canal, which connects “the Hudson River to the south end of Lake Champlain,” opened to commercial vessels. Today, the canal is used mostly “by recreational boaters as part of the New York State Canal System and Lakes to Locks Passage.”
18. On October 12, Charles Macintosh, a Scottish chemist and businessman, began selling “Macintosh” raincoats, which were “composed of two sheets of fabric with rubber latex sandwiched between them.”
19. On December 2, President Monroe delivered his seventh annual message to Congress and established the Monroe Doctrine, which “asserted that the Americas were no longer open to European colonization and that the United States would view any attempt by European powers to extend their influence in the Western Hemisphere as a hostile act. This doctrine became a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.”
20. On December 23, Clement Moore's classic poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas (aka The Night Before Christmas), was published anonymously in the Troy (New York) Sentinel.
21. In 1823, Count Odette Phillipe, a French nobleman, planted the first grapefruit trees in Florida near Tampa Bay and established the St. Helena Plantation. Today, Florida is a leading producer of the fruit.
22. Key fiction works published during 1823 included James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers, John Galt’s The Gathering of the West, Mary Shelley’s Valperga, Sarah Green’s The Nieces, and Victor Hugo’s Hans of Iceland.
23. A key nonfiction work published during the year was John Franklin’s Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea.
24. A top literary work for children and young people published in 1823 was Elizabeth Penrose’s A History of England from the First Invasion by the Romans to the End of the Reign of George III.
25. Famous poems published during the year were Lord Byron’s Don Juan, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Poetical Pieces by the Late Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Robert Bloomfield’s Hazelwood Hall.
26. Top dramatic works in 1823: Richard Brinsley Peake’s Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein and William Henry Brown’s The Drama of King Shotaway
27. Famous people born in 1823 included Alfred Russel Wallace (biologist), Mary Ann Shadd (journalist), Max Muller (author), Thomas A. Scott (businessman), and Thomas J. Wood (Civil War hero).
28. Notable people who died in 1823 included Ann Radcliffe (novelist), Charles Wolfe (poet), Edward Jenner (physician), Jacques Charles (mathematician), Pope Pius VII (religious leader), and Robert Bloomfield (poet).
29. In 1823 as well, the words “caffeine,” “clean-shaven,” “cloakroom,” “dog biscuit,” “everglade,” “firecracker,” “letter-perfect,” “minor planet,” “puppy love,” “solarium,” “thesaurus,” and “trolley” all appeared in print for the first time.
30. One-half ton of hay: $3.50
31. One and a half gallons of metheglin: 45 cents
32. One bushel of apples: 50 cents
33. One bushel of buckwheat: 62 cents
34. One bushel of onions: 60 cents
35. One bushel of potatoes: 40 cents
36. One bushel of rye: 75 cents
37. One peck of beans: 25 cents
38. One pound and four ounces of butter: 15½ cents
39. One pound of lard: 10 cents
40. One pound of salt beef: Six cents
41. One pound of salt pork: 10 cents
42. Ten bundles of straw: 20 cents
43. Three pounds and eight ounces of honey: 42 cents
44. Two pounds and six ounces of cheese: 15½ cents
45. Wages for one day of chopping wood: 40 cents

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1823_in_the_United_States
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1823
3. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1823.html
4. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1823.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1823_in_literature
6. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1823
7. https://www.history.com/a-year-in-history/1823
8. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1820.html
9. https://www.onthisday.com/weddings/date/1823
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