The Year 1821 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historic events from the year 1821. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, famous birthdays and deaths, popular baby names, retail prices, and much more.

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: John W. Taylor (DR-New York)—Until March 4
5. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Philip P. Barbour (DR-Virginia)—Starting December 4
6. In 1821, the 16th U.S. Congress was in session until March 4. On March 4, the 17th 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, in the aftermath of the Panic of 1819, there was a sharp rise in unemployment across the United States in 1821. For example, an estimated 50,000 people in major U.S. cities—including New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore—were either unemployed or sporadically employed.
8. Inflation rate: -3.42%
9. Consumer price index (CPI): 11.300
10. $100.00 in 1821 “is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,868.34 today, an increase of $2,768.34 over 205 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 1.65% per year between 1821 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 2,768.34%.” This means that today's prices are 28.68 times higher than in 1821, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. Today, a dollar buys about 3.486% of what it could purchase in 1821.
11. American companies and brands established in 1821 included Bunker Hill Breweries and the Pocasset Manufacturing Company (textile manufacturer).
12. In 1821, 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.
13. The 10 most populated states were New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Maryland.
14. 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, through the Consolidation Act of 1854, which extended Philadelphia’s territory from two square miles to 130 square miles.)
15. In 1821, 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).
16. During 1821, the United States was 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.”
17. On February 3, Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to attend medical school and receive a medical degree, was born in Bristol, England.
18. On February 9, President Monroe chartered The Columbian College of the District of Columbia, which was renamed George Washington University in 1904.
19. On March 3, American inventor and tailor Thomas L. Jennings received a U.S. patent for his “dry-scouring” process, which was a precursor to modern-day dry cleaning.
20. On April 20, Franz Karl Achard, a German chemist, passed away. In 1796, he developed the first commercial process to extract sugar from sugar beets. In 1802, he founded the world’s first sugar beet refinery.
21. On May 30, James Boyd of Boston, Massachusetts, received a U.S. patent for a “rubber-lined, cotton-webbed” fire engine hose.
22. On June 27, the New Hampton School, a college preparatory high school, was founded in New Hampshire.
23. On July 10, the province of East Florida was transferred from Spain to the United States, “with the Spanish flag lowered and the U.S. flag raised at Castillo de San Marcos.”
24. On July 17, the province of West Florida was transferred from Spain to the United States, marking the end of “Spanish dominion” in Florida.
25. On August 4, the iconic Saturday Evening Post magazine began publishing. According to SaturdayEveningPost.com, “In addition to local news, the issue carried news of national events, like the correspondence between ex-presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both still alive. It also followed international news, reporting the death of Napoleon, for example.”
26. On August 10, Missouri became the 24th U.S. state.
27. On September 18, Amherst College was founded in Amherst, Massachusetts, by a group of community leaders, which included local lawyer Samuel Fowler Dickinson and Colonel Rufus Graves.
28. On November 9, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (PCP) held its first classes and became the first pharmacy college in North America.
29. On November 16, Missouri trader William Becknell became the first white American to successfully use what later became known as the Santa Fe Trail. His journey from Franklin, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, opened a lucrative 900-mile trading route.
30. On November 18, Jacob Schweppe, a German scientist and watchmaker, passed away. He developed the first “commercially successful process” for producing carbonated mineral water.
31. On December 25, Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, was born in Oxford, Massachusetts.
32. In 1821, popular baby names for boys were Arthur, Benjamin, Eli, George, Henry, James, John, Joseph, Thomas, and William. Popular baby names for girls were Ada, Alice, Amelia, Charlotte, Clara, Cora, Elizabeth, Emma, Jane, and Lucy.
33. In terms of religious affiliation, an estimated 98% of Americans were Protestant, and major Protestant denominations included Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. There were also around 200,000 Roman Catholics living in the United States. Large numbers of Catholics lived in Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York City, and Philadelphia. Early Roman Catholic settlers were primarily from France, Germany, and Ireland and often immigrated to the United States to escape political and economic unrest in Europe.
34. Key fiction works published during 1821 included Ann Hatton’s Lovers and Friends, Hannah Maria Jones’ Gretna Green, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy, Jane Porter’s The Scottish Chiefs, Pierce Egan’s Life in London, and Sir Walter Scott’s Kenilworth.
35. Notable nonfiction works for the year included James Mill’s Elements of Political Economy, William Cobbett’s The American Gardener, and William Hazlitt’s Table-Talk.
36. Key poems published during 1821 were Lord Byron’s Irish Avatar and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Adonais.
37. Notable dramatic works for the year included Alfred Bunn’s Kenilworth, Barry Cornwall’s Mirandola, James Haynes’ Conscience, and Lord Byron’s Sardanapalus.
38. Famous people born in 1821 included Charles Baudelaire (poet), Clara Barton (entrepreneur), Elizabeth Blackwell (doctor), Fyodor Dostoevsky (novelist), Gustave Flaubert (novelist), Jane Wilde (poet), Louis Vuitton (fashion designer), Mary Baker Eddy (religious leader), and Samuel Baker (explorer).
39. Prominent people who died in 1821 included Elizabeth Ann Seton (Roman Catholic religious leader), John Keats (poet), Maria Branwell (essayist), Napoleon Bonaparte (French emperor), and William Floyd (American statesman who signed the Declaration of Independence).
40. In 1821 as well, the words “algebraic geometry,” "bathtub," “birth certificate,” “blue moon,” “business card,” “Canadian French,” “electromagnetism,” “groggy,” “homebody,” “mess hall,” “secret society,” “sightseeing,” “snowfall,” “time-tested,” “washable,” “wineskin,” and “worldwide” all appeared in print for the first time.
41. One and a half pounds of butter: 15 cents
42. One barrel of cider: $2.00
43. One bushel of potatoes: 30 cents
44. One bushel of rye: 40 cents
45. One pound of fresh beef: Five cents
46. One pound of fresh pork: Five cents
47. One pound of honey: 10 cents
48. One pound of tallow for making candles: 15 cents
49. One pound of veal: Five cents
50. Three bushels of apples: 75 cents

References:

1. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1811.html
2. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1821.html
3. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/1821.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1821_in_literature
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1821_in_the_United_States
6. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1821
7. https://www.infoplease.com/history/world/1800-1899-ad-world-history
8. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1821
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union
10. https://www.in2013dollars.com/inflation-rate-in-1821
11. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/1821?amount=1
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1821_United_States_census

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