The year 1821 was also an eventful year in world history. In the U. S., James Monroe began his second term as President. Spain sold and formally transferred Florida to the U. S. Russia proclaimed sovereignty over the northwestern part of North America, an area we know as Alaska. Finally, James Boyd of Boston received a patent for a workable fire engine hose, made of cotton web lined with rubber.
Notable births in the U. S. in 1821 included future businessmen Jay Cooke and William Henry Vanderbilt; the first American woman physician, Elizabeth Blackwell; Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science; and future Civil War generals Frank Blair, Nathan Bedford Forrest, James Longstreet, and W. H. L. Wallace; and Clara Barton, the first president of the American Red Cross. Among those who died in 1821 were Elizabeth Ann Seton, who became America’s first saint; British poet John Keats; Jacob Schweppe, who developed a process for producing carbonated mineral water; and, most notably, Napoleon Bonaparte.
The spark of independence that began with the United States flared in South and Central America in 1821. Proclaiming independence from Spain were Peru, Gran Colombia (present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador), the Dominican Republic, and the Central American counties of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. After a long struggle, Mexico overthrew the Spanish and proclaimed its independence.
Across the Atlantic, George IV became king of the United Kingdom. Greece began its war for independence from the Ottoman Empire. Finally, Egypt defeated the Ottomans in Sudan, and established control of the region.
