1815

• Grimm's Fairy Tales are published.
• 27 Feb. Napoleon escapes from exile on the Mediterranean isle of Elba.
• 20 Mar. Louis XVIII flees Paris; the "Hundred Days" begin as Napoleon assumes control of France.
• 18 June British and Prussian forces defeat the French at the Battle of Waterloo, ending Napoleon's bid to regain power.
• 22 June Napoleon abdicates.
• 8 July Louis XVIII returns to Paris and is restored to power a second time.
• 2 Aug. Napoleon is exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.
• 20 Nov. The Treaty of Paris imposes an indemnity and allows the military occupation of France.

1816

• Gioacchino Antonio Rossini composes his opera II barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville).
• Jane Austen writes Emma.
• Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is published.
• French physician Rene Laennec perfects the stethoscope.
• Much of the world experiences an unusually cold summer, caused by dust...