1801: Ireland added to Great Britain creating United Kingdom. Population of England and Wales estimated at nine million. Manchester is now home to 84,000 people - nearly four-fold increase in 28 years. Raw cotton consumption has leapt to 54 million pounds - 10 times the figure of 20 years earlier. Manchester's Whit Walks inaugurated.
1802: Treaty of Amiens between England and France brings a temporary halt to the Napoleonic War, bringing much-needed relief to British manufacturing industries. Richard Trevithick, freed of Watt's patent constraints, builds his first high-pressure steam engine.
1803: Cotton overtakes wool as Britain's biggest export. Napoleonic War resumes after Britain refuses to cede Malta to France. French army encamped at Boulogne, threatening invasion of England.
1804: Napoleon declared Emperor of France (May 20th). Runcorn-Latchford Canal opened to by-pass Mersey mudflats and improve access to the Mersey and Irwell Navigation.
1805: Battle of Trafalgar (Oct 21st). Nelson's decisive victory over French and Spanish fleet, breaking French naval power and establishing Britain as queen of the seas throughout the 19th century, is marred by his death during the battle. On land, Napoleon's huge victories over Austria, Prussia and Russia leave Britain alone again. At home, the first Salford factory is lit by gas. Rochdale Canal completed.
1806: Prime Minister William Pitt dies. British take Cape of Good Hope. Manchester's Portico Library opens. Ten Warrington men executed for sodomy.
1807: Distress throughout Lancashire caused by Napoleon's 'Continental System' and Britain's Orders in Council. Slavery abolished in Britain. Lancastrian inventor William Cockerill opens factory in Liege to produce spinning machines. In December, US market is closed to both Britain and France. British take, and lose, Buenos Aires.
1808: As recession caused by the war tightens its grip, riots throughout Lancashire call for minimum wage. Rochdale jail burned down and prisoners released. Volunteer force deployed against Stockport weavers. Petition to Parliament calling for peace with France.
1809: Peninsular War begins. May - weavers' minimum wage bill rejected by Commons. Up to 6,000 weavers assemble on St George's Fields, Manchester, to renew their demands. Dragoons and police clear the field. Lt Col Joseph Hanson of Strangeways - known as the "Weavers' Friend" - is jailed and fined for aiding and abetting the weavers in a conspiracy to raise their wages.
1811: Raw cotton consumption now 90 million pounds (about 45,000 tons) a year, having almost doubled in 10 years. First steam railway opens at Middleton Colliery, Leeds. John Blenkinsop's locomotive Salamanca is equipped with rack-and-pinion wheels. Several other engines built to same pattern for use in mining.
1812: English capture Badajoz. Napoleon launches his disastrous Moscow campaign. Luddite Riots break out - steam-driven weaving sheds are attacked. Westhoughton cotton mill burned down, for which four people - one a boy of 12 - are executed.
1813: 4th European coalition formed, and allies defeat Napoleon at Leipzig. Passing of Highways Act to improve British roads.
1814: Fall of Paris. Napoleon abdicates and is incarcerated on Elba. Samuel Clegg, of the Chartered Gas Co, successfully lights an entire district of London with coal gas.
1815: Napoleon escapes and is restored to power but is finally defeated at Waterloo, ending Napoleonic Wars. Sir Humphry Davy invents miner's safety lamp. John Macadam builds his first road of crushed stone. US defeat British at Battle of New Orleans.
1816: June - Leeds-Liverpool Canal completed. Government bring in Coercion Acts after violence at reform meeting in Spa Fields, London.
1817: March 10: Blanketeers March. Handloom weavers plan to march on London from Manchester, carrying blankets to sleep on. About 200 are arrested soon after march begins and the rest are dispersed. As a direct result, in June Manchester Yeomanry Cavalry is raised.
1818: March 9th: Reform meeting in St Peter's Fields, Manchester. September 9th: Turnout of cotton workers and miners for more pay. Gray's factory attacked. One man killed.
1819: Jan 18th: Radicals meet in St Peter's Fields. Jan 23rd: Riot at Theatre Royal, Manchester, between Henry "Orator" Hunt and followers, and Earl of Uxbridge and officers of 7th Light Dragoons. Aug 16th: Peterloo Massacre troops attack peaceful reform meeting in St Peter's Fields, Manchester, killing 11 and wounding many. Stephenson begins construction of railway between Hetton and River Wear at Sunderland.
1820: Cato Street Conspiracy. Plot to overthrow the Government and proclaim a republic - spies expose the plan and conspirators are arrested. Some are executed. George IV crowned King of England.
1821: Manchester deputy constable Joseph Nadin retires. Manchester's population now 187,031. Manchester Express stagecoach begins operating from London.
1822: American William Church patents the first typesetting machine.
1824: Government repeals Combination Acts, first breach in battle to legalise trade unions. Mule spinners are tempted to flex their muscles and the masters respond by commissioning Manchester engineer Richard Roberts to design a self-acting mule - a machine that could be operated by women or children, removing the need for skilled men. Liverpool-Manchester railway company formed, with George Stephenson engineer.
1825: Manchester now has 104 cotton-spinning mills. There are 110 steam engines in the town. Bill introduced for construction of a ship canal from Manchester to the mouth of the River Dee at estimated cost of £1million in £100 shares. Defeated.