Modern Era
Napoleonic Code (1804): The Civil Law That Reshaped Europe
France gained a single civil code of 2,281 articles, which became a model for civil law across Europe, Latin America and beyond.
Region
Europe
Modern Era
Jacquard Loom (1804): Punched Cards That Wove Silk Patterns
The punched-card Jacquard mechanism let one weaver produce elaborate patterned fabric and became a key forerunner of programmable machines.
Modern Era
Penydarren Locomotive (1804): Trevithick's First Railway Run
The first recorded journey by a steam locomotive on rails proved that steam traction could work, though the brittle tramplates could not bear the engine's weight.
Modern Era
Battle of Trafalgar (1805): Nelson's Victory and Death at Sea
Decisive British victory; the Franco-Spanish fleet lost 22 ships and Britain secured naval supremacy for a century.
Modern Era
Battle of Austerlitz (1805): Napoleon's Greatest Victory
Decisive French victory; Austria made peace at Pressburg and the Third Coalition collapsed.
Modern Era
Continental System (1806): Napoleon's Blockade of Britain
Britain was hurt but not defeated; enforcing the blockade drew Napoleon into Portugal, Spain and Russia and helped bring about his fall.
Modern Era
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt (1806): Prussia's Sudden Collapse
Decisive French victories; the Prussian army disintegrated and Napoleon entered Berlin on 27 October 1806.
Modern Era
Battle of Eylau (1807): Napoleon's Bloody Snowbound Stalemate
Indecisive; the Russians withdrew after the battle, leaving the French the field but with very heavy losses on both sides.
Modern Era
Treaties of Tilsit (1807): Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I
France and Russia became allies, Prussia lost about half its territory, and Napoleon's power in Europe reached its height.
Modern Era
Sieges of Zaragoza (1808-1809): Spain's Heroic Resistance
The first siege was lifted in August 1808; the second ended with Zaragoza's surrender on 20 February 1809 after enormous losses.
Modern Era
Dos de Mayo Uprising (1808): Madrid Rises Against France
The uprising was crushed within hours and followed by executions, but it became the symbolic start of the Spanish war of independence against Napoleon.
Modern Era
Peninsular War (1808-1814): Wellington in Spain and Portugal
Allied victory; the French were driven out of Spain and Portugal, at enormous cost to the Iberian population.