Timeline August 1814

Events in August 1814 2

• 1753 – 1814 Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753-1814) Died 21 August 1814, aged 61 Rumford was an American-born physicist and inventor whose experiments on friction helped undermine the caloric theory of heat. He also invented the Rumford fireplace and founded the Royal Institution in London. He spent his later career in Bavaria and France, where he died.
• 1814 British forces burn Washington, D.C. The White House and Capitol are set ablaze During the War of 1812, British troops captured Washington and set fire to the White House, the Capitol, and other public buildings in retaliation for earlier American raids in Canada. President James Madison and his government fled the city before the attack. It remains the only time a foreign power has captured the United States capital.