February 20 – Explorer James Weddell's expedition to Antarctica reaches latitude 74°15' S and longitude 34°16'45" W: the southernmost position any ship had reached before, a record that will hold for more than 80 years.
July 1 – The Congress of Central America declares absolute independence from Spain, Mexico, and any other foreign nation, including North America, and a republican system of government is established.
August 16 – Tsar Alexander I of Russia draws up a secret "manifesto", designating his second younger brother Nikolai to succeed him, and bypassing Nikolai's older brother, Grand Duke Konstantin. The existence of the manifesto is revealed on Alexander's death in 1825.[12]
August 18 – Demerara rebellion of 1823: In British Guiana (South America), an insurrection of 10,000 black slaves begins; it is suppressed after three days, but hundreds of suspects are executed in the reprisals that follow.[13]
September 22 – Joseph Smith wrote in 1838 that on this day he first went to the place where the golden plates were stored, having been directed there by God through an angel.