- 1798: death of François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, Austrian field marshal
- 1831: Leopold I of Belgium (pictured) is inaugurated as the first king of the independent Belgium
- 1843: establishment of the Antwerp Zoo, the oldest zoo of the country
- 1885: birth of Jacques Feyder, screenwriter and film director
- 1904: Land speed record set in Ostend to 166.66 km/h