Other important Figures were also born in 1809

• Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
• Charles Darwin, founder of the Theory of Evolution
• Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, composer, pianist, and organist.
  Most important musician of the Romantic period
   

Europe around 1809

Politics

• Central Europe was under Napoleon's influence and France's power was at its peak.
• Under Emperor Franz I, Austria went to war against France. The Austrians won the Battle of Aspern (May 21-22) under Archduke Karl, but lost the Battle of Wagram (July 5-6).
• Under the Treaty of Schönbrunn (October 14, 1809), Austria was forced to cede Bavaria and the Duchy of Warsaw.
• The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had already been dissolved.
• Small and medium-sized German states joined together to form the Confederation of the Rhine.
• Napoleon elevated Bavaria to a kingdom.
   

Economy

• The wars and troop movements across Europe had a negative impact on the economy.
• France's Continental Blockade against Great Britain hurt the Central European trading nations more.
   

Agriculture & Feudalism

• The economy was primarily focused on agriculture.
• Industrialization was not yet widespread; except for the textile industry, Europe was still pre-industrial.
   

Culture

• Romanticism was the dominant cultural influence.
• In literature, authors such as Ludwig Tieck, Novalis, and the Brothers Grimm were influential.
• Caspar David Friedrich embodied the longing for nature in his paintings.
• The most important composer of this period was Beethoven, who wrote his 5th and 6th symphonies.
   

Science & Education

• Under Wilhelm von Humboldt, decisive educational reforms were initiated in Prussia. The University of Berlin was founded.
• There was a trend toward rationalization and professionalization in the fields of education and science.

• 1819/1820 Charles Barbier presents his sonography to the Paris Institute for the Blind
• 1825 Presentation of Louis Braille's 6-dot Braille (developed between 1821 and 1825)
• 1828 Development of a musical notation system for the blind by Louis Braille
• 1829 Production of the first book using Braille in Paris
• 1830 Alston alphabet by John Alston, Glasgow
• 1831 Gall alphabet by James Gall, Edinburgh
• 1832 Howe alphabet by Dr Samuel Gridley Howe, Boston
• 1838 Lucas alphabet by Thomas Mark Lucas, London, based on an alphabet by Frere
• 1839 Raphigraphy Braille by Louis Braille for communication with sighted people
• 1841 Raphigraph writing device by François-Pierre Foucault for Louis Braille's Raphigraphy
• Printing of the first German Braille alphabet in Breslau
• 1845 Moon alphabet by Dr William Moon, Brighton
• 1847 Printing of the first Braille book in England
• 1849 The first printing press for Braille comes into operation in Paris
• 1850 Official introduction of Braille in schools for the blind in France
• 1852 Louis Braille dies of tuberculosis on 6 January 1852 in Paris
• 1855 Alphons Köchlin introduces Braille at the school for the blind he founded in Illzach, Alsace
• 1859 Hebold alphabet by Ernst Eduard Hebold, Barby near Halle (Saxony-Anhalt)
• 1871 New York Point, the writing system developed by William Bell Wait, is introduced in New York (developed between 1860 and 1871).
• 1872 The Berlin School for the Blind in Steglitz introduces Braille as a school subject.
• 1876 The Association for the Promotion of Education for the Blind is founded at the 2nd European Congress of Teachers of the Blind in Dresden
• 1878 Braille is officially declared the international writing system for the blind at a congress in Paris
• American Braille by Joel W. Smith, a reformed version of the Braille alphabet, is introduced at several schools for the blind in the USA (distribution of dot combinations according to statistical frequency)
• 1879 Official introduction of Braille in Germany at the 3rd Congress of Teachers of the Blind in Berlin
• 1881–1886 First publication of a reading book in German Braille
• 1885 The first German shorthand for the blind is adopted by the Congress of Teachers of the Blind
• William Perkins receives a US patent for a 4-key typewriter for the blind (not a Brailler).
• 1888 Establishment of the first German Braille printing house in Berlin-Steglitz.
• 1895 England: Improvement of the Braille printing process through the invention of the stereotype marker.
• Germany: Development of a machine for producing stereotype plates in Braille.
• 1899 Development of the first usable Braille sheet machine by Oskar Picht (patented in 1901).
• 1900 Alphabet by Dr. Don Aniceto Mascaró, Lisbon, as a combination of Braille and black print.

1809
Louis Braille was born on 4 January 1809 in Coupvray in the Seine-et-Marne department, east of Paris. The youngest of four children, he grew up with loving and protective parents. His father, Simon Rene Braille, was a saddler and had his own workshop.

1812
At the age of three, he injured his eye with a sharp awl in his father's saddlery while trying to imitate the craftsman's work. As the injury was not treated properly, the eye became infected and he went blind. The infection spread to his second eye and Louis Braille became completely blind.

Louis's mother unknowingly encouraged him by letting him draw while he still had some residual vision so that objects would be imprinted in his memory. To stimulate his imagination, she read him many stories.
A special supporter was the village priest, Father Palluy, who arranged for Louis to go to school.

1815
At the age of six, Louis became the first blind child to attend the village school, where he was under the care of Monsieur Becheret. He was the only blind child and stood out for his high level of attention and memory. It soon became apparent that Louis needed special support. Therefore, the landowner Marquis d'Orvilliers, who was also one of the founders of the Royal Institute for Young Blind People in Paris, enabled him to be admitted there.

1818
Louis Braille's desire to learn to read and write was so strong that, accompanied by his father, he boarded the stagecoach to Paris in August 1818 to attend school at the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles.

1819/1820 
Charles Barbier presented his sonography, the 12-point writing system, to the Paris Institute for the Blind, which inspired Louis Braille to develop the 6-point writing system.

1825 
Braille simplified Barbier's system to six dots arranged in two vertical rows. From the six dots, Braille derived a combination of 63 dots that could be used to represent not only the alphabet but also numbers, punctuation marks, symbols and musical notes.
When he was 17 years old, the school hired him to teach grammar, mathematics, history, geography and music. 

Braille, an innovative system
Compared to relief writing, Louis Braille's dot writing is easier to read because all the information can be tactilely absorbed horizontally with the fingertips and the letters do not have to be scanned vertically and horizontally. It was also impossible for blind people to write relief writing. In contrast, Braille can be written by blind people using various aids.

1829
Braille presented his system for representing music, text and singing in braille. Official name: 
Procédé pour écrire les paroles, la musique et le plain-chant au moyen de points (Method for writing text, music and singing using dots). 

1836 
Braille published works by the blind English poet John Milton in his script.
Although Braille was easy to learn, it was not recognised for a long time. Therefore, further possibilities were sought to invent a usable system that would enable education.
After a change in the school's management, his writing system was banned. There were fears that the dot writing system could lead to isolation, as it was only used by blind people.
Braille lost his job at the school and his books were destroyed. Although he gained recognition, including from the French Minister of the Interior, he found no support.

1839
Louis Braille also invented a script that enabled blind people to write to sighted people. This script was like the Latin alphabet and had upper and lower case letters formed from raised dots. Later, this writing system was called Raphigraphy. Since the characters were up to 10 dots high, it was called Decapoint in English. 

1841
A blind friend of Braille's, François-Pierre Foucault, introduced the Raphigraph. This was a typewriter that could print all 10 dots onto paper at the same time.

1844
A new home for the blind was opened in Paris and, in this context, Braille was presented to the public for the first time. 

1847 
Production of the first Braille printing press. This made it possible to print large quantities of sheets and publish books in Braille. 

1850
Official approval of Braille in France for teaching in schools for the blind.

1852
At the age of only 43, Louis Braille dies of tuberculosis on January 6th in Paris. A few days later, he was buried in the cemetery of his village, Coupvray.

1952
The body of Louis Braille was exhumed and transferred to the Panthéon in Paris. As his hands had been central to his invention, they remained in Braille's grave in his hometown.

1878
At the World's Fair in Paris, representatives from France, Great Britain and Germany advocated at an international congress for Louis Braille's dot writing to become the official method taught in schools for the blind. This marked the beginning of its worldwide spread in all languages. 

The significance of this decision:

• International standard for Braille 
• The rejection of changes to Braille has made it internationally uniform.
• The decision of the congress has significantly improved education in school and vocational contexts for blind people worldwide.