May – the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, engineered by Hugh Baird, is opened throughout, from a terminus at Fountainbridge in Edinburgh to a junction with the Forth and Clyde Canal at Camelon near Falkirk, including Scotland's only canal tunnel (at Falkirk) and completion of Slateford Aqueduct; passenger boats have been operating on the canal from the beginning of the year.[2]
July – the Royal Association of Contributors to the National Monument of Scotland is incorporated; the foundation stone is laid in Edinburgh on 27 August.[1]