References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

1780 January 1 Johann Ludwig Krebs composer, dies at age 66. [1] January 2 Johann Ludwig Krebs composer, dies at age 66. [1] January 3 Danish national anthem "Kong Kristian", first sung. [1] January 4 Snowstorm hit Washington's army at Morristown New Jersey. [1] January 10 Francesco Antonio Vallotti Italian organist/composer, dies at age 82. [1] January 15 Continental Congress establishes court of appeals. [1] January 16 Battle at Cape Saint Vincent admiral Rodney beats Spanish fleet. [1] February 6 In Northwest Florida, one of the largest historical earthquakes in Florida occurs, Intensity VI. [53] February 14 William Blackstone English lawyer, dies at age 56. [1] March 1 Pennsylvania becomes first US state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only). [1] March 26 First British Sunday newspaper appears (British Gazette and Sunday Monitor). [1] April 21 Ferdinand Zellbell composer, dies at age 60. [1] May 2 William Herschel discovers first binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris. [1] May 4 American Academy of Arts and Science founded. [1] May 5 Second oldest learned society in US (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) forms (Boston). [1] May 12 Charleston South Carolina falls to the British (Revolutionary War). [1] May 19 About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England to this day its cause is still unexplained. [1] August 11 Barbados hurricane begins. [1] August 16 British decisively defeat Americans in Battle of Camden, South Carolina. [1] September 21 Benedict Arnold gives British Major André plans to West Point. [1] September 23 British MAJ John Andre is apprehended as a Spy, near Tarrytown, New York. [1] October 2 John Andre British major, hanged by Americans (spied with B Arnold, dies at age 30. [1] October 7 British defeated by American militia near Kings Mountain, South Carolina. [1] October 10 Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000 to 30,000 in Caribbean. [1] November 20 Britain declares war on Holland. [1] November 29 Maria Theresa leader of Austria, dies at age 63. [1] December 20 England declares war on Netherlands. [1] 1781 January 4 André Méchain discovers M80 (globular cluster in Scorpio). [1] January 5 British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond Virginia. [1] January 6 Battle of Jersey (Island in Great Britain). [1] January 17 Marie de Negre Dables marquess, dies. [1] January 20 First edition of Pieter It Hoens "Post of Neder-Rhijn" published. [1] January 22 Johann Siebenkas composer, dies at age 66. [1] January 29 Mozart's opera "Idomeneo" premieres, Munich. [1] January 30 Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland. [1] February 3 Dutch West Indies island of Saint Eustatia taken by the British. [1] February 4 Josef Myslivecek composer, dies at age 43. [1] Willem Crul Admiral (West-Indies), dies in battle at age 59. [1] February 15 G E Lessing writer, dies at age 52. [1] Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Saxon playwright/critic, dies. [1] February 28 Richard Stockton US attorney (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at age 50. [1] March 1 Continental Congress adopts Articles of Confederation. [1] March 13 Sir William Herschel sees "comet" (really discovered Uranus). [1] March 15 Battle of Guilford Court House, South Carolina (British suffer heavy losses). [1] April 8 Premiere of Mozart's violin sonata K379. [1] April 29 French fleet occupies Tobago. [1] French fleet stops Britain from seizing the Cape of Good Hope. [1] May 1 Emperor Jozef II decrees protection of population. [1] May 22 Garret Wesley Mornington composer, dies at age 45. [1] May 26 Bank of North America incorporated in Philadelphia. [1] June 3 Jack Jouett rides to warn Jefferson of British attack. [1] July 11 Thomas Hutchins designated Geographer of the US. [1] August 20 George Washington begins to move his troops south to fight Cornwallis. [1] September 4 Los Angeles founded in Bahia de las Fumas by 44 settlers, (Valley of Smokes). [1] September 5 Battle of Virginia Capes, French defeat British, traps Cornwallis. [1] September 28 Siege of Yorktown begins, last battle of the Revolutionary War. [1] October 6 Americans and French begin siege of Cornwallis at Yorktown; last battle of the Revolutionary War. [1] October 16 Washington takes Yorktown. [1] October 17 Cornwallis defeated at Yorktown. [1] October 19 Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2 PM; Revolutionary War ends. [1] November 5 John Hanson elected first "President of the US in Congress assembled". [1] December 16 Georg Simon Lohlein composer, dies at age 56. [1] December 31 Bank of North America, first US bank opens. [1] 1782 January 1 Death of Johann Christian Bach in London at age 46 (born in Leipzig, Germany); son of J. S. Bach, composer at the King's Theater; tutor of Mozart. [1] [37] January 4 Ange-Jacques Gabriel French architect (Ecole Military), dies at age 83. [1] January 7 First US commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens in Philadelphia. [1] January 28 Jean-Baptiste-Bourguignon d'Anville French geographer, dies at age 84. [1] February 4 British garrison surrenders to French and Spanish fleet. [1] February 5 Spanish take Minorca (western Mediterranean) from the English. [1] February 13 French fleet occupies Saint Christopher. [1] February 21 US congress resolves the establishment of a US mint. [1] March 8 Gnadenhutten Massacre: Ohio militia kills 90 Indians. [1] March 19 Adrien Trudo Sale composer, dies at age 59. [1] Louis-Henry Paisible composer, dies at age 33. [1] April 6 Rynoldus Popma van Oevering composer, dies at age 90. [1] April 12 Battle at Les Saintes West-Indies British fleet beats French. [1] April 19 Netherlands recognizes US. [1] April 22 Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger composer, dies at age 66. [1] May 16 Daniuel Charles Solander botanist, dies. [1] May 20 Carlo Giovanni Testori composer, dies at age 68. [1] Christoph Gottlieb Schroter composer, dies at age 82. [1] June 20 US Congress approves Great Seal of US and the eagle as its symbol. [1] [5] August 7 George Washington creates Order of the Purple Heart. [1] September 16 Great Seal of US used for first time. [1] November 30 Britain signs agreement recognizing US independence. [1] December 14 Charleston South Carolina evacuated by British. [1] The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts on its very first test flight. [5] December 29 First nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston. [1] 1783 January 1 Jacobus Enschedé Haarlems printer, dies at age 39. [1] January 2 Death of Johann Bodmer near Zürich, Switzerland; historian, literary critic. [37] January 5 Friedrich Wilhelm Reidt composer, dies on 73rd birthday. [1] January 14 US Congress ratifies peace treaty between US and England. [1] January 20 Hostilities cease in Revolutionary War. [1] February 1 William Herschel announces star Lambda Herculis as apex. [1] February 3 Spain recognizes US independence. [1] February 4 In Calabria, Italy, one of the world's most destructive earthquakes occurs, responsible for 50,000 deaths and enormous property loss. This is the first earthquake to be investigated scientifically. [1] [53] February 5 Sweden recognizes US independence. [1] February 6 Lancelot "Capability" Brown English architect (Kew), dies at about age 67. [1] February 10 James Nares composer, dies at age 67. [1] March 5 King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski grants rights to Jews of Kovno. [1] March 23 Gaspard Fritz composer, dies at age 67. [1] April 3 Sweden and US sign a treaty of Amity and Commerce. [1] April 7 Ignaz Jakob Holzbauer composer, dies at age 71. [1] April 8 Catharina II of Russia annexes the Krim. [1] April 9 Tippu Sahib drives out English from Bednore India. [1] April 11 Nikita I Panin Russian earl/ambassador in Denmark, dies at age 64. [1] May 3 Pieter Valck(x) South Netherlands sculptor, dies at age 49. [1] May 4 Herschel reports seeing a red glow near lunar crater Aristarchus. [1] May 23 James Otis American lawyer, dies. [1] May 30 Benjamin Tower of Philadelphia publishes first daily newspaper in US. [1] June 4 Montgolfier brothers launch first hot-air balloon (unmanned). [1] June 5 Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier make first public balloon flight. [1] June 8 Laki Volcano in southern Iceland begins 18-month eruption, pumping more ash into the atmosphere than any previous volcano in recorded history, 15 cubic kilometres. [1] [135.132] June 22 A poisonous cloud from Laki volcanic eruption in Iceland reaches Le Havre in France. [5] July 24 Georgia becomes a protectorate of tsarist Russia. [1] August 27 First hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches 900 m altitude. [1] September 3 Treaty of Paris signed (ending the US Revolutionary War). [1] October 15 Jean Pilâtre de Rozier makes captive-balloon ascent. [1] November 2 General Washington bids farewell to his army. [1] November 3 Washington orders the Continental Army disbanded. [1] November 21 Pilstre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes make first free balloon flight. [1] November 25 Britain evacuates New York, their last military position in US. [1] November 30 In New Jersey, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurs. The largest historical earthquake in New Jersey. [53] December 1 Charles and M N Roberts ascend 2,000' in a hydrogen balloon. [1] J van North launches unmanned balloon. [1] December 4 General Washington bids officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, New York City, New York. [1] December 7 Theatre Royal opens in Covent Garden, London. [1] William Pitt Jr (24) becomes British premier. [1] December 9 First execution at English Newgate-jail. [1] December 16 Johann Adolf Hasse Dutch operatic composer (Sesostrate), dies at age 84. [1] December 18 English king George III fires government of Portland. [1] December 19 English government of Pitt Jr forms. [1] December 20 Antonio Francisco Jawer Jose Soler Sp composer (Fandango), dies at age 54. [1] December 22 Washington resigns his military commission as US Army's commander-in-chief. [1] December 31 Import of African slaves banned by all of the Northern states. [1] 1784 January 1 Patrice F Earl de Nény South Netherlands Secret Council chairman, dies at age 67. [1] January 6 Turkey and Russia sign treaty in Constantinople. [1] January 7 First US seed business established by David Landreth, Philadelphia. [1] January 11 Ferdinand Philipp Joseph Lobkowitz composer, dies at age 59. [1] January 14 Revolutionary War ends;US Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris. [1] January 26 Ben Franklin expresses unhappiness over the eagle as America's symbol. [1] February 13 Charles Gravier French earl of Vergennes/Minister of Foreign Affairs, dies. [1] February 22 First US ship to trade with China, "Empress of China", sails from New York. [1] February 24 Anton Laube composer, dies at age 65. [1] February 28 John Wesley charters Methodist Church. [1] Phillis Wheatly poetess, dies. [1] February 29 Marquis de Sade transferred from Vincennes fortress to the Bastille. [1] March 1 E Kidner opens first cooking school, in Great Britain. [1] April 2 Pierre Leclair composer, dies at age 74. [1] April 4 Mary Mead wife of English journalist John Wilkes, dies. [1] April 10 Simon Fokke book illustrator, dies at age 71. [1] April 15 First balloon flight in Ireland. [1] April 29 Premiere of Mozart's Sonata in B flat, K454 (Vienna). [1] April 30 Franz K earl von Velbruck German free mason, dies. [1] May 8 Only known deaths by hailstones in US (Winnsborough South Carolina). [1] May 10 Antoine Court de Gébelin French vicar/writer, dies at age 56. [1] May 11 England and Tippu Sahib van Mysore sign peace treaty. [1] May 20 England and Netherlands signs peace treaty (Peace of Paris). [1] May 22 Ceylonese student leader Pieter Quint Ondaatje demands democracy. [1] May 25 Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek. [1] June 4 Mme Thible becomes first woman to fly (in a balloon). [1] June 9 John Carroll appointed supervisor of US Catholic Missions. [1] June 23 First US balloon flight (13-year-old Edward Warren). [1] September 21 First daily newspaper in America (Pennsylvania Packet and General Advertiser). [1] September 22 Russian trappers established a colony on Kodiak Island, Alaska. [1] November 1 Maryland grants citizenship to Lafayette and his descendants. [1] December 5 Phillis Wheatley first important black poet in America, dies in Boston. [1] December 21 John Jay becomes first US Secretary of State (foreign affairs). [1]