Chronology of World History

Copyright © 2007-2008 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: kpolsson@islandnet.com
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to this site, not to copy these pages to other web sites.
URL: http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/worldhis/

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

Last updated: 2008 April 30.


1770

January 1
  • Date of action in the opera "Madeleine". [1]
January 13
  • De Beaumarchais' "Les Deux Amis" premieres in Paris. [1]
January 19
  • Battle of Golden Hill (Lower Manhattan). [1]
February 22
  • Christopher Snider 11, Boston, becomes first martyr of US Revolution. [1]
February 26
  • François Hanot composer, dies at 72. [1]
  • Giuseppe Tartini Italian composer/violinist, dies at 77. [1]
March 5
  • Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a US Senator (Mississippi). [1]
  • Boston Massacre, British troops kill five in crowd; Crispus Attackus becomes first black to die for American freedom. [1]
  • Crispus Attuks slave, is first of five killed during Boston Massacre. [1]
March 27
  • Giovanni B Tiepolo Italian painter (Banquet of Cleopatra), dies at 73. [1]
April 9
  • Captain James Cook discovers Botany Bay (Australia). [1]
April 12
  • Townsend Acts repealed. [1]
April 19
  • Amsterdam buys Van Aerssens family 1/3 part of Suriname. [1]
  • Captain James Cook first sees Australia. [1]
  • Esprit Joseph Antoine Blanchard composer, dies at 74. [1]
April 20
  • Captain Cook arrives in New South Wales. [1]
April 28
  • Marie AC de Camargo Spanish/Italian/Belgian dancer, dies at 60. [1]
April 29
  • Captain James Cook in the Endeavor arrives at and names Botany Bay, Australia. [5] (April 28 [1])
May 4
  • Christian Gottfried Krause composer, dies at 51. [1]
May 9
  • Charles Avison composer, dies at 61. [1]
May 10
  • Charles Avison composer, dies at 61. [1]
May 16
  • Marie Antoinette (14) marries future King Louis XVI (15) of France. [1]
June 3
  • Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo founded in California. [1]
June 11
  • Captain Cook runs aground on Australian Great Barrier Reef. [1]
June 28
  • Quakers open a school for blacks in Philadelphia. [1]
December 5
  • James Stirling Scottish mathematician (Formula of Stirling), dies at 78. [1]

December 9
  • Gottlieb Theophil Muffat composer, dies at 80. [1]
December 10
  • Theophil "Gottlieb" Muffat German court organist/composer, dies at 80. [1]

1771

January 11
  • Jean-Baptiste de Boyer marquis d'Argens, French author, dies at 66. [1]
January 22
  • Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to Britain. [1]
February 8
  • Augusta von Saxen-Gotha German prince Frederick Louis of Wales, dies. [1]
February 12
  • King Adolf Frederick of Sweden dies. His son Prince Gustav becomes King Gustav III. [1] [7]
February 16
  • Messier presents his original list of 45 M-objects to French Academy. [1]
March 1
  • Isfrid Kayser composer, dies at 58. [1]
March 22
  • Gottlieb W Rabener German author (Bremer Beiträge), dies at 56. [1]
May 7
  • Samuel Hearne explores the Copper Mine River of Canada. [1]
July 14
  • Mission San Antonio de Padua founded in California. [1]
September 8
  • Mission San Gabriel Archangel forms in California. [1]
December 26
  • Claude A Helvétius French encyclopedist (L'esprit), dies at 56. [1]

1772

January 1
  • First traveler's checks issued (London). [1]
February 10
  • Jozef Wenceslas monarch of Liechtenstein/general, dies at 75. [1]
  • Louis Tocqué French painter, dies at 75. [1]
February 12
  • Yves de Kerguelen of France discovers Kerguelen Archipelago, India. [1]
February 17
  • First partition of Poland-Russia and Prussia, joined later by Austria. [1]
March 2
  • Robert J Pothier French lawyer, dies at 73. [1]
March 11
  • George Reuter composer, dies at 63. [1]
March 13
  • Gotthold Lessing's "Emilia Calotti" premieres in Brunswick. [1]
April 15
  • Karel Jozef ruler of Batthyányi, dies at 73. [1]
April 19
  • Johann Peter Kellner composer, dies at 66. [1]
April 30
  • John Clais patents first scale. [1]
May 1
  • Gottfried Achenwall German lawyer/statistics/economist, dies at 52. [1]
May 11
  • Amsterdam theater destroyed by fire, 18 killed. [1]
  • Joseph Kerckhoff Limburg surgeon/robber captain, hanged. [1]
June 9
  • First Protestant church west of Penn (in Ohio) holds communion. [1]
June 10
  • Burning of the Gaspée, British revenue cutter, by Rhode Islanders. [1]
June 22
  • Slavery outlawed in England. [1]
August 5
  • First partition of Poland, between Austria, Prussia and Russia. [1]
August 11
  • Explosive eruption blows 4,000' off Papandayan Java, kills 3,000. [1]
August 31
  • Hurricane destroy ships off Dominica. [1]
September 1
  • Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa forms in California. [1]
December 12
  • Johann Gottfried Seyfert composer, dies at 41. [1]
December 22
  • Moravian missionary constructs first schoolhouse west of Allegheny. [1]
December 28
  • Ernst J Earl van/of Biron Russian duke of Courland, dies at 82. [1]

1773

January 6
  • Massachusetts slaves petition legislature for freedom. [1]
January 12
  • First US public museum established (Charleston South Carolina). [1]
January 17
  • Captain James Cook becomes first to cross Antarctic Circle (66 degrees 33' S). [1]
February 20
  • Charles Emanuel I King of Sardinia/Duke of Savoy (CE III), dies at 71. [1]
February 26
  • Construction authorized for Walnut Steet jail (Philadelphia) (first solitary). [1]
March 1
  • Jan Wagenaar Dutch historian, dies at 63. [1]
  • Luigi Vanvitelli [Louis van Wittel], Italian architect, dies at 72. [1]
March 12
  • Jeanne Baptiste Pointe de Sable found settlement now known as Chicago. [1]
March 18
  • Oliver Goldsmith' "She Stoops to Conquer" premieres in London. [1]
April 19
  • Florian Johann Deller composer, dies at 43. [1]
April 27
  • British Parliament passes the Tea Act (eventually leads to Boston Tea Party on December 16). [1]
May 8
  • Ali Bey Egyptian Mameluk head, dies. [1]
May 24
  • Jan Zach composer, dies at 73. [1]
July 20
  • Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada). [1]
September 11
  • Benjamin Franklin writes "There never was a good war or bad peace.". [1]
December 16
  • Big tea party in Boston harbor-Indians welcome (Boston Tea Party). [1]
December 26
  • Expulsion of tea ships from Philadelphia. [1]

1774

January 11
  • Messier adds M51 (spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici) to his catalog. [1]
January 21
  • Mustapha III sultan of Turkey (1957-74), dies at 56. [1]
January 30
  • Captain Cook reaches 71 degrees 10' S, 1820 km from South pole (record). [1]
  • Frantisek Ignac Antonin Tuma composer, dies at 69. [1]
  • Jean-Pierre Guignon composer, dies at 71. [1]
February 10
  • Andrew Becker demonstrates diving suit. [1]
  • Florian Leopold Gassmann composer, dies at 44. [1]
February 22
  • English House of Lords rules authors do not have perpetual copyright. [1]
March 4
  • William Herschel becomes the first to sight the Orion Nebula. [1] [5]
March 7
  • British close port of Boston to all commerce. [1]
March 25
  • English Parliament passes Boston Port Bill. [1]
March 28
  • Britain passes Coercive Act against Massachusetts. [1]
April 4
  • Oliver Goldsmith Irish poet (She Stoops to Conquer), dies at 17. [1]
April 19
  • CW Glucks opera "Iphigenia in Aulis", premieres in Paris France. [1]
April 23
  • Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich painter, dies. [1]
April 30
  • Pope Clement XIV proclaims a universal jubilee. [1]
May 3
  • Heinrich A Fouqué Prussian general (7 year war), dies at 76. [1]
May 10
  • Louis XV king of France (1715-74), dies at 64. [1]
  • Louis XVI ascends to throne of France. [1]
May 20
  • Britain gives Québec, Labrador and territory north of the Ohio. [1]
May 23
  • Chestertown tea party occurs (tea dumped into Chester River). [1]
May 28
  • First Continental Congress convenes (Virginia). [1]
June 1
  • British government orders Port of Boston closed. [1]
June 13
  • Rhode Island becomes first colony to prohibit importation of slaves. [1]
July 12
  • Citizens of Carlisle, Penn. pass a declaration of independence. [1]
August 1
  • Priestly discovers oxygen. [1]
September 5
  • First Continental Congress assembles, in Philadelphia. [1]
October 14
  • First Continental Congress is first to declare colonial rights (Philadelphia). [1]
October 26
  • First Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia. [1]
December 2
  • Johann Friedrich Agricola German (court)composer/organist, dies at 54. [1]
December 13
  • First incident of the Revolution-400 attack Fort William and Mary, New Hampshire. [1]
  • Susanne K von Klettenberg German friend of Goethes mother, dies at 50. [1]
December 14
  • Massachusetts militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Fort William and Mary. [1]
December 16
  • François Quesnay French personal physician of Louis XIV, dies at 80. [1]
December 18
  • Jews expelled from Prague, Bohemia and Moravia by Empress Maria Theresa. [1]

1775

January 8
  • John Baskerville English printer/type designer, dies at 68. [1]
January 10
  • Jemeljan Pugatshov Russian kosak leader/"czar Peter III", dies. [1]
January 11
  • Francis Salvador becomes first Jew elected to office in America (South Carolina). [1]
  • Yemelyan Pugachov Don Cossack rebel, executed by tsarist Russia. [1]
January 15
  • Giovanni Battista Sammartini composer, dies. [1]
January 17
  • Nine old women burnt as witches for causing bad harvests, Kalisk, Poland. [1]
  • R B Sheridan's "Rivals" premieres in London. [1]
January 22
  • Marshal Oscar von Lubomirski expels Jews from Warsaw Poland. [1]
January 25
  • Americans drag cannon up hill to fight British (Gun Hill Road, Bronx). [1]
February 8
  • Leidse University 400th anniversary dinner. [1]
February 9
  • English Parliament declares Massachusetts colony is in rebellion. [1]
February 15
  • Angelo Braschi chosen as Pope Pius VI. [1]
February 22
  • First US joint stock company (to make cloth) offers shares at £10. [1]
  • Jews expelled from outskirts of Warsaw Poland. [1]
March 6
  • First Negro Mason in US initiated, Boston. [1]
March 19
  • Four people buried by avalanche for 37 days, three survive (Italy). [1]
  • Poland and Prussia sign trade agreement. [1]
March 22
  • Edmund Burke presents his 13 articles to the English parliament. [1]
March 23
  • Patrick Henry proclaims "Give me liberty or give me death". [1]
April 14
  • First abolitionist society in US organizes in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. [1]
April 18
  • Paul Revere and William Dawes warn "the British are coming!". [1]
April 19
  • Minutemen Captain John Parker orders not to fire unless fired upon. [1]
  • Revolution begins-Lexington Common, shot "heard round the world". [1]
April 20
  • British begin siege of Boston. [1]
April 23
  • The opera "Il Ré Pastore" is produced (Salzburg). [1]
May 7
  • Turkish state of Bukovina secedes from Austria. [1]
May 10
  • Second Continental Congress convened in Pennsylvania; issues paper currency for first time. [1]
  • Second Continental Congress names George Washington, supreme commander. [1]
  • Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga NY-American Revolution. [1]
May 20
  • Citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declare independence of Britain. [1]
June 7
  • United Colonies change name to United States. [1]
June 12
  • First naval battle of Revolution-Unity (Am) captures Margaretta (Br). [1]
June 14
  • US Army founded. [1]
June 15
  • George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of American Army. [1]
June 17
  • Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it was Breed's Hill). [1]
June 22
  • First Continental currency issued ($3,000,000). [1]
June 23
  • First regatta held on Thames, England. [1]
July 3
  • Washington takes command of Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts [1]
July 10
  • Horatio Gates, issues order excluding blacks from Continental Army. [1]
July 16
  • John Adams graduates Harvard. [1]
July 17
  • First military hospital approved. [1]
July 22
  • George Washington takes command of the troops. [1]
July 25
  • Maryland issues currency depicting George III trampling Magna Carta. [1]
July 26
  • Benjamin Franklin becomes first Postmaster General. [1]
August 5
  • First Spanish ship, San Carlos, enters San Francisco Bay. [1]
August 22
  • King George III proclaims colonies to be in open rebellion. [1]
September 25
  • American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen captured. [1]
October 8
  • Officers decide to bar slaves and free blacks from Continental Army. [1]
October 13
  • Continental Congress orders construction of a naval fleet. [1]
October 16
  • Portland, Maine burned by British. [1]
October 23
  • Continental Congress approves resolution barring blacks from army. [1]
October 27
  • US Navy established. [1]
November 7
  • Lord Dunmore, promises freedom to male slaves who join British army. [1]
November 10
  • US Marine Corps established by Congress. [1]
November 12
  • General Washington forbids recruiting officers enlisting blacks. [1]
November 13
  • American Revolutionary forces capture Montreal. [1]
December 3
  • First official US flag raising (aboard naval vessel Alfred). [1]
December 22
  • Continental navy organized with 7 ships. [1]
December 25
  • Pope Pius VI encyclical on the problems of the pontificate. [1]
December 28
  • Peter A van de Parra Governor-General of (Netherlands Indies), dies at 61. [1]
December 31
  • Battle of Québec; Americans unable to take British stronghold. [1]
  • General Richard Montgomery dies fighting the British. [1]

1776

January 1
  • General George Washington hoists Continental Union Flag. [1]
January 2
  • First revolutionary flag displayed. [1]
  • Austria ends interrogation torture. [1]
January 5
  • Assembly of New Hampshire adopts its first state constitution. [1]
January 10
  • "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, published. [1]
January 16
  • Continental Congress approves enlistment of free blacks. [1]
February 8
  • Wolfgang von Goethes' "Stella" premieres in Hamburg. [1]
February 17
  • First volume of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" published. [1]
March 2
  • Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston. [1]
March 3
  • US commodore Esek Hopkins occupies Nassau Bahamas. [1]
March 17
  • British forces evacuate Boston to Nova Scotia during Revolutionary War. [1]
March 25
  • Continental Congress authorizes a medal for General George Washington. [1]
April 1
  • Friedrich von Klinger's "Sturm und Drang", premieres in Leipzig. [1]
April 3
  • Washington receives honorary Ll.D. degree from Harvard College. [1]
April 12
  • Halifax resolution for independence adopted by North Carolina. [1]
April 15
  • Duchess of Kingston found guilty of bigamy. [1]
April 19
  • Jacob Israel Emden [Jacob ben Tswi] German rabbi, dies at 78. [1]
April 22
  • Johann Adolph Scheibe German music theroist/composer, dies at 67. [1]
April 24
  • Carolus van de Abeele Flemish Jesuit, dies at 84. [1]
  • Giuseppi Paolucci composer, dies at 49. [1]
May 1
  • Adam Weishaupt founds the secret society of Illuminati. [1]
May 2
  • France and Spain agree to donate arms to American rebels. [1]
May 4
  • Rhode Island declares independence from England. [1]
May 6
  • James Kent composer, dies at 76. [1]
May 12
  • Turgot, French minister of Finance, resigns. [1]
May 13
  • Anton de Haen medical Ratio medendi, dies at 71. [1]
June 7
  • Richard Lee (Virginia) moves Declaration of Independence in Continental Congress. [1]
June 10
  • Continental Congress appoints a committee to write a Declaration of Independence. [1]
June 12
  • Virginia adopts Declaration of Rights. [1]
June 28
  • Charleston, South Carolina repulses British sea attack. [1]
  • Thomas Hickey American sergeant convicted of treason, hanged. [1]
June 29
  • Mission Dolores founded by San Francisco Bay. [1]
  • Va state constitution adopted and Patrick Henry made governor. [1]
July 1
  • First vote on the Declaration of Independence. [1]
July 2
  • Continental Congress resolves "these United Colonies are and of right. [1]
July 4
  • Declaration of Independence-US gains independence from Britain. [1]
July 6
  • Declaration of Independence announced on front page of the "PA Evening Gazette". [1]
July 8
  • Colonel John Nixon gave first public reading of Declaration of Independence. [1]
July 9
  • Declaration of Independence read aloud to General Washington's troops in New York. [1]
August 2
  • Formal signing of the Declaration of Independence. [1]
August 27
  • British defeat Americans in Battle of Long Island. [1]
August 28
  • Battle of Long Island. [1]
August 29
  • Americans withdraw from Manhattan to Westchester. [1]
September 7
  • The World's first submarine attack occurs, as the American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of the British flagship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor. [5]
September 9
  • Continental Congress renames "United Colonies," "United States". [1]
September 10
  • George Washington asks for a spy volunteer, Nathan Hale volunteers. [1]
September 12
  • Nathan Hale leaves Harlem Heights Camp (127th St) for spy mission. [1]
September 15
  • British forces capture Kip's Bay Manhattan during the Revolution. [1]
September 17
  • Presidio of San Francisco forms as a Spanish fort. [1]
September 21
  • Great fire in New York. [1]
  • Nathan Hale spied on British for American rebels, hanged. [1]
September 22
  • Nathan Hale executed as a spy by the British. [1]
October 9
  • Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California. [1] [5]
October 11
  • Brigadier General Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet defeated by British. [1]
October 12
  • British Brigade begins guarding Throgg Necks Road in the Bronx. [1]
October 18
  • Colonel John Glover and Marblehead regiment meet British Forces in Bronx. [1]
  • In a New York bar decorated with bird tail, customer orders "cock tail". [1]
October 28
  • Battle of White Plains; Washington retreats to New Jersey. [1]
November 1
  • Mission San Juan Capistrano founded in California. [1]
November 16
  • Hessians capture Fort Washington, Manhattan. [1]
November 18
  • Hessians capture Fort Lee, New Jersey. [1]
December 5
  • Phi Beta Kappa, first American scholastic fraternity (William and Mary College), is founded. [1]
December 8
  • George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from New Jersey. [1]
December 19
  • Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls". [1]
December 23
  • Continental Congress negotiates a war loan of $181,500 from France. [1]
  • Thomas Paine writes "These are the times that try men's souls". [1]
December 25
  • Washington crosses Delaware and surprises and defeats 1,400 Hessians. [1]
December 26
  • Battle of Trenton-major British defeat. [1]
  • George Washington defeats Hessians at Trenton. [1]
  • Johann Gottlieb Rall Hessian colonel/mercenary, dies in battle. [1]
December 31
  • Rhode Island establishes wage and price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors. [1]

1777

January 1
  • Emanuele Barbella composer, dies at 58. [1]
January 3
  • Washington defeats British at Battle of Princeton, New Jersey. [1]
January 12
  • Mission Santa Clara de Asis founded in California. [1]
January 15
  • People of New Connecticut (Vermont) declare independence from England. [1]
January 16
  • Vermont declares independence from New York. [1]
January 18
  • San Jose California founded. [1]
February 5
  • Georgia becomes first US state to abolish both entail and primogeniture. [1]
February 13
  • Marquis de Sade arrested without charge, imprisoned in Vincennes fortress. [1]
February 16
  • Messier adds M53 to his catalog (globular cluster in Coma Berenice). [1]
February 21
  • English ambassador Joseph Yorke demands dismissal of Governor John de Graaff for saluting US flag. [1]
March 1
  • Georg Christoph Wagenzeil Austria (court)composer/pianist, dies at 62. [1]
March 22
  • John Bartram father of American botany, dies at 77. [1]
April 12
  • Claude-Prosper J de Crébillon French writer (Le sopha), dies at 70. [1]
April 14
  • New York adopts new constitution as an independent state. [1]
April 16
  • Battle of Bennington-New England's Green Mountain Boys rout British. [1]
April 20
  • New York adopts new constitution as an independent state. [1]
April 26
  • Sybil Ludington, 16, rode from New York to Connecticut rallying her father's militia. [1]
May 1
  • RB Sheridans "School for Scandal" premieres in London. [1]
May 12
  • First ice cream advertisement (Philip Lenzi-New York Gazette). [1]
May 13
  • University library at Vienna opens. [1]
May 16
  • Button Gwinnet US revolutionary leader, dies from wounds. [1]
June 13
  • Marquis de Lafayette lands in US. [1]
June 14
  • Continental Congress adopts Stars and Stripes replacing Grand Union flag. [1]
July 6
  • British General Burgoyne captures Fort Ticonderoga from Americans. [1]
July 8
  • Vt becomes first state abolishing slavery, adopts male sufferage. [1]
July 31
  • Marquis de Lafayette, 19, made major-general of Continental Army. [1]
August 4
  • Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley establishes first circus. [1]
August 16
  • Americans defeat British in Battle of Bennington, Vt. [1]
September 11
  • Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania; Americans lose to British. [1]
September 19
  • Battle of Freeman's Farm (Bemis Heights) or first Battle of Saratoga. [1]
September 20
  • Paoli massacre. [1]
September 26
  • British troops occupy Philadelphia during the American Revolution. [1]
September 27
  • Battle of Germantown; Washington defeated by the British. [1]
September 30
  • US Congress, flees to York Pennsylvania, as British forces advance. [1]
October 4
  • Battle of Germantown. [1]
October 7
  • Americans beat Brits in second Battle of Saratoga and Battle of Bemis Hts. [1]
October 17
  • British General John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, New York. [1]
November 15
  • Articles of Confederation adopted by Continental Congress. [1]
December 2
  • British General Howe plots attack on Washington's army for December 4. [1]
December 8
  • Captain Cook leaves Society Islands. [1]
December 12
  • Albrecht von Haller Swiss physician/biologist/author, dies at 69. [1]
December 17
  • France recognizes independence of English colonies in America. [1]
  • George Washington's army returns to Valley Forge Pennsylvania. [1]
December 18
  • First national Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Burgoyne's surrender. [1]
December 19
  • Washington settles his troops at Valley Forge Pennsylvania for the winter. [1]
December 30
  • Maximilian III Jozef elector of Bayern (1745-77), dies at 50. [1]

1778

January 4
  • Charles D J Eisen French engraver/painter, dies at 57. [1]
January 10
  • Carolus Linnæus "Carl von Linné" Swedish botanist/explorer/"Father of Taxonomy", dies at 70. [1]
January 18
  • Captain James Cook becomes the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands." [1] [5]
January 20
  • First American military court martial trial begins, Cambridge Massachusetts. [1]
January 27
  • Piccinni's opera "Roland" premieres, Paris. [1]
February 5
  • Articles of Confederation ratified by first state, South Carolina. [1]
February 6
  • England declares war on France. [1]
  • France recognizes US, signs treaty of aid in Paris; first US treaty. [1]
February 14
  • "Stars and Stripes" arrives in foreign port for first time (France). [1]
February 15
  • Johann Gottlieb Gorner composer, dies at 80. [1]
February 23
  • Baron von Steuben joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge. [1]
February 28
  • Rhode Island General Assembly authorizes enlistment of slaves. [1]
March 5
  • Thomas A Arne English composer (Alfred, Rule Britannia), dies at 67. [1]
March 7
  • Captain James Cook first sights Oregon coast, at Yaquina Bay. [1]
March 15
  • Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island discovered by Captain Cook. [1]
March 22
  • Captain Cook sights Cape Flattery, in Washington state. [1]
March 30
  • Playwright Voltaire crowned with laurel wreath. [1]
April 1
  • Oliver Pollock, a New Orleans businessman, creates "$" symbol. [1]
April 7
  • Johann Balthasar Kehl composer, dies at 52. [1]
April 8
  • Pieter Teyler van der Hulst Dutch founder (Teyler Museum), dies at 76. [1]
April 22
  • James Hargreaves inventor (spinning jenny), dies. [1]
May 11
  • William Pitt Sr English premier (1756-61, 66-68), dies at 69. [1]
May 30
  • Voltaire [François-Marie Arouet] French writer (Candide), dies at 42. [1]
June 19
  • Washington's troops finally leave Valley Forge. [1]
June 24
  • David Rittenhouse observes a total solar eclipse in Philadelphia. [1]
June 28
  • Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey. [1]
  • Mary Ludwig Hayes "Molly Pitcher" aids American patriots. [1]
July 3
  • British forces massacre 360 men, women and children in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. [1]
August 9
  • Captain Cook passes through Bering Strait. [1]
August 31
  • British kill 17 Stockbridge indians in the Bronx during Revolution. [1]
November 11
  • Iroquois Indians in New York kill 40 in Cherry Valley Massacre. [1]
November 26
  • Captain Cook discovers Maui (Sandwich Islands). [1]
December 29
  • English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia. [1]

1779

January 17
  • Captain Cook's last notation in ship's log Discovery. [1]
January 20
  • John Burman Dutch botanist/director (botanical gardens), dies at 71. [1]
January 23
  • Charles Messier catalogs M56 (globular cluster in Lyra). [1]
January 31
  • Charles Messier adds M57 (Ring Nebula in Lyra) to his catalog. [1]
February 2
  • Georg Philipp Kress composer, dies at 59. [1]
February 7
  • William Boyce composer, dies at 67. [1]
February 14
  • James Cook British explorer, murdered by natives in fracas with Hawaiians. [1]
February 16
  • William Boyce English organist/composer (Cathedral Music), dies. [1]
February 24
  • George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes IN from British. [1]
February 27
  • Jan Nepveu Dutch Governor-General of Suriname (1769-79), dies at 59. [1]
March 11
  • US army Corps of Engineers established (first time). [1]
April 6
  • Tommaso MFS Traetta Italian opera composer (Farnace), dies at 52. [1]
May 11
  • John Heart US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at about 68. [1]
May 13
  • War of Bavarian Succession ends. [1]
June 15
  • General Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, Bronx. [1]
June 20
  • Battle of Stone Ferry. [1]
September 23
  • John Paul Jones' "Bon Homme Richard" defeats 'HMS Serepis'. [1]
September 27
  • John Adams negotiates Revolutionary War peace terms with Britain. [1]
October 11
  • General Casimir Pulaski dies. [1]
December 6
  • Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin French still life painter, dies at 80. [1]
December 15
  • Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila composer, dies at 62. [1]
December 18
  • Jan Punt engraver/illustrator/actor (Gideonschool), dies at 68. [1]
December 23
  • Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct. [1]
December 28
  • Gennaro Manna composer, dies at 64. [1]
December 31
  • English fleet beat Dutch Merchant vessels. [1]

End of 1770-1779. Next: 1780.
The complete timeline can be purchased in a PDF file for US$10 from the author.

You can pay now directly via PayPal. When I receive notification from PayPal, I will email you the PDF file. or send me an email to request my mailing address to mail payment.

start-302 303-599 600-799 800-999 1000-1099 1100-1199 1200-1299 1300-1401 1402-1449 1450-1474
1475-1499 1500-1524 1525-1539 1540-1559 1560-1574 1575-1599 1600-1619 1620-1629 1630-1639 1640-1649
1650-1659 1660-1669 1670-1679 1680-1699 1700-1719 1720-1739 1740-1749 1750-1759 1760-1769 1770-1779
1780-1784 1785-1789 1790-1794 1795-1799 1800-1804 1805-1809 1810-1814 1815-1819 1820-1824 1825-1829
1830-1834 1835-1839 1840-1844 1845-1849 1850-1854 1855-1859 1860-1861 1862-1864 1865-1867 1868-1869
1870-1871 1872-1874 1875-1877 1878-1879 1880-1882 1883-1884 1885-1887 1888-1889 1890-1892 1893-1894
1895-1897 1898-1899 1900-1901 1902-1904 1905-1907 1908-1909 1910-1911 1912 1913 1914
1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920-1921 1922 1923 1924 1925
1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
2006 2007 2008


A list of references to all source material is available.

Other web pages of interest:

  • This Day in History
  • Chronology of Sports
  • Chronology of Gambling
  • Chronology of Extreme Weather
  • Chronology of World War II
  • Chronology of Space Exploration
  • Chronology of Sweden
  • Chronology of Personal Computers
  • Chronology of Notable Births
  • Chronology of Notable Deaths
  • Last updated: 2008 April 30.
    Copyright © 2007-2008 Ken Polsson (email: kpolsson@islandnet.com).
    URL: http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/worldhis/
    Link to Ken P's home page.


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