- May 23
- Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals. [1]
- June 15
- Two French balloonists die in world's first fatal aviation accident. [1]
- July 6
- The dollar (and decimal coinage) is unanimously chosen by the Continental Congress as the monetary unit for the United States. The US is the first nation to adopt a decimal money system. [417.56] [450.46] [512.36] [584.9] [677.28] [1042.722] [1582.46]
- August 13
- Fire destroys a wing of the Redoute casino in Liège, France. Burning playing cards cause up to fifty thatch-roofed houses in Sauveniere to burn down, killing three people. [187.187] [811.79]
- September 29
- Chaidic sect is excommunicated in Cracow, Poland. [1]
- October 11
- Bavarian authorities raid house of Herr von Zwack, counselor to Prince von Salm, finding Illuminati documents showing plans for world revolution. [916.56]
1786
- February 24
- Charles Cornwallis is appointed Governor-General of India. [1]
- May 1
- Mozart's opera "Marriage of Figaro" premieres in Wien (Vienna). [1]
- August 8
- The American Continental Congress defines a silver dollar containing 375.64 grains of silver as the nation's unit of account. [388.188] [427.67] [910.44]
- August 9
- First ascent of Mount Blanc. [1]
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- October 16
- Continental Congress authorizes coinage system of gold piece valued at $10, silver piece at $1, tenth dollar in silver, and copper penny. [538.34] [553.36] [703.44]
1787
- February 4
- First Anglican bishops of New York and Pennsylvania are consecrated in London, England. [1]
- February 18
- Austrian emperor Jozef II bans children under eight from labor. [1]
- May 13
- Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of criminals from England to Australia. On board are 588 men, 292 women, and 28 children. (The first ship arrives 270 days later in Botany Bay.) [1] [604.100]
- May 17
- English slave ship Sisters, sailing from Africa to Cuba, capsizes. [1]
- July 2
- Marquis de Sade shouts from Bastille that prisoners are being slaughtered. [1]
- August 17
- Jews are granted permission in Budapest Hungary to pray in groups. [1]
- September 17
- The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [1] [5]
- October 29
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni opera opens in Prague. [1] [1392.14]
- November 1
- First free school in New York City (African Free School) opens. [1]
- December 7
- Delaware becomes first state to ratify US Constitution. [1] [548.42] [1038.2075]
- December 12
- Pennsylvania is second state to ratify US Constitution. [1] [1038.2075]
- December 18
- New Jersey is third state to ratify US Constitution. [1] [1038.2075]
1788
- January 1
- London's Daily Universal Register becomes the Times. [1]
- January 2
- Georgia is fourth state to ratify US constitution. [1] [453.70]
- January 9
- Connecticut becomes 5th state to ratify US Constitution. [1]
- January 26
- Captain Arthur Phillip guides a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts and settlers into Botany Bay to land and form the colony of New South Wales (continent of Australia). [1] [129] [501.106] (January 18 [501.134])
- January 28
- Lord Gordon found guilty of libel of queen of France. [1]
- February 6
- Massachusetts becomes sixth state to ratify the US Constitution. [1] [453.70] (February 8 [450.70])
- February 7
- British Captain Arthur Philip, flotilla commander of ships arriving at Australia, raises his flag at Sydney Cove. [696.22]
- February 9
- Austria declares war on Russia. [1]
- March 21
- Fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana. [1]
- Gustavus Vassa petitions Queen Charlotte, to free enslaved Africans. [1]
- April 15
- England, Netherlands and Prussia sign peace treaty. [1]
- May 9
- English parliament accepts abolishing of slave trade. [1]
- May 26
- Mary Clark of England gives birth to a baby without a brain. [1]
- June 11
- First British ship built on Pacific coast begun at Nootka Sound, British Columbia. [1]
- June 21
- US Constitution goes into effect as New Hampshire is 9th state to ratify it. [1] [432.95]
- September 13
- New York City becomes capital of the United States. [1]
- December 14
- Death of King Carlos III of Naples/Spain (1759-88) at age 72. [1]
- December 17
- Russian army of Grigorij Potemkin occupies Ochárov. [1]
- December 19
- Chinese troops occupy capital Thang Long, Vietnam. [1]
- December 21
- Hue Tay Son becomes emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam. [1]
1789
- January 7
- America's first presidential election is held; only white men who own property are allowed to vote. George Washington wins the election. [1] [129]
- February 1
- Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long. [1]
- April 7
- Death of Abdül-Hamid I at age 64; 27th sultan of Turkey (1774-89). [1]
- April 28
- Chief Mate Fletcher Christian and nine others stage mutiny on the HMS Bounty. Commander Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 others are set adrift from Tahiti in a 23-foot boat. (They soon land at Tofua, depart May 2, and make a 43-day, 3600-mile voyage to Timor.) [1] [246.54] [394.31] [1381.6]
- April 30
- George Washington inaugurated as first President of USA, taking oath of office on alter Bible of Saint John's Masonic Lodge No. 1, New York City. [1] [129] [273.3] [585.30]
- June 3
- Alexander Mackenzie explores Mackenzie River (Canada). [1]
- June 9
- Spanish capture British schooner Northwest America near Vancouver Island. [1]
- June 17
- Third Estate in France declares itself a national assembly, independent of the King. [1458.60]
- June 20
- Oath of the Tennis Court is taken in France. Deputies of the nobility vow not to disperse until they had given France a new constitution. [1] [1458.60]
- July 11
- Marquis de Lafayette introduces Declaration of Rights of Man in France. [450.46]
- July 14
- Citizens of Paris, France, join mutinying soldiers in storming the Bastille prison, releasing prisoners, executing govenor. [223.91] [454.72] [811.88] [1050.1770] [1428.46] [1458.60]
- August 18
- Citizens of Spa and Liège revolt, declaring a republic and forcing prince-bishop Prince Constantine de Hoensbroek to abdicate and flee. [187.189] [811.88]
- August 26
- French National Assembly issues "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen". [223.91] (August 27 [1] [5])
- October 5
- A Parisian mob of mostly women marches on Versailles and forces Royal family to accompany them back to Paris. [1321.11]
- November 8
- Bourbon whiskey is first distilled from corn (by Elijah Craig, Bourbon, Kentucky). [1]
- November 21
- North Carolina ratifies US Constitution, becomes 12th US state. [1] [454.64]
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