1779(MDCCLXXIX) was acommon year starting on Fridayof theGregorian calendarand acommon year starting on Tuesdayof theJulian calendar,the 1779th year of theCommon Era(CE) andAnno Domini(AD) designations, the 779th year of the2nd millennium,the 79th year of the18th century,and the 10th and last year of the1770sdecade. As of the start of 1779, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
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Events
editJanuary–March
edit- January 11
- January 22–American Revolutionary War–Claudius Smithis hanged atGoshen,Orange County, New Yorkfor supposed acts of terrorism upon the people of the surrounding communities.
- January 29– After a second petition for partition from its residents, theNorth Carolina General AssemblyabolishesBute County,North Carolina(established1764) by dividing it and naming the northern portionWarren County(for Revolutionary War heroJoseph Warren), the southern portionFranklin County(forBenjamin Franklin). The General Assembly also establishesWarrenton(also named for Joseph Warren) to be the seat of Warren County, andLouisburg(named forLouis XVI of France) to be the seat of Franklin County.
- February 12– Lieutenant ColonelFrancisco Boulignyarrives withMalagueñocolonists atBayou Teche,to establish the city ofNew Iberia, Louisiana.
- February 14– CaptainJames Cookis killed on theSandwich Islands,on his third voyage.
- March 1–Capture and sack of Vientianeby Siamese forces.
- March 10– TheTreaty of Aynalıkavakis signed betweenOttoman Turkeyand theRussian Empire,regarding theCrimean Khanate.
April–June
edit- April 12–SpainandFrancesecretly sign theConvention of Aranjuez,with Spain joining an alliance against Great Britain in return for France's pledge to recover all Spanish territory lost to the British.[1]
- May 13–War of the Bavarian Succession– Russian and French mediators at theCongress of Teschennegotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives a part of the Bavarian territory (theInnviertel), and relinquishes the rest.
- June 1–American Revolutionary War–Benedict Arnoldiscourt-martialedformalfeasance,in his treatment of government property.
- June 16–American Revolutionary War– In support of France, Spain declares war on Britain.
- June 21– KingCharles III of Spainissues a declaration of war against Great Britain.[2]
July–September
edit- July 16
- American Revolutionary War– United States forces, led by GeneralAnthony Wayne,captureStony Point, New Yorkfrom British troops.
- Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nationissued in order to regulate organization ofEastern Orthodox ChurchinHabsburg monarchy.
- July 20–Tekle Giyorgis Ibegins the first of his five reigns asEmperor of Ethiopia.
- July 22–Battle of Minisink:The Goshen Militia is destroyed byJoseph Brant's forces.
- July 24–American Revolutionary War– American forces, led by CommodoreDudley Saltonstall,launch thePenobscot Expeditionin what is nowCastine,Maine, resulting in the worst naval defeat in U.S. history (untilPearl Harbor).
- July– TheGreat Siege of Gibraltar(fourteenth and last military siege) begins. This is an action by French and Spanish forces to wrest control ofGibraltarfrom the established British garrison. The garrison, led byGeorge Augustus Eliott(later 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar), survives all attacks and a blockade of supplies.
- September
- Battle of Baton Rouge– Spanish troops underBernardo de Gálvezcapture the city from the British.
- TheGreat Siege of Gibraltarstarts, the longestsiegeendured by theBritish Armed Forces.
- September 14–15–American Revolutionary War–Little Beard's Town,a loyalist stronghold, is burnt by theSullivan Expedition.
- September 23–American Revolutionary War–Battle of Flamborough Head– The American shipBonhomme Richard,commanded byJohn Paul Jones,engages the British shipHMSSerapis.TheBonhomme Richardsinks, but the Americans board theSerapisand other vessels, and are victorious.
- September 28–Samuel Huntingtonis elected as the seventhPresident of the Continental Congress.[3]
October–December
edit- October 1– The city ofTampere,Finland(belonging toSwedenat this time) is founded by KingGustav III of Sweden.
- October 4– The Fort Wilson Riot againstJames Wilsonand others inPhiladelphiatakes place.
- November 2– The North Carolina General Assembly carves a new county fromDobbs County,North Carolina and names itWayne County,in honor of United States GeneralAnthony Wayne.
- December 13–Alexandre, Vicomte de BeauharnaismarriesJoséphine Tascher.
- December 25– Fort Nashborough (later to becomeNashville, Tennessee) is founded byJames Robertson.
- December 31–Affair of Fielding and Bylandt:Following a brief naval engagement between the British and Dutch off theIsle of Wight,the Dutch merchantmen and naval vessels are captured and taken toPortsmouth,England.
Date unknown
edit- Industrial Revolutionin England:
- The Iron Bridgeis erected across theRiver SeverninShropshire,the world's first bridge built entirely ofcast iron.[4]It will open to traffic on January 1, 1781.[5]
- Thespinning muleis perfected byLancashireinventorSamuel Crompton.[5]
- Boulton and Watt'sSmethwick Engine,now the oldest working engine in the world, is brought into service (May)).
- A joint Spanish-Portuguese survey of theAmazon basinbegins to determine the boundary between the colonial possessions in South America; it continues until1795.
Births
edit- January 5–Stephen Decatur,American naval officer (d.1820)
- January 18–Peter Mark Roget,British lexicographer (d.1869)
- February 1–Nikolaus von Krufft,Austrian composer and civil servant (d.1818)
- March 6–Antoine-Henri Jomini,French general (d.1869)
- March 15–William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne,Prime Minister of the United Kingdom(d.1848)
- March 21–José Bernardo de Tagle y Portocarrero, Marquis of Torre Tagle,Peruvian soldier and politician, 2nd President of Peru (d. 1825)[6]
- May 28–Thomas Moore,Irish poet (d.1852)
- June 20–Dorothy Ann Thrupp,British psalmist, hymnwriter, translator (d.1847)
- July 8–Giorgio Pullicino,Maltese painter and architect (d.1851)
- August 1–Francis Scott Key,American lawyer, lyricist (d.1843)
- August 8–Benjamin Silliman,American chemist, educator and abolitionist (d.1864)
- August 20–Jöns Jacob Berzelius,Swedish chemist (d.1848)
- August 29–Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres,French painter (d.1867)
- September 8–Mustafa IV,sultan of the Ottoman Empire(d.1808)
- September 18–Joseph Story,Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States(d.1845)
- November 14–Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger,Danish poet (d.1850)
- December 12–Madeleine Sophie Barat,French Catholic saint, founder of theSociety of the Sacred Heart(d.1865)
- December 24–George Washington Lafayette
- date unknown–Giacomo Beltrami,Italian explorer (d.1855)
Deaths
edit- January 3–Claude Bourgelat,French veterinary surgeon (b.1712)
- January 20–David Garrick,English actor (b.1717)
- January 22–Jeremiah Dixon,English surveyor, astronomer (b.1733)
- February 7–William Boyce,English composer (b.1711)
- February 14–James Cook,British naval captain and explorer (b.1728)
- February 24–Paul Daniel Longolius,German encyclopedist (b.1704)
- April 7–Martha Ray(b.1742), British singer and mistress of John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich (murdered) (b.1742)
- April 9–Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa,Spanish military officer (b.1717)
- April 24–Eleazar Wheelock,American founder of Dartmouth College (b.1711)
- May 1–Sarah Clayton,English industrialist (b.1712)
- May 3–John Winthrop,American astronomer (b.1714)
- June 7–William Warburton,English critic, Bishop of Gloucester (b.1698)
- June 10–Jane Gomeldon,English writer, poet and adventurer (b.1720)
- June 16–Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet,Colonial governor of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay (b.1712)
- June 23– RasMikael Sehul,Enderase ofEthiopia(b.1692)
- June 28–Martha Daniell Logan,American botanist (b.1704)
- June 29–Anton Raphael Mengs,German-Bohemian painter (b.1728)
- July 21–Caleb Fleming,English dissenting minister, polemicist (b.1698)
- August 26–Henrika Juliana von Liewen,Swedish political salonnière (b.1709)
- September 12–Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple,English politician (b.1711)
- October 11–Kazimierz Pułaski,veteran commander of Polish, Russian, and American troops (b.1745)
- November 16–Pehr Kalm,Finnish explorer and naturalist (b.1716)
- December 6–Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin,French painter (b.1699)
- December 8–Nathan Alcock,English physician (b.1707)
- December 16–Emperor Go-Momozonoof Japan (b.1758)
- December 17–Giuseppe Carcani,Italian composer (b.1703)
- December 23–Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol,British admiral and politician (b.1724)
unknown date
edit- Giuseppe Bonici,Maltese architect, military engineer (b.1707)
- Johann Joseph Gassner,German priest (b.1727)
References
edit- ^Robert W. Smith,Amid a Warring World: American Foreign Relations, 1775-1815(Potomac Books, 2012)
- ^William Nester,The Revolutionary Years, 1775-1789: The Art of American Power During the Early Republic(Potomac Books, 2011) p53
- ^Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909,ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p166
- ^"Icons, a portrait of England 1750–1800".Archived fromthe originalon August 17, 2007.RetrievedAugust 27,2007.
- ^abWilliams, Hywel (2005).Cassell's Chronology of World History.London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp.333–334.ISBN0-304-35730-8.
- ^Benavides Loredo, Alfonso (1918).Bosquejo sobre la evolución política y jurídica de la época Republicana del Perú(in Spanish). Lima: P. Acevedo. p. 227.
Further reading
edit- John Blair;J. Willoughby Rosse (1856)."1779".Blair's Chronological Tables.London:H.G. Bohn.hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t6349vh5n– via Hathi Trust.