istoryworld
All Events
Paul Revere is one of the US riders taking an urgent warning to Concord, but he is captured on the journey
The first shot of the American Revolution is fired in a skirmish between redcoats and militiamen at Lexington, on the road to Concord
Delegates from the states reassemble in Philadelphia, with hostilities against the British already under way in Massachusetts
Delegates in Philadelphia select George Washington as commander-in-chief of the colonial army
At Bunker Hill, overlooking Boston from the north, the American militiamen prove their worth against British professional soldiers
Delegates to the Continental Congress make a final bid for peace, sending the Olive Branch Petition to George III
Britain declares the colonies to be in a state of rebellion, and sets up a naval blockade of the American coastline
Yankee Doodle is the most popular song with the patriot troops in the American Revolution
Figaro makes his first appearance on stage in Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville
Talleyrand begins an extremely varied career by becoming an abbot at the age of twenty-one
Captain Cook publishes his discovery of a preventive cure against scurvy, in the form of a regular ration of lemon juice
Francisco de Goya begins a series of designs for tapestries to be made in Spain's Royal Tapestry Factory
George Washington raises on Prospect Hill a new American flag, the British red ensign on a ground of thirteen stripes – one for each colony
In Common Sense, an anonymous pamphlet, English immigrant Thomas Paine is the first to argue that the American colonies should be independent
Walpole adds the Beauclerk Tower and hexagonal closet to Strawberry Hill.
Two Boulton and Watt engines are installed, the first of many in the mines and mills of England's developing industrial revolution
George Washington drives the British garrison from Boston, and moves south to protect New York
The revolutionary convention of Virginia votes for independence from Britain, and instructs its delegates in Philadelphia to propose this motion
Virginia's motion for independence from Britain is passed at the Continental Congress of the colonies with no opposing vote
Thomas Jefferson's text for the Declaration of Independence is accepted by the Congress in Philadelphia
English historian Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
John Hancock is the first delegate to sign the Declaration of Independence, formally written out on a large sheet of parchment
George Washington, driven from New York by the British, retreats towards Philadelphia
Spanish America is now administered as four viceroyalties - New Spain, New Granada, New Peru and La Plata
Buenos Aires rather than Asunción is chosen to be capital of the new Spanish viceroyalty of La Plata
