istoryworld
All Events
Scottish economist Adam Smith analyzes the nature and causes of the Wealth of Nations
George Washington defeats the British at Trenton at a psychologically important moment in the course of the war
Richmond Bridge, designed by James Paine and Kenton Couse, opens to traffic (and is now the oldest bridge in London)
Congress adopts a new flag for independent America – the stars and stripes
George Washington, heavily defeated in a battle at Brandywine, is forced to relinquish Philadelphia to the British
Richard Brinsley Sheridan's second play, The School for Scandal, is an immediate success in London's Drury Lane theatre
The American general Horatio Gates captures the army of General Burgoyne near Saratoga
The US Congress agrees the final version of the Articles of Confederation, defining the terms on which states join the Union
Samual Prime inherits Kneller Hall from his father, Sir Samuel Prime, and enlarges the house and estate.
Benjamin Franklin persuades the French to sign a Treaty of Alliance, committing France to the US cause
France, joining the American colonies in their fight against Britain, sends a large fleet across the Atlantic
The American naval hero John Paul Jones makes successful raids around the coasts of Britain
The second wooden Hampton Court Bridge, of sturdier construction than the first bridge, opens and is 350 feet long, 18 feet wide, and has ten arches raised on piles
In Brook Watson and the Shark John Singleton Copley creates the most intensely dramatic of his modern history paintings
The British rapidly abandon Philadelphia on news of the expected arrival of a French fleet
The British adopt a new policy in the south, landing in Georgia and capturing much of South Carolina
Francis Hopkinson's popular ballad The Battle of the Kegs describes an ingenious American threat to the British navy
15-year-old Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun earns enough from painting portraits to support the rest of her family
The 10-year-old Napoleon is admitted as a student in a military college at Brienne, near Troyes
British explorer Captain James Cook is killed in a skirmish with natives in Hawaii over a stolen boat
London Bridge at risk from waterworks blaze
Joseph Banks tells a committee of the House of Commons that the east coast of Australia is suitable for the transportation of convicted felons
The world's first iron bridge is assembled in a few months across the Severn at Coalbrookdale
Samuel Crompton perfects the mule, a machine for spinning that combines the merits of Hargreave's jenny and Arkwright's water frame
U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, fights H.M.S. Serapis near England's Flamborough Head
