- Jan 9 1st hot-air balloon flight in the US lifts off in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, piloted by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard, it lands 15 miles away in Deptford, New Jersey
- Jan 9 Dutch Prince Willem V establishes 2 brigades Drive Artillery
Louis XVI Sentenced to Death
Jan 16 French King Louis XVI sentenced to death by the National Convention during the French Revolution
Execution of Louis XVI
Jan 21 Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for "high treason" by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution
- Jan 23 Humane Society of Philadelphia (1st aid society) organized
- Jan 23 Prussia and Russia sign the Treaty of Grodno, later known as the 2nd Partition of Poland, ceding large portions of Poland to their bigger neighbors
- Feb 1 France declares war on Great Britain and Netherlands
- Feb 1 Patent granted Ralph Hodgson, NY, for oiled silk & linen
- Feb 11 Prussian troops occupy Venlo, Netherlands
- Feb 12 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
- Feb 24 French troops conquer Breda
Joséphine's Husband Arrested
Mar 2 Alexandre de Beauharnais, first husband of Joséphine de Beauharnais, is arrested during the Reign of Terror (later executed)
- Mar 4 French troops conquer Geertruidenberg, Netherlands
- Mar 4 Washington's 2nd inauguration as US President, shortest speech (133 words)
- Mar 5 French troops are defeated by Austrian forces and Liège is recaptured
- Mar 14 Lieutenant Governor Simcoe of Upper Canada passes legislation for the first time against the importation of slaves, after a black female slave forcibly transported to New York state to be sold [1]
- Mar 18 Second Battle at Neerwinden: Austria army beats France
- Mar 18 The first republican state in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann
- Mar 26 Pro-royalist uprising in Vendée region of France
- Apr 15 Bank of England issues first £5 note
- Apr 22 President Washington attends opening of Rickett's, 1st circus in US
Marat Acquitted
Apr 24 French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is acquitted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of charges brought by the Girondin in Paris
- Apr 29 Cornerstone laid for Groningen's new town hall in the Netherlands
Mackenzie's Second Expedition to the Pacific
May 9 Explorer Alexander Mackenzie sets out on his second expedition to the Pacific from Fort Fork (arrives at Pacific 22nd July)
- May 15 Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 metres", at a height of 5-6 metres, one of the first attempted flights
- May 19 Netherlands captures French island of St Maarten (held until 1795)
- May 21 Curacao Island Council forbids criticism of House of Orange
- May 25 Father Stephen Theodore Badin is 1st US Roman Catholic priest ordained
- May 30 French revolutionary Georges Couthon chosen to be a member of French Committee the Salut Public
- Jun 10 1st public zoo opens in Paris
- Jun 11 1st American stove patent is granted to Robert Haeterick
- Jun 24 First Republican constitution in France adopted
- Jul 20 Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie completes the first European east-to-west crossing of America north of Mexico
- Jul 22 Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada
- Jul 23 The Prussians conquer Mainz
- Jul 24 France passes 1st copyright law
- Jul 29 John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay
- Aug 1 France becomes 1st country to use the metric system
- Aug 8 The insurrection of Lyon occurs during the French Revolution.
- Aug 10 Louvre palace officially opens in Paris as The Museum Central des Arts
- Aug 12 The Rhône départment is created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two: Rhône and Loire (Lêre).
- Aug 19 Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, then the US capital has its 1st fatality. Lasts till November killing around 5,000 people
Levée en masse
Aug 23 French Revolution: The National Convention adopts the levée en masse, conscripting all able-bodied men between 18 and 25 for military service during the French Revolutionary Wars
- Aug 29 Slaves in French colony of St Domingue (Haiti) freed
- Sep 5 French Revolution: the "Reign of Terror" begins
Capitol Building Started
Sep 18 US President George Washington lays the cornerstone of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Marquis de Condorcet Goes Into Hiding
Oct 3 A warrant is issued for the arrest of French mathematician and philosopher Marquis de Condorcet forcing him into hiding
- Oct 5 French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France.
- Oct 16 Battle of Wattignies: French defeat Allied forces and lift siege of Maubeuge
Cotton Gin
Oct 28 Eli Whitney applies for a patent for his cotton gin machine, used to pull cotton fibers from the seed [1]
- Oct 31 Execution of Girondins in Paris during Reign of Terror
Execution of Olympe de Gouges
Nov 3 French playwright, journalist and feminist Olympe de Gouges is guillotined
Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar
Nov 26 Republican calendar replaces Gregorian calendar in France
NY's First Daily Newspaper
Dec 9 Noah Webster establishes New York's 1st daily newspaper, the "American Minerva"
Jefferson Warns of Slave Revolts
Dec 23 Thomas Jefferson warns of slave revolts in the West Indies
- Dec 26 Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians.
Authors
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Explorers
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