Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Historical Events in 1796

  • Jan 23 Armand-Gaston Camus becomes chairman of the Council of 500
  • Feb 1 The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York
  • Feb 29 Jay's Treaty proclaimed, settles some differences with England
  • Mar 1 1st National Meeting in the Hague

Napoléon Appointed Commander in Chief

Mar 2 Napoléon Bonaparte is appointed Commander-in-Chief of the French Army in Italy

  • Mar 28 Bethel African Methodist Church of Philadelphia is 1st US-African church

Heptadecagon Construction

Mar 30 Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, discovers the construction of the heptadecagon

Egmont

Mar 31 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's dramatic play "Egmont" premieres in Weimar

  • Apr 8 Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, proves the quadratic reciprocity law (the ability to determine the solvability of any quadratic equation in modular arithmetic)
  • Apr 13 Battle of Millesimo, Italy: Napoleon's forces defeat allied armies of Austria and of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.
  • Apr 13 First elephant arrives in US from India
  • Apr 21 Napoleon and the French defeat the Piedmontese at Battle of Mondovi
  • Apr 28 Armistice of Cherasco between Sardinia and Napoleon Bonaparte at Cherasco, Piedmont gives France territories of Piedmont, Savoy and Nice
  • May 10 French government arrest 10 utopists
  • May 10 Napoleon defeats Austria in Battle of Lodi Bridge
  • May 10 Riot after disagreement of patriotic demand in Amsterdam

Jenner's Vaccine for Smallpox

May 14 English country doctor Edward Jenner administers his revolutionary cowpox-based vaccine for smallpox, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire

  • May 15 First Coalition: Napoleon enters Milan in triumph with French troops
  • May 15 France & Sardinia sign Peace treaty of Paris
  • May 16 Lombardian Republic forms
  • May 19 Game protection law restricts encroachment on Indian hunting grounds
  • May 26 French garrison of Fort Charlotte on island of St Lucia surrenders to British forces, 2780 mostly black prisoners of war board ships to England [1]
  • May 27 James S. McLean granted a US patent for his improvements to the piano
  • Jun 1 Last of Britain's troops withdraws from USA
  • Jun 1 Tennessee admitted as 16th US state
  • Jul 4 1st Independence Day celebration is held
  • Jul 8 US State Department issues 1st US passport
  • Jul 10 Carl Friedrich Gauss discovers that every positive integer is representable as a sum of at most three triangular numbers
  • Jul 22 Cleveland, Ohio, founded by General Moses Cleaveland. Originally called 'Cleaveland', the public adopted the current name after a newspaper editor noticed the name was too long to fit on the page.
  • Aug 8 Boston African Society establishes with 44 members
  • Aug 17 British defeat Batavian navy in Saldanha Bay, South Africa
  • Aug 19 Spain & France sign anti-British alliance
  • Aug 23 African Methodist Episcopal Church incorporated
  • Sep 2 Jews of the Netherlands are emancipated
  • Sep 5 General Salicetti orders equal rights for Jews of Bologna, Italy
  • Sep 8 Battle of Bassano: Napoleon Bonaparte's French army defeat Austrian force during French Revolutionary Wars

Washington's Farewell Address

Sep 19 George Washington's farewell address as US President is published

  • Oct 5 Spain declares war on England

John Adams Elected

Nov 3 John Adams elected as 2nd president of the United States of America

  • Nov 17 Battle of Arcole: French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte defeat an Austrian force led by József Alvinczi after a 3 day battle at Arcole, Republic of Venice
  • Dec 18 1st US newspaper to appear on Sunday (Baltimore Monitor)