Directory

1778 CE

October 24 – Captain Cook explores and maps the Pacific Northwest coast of North America, from Cape Foulweather (Oregon) to the Bering Strait. American Revolutionary War: Battle of Monmouth – George Washington's Continental Army battles British general Sir Henry Clinton's army to a draw, near Monmouth County, New Jersey. American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Wyoming takes place near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, ending in a terrible defeat for the local colonists.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 6 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris, the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France, signaling official French recognition of the new republic.source
  • July 26 – In the Russian Empire, the forced emigration of Christians from the Crimea to Pryazovia begins.source
  • September 17 – The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed, the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware).source
  • September 19 – The Continental Congress passes the first budget of the United States.source
  • November 26 – New Jersey becomes the second state to agree to the Articles of Confederation.source
  • December 10 – John Jay of New York is chosen as the sixth President of the Continental Congress.source
  • South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 5 – In the United States:source
  • February 23 – American Revolutionary War: Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and begins to train the American troops.source
  • March 10 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington approves the dishonorable discharge of Lieutenant Frederick Gotthold Enslin, for "attempting to commit sodomy, with John Monhort a soldier".source
  • April 12 – King George III appoints the five-member Carlisle Peace Commission to present peace terms to negotiate an end to the rebellion of Britain's 13 American colonies.source
  • June 28 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Monmouth – George Washington's Continental Army battles British general Sir Henry Clinton's army to a draw, near Monmouth County, New Jersey.source
  • June – The Anglo-French War (1778–83) begins.source
  • July 3 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Wyoming takes place near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, ending in a terrible defeat for the local colonists.source
  • July 4 – American Revolutionary War: George Rogers Clark takes Kaskaskia.source
  • July 10 – Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.source
  • July 27 – American Revolutionary War: First Battle of Ushant – British and French fleets fight to a standoff.source
  • August 29 – American Revolutionary War: The tactically inconclusive Battle of Rhode Island takes place, after which the Continental Army abandons its position on Aquidneck Island.source
  • September 7 – American Revolutionary War: Invasion of Dominica – The French capture the British fort there, before the latter is aware that France has entered the war in the Franco-American alliance.source
  • November 11 – American Revolutionary War: Cherry Valley massacre – British forces and their Iroquois allies attack a fort and the village of Cherry Valley, New York, killing 14 soldiers and 30 civilians.source
  • December 29 – American Revolutionary War: Capture of Savannah – British forces under Archibald Campbell take the city of Savannah, Georgia.source
  • General John Cadwalader shoots and seriously wounds Major General Thomas Conway in a duel after a dispute between the two officers over Conway's continued criticism of General George Washington's leadership of the Continental Army.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 18 – Third voyage of James Cook: Captain James Cook, with ships HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, first views Oʻahu then Kauaʻi in the Hawaiian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, which he names the Sandwich Islands.source
  • March 6–October 24 – Captain Cook explores and maps the Pacific Northwest coast of North America, from Cape Foulweather (Oregon) to the Bering Strait.source
  • August 26 – Triglav, at 2,864 m ft above sea level the highest peak of Slovenia, is ascended for the first time by four men: Luka Korošec, Matevž Kos, Štefan Rožič, and Lovrenc Willomitzer, on Sigmund Zois' initiative.source
  • November 26 – In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to land on Maui.source
  • The first settlement is made in the area of modern-day Louisville, Kentucky, by 13 families under Colonel George Rogers Clark.source

Religion & Belief

  • May 30 – Benedict Arnold signs the U.S. Oath of Allegiance at Valley Forge.source
  • The city of Ulaanbaatar is settled at its present location, having functioned as a mobile monastic settlement since 1639.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • April 30 – The 1800 ft long Hudson River Chain, designed to prevent British ships from moving up the river toward West Point, New York is stretched across the river and anchored by an engineering team under the direction of Captain Thomas Machin.source
  • The term thoroughbred is first used in the United States, in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette, to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick.source

Science & Discovery

  • June 24 – A total solar eclipse takes place across parts of North America, from Texas to Virginia.source

Health & Medicine

  • October 12 – The Continental Congress advises the 13 member states to suppress "theatrical entertainments, horse-racing, gaming, and such other diversions as are productive of idleness, dissipation, and general depravity of principles and manners."source

Crime & Justice

  • September – The Massachusetts Banishment Act, providing punishment for Loyalists, is passed.source

Culture & Society

  • May 12 – Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Greiz is elevated to Prince of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. This year sees the first appearance of the modern-day national colors of Germany on a flag that closely resembles the modern flag of Germany, to occur anywhere within modern-day Germany.source
  • August 3 – The La Scala Opera House opens in Milan, with the première of Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.source
  • Thomas Kitchin's The Present State of the West-Indies: Containing an Accurate Description of What Parts Are Possessed by the Several Powers in Europe is published in London.source
  • Phillips Academy is founded in Massachusetts by Samuel Phillips Jr.source

Births

  • March 10 – Hugh Hornby Birley, leading Manchester Tory, reputed to have led the fatal charge of the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry, at the Peterloo Massacre (d. 1845)source
  • April 10 – William Hazlitt, English writer (d. 1830)source
  • May 18 – Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, British politician (d. 1854)source
  • June 16 – Harry Croswell, crusading American political journalist (d. 1858)source
  • June 23 – Richard W. Meade, American merchant and art collector (d. 1828)source
  • July 6 – Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent, French scientist (d. 1846)source
  • September 2 – Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, French army general, King of Holland (d. 1846)source
  • September 19 – Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, British politician (d. 1868)source
  • November 14 – Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Austrian composer, virtuoso pianist (d. 1837)source
  • November 15 – Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Italian antiquarian (d. 1823)source
  • November 23 – Mariano Moreno, Argentine politician (d. 1811)source
  • November 25 – Joseph Lancaster, English Quaker, public education innovator (d. 1838)source
  • November 28 – Abd al-Rahman of Morocco, Alaouite dynasty member (d. 1859)source
  • December 19 – Marie Thérèse of France, eldest child of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (d. 1851)source

Deaths

  • February 20 – Laura Bassi, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1711)source
  • February 27 – Alexander Murray of Elibank, fourth son of Alexander Murray (b. 1712)source
  • March 7 – Charles De Geer, Swedish industrialist and entomologist (b. 1720)source
  • April 22 – James Hargreaves, English weaver, carpenter, and inventor (b. 1720)source
  • May 8 – Lorenz Christoph Mizler, German music historian, polymath (b. 1711)source
  • May 11 – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1708)source
  • May 16 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat and politician (b. 1718)source
  • May 30 – José de la Borda, Spanish/Mexican mining magnate (b. c. 1699)source
  • June 12 – Philip Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1716)source
  • July 3 – Anna Maria Mozart, Austrian mother to the Mozarts (b. 1720)source
  • August 12 – Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, British general, politician (b. 1714)source
  • October 1 – Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers, British Royal Navy admiral (b. 1722)source
  • November 9 – Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian artist (b. 1720)source
  • December 26 – Pedro Antonio de Cevallos, Spanish military Governor of Buenos Aires (1757–1766) (b. 1715)source