Directory

1779 CE

American Revolutionary War – Claudius Smith is hanged at Goshen, Orange County, New York for supposed acts of terrorism upon the people of the surrounding communities. 15 – American Revolutionary War – Little Beard's Town, a loyalist stronghold, is burnt by the Sullivan Expedition. The Fort Wilson Riot against James Wilson and others in Philadelphia takes place.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 29 – After a second petition for partition from its residents, the North Carolina General Assembly abolishes Bute County, North Carolina (established 1764) by dividing it and naming the northern portion Warren County (for Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren), the southern portion Franklin County (for Benjamin Franklin). The General Assembly also establishes Warrenton (also named for Joseph Warren) to be the seat of Warren County, and Louisburg (named for Louis XVI of France) to be the seat of Franklin County.source
  • March 10 – The Treaty of Aynalıkavak is signed between Ottoman Turkey and the Russian Empire, regarding the Crimean Khanate.source
  • April 12 – Spain and France secretly sign the Convention of Aranjuez, with Spain joining an alliance against Great Britain in return for France's pledge to recover all Spanish territory lost to the British.source
  • September 28 – Samuel Huntington is elected as the seventh President of the Continental Congress.source
  • November 2 – The North Carolina General Assembly carves a new county from Dobbs County, North Carolina and names it Wayne County, in honor of United States General Anthony Wayne.source
  • A joint Spanish-Portuguese survey of the Amazon basin begins to determine the boundary between the colonial possessions in South America; it continues until 1795.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 11 – British troops surrender to the Marathas in Wadgaon, India, and are forced to return all territories acquired since 1773.source
  • January 22 – American Revolutionary War – Claudius Smith is hanged at Goshen, Orange County, New York for supposed acts of terrorism upon the people of the surrounding communities.source
  • March 1 – Capture and sack of Vientiane by Siamese forces.source
  • May 13 – War of the Bavarian Succession – Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives a part of the Bavarian territory (the Innviertel), and relinquishes the rest.source
  • June 1 – American Revolutionary War – Benedict Arnold is court-martialed for malfeasance, in his treatment of government property.source
  • June 16 – American Revolutionary War – In support of France, Spain declares war on Britain.source
  • June 21 – King Charles III of Spain issues a declaration of war against Great Britain.source
  • July 16 – The Great Siege of Gibraltar begins. This is an action by French and Spanish forces to wrest control of Gibraltar from the established British garrison. The garrison, led by George Augustus Eliott (later 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar), survives all attacks and a blockade of supplies.source
  • July 16 – American Revolutionary War – United States forces, led by General Anthony Wayne, capture Stony Point, New York from British troops.source
  • July 22 – Battle of Minisink: The Goshen Militia is destroyed by Joseph Brant's forces.source
  • August 17 – Action of 17 August 1779: The 64-gun British warship HMS Ardent is captured by France in the English Channel off of Plymouth after an ineffective attempt by the British captain to properly aim its cannons at the French frigate Junon.source
  • September 21 – Battle of Baton Rouge – Spanish troops under Bernardo de Gálvez capture the city from the British.source
  • September 23 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Flamborough Head – The American ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, engages the British ship . The Bonhomme Richard sinks, but the Americans board the Serapis and other vessels, and are victorious.source
  • October 4 – The Fort Wilson Riot against James Wilson and others in Philadelphia takes place.source
  • December 25 – Fort Nashborough (later to become Nashville, Tennessee) is founded by James Robertson.source
  • December 31 – Affair of Fielding and Bylandt: Following a brief naval engagement between the British and Dutch off the Isle of Wight, the Dutch merchantmen and naval vessels are captured and taken to Portsmouth, England.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • February 12 – Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Bouligny arrives with Malagueño colonists at Bayou Teche, to establish the city of New Iberia, Louisiana.source
  • July 24 – American Revolutionary War – American forces, led by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, launch the Penobscot Expedition in what is now Castine, Maine, resulting in the worst naval defeat in U.S. history, until surpassed by the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.source
  • September 14–15 – American Revolutionary War – Little Beard's Town, a loyalist stronghold, is burnt by the Sullivan Expedition.source

Religion & Belief

  • July 16 – Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nation issued in order to regulate organization of Eastern Orthodox Church in Habsburg monarchy.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • July 20 – Tekle Giyorgis I begins the first of his five reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.source
  • The spinning mule is perfected by Lancashire inventor Samuel Crompton.source
  • The Iron Bridge is erected across the River Severn in Shropshire, the world's first bridge built entirely of cast iron. It will open to traffic on January 1, 1781.source
  • Boulton and Watt's Smethwick Engine, now the oldest working engine in the world, is brought into service (May).source
  • Industrial Revolution in England:source

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 14 – Captain James Cook is killed on the Sandwich Islands, on his third voyage.source

Culture & Society

  • October 1 – The city of Tampere, Finland (belonging to Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav III of Sweden.source
  • December 13 – Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais marries Joséphine Tascher.source

Births

  • January 5 – Stephen Decatur, American naval officer (d. 1820)source
  • January 18 – Peter Mark Roget, British lexicographer (d. 1869)source
  • February 1 – Nikolaus von Krufft, Austrian composer and civil servant (d. 1818)source
  • March 6 – Antoine-Henri Jomini, French general (d. 1869)source
  • March 15 – William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1848)source
  • March 21 – José Bernardo de Tagle y Portocarrero, Marquis of Torre Tagle, Peruvian soldier and politician, 2nd President of Peru (d. 1825)source
  • May 28 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet (d. 1852)source
  • June 20 – Dorothy Ann Thrupp, British psalmist, hymnwriter, translator (d. 1847)source
  • August 8 – Benjamin Silliman, American chemist, educator and abolitionist (d. 1864)source
  • August 20 – Jöns Jacob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (d. 1848)source
  • August 29 – Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, French painter (d. 1867)source
  • September 18 – Joseph Story, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1845)source
  • November 14 – Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger, Danish poet (d. 1850)source
  • December 12 – Madeleine Sophie Barat, French Catholic saint, founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart (d. 1865)source

Deaths

  • April 7 – Martha Ray, British singer and mistress of John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich (murdered) (b. 1742)source
  • April 9 – Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish military officer (b. 1717)source
  • April 24 – Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College (b. 1711)source
  • June 7 – William Warburton, English critic, Bishop of Gloucester (b. 1698)source
  • June 10 – Jane Gomeldon, English writer, poet and adventurer (b. 1720)source
  • June 16 – Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, Colonial governor of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay (b. 1712)source
  • June 23 – Ras Mikael Sehul, Enderase of Ethiopia (b. 1692)source
  • July 21 – Caleb Fleming, English dissenting minister, polemicist (b. 1698)source
  • August 23 – Martín de Mayorga, Captain-General of Guatemala, becomes the Spanish Viceroy of New Spain after the death of Antonio María de Bucareli.source
  • August 26 – Henrika Juliana von Liewen, Swedish political salonnière (b. 1709)source
  • September 12 – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician (b. 1711)source
  • October 11 – Kazimierz Pułaski, veteran commander of Polish, Russian, and American troops (b. 1745)source
  • December 6 – Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (b. 1699)source
  • December 23 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (b. 1724)source