February 3 – The
Privy Council of Great Britain, as advisors to King George III, votes for the King's abolition of free land grants of North American lands. Henceforward, land is to be sold at auction to the highest bidder.[3]
February 7 – The volunteer fire company of
Trenton, New Jersey, predecessor to the paid Trenton Fire Department created in 1892, is founded. In 1905, at 131 years, it claims to be the oldest continuously serving department in the U.S.[5]
March 10 – The Boston Journal makes the first reference to the "
Stars and Stripes" flag to symbolize the American colonies, reporting that "The American ensign now sparkles a door which shall shortly flame from the skies."[7]
June 22 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the
Quebec Act, setting out rules of governance for the colony of
Quebec in British North America, enlarging its territory as far south as Ohio[7] and granting freedom of religion for Roman Catholics.
August 1 – The element
oxygen is discovered for the third time (the second quantitatively, following the somewhat earlier work of
Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1771–72) by
Joseph Priestley, who publishes the fact in
1775, and so names the element (and usually gets all the credit, because his work was published first).
August 6 –
Ann Lee and the Shakers arrive in America and settle in New York.[7]
October 20 – The
First Continental Congress passes the
Continental Association, a colony-wide boycotting of British goods. Theater performances in the American colonies are also halted, on the Congress's recommendation that the member colonies "discountenance and discourage all horse racing and all kinds of gaming, cock fighting, exhibitions of shows, plays, and other expensive diversions and entertainments."[7]
November 4 – The
Maryland Jockey Club follows a recommendation of the Continental Congress and cancels its race schedule. The decision sets a precedent for other jockey clubs in the colonies, and no major races are held until the end of the American Revolution.[10]
November 20 –
Daniel Boone retires from the Virginia colonial militia in order to devote his full time to establishing a settlement in
Kentucky.[12]
November 25 –
Salawat Yulayev, the leader of the
Bashkirs rebellion against the Russian government, is captured, bringing an end to the insurrection.[13]
November 27 – Spanish Navy Captain
Domingo de Bonechea arrives at
Tahiti in the ship Aguila and tries unsuccessfully to claim it for Spain and to convert the Tahitians to the Roman Catholic faith.[15]
Parliament adjourns in Great Britain, but declines to authorize any action against the rebellious American colonies, despite an address the day before by
King George III and
Prime Minister North.[16]
Thomas Paine, a native of England, arrives in America at the age 37 and soon becomes an influential advocate for the colonies' independence.[17]
December 1 – A boycott called by the Continental Congress goes into effect, as participating merchants and supporters cease the importation or consumption of products from Great Britain, Ireland or the British West Indies.[18]
December 6 – Archduchess
Maria Theresa, the ruler of Austria, Hungary and Croatia, signs the General School Ordinance providing for education for both males and females and setting compulsory education for children aged six through 12.[19]
December 23 – King
Louis XVI of France issues a declaration that, for the first time, protects "the free commerce of meat during
Lent" to support the needs of "the poor whose infirmity requires them to eat meat."[21]
Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands, Dutch queen consort (from 1815 to 1837); second daughter and fourth child of Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (d.
1837)
^Woody Holton, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia (University of North Carolina Press Books, 2011) p32
^"Beaumarchais", in The Cornhill Magazine (August 1884) p142
^"Fire News of the Week", in Fire and Water Engineering (December 9, 1905) p337
^Clifford Kenyon Shipton, New England Life in the Eighteenth Century: Representative Biographies from Sibley's Harvard Graduates (Harvard University Press, 1995) p324
^
abcdefghiGordon Carruth, ed., The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates 3rd Edition (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1962) pp80-82
February 3 – The
Privy Council of Great Britain, as advisors to King George III, votes for the King's abolition of free land grants of North American lands. Henceforward, land is to be sold at auction to the highest bidder.[3]
February 7 – The volunteer fire company of
Trenton, New Jersey, predecessor to the paid Trenton Fire Department created in 1892, is founded. In 1905, at 131 years, it claims to be the oldest continuously serving department in the U.S.[5]
March 10 – The Boston Journal makes the first reference to the "
Stars and Stripes" flag to symbolize the American colonies, reporting that "The American ensign now sparkles a door which shall shortly flame from the skies."[7]
June 22 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the
Quebec Act, setting out rules of governance for the colony of
Quebec in British North America, enlarging its territory as far south as Ohio[7] and granting freedom of religion for Roman Catholics.
August 1 – The element
oxygen is discovered for the third time (the second quantitatively, following the somewhat earlier work of
Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1771–72) by
Joseph Priestley, who publishes the fact in
1775, and so names the element (and usually gets all the credit, because his work was published first).
August 6 –
Ann Lee and the Shakers arrive in America and settle in New York.[7]
October 20 – The
First Continental Congress passes the
Continental Association, a colony-wide boycotting of British goods. Theater performances in the American colonies are also halted, on the Congress's recommendation that the member colonies "discountenance and discourage all horse racing and all kinds of gaming, cock fighting, exhibitions of shows, plays, and other expensive diversions and entertainments."[7]
November 4 – The
Maryland Jockey Club follows a recommendation of the Continental Congress and cancels its race schedule. The decision sets a precedent for other jockey clubs in the colonies, and no major races are held until the end of the American Revolution.[10]
November 20 –
Daniel Boone retires from the Virginia colonial militia in order to devote his full time to establishing a settlement in
Kentucky.[12]
November 25 –
Salawat Yulayev, the leader of the
Bashkirs rebellion against the Russian government, is captured, bringing an end to the insurrection.[13]
November 27 – Spanish Navy Captain
Domingo de Bonechea arrives at
Tahiti in the ship Aguila and tries unsuccessfully to claim it for Spain and to convert the Tahitians to the Roman Catholic faith.[15]
Parliament adjourns in Great Britain, but declines to authorize any action against the rebellious American colonies, despite an address the day before by
King George III and
Prime Minister North.[16]
Thomas Paine, a native of England, arrives in America at the age 37 and soon becomes an influential advocate for the colonies' independence.[17]
December 1 – A boycott called by the Continental Congress goes into effect, as participating merchants and supporters cease the importation or consumption of products from Great Britain, Ireland or the British West Indies.[18]
December 6 – Archduchess
Maria Theresa, the ruler of Austria, Hungary and Croatia, signs the General School Ordinance providing for education for both males and females and setting compulsory education for children aged six through 12.[19]
December 23 – King
Louis XVI of France issues a declaration that, for the first time, protects "the free commerce of meat during
Lent" to support the needs of "the poor whose infirmity requires them to eat meat."[21]
Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands, Dutch queen consort (from 1815 to 1837); second daughter and fourth child of Frederick William II of Prussia and Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (d.
1837)
^Woody Holton, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia (University of North Carolina Press Books, 2011) p32
^"Beaumarchais", in The Cornhill Magazine (August 1884) p142
^"Fire News of the Week", in Fire and Water Engineering (December 9, 1905) p337
^Clifford Kenyon Shipton, New England Life in the Eighteenth Century: Representative Biographies from Sibley's Harvard Graduates (Harvard University Press, 1995) p324
^
abcdefghiGordon Carruth, ed., The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates 3rd Edition (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1962) pp80-82