1777

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

1777 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events

• Death of Dolly Pentreath, claimed to be the last speaker of the Cornish language.
• 2nd edition of Encyclopædia Britannica published.
• January 3 - American Revolutionary War: American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
• January 12 - Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California.
• January 15 - Vermont declares its independence from New York becoming an independent country, a status it retained until it joined the United States as the 14th state in 1791.
• May 16 - Lachlan McIntosh and Button Gwinnett shoot each other during a duel near Savannah, Georgia. Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, dies three days later.
• June 13 - American Revolutionary War: Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina to help the Continental Congress train its army.
• June 14 - Stars and Stripes adopted by the Continental Congress as the Flag of the United States.
• August 16 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Bennington - British forces are defeated by American troops.
• September 3 - Cooch's Bridge - Skirmish of American Revolutionary war in New Castle County, Delaware where the Flag of the United States was flown in battle for the first time.
• September 11 - Battle of Brandywine - Major American Revolutionary war victory for British in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
• September 19 - American Revolutionary War: First Battle of Saratoga/Battle of Freeman's Farm/Battle of Bemis Heights.
• October 4 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Germantown- Troops under George Washington are repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.
• October 17 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Saratoga- American troops defeat the British.
• November 15 - American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation in the temporary American capital at York, Pennsylvania.
• November 17 - Articles of Confederation submitted to the states for ratification.
• November 29 - San Jose, California founded. It is the first pueblo in Spanish Alta California.
• December 24 - Kiritimati discovered by James Cook.
• The code duello is adopted at the Clonmell Summer Assizes as the form for pistol duels in Ireland. It is quickly denounced but nevertheless widely adopted throughout the English-speaking world.

Births

• January 2 - Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (d. 1857)
• February 12 - Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, French poet (d. 1843)
• March 17 - Roger Taney, Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1864)
• April 12 - Henry Clay, American statesman (d. 1852)
• April 30 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1855)
• August 14 - Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (d. 1851)
• October 16 - Lorenzo Dow, American Methodist preacher (d. 1834)
• October 18 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d. 1811)
• December 4 - Madame Récamier, French writer (d. 1849)
• December 23 - Emperor Alexander I of Russia (d. 1825)
• Benjamin d'Urban, British general and colonial administrator (d. 1849)

Deaths

• January 10 - Spranger Barry, Irish actor (b. 1719)
• January 12 - Hugh Mercer, American Revolutionary War officer (mortally wounded in battle)
• February 9 - Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (b. 1706)
• February 24 - King Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714)
• March 1 - Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian composer (b. 1715)
• May 11 - George Pigot, Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (b. 1719)
• May 19 - Button Gwinnett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1735)
• September 22 - John Bartram, American botanist (b. 1699)
• September 25 - Johann H. Lambert, mathematician, physicist and astronomer (b. 1728)
• October 21 - Samuel Foote, English dramatist and actor (b. 1720)
• November 10 - Cornstalk, Shawnee chief