1778

Centuries:	17th century · 18th century · 19th century
Decades:	1740s 1750s 1760s 1770s 1780s 1790s 1800s
Years:	1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781

1778 in topic:
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Works

1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).

Events

January 18 - Third Pacific expedition of Capt. James Cook, with ships HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, first view O'ahu then Kaua'i in the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands."

February 5 - South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation.
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 recognition of the new republic.
February 23 - American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and begins to train the Continental Army.

June 28 - American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Monmouth takes place in Monmouth, New Jersey.

July 3 - American Revolutionary War: the Wyoming Massacre takes place near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., ending in a terrible defeat of the local colonists.
July 10 - American Revolutionary War: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
July 27 - American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant - British and French fleets fight to a standoff.

August 26 - Triglav, at 2,864 metres above sea level the highest peak of Slovenia, was ascended for the first time by four brave men: Luka Korošec, Matevž Kos, Štefan Rožič and Lovrenc Willomitzer on Sigismund Zois's initiative.

September - The Massachusetts Banishment Act, providing punishment for Loyalists, is passed.
September 17 - Treaty of Fort Pitt signed, the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware).
September 19 - The Continental Congress passes the first budget of the United States.

November 26 - In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover Maui.

France introduced the first state-controlled brothel.
The first settlement was made in the area of what is now Louisville, Kentucky by 13 families under Col. George Rogers Clark.
Phillips Academy, the most prestigious secondary boarding school in the United States, was founded by Samuel Phillips Jr.
First Ironbridge.
The term thoroughbred was first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick.

January 3 - Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
February 22 - Rembrandt Peale, American artist (d. 1860)
March 19 - Edward Pakenham, British general (d. 1815)
April 10 - William Hazlitt, English essayist (d. 1830)
May 18 - Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, British politician (d. 1854)
August 11 - Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, German patriot (d. 1852)
September 8 - Clemens Brentano, German poet (d. 1842)
September 19 - Henry Peter Brougham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1868)
November 1 - Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (d. 1837)
November 25 - Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, British Christian writer (d. 1856)
December 17 - Sir Humphry Davy, English chemist (d. 1829)
December 19 - Marie Thérèse Charlotte (d. 1851)
December 28 - Franciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki, Polish politician (d. 1846)

January 10 - Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist (b. 1707)
February 18 - Joseph Marie Terray, French statesman (b. 1715)
February 20 - Laura Bassi, Italian scholar (b. 1711)
March 5 - Thomas Augustine Arne, English compoer (b. 1710)
March 7 - Charles De Geer, Swedish industrialist and entomologist (b. 1720)
March 13 - Charles le Beau, French historian (b. 1701)
April 22 - James Hargreaves, English weaver, carpenter, and inventor (b. 1720)
May 11 - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1708)
May 16 - Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat and politician (b. 1718)
May 30 - Voltaire, French philosopher (b. 1694)
June 12 - Philip Livingston, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1716)
June 16 - Konrad Ekhof, German actor (b. 1720)
June 24 - Pieter Burmann the Younger, Dutch philologist (b. 1714)
July 2 - Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher (b. 1712)
July 2 - Bathsheba Ruggles, American murderer (b. 1746?)
August 5 - Charles Clémencet, French historian (b. 1703)
August 12 - Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, British general and politician (b. 1714)
November 9 - Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Italian artist (b. 1720)
November 20 - Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (b. 1726)

Category: 1778