1776

This article covers the year 1776 AD. For further meanings see 1776 (disambiguation) .

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1776
The delegates of the Thirteen Colonies sign at the Second Continental Congress, among others ...
... Thomas Jefferson drafted the United States Declaration of Independence .	Adam Smith publishes An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations .
1776 in other calendars
Armenian calendar	1224/25 (turn of the year July)
Ethiopian calendar	1768/69 (turn of the year 10/11 September)
Bengali solar calendar	1181/82 (beginning of April 14th or 15th)
Buddhist calendar	2319/20 (southern Buddhism); 2318/19 (alternative calculation according to Buddha's Parinirvana )
Chinese calendar	74th (75th) cycle Year of the fire monkey丙申 ( at the beginning of the year wood sheep 乙未)
Chula Sakarat (Siam, Myanmar) / Dai calendar (Vietnam)	1138/39 (turn of the year April)
Dangun era (Korea)	4109/10 (October 2/3)
Iranian calendar	1154/55 (around March 21)
Islamic calendar	1189/90 (February 20-21)
Jewish calendar	5536/37 (September 13-14)
Coptic Calendar	1492/93 (September 10-11)
Malayalam calendar	951/952
Seleucid era	Babylon: 2086/87 (turn of the year April) Syria: 2087/88 (turn of the year October)
Vikram Sambat (Nepalese Calendar)	1832/33 (turn of the year April)

Events

Politics and world events

American War of Independence

Title page of Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense

• January 10th: During the American Revolutionary War , Thomas Paine publishes the pamphlet Common Sense , which will have a decisive influence on Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence . Among other things, the name United States of America is proposed for the first time .
• January 15: German participation in the American War of Independence / soldier trade under Landgrave Friedrich II of Hesse-Kassel : In the subsidy agreements, Landgrave Friedrich II of Hesse-Kassel leaves his own soldiers to Great Britain for deployment in North America.
• February 26: The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge is one of the first fighting in the American Revolutionary War in which the Americans prevent a regiment of Scottish loyalists from crossing the bridge.

Siege of Boston

• March 17th: The siege of Boston ends. British forces begin evacuating Boston by sea. During the American Revolutionary War , units under the orders of George Washington and Henry Knox managed to position their artillery in favorable positions that could strike the city. The opposing commander William Howe therefore orders an evacuation.
• June 8th: At the Battle of Trois-Rivières , the British thwart a counterattack by the American army.
• June 12: The Virginia Declaration of Rights formulated by George Mason is unanimously adopted by the Williamsburg Convention of Virginia .
• July 4th: The United States of America is created with the adoption of the American Declaration of Independence by the British colonies in America . A certificate of the resolution of the Continental Congress will be drawn up at the end of July and signed by most of the delegates on August 2nd.
• July 8: The first public reading of the United States' Declaration of Independence also rings the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia .

Battle of Long Island

• August 27th: The British win against the colonists' troops in the Battle of Long Island and then occupy New York City .

British troops land in Kip's Bay

• September 15: British-Hessian troops successfully land at Kips Bay on the east coast of Manhattan . The Americans are withdrawing to Harlem Heights .
• September 16: The Americans win the Battle of Harlem Heights .
• September 22nd: Nathan Hale is hanged by the British for espionage. He subsequently becomes one of the national heroes of the United States.

Map of the Battle of Valcour

• October 11th: The American invasion of Canada ends with the crushing defeat at the Battle of Valcour .
• October 18: The undecided battle of Pell's Point allows American Commander-in-Chief George Washington to move the bulk of his army to White Plains , preventing it from being trapped in Manhattan.
• October 28: The Battle of White Plains near New York City is won by the British and a Hessian regiment over the American colonists under George Washington . Under the command of William Howe , the British missed their chance of completely decimating the settlers' troops .
• November 16: The Battle of Fort Washington is the most momentous defeat of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War . The British army and their Hessian allies force the American occupation of the fort to give up and thus gain control of the strategically important island of Manhattan .

Washington Crossing the Delaware , painting by Emanuel Leutze , 1851

The surrender of the Hessian troops

• December 25th: George Washington and his men cross the Delaware River and the next day in the Battle of Trenton , New Jersey, defeat Hessian regiments in British service and crush them. The extraordinary success of the relatively small engagement restores the fighting spirit and morale of the American side.
• After their surprising victory, the Continental Army retreats to their camp in Pennsylvania. After evaluating the strategic situation, Washington and his staff make the decision to face the expected massive British counter-attack again in Trenton and the Continental Army moves to New Jersey again on December 30th. General Washington places his troops defensively on the southern side of Assunpink Creek in the south of the city and immediately starts digging work.
• December 31st: The Continental Army threatens to dissolve itself, as most soldiers' service time ends on this day. With a patriotic address and a $ 10 per capita bonus, Washington finally succeeds in ensuring that most soldiers remain in the army for an additional month.

Other events around the world

• January 2: In Austria is by decree of the Archduchess Maria Theresa , the torture abolished.

James Cook, 1776, National Maritime Museum

• July 12th: James Cook takes off from Plymouth with the resolution for his third circumnavigation . On board are the Polynesian Omai , who is to be brought back to his homeland, the painter John Webber and the future explorers George Vancouver and Heinrich Zimmermann . The Sailing Master of the Resolution is William Bligh . Cook first travels via Tenerife to Cape Town, where the second ship, the HMS Discovery under Captain Charles Clerke , joins the expedition in November . Cook carried out the first survey work on the Kerguelen for about a week at the end of December .
• August 1st: The new Spanish viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata is separated from the viceroyalty of Peru . The governor of Buenos Aires, Pedro de Cevallos , is installed as the first viceroy on October 15, 1777.
• October 9th: First European settlement in San Francisco , Mission San Francisco de Asís
• The Quakers abolish slavery among their members.

economy

• November 22nd: Persistent financial problems lead to the dissolution of the Danish West India Company .
• DECEMBER 2: Patrick Ferguson receives a patent on the Ferguson rifle , first used by the military Hinterlader - gun .
• In the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel , the Sterntaler, later referred to as the “ blood dollar ”, was minted for the first time .

science and technology

Edward Gibbon

• February 17: Volume 1 of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by the historian Edward Gibbon is published in London . His six-volume work on the decline and fall of the Roman Empire shaped ideas about life in Roman times for many years.
• March 9: Adam Smith's main work, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, appears in London.
• The first steam engine based on the principle improved by James Watt is installed in John Wilkinson's factory .

Culture

→ Main articles : Year of Literature 1776  and Year of Music 1776

• February: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe writes the first version of Wandrer's Nachtlied and adds it to a letter to Charlotte von Stein .
• March 17: The Bolshoi Theater is founded in Moscow . Prince Pyotr Urussow receives from Empress Catherine II the sole right to perform shows and singing plays. The first actors are serfs of the prince. The performances will initially take place in a private house.
• April 7th: The Sparrow Mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will probably have its first performance in Salzburg Cathedral on this date, Easter Sunday . It is a Missa brevis et solemnis .
• May 7th: The world premiere of the Singspiel The Barber of Seville by Friedrich Ludwig Benda based on the play Le Barbier de Séville by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais takes place. The libretto is by Gustav Friedrich Großmann .
• June 12: The drame lyrique Les mariages samnites by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry is premiered at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris. The libretto is by Barnabé Farmian Durosoy and is based on Jean-François Marmontel's Le château du prince de Conti . Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre sings among others .
• July 4th: Albert Kasimir von Sachsen-Teschen , son-in-law of Empress Maria Theresa , founds the Albertina art collection in Vienna .
• October 2nd: Johann André also premiered an opera called The Barber of Seville in Berlin . This opera is also based on the play by Beaumarchais and the libretto by Gustav Friedrich Großmann.

society

• April: The bigamy trial against Elizabeth Chudleigh negotiates the dominant political scandal in Great Britain
• May 1st: The Order of Illuminati is founded by Adam Weishaupt together with two students at the University of Ingolstadt as a secret society .
• October 7th: The Russian Crown Prince Paul and Sophie Dorothee von Württemberg, who has converted to the Orthodox faith, get married in Saint Petersburg.

Disasters

• 5th / 6th September: Martinique and Guadeloupe are hit hard by a tropical cyclone . About 6,000 people die in this hurricane .

The Great Fire of New York

• September 21: Around 500 buildings burned down in the Great Fire in New York City .

Born

First quarter

• 0January 3: Thomas Morris , American politician († 1844)
• 0January 6: Ferdinand von Schill , Prussian officer, Freikorps leader († 1809)
• January 15: William Frederick, 2nd Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh , British nobleman, member of the royal family († 1834)
• January 16: Johann Heinrich Moritz von Poppe , German mathematician and physicist († 1854)
• January 17: Carl Ludwig August von Benning , German officer († 1829)
• January 24th: Wilhelmine Halberstadt , German educator and writer († 1841)

ETA Hoffmann

• January 24th: ETA Hoffmann , German writer, lawyer, composer, conductor, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist († 1822)
• January 25: Joseph Görres , German high school and university teacher and journalist († 1848)
• 0February 3: Karl Wilhelm Walch , German legal scholar († 1853)
• 0February 4: Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus , German doctor and natural scientist († 1837)
• February 11: Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider , German Protestant theologian († 1848)
• February 11: Ioannis Kapodistrias , Greek politician († 1831)
• February 13: Alexandre Louis Robert de Girardin , French general († 1855)
• February 14: Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck , German botanist and natural philosopher († 1858)
• February 23: Johann David Gruschwitz , German textile industrialist († 1848)
• February 23: John Walter , British publisher, owner and editor of "The Times" († 1847)
• February 28: Charles-Henri Allamand , Swiss physician († 1840)
• February 28: Jean-Pierre Boyer , President of Haiti from 1818 to 1843 († 1850)
• 0March 1: John Collins , American politician († 1822)
• March 10: Luise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz , Prussian Queen († 1810)
• March 12: Hester Stanhope , American adventurer († 1839)
• March 17: Joel Abbot , American politician († 1826)
• March 23: Vicente Salias , Venezuelan revolutionary, journalist and writer († 1814)
• March 27: Charles François Brisseau de Mirbel , French botanist († 1854)

Second quarter

Sophie Germain (1776-1831)

• 0April 1: Sophie Germain , French mathematician († 1831)
• April 13: Wilhelm von Schütz , German poet († 1847)
• April 19: Vasily Golownin , Russian naval officer and scientist († 1831)
• April 26: Joan Melchior Kemper , Dutch politician and legal scholar († 1824)
• April 27: Hyacinthe Jadin , French composer and professor († 1800)
• 0May 4: Johann Friedrich Herbart , German philosopher, psychologist and educator († 1841)
• 0May 7: Dániel Berzsenyi , Hungarian poet († 1836)
• May 10: George Thomas Smart , English conductor, organist, violinist and composer († 1867)
• May 17: Amos Eaton , American scientist († 1842)
• May 21: Pierre Jean Baptiste Arnollet , French engineer († 1857)
• May 29: Peter Erasmus Müller , Danish bishop, historian and linguist († 1834)
• 0June 1: George Schetky , American composer, cellist and music publisher († 1831)
• 0June 8: Thomas Rickman , British architect († 1841)
• June 11: John Constable , British landscape painter († 1837)
• June 19: Carlo Amati , Italian architect († 1852)

Third quarter

• 0July 1: Sophie Gay , French writer († 1852)
• 0July 4: Ethan Allen Brown , American politician († 1852)
• July 13: Amalie Christiane , Princess of Baden († 1823)
• July 16: Ferdinand Freiherr von Andrian-Werburg , Bavarian District President († 1851)
• July 16: Johann Georg von Soldner , German physicist, mathematician and astronomer († 1833)
• July 30th: Maximilian Speck von Sternburg , German businessman, entrepreneur and art collector († 1856)
• July 31: Ernst Anton Clarus , German Protestant clergyman and politician († 1848)
• 0August 2: Friedrich Stromeyer , German chemist († 1835)
• 0August 7th: Amalie , Princess of Anhalt-Bernburg († 1841)

Amedeo Avogadro

• 0August 9: Amedeo Avogadro , Italian physicist and chemist († 1856)
• August 14: Christian Friedrich Tieck , German sculptor († 1851)
• August 15: Gottlieb Schick , German classicist painter († 1812)
• August 15: Ignaz von Seyfried , Austrian conductor and composer († 1841)
• August 18: August von Herder , German geologist and mineralogist († 1838)
• August 27: Barthold Georg Niebuhr , German historian († 1831)
• August 27: Georg Andreas Reimer , German publisher († 1842)
• August 29: François-Marie Daudin , French zoologist († 1803)
• September 15: Calvin Willey , American politician († 1858)
• September 17: Langdon Cheves , American politician († 1857)

Fourth Quarter

• October 13: Peter Barlow , British writer and physicist († 1862)
• October 20: David Sprüngli , Swiss confectioner and chocolatier († 1862)
• October 21: George Izard , American politician († 1828)
• October 28: Joachim Haspinger , Tyrolean pastor and patriot († 1858)
• October 31: Francis Locke , American politician († 1823)
• 0November 7th: James Abercromby, 1st Baron Dunfermline , British lawyer and politician († 1858)
• November 15: Pehr Henrik Ling , Swedish author and poet († 1839)
• November 17: Friedrich Christoph Schlosser , German historian († 1861)
• November 28: Auguste Friederike , Princess of Hessen-Homburg and Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin († 1871)
• November 28: Andreas Buchner , German historian and theologian († 1854)
• 0December 1: Elijah H. Mills , American politician († 1829)
• 0December 6: Paul Struck , German composer († 1820)
• 0December 8: William Logan , American politician († 1822)

Johann Wilhelm Ritter

• December 16: Johann Wilhelm Ritter , German physicist and philosopher († 1810)
• December 17: Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Christian Karl von Tabor , Belgian general († 1851)
• December 19: Edward Somerset , British cavalry general († 1842)
• December 23: Dominik Epp , Swiss landowner and politician († 1848)
• December 26: Christian Friedrich Brendel , German mining engineer († 1861)

Exact date of birth unknown

• Philipp Karl Graf von Arberg , German-Austrian nobleman († 1814)
• Al-Hadjdj Muhammad al-Amîn al-Kânemî , Arab scholar († 1837)
• Mirza Abolhasan Khan Ilchi , Persian writer, ambassador and foreign minister († 1846)
• Shikitei Samba , Japanese writer († 1822)

Died

First half of the year

• 0January 3: Paolo Posi , Italian architect (* 1708)
• 0January 5: Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller , German zoologist (* 1725)
• January 23: Franz Sebald Unterberger , South Tyrolean painter (* 1706)
• January 26: Johann Caspar Högl , Austrian master stonemason and sculptor (* 1701)
• January 28: Julián Manuel de Arriaga y Rivera , Spanish nobleman, officer and minister (* 1700)

• February 12: Georg Johann Ludwig Vogel , German orientalist and Protestant theologian (* 1742)
• February 13: Jacob van der Aa , Dutch painter (* 1743)
• February 20: Philipp Ernst Kern , General Superintendent in Hildburghausen (* 1716)

• 0March 4: Johann Georg Ziesenis the Younger , German portrait painter (* 1716)
• 0March 5: Yeongjo , King of the Korean Kingdom of Joseon (* 1694)
• March 24th: Johann Georg Achenbach , German politician (* 1706)
• March 24th: John Harrison , English watchmaker, inventor of the escapement and temperature compensation (* 1693)

• April 18: Johann Joseph von Khevenhüller-Metsch , diplomat of the Habsburg Monarchy (* 1706)
• April 26th: Wilhelmina Luisa von Hessen-Darmstadt , first wife of Tsar Paul I (* 1755)

• 0May 7th: Maria Anna Josepha of Bavaria , wife of the Margrave of Baden (* 1734)
• May 25: Johann Georg von Langen , German master forestry and chief hunter (* 1699)
• May 30th: Ike no Taiga , Japanese painter (* 1723)

• 0June 1: Erdmann Rudolf Fischer , German Lutheran theologian (* 1687)
• 0June 2: John Thomas , American physician and major general (* 1724)
• June 10: Hsinbyushin , ruler of the Kingdom of Ava in today's Myanmar from the Konbaung dynasty (* 1736)
• June 13: William Battie , English doctor (* 1703)
• June 20: Benjamin Huntsman , English watchmaker and inventor (* 1704)

Second half of the year

• July 16: Franziska Christine von Pfalz-Sulzbach , abbess of the Essen monastery (* 1696)
• July 21: Giuseppe Maria Asclepi , Italian astronomer and physicist (* 1706)
• July 26: Benedicta Margareta von Löwendal , German entrepreneur (* 1683)

• 0August 2: Louis François I de Bourbon , Prince of Conti (* 1717)
• 0August 2: Jordan Simon , German Catholic theologian (* 1719)
• 0August 2: Matthew Maty , Dutch physician, biographer and librarian (* 1718)

David Hume, 1766

• August 25: David Hume , Scottish philosopher and historian (* 1711)

• 0September 1: Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty , German poet (* 1748)
• 0September 6th: Jan Bouman , Dutch builder in Prussia (* 1706)
• September 15: Joachim Erdmann Schmidt , German legal scholar and historian (* 1710)
• September 19: Johann Albrecht von Bülow , Prussian infantry general (* 1708)

The execution of Nathan Hales

• September 22: Nathan Hale , American officer, teacher and national hero (* 1755)

• 0October 3: George Desmarées , Swedish painter (* 1697)
• October 28: Sophie von Sachsen-Hildburghausen , Duchess of Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld (* 1760)

• November 16: James Ferguson , Scottish astronomer and mechanic (* 1710)
• November 29th: Giovanna Maria Farussi , Italian theater actress, mother of the Casanova brothers (* 1708)

• December 12th: Anton Maria Stupan von Ehrenstein , Austrian privy councilor (* unknown)
• December 13: Karl Franz Henisch , German actor and librettist (* 1745)
• December 14: Johann Jakob Breitinger , Swiss philologist and author (* 1701)
• December 26th: Johann Rall , Hessian colonel (* 1725)

Exact date of death unknown

• Lemuel Abbott , English cleric and poet (* around 1730)
• Benedikt von Ahlefeldt , commandant of Heligoland and district administrator in Uetersen (* 1717)
• Giorgio Antoniotti , Italian composer and cellist (* around 1692)
• Sanctus Seraphin , Italian violin maker (* 1699)
• Nikolai Sergejewitsch Titow , Russian composer (* before 1750)

Web links

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