March 4 – France is divided into 83
départements, which cut across the former
provinces, in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on noble ownership of land.
March 6 – The legislature of New York consents to the
admission to the Union of a new state,
Vermont, formed within the boundaries of New York, contingent upon the successful conclusion of negotiations concerning disputed real-estate claims and the boundary between the two states.
May 13 –
Battle of Reval:
Gustav III of Sweden sends the battlefleet to eliminate the Russian squadron wintering at Reval (
Estonia), but is defeated: 8 Russians, 51 Swedes are killed, 250 captured, and 2 ships are sunk.
June 9 – Royal assent is given to establishment of the port of
Milford Haven in Wales.
June 20 –
Compromise of 1790: Thomas Jefferson,
James Madison, and
Alexander Hamilton come to an agreement: Madison agrees to not be "strenuous" in opposition for the assumption of state debts by the federal government; Hamilton agrees to support the capital site being above the Potomac.
June 23 – The alleged London Monster is arrested in London: he later receives 40 years for 10 assaults.
July 9 –
Russo-Swedish War –
Second Battle of Svensksund: In a massive
Baltic Sea battle of 300 ships, the
Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian galley fleet: 304 Swedes are killed, 3,500 Russians killed and 6,000 captured, 51 Russian galleys and other rowing craft are sunk and 22 are taken.
July 12 –
French Revolution: The
Civil Constitution of the Clergy is passed. This completes the destruction of the monastic orders, legislating out of existence all regular and secular chapters for either sex, abbacies and priorships.
July 14 – French Revolution: Citizens of Paris celebrate the unity of the French people and the national reconciliation in the
Fête de la Fédération.
October 7 – Commissioners appointed by the legislature of New York announce the successful conclusion of negotiations between New York and
Vermont concerning disputed real-estate claims and the consent of New York's legislature to the
admission to the Union of the state of Vermont as the 14th State, which was formed within what New York claimed as its territory under an
Order in Council that
King George III issued on July 20, 1764.
December 10 – The
Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars begin in New South Wales, Australia as a result of deterioration in relations and increasing colonization.
March – In France, the
National Constituent Assembly accepts the recommendation of its Commission of Weights and Measures that the nation should adopt the
metric system.
An ordinance is written barring the game of baseball within 80 yards of the Meeting House in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts (first known reference to the game of baseball in North America).
The first serious secondary education school open to girls in Denmark, the Døtreskolen af 1791, is founded in Copenhagen.
March 20 – A new capital of
North Carolina and county seat of the newly formed
Wake County is established after North Carolina
State Senator and surveyor William Christmas submits his design for the city. A few months later the capital is officially named
Raleigh in honor of Sir
Walter Raleigh.
April 5 – United States President
George Washingtonvetoes a bill designed to apportion representatives among
U.S. states. This is the first time the presidential veto is used in the United States.
July 20 – Scottish explorer
Alexander Mackenzie's 1792–1793 Peace River expedition to the Pacific Ocean reaches its goal at
Bella Coola, British Columbia, making him the first known person to complete a transcontinental crossing of northern North America.
July 29 –
John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there.
August 23 – The following universal
conscription decree is enacted in France: "The young men shall go to battle and the married men shall forge arms. The women shall make tents and clothes and shall serve in the hospitals; children shall tear rags into lint. The old men will be guided to the public places of the cities to kindle the courage of the young warriors and to preach the unity of the Republic and the hatred of kings."
May 8 – French Revolution: Reign of Terror – Chemist
Antoine Lavoisier is tried, convicted and executed by
guillotine in Paris on the same day along with 27 co-defendants also associated with the former ferme générale.
Britain agrees to evacuate border forts in the
Northwest Territory (roughly the area north of the
Ohio River and east of the
Mississippi) and thereby end British support for the Indians.
March 26 – Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at
Nice to take command of the
Army of Italy (37,000 men and 60 guns), which is scattered in detachments as far as
Genoa.[19]
March 30 –
Carl Gauss obtains conditions for the constructibility by ruler and compass of regular polygons, and is able to announce that the regular 17-gon is constructible by ruler and compasses.
April 27 – Case of the Lyons Mail: During the night, five highwaymen attack the mail between Paris and
Lyon, kill the postmen and steal the funds sent to the armies in Italy.
May 6 – Napoleon Bonaparte forms an advanced guard (3,500 infantry and 1,500 cavalry) under General
Claude Dallemagne. He sends this force along the south bank of the
Po River to cross it with boats at
Piacenza.[21]
August 5 – French Revolutionary Wars:
Battle of Castiglione – The French Army of Italy under Napoleon defeats the Habsburg army (25,000 men) under Marshal Wurmser who thus fails to break the
Siege of Mantua (1796–97) and is forced to retreat north up the
Adige Valley.
September 15 –
Siege of Mantua: Napoleon Bonaparte fights a pitched battle at
La Favorita on the east side of the Mincio River. The Austrians withdraw into the fortress of
Mantua, which is crowded nearly with 30,000 men. Within six weeks, 4,000 die from wounds or sickness.[25]
October –
Jane Austen begins writing her first draft of Pride and Prejudice, under the title First Impressions. The book will not be published until
1813.
French forces (9,500 men) under Masséna attack the Austrian army at
Fontaniva. After a desperate assault he is outnumbered and forced to retreat to Verona.
Battle of Caldiero: French forces are defeated by the Austrians at
Caldiero and pushed back to Verona. This marks Napoleon's first defeat, losing nearly 2,000 men and 2 guns.[26]
November 17 –
Battle of Arcole: French forces under General Napoleon defeat the Austrians at
Arcole. After a bold
maneuver he outflank the Austrian army (24,000 men) under Freiherr
József Alvinczi and cut off its line of retreat. Alvinczi is forced to take up a defensive position behind the
Brenta River.[26]
December – The British government begins work on a 40-acre (162,000 m²) site at
Norman Cross for the world's first purpose-built
prisoner-of-war camp.[27]
The Spanish government lifts the restrictions against neutrals trading with the colonies, thus acknowledging Spain's inability to supply the colonies with needed goods and markets.
January 7 – The parliament of the
Cisalpine Republic adopts the Italian green-white-red tricolour as the official flag (this is considered the birth of the
flag of Italy).
February 26 – The
Bank of England (the national bank of Great Britain) issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes (pound notes discontinued
March 11,
1988).
April 17 –
Battle of San Juan: Sir
Ralph Abercromby unsuccessfully invades
San Juan, Puerto Rico in what will be one of the largest British attacks on Spanish territories in the western hemisphere, and one of the worst defeats of the British Royal Navy for years to come.
April 17 –
Veronese Easter: Citizens of
Verona, Italy, began an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.
November – The students at
Rugby Schoolrebel against the headmaster, Henry Ingles, after he decrees that the damage to a tradesman's windows should be paid for by the students. [31]
April 7 – The
Mississippi Territory is organized by the United States from territory ceded by
Georgia and
South Carolina; later it is twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain (which acquired territory in trade with Great Britain).
May 9 –
Napoleon sets off for
Toulon, and sails aboard Vice-Admiral
Brueys's flagship
L'Orient, his
squadron part of a larger fleet of over 300 vessels carrying almost 37,000 troops.[33]
May 23 – Irish republicans and
nationalists, known as the
Society of United Irishmen, launch a
rebellion against British rule in expectation of greater support from France which only sent 1100 men. The United Irishmen are unique amongst Irish nationalist movements in that they unify Catholics and Protestants around republican ideals. The rebellion rages sporadically but is defeated by the British by October.
May 21 –
Siege of Acre ends after two months:
Napoleon's attempt to widen his Middle Eastern campaign into Syria is frustrated by Ottoman forces, and he withdraws to Egypt.
12-year-old Conrad John Reed finds what he describes as a "heavy yellow rock" along Little Meadow Creek in
Cabarrus County, North Carolina and makes it a doorstop in his home. Conrad's father John Reed learns that the rock is actually gold in
1802, initiating the first gold rush in the United States.
The assassination of the 14th
Tu'i Kanokupolu, Tukuʻaho, plunges
Tonga into half a century of civil war.
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