1781

January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament, aged 21. January 1 – Industrial Revolution: The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn in England. January 2 – Virginia passes a law ceding its western land claims, paving the way for Maryland to ratify the Articles of Confederation. January 5 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces, led by Benedict Arnold. January 6 – Battle of Jersey: British troops prevent the French from occupying Jersey in the Channel Islands. January 17 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cowpens: The American Continental Army, under Daniel Morgan, decisively defeats British forces in South Carolina. February 2 – The Articles of Confederation are ratified by Maryland, the 13th and final state to do so. February 3 – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War – Capture of Sint Eustatius: British forces take the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius, with only a few shots fired. On November 26 it is retaken by Dutch-allied French forces. March – Riots break out in Socorro, Santander, and spread to other towns. March 1 – The United States Continental Congress implements the Articles of Confederation, forming its Perpetual Union as the United States in Congress Assembled. March 13 – Sir William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus. Originally he calls it Georgium Sidus (George's Star), in honour of King George III of Great Britain. March 15 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Guilford Court House: American General Nathanael Greene loses to the British. April 4 – American Revolutionary War: The Spanish capture the sloop-of-war off Málaga, Spain. April 6 – The rebellion by Túpac Amaru II, against the Spanish colonial government of Peru, is ended as Tupac, his wife and two of his sons are captured at Checacupe. April 10 – Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson, age 14, is slashed by a British officer's sword at his home near Waxhaw, North Carolina, after refusing to clean the officer's boots, an event that leaves physical and psychological scars.