1775The American Revolutionary War began this year, with the first military engagement being the April 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord on the day after Paul Revere's now-legendary ride. The Second Continental Congress takes various steps toward organizing an American government, appointing George Washington commander-in-chief (June 14), Benjamin Franklin postmaster general (July 26) and creating a Continental Navy (October 13) and a Marine force (November 10) as landing troops for it, but as yet the 13 colonies have not declared independence, and both the British (June 12) and American (July 15) governments make laws.
1653January 3 – By the Coonan Cross Oath, the Eastern Church in India cuts itself off from colonial Portuguese tutelage. January– The Swiss Peasant War begins after magistrates meeting at Lucerne refuse to hear from a group of peasants who have been financially hurt by the devaluation of the currency issued from Bern. February 2 – New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. February 3 – Cardinal Mazarin returns to Paris from exile.
1665January 5 – The Journal des sçavans begins publication of the first scientific journal in France. February 15 – Molière's comedy Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre, based on the Spanish legend of the womanizer Don Juan Tenorio and Tirso de Molina's Spanish play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra, premieres in Paris at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. February 21 – In India, Shivaji Bhonsale of the Maratha Empire captures the English East India Company's trading post at Sadashivgad (now located in the Indian state of Karnataka).
1656January 5 – The First War of Villmergen, a civil war in the Confederation of Switzerland pitting its Protestant and Roman Catholic cantons against each other, breaks out but is resolved by March 7. The Lutheran cantons of the larger cities of Zurich, Bern and Schaffhausen battle against seven Catholic cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz, Uri, Zug, Baden Unterwalden (now Obwalden and Nidwalden) and St. Gallen. January 17 – The Treaty of Königsberg is signed, establishing an alliance between Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.
1786January 3 – The third Treaty of Hopewell is signed, between the United States and the Choctaw. January 6 – The outward bound East Indiaman Halsewell is wrecked on the south coast of England in a storm, with only 74 of more than 240 on board surviving. February 2 – In a speech before The Asiatic Society in Calcutta, Sir William Jones notes the formal resemblances between Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, laying the foundation for comparative linguistics and Indo-European studies.
1662January 4 – Dziaddin Mukarram Shah becomes the new Sultan of Kedah, an independent kingdom on the Malay Peninsula, upon the death of his father, Sultan Muhyiddin Mansur. January 10 – At the age of 19, Louis Grimaldi becomes the new Prince of Monaco upon the death of his grandfather, Honoré II January 14 – A Portuguese garrison invades Morocco and kidnaps 35 women and girls, then steals 400 head of cattle. The Moroccans counterattack and kill the garrison's commander, 12 knights and 38 other Portuguese soldiers before the surviving Portuguese are given sanctuary inside the English fortress at Tangier.
1799January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. January 17 – Maltese patriot Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed. January 21 – The Parthenopean Republic is established in Naples by French General Jean Étienne Championnet; King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies flees.
1794January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark). January 13 – The U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United States flag of 15 stars and 15 stripes, in recognition of the recent admission of Vermont and Kentucky as the 14th and 15th states. A subsequent act restores the number of stripes to 13, but provides for additional stars upon the admission of each additional state.
1781January – 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.
1787January 9 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase of land for the seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro), for William Pitt the Younger. January 11 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus. January 19 – Mozart's Symphony No. 38 is premièred in Prague. February 2 – Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania is chosen as the new President of the Congress of the Confederation. February 4 – Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts fails.
