Explore 200 historical events from 1780–1789.
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the…
New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mount…
Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution
Augustin-Jean Fresnel was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, fully supplanting Newto…
Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French physicist and engineer (died 1827)
Johann Michael Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Friedrich Rückert, German poet and translator (died 1866)
Charles Anderson Wickliffe was an American politician who was the 11th U.S. postmaster general from 1841 to 1845. He served as the 14th governor of Kentucky from 1839 to 1840 and a…
Charles A
Thomas Blanchard was an American inventor who lived much of his life in Springfield, Massachusetts, where in 1819, he pioneered the assembly line style of mass production in Americ…
Thomas Blanchard, American inventor (died 1864)
Jean-Victor Poncelet was a French engineer and mathematician who served most notably as the Commanding General of the École Polytechnique. He is considered a reviver of projective …
Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician and engineer (died 1867)
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon was a French naturalist, mathematician, and cosmologist. He held the position of intendant (director) at the Jardin du Roi, now called the Ja…
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French mathematician, cosmologist, and author (born 1707)
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli was an Italian medical doctor and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Austrian Empire"…
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician and botanist (born 1723)
Adam Gib was a Scottish religious leader, head of the Antiburgher section of the Scottish Secession Church. He reportedly wrote his first covenant with God in the blood of his own …
Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (born 1714)
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the…
New Hampshire ratified the U
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a Classical composer and musician. He completed more than 800 works in his life—including outstanding examples of most of the genres of his time: sympho…
Mozart completed his Symphony No. 40, one of his two extant symphonies in a minor key.
Oliver Ellsworth was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, jurist, politician, and diplomat. Ellsworth was a framer of the United States Constitution, United States sen…
Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the 'United States'
Erastus "Deaf" Smith, who earned his nickname due to hearing loss in childhood, was an American frontiersman noted for his part in the Texas Revolution and the Army of the Republic…
Deaf Smith, American soldier (died 1837)
Johann Ludwig Uhland was a German poet, philologist, literary historian, lawyer and politician.
Ludwig Uhland, German poet, philologist, and historian (died 1862)
Jacques Viger was an antiquarian, archaeologist, and the first mayor of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Jacques Viger, Canadian archaeologist and politician, 1st mayor of Montreal (died 1858)
The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and the first…
After a delay of 11 days, the United States Constitutional Convention formally convenes in Philadelphia after a quorum o
The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from …
The Congress of the Confederation enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest…
Louis-Constant Prévost was a French geologist.
Constant Prévost, French geologist and academic (died 1856)
Lavinia Stoddard was an American poet and school founder from Connecticut. She spent her early years in New Jersey, where she received her education. After marrying physician Willi…
Lavinia Stoddard, American poet, school founder (died 1820)
Sir William Watson, FRS was a British physician and scientist who was born and died in London. His early work was in botany, and he helped to introduce the work of Carl Linnaeus in…
William Watson, English physician, physicist, and botanist (born 1715)
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, violinist, and music theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin te…
Leopold Mozart, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1719)
Carl Friedrich Abel was a German composer of the early Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument. He …
Carl Friedrich Abel, German viol player and composer (born 1723)
Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise was a French Royal Army officer and courtier who served during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. He was the last male of his branch of the H…
Charles de Rohan, French marshal (born 1715)