The 1780s

1781 245 years ago

American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader Amer…

American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique

1781 245 years ago

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (died 1832)

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause was a German philosopher whose doctrines became known as Krausism. Krausism, when considered in its totality as a complete, stand-alone philosophica…

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher and author (died 1832)

1781 245 years ago

Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (died 1840)

Baron Siméon Denis Poisson was a French mathematician and physicist who worked on statistics, complex analysis, partial differential equations, the calculus of variations, analytic…

Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (died 1840)

1781 245 years ago

Stamford Raffles, English politician, founded Singapore (died 1826)

Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was a British colonial official who served as the governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen b…

Stamford Raffles, English politician, founded Singapore (died 1826)

1781 245 years ago

Mauro Giuliani, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1828)

Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. One of his best known w…

Mauro Giuliani, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1828)

1781 245 years ago

Maria Aletta Hulshoff, Dutch feminist and pamphleteer (died 1846)

Maria Aletta Hulshoff was a Dutch Patriot, feminist and pamphleteer.

Maria Aletta Hulshoff, Dutch feminist and pamphleteer (died 1846)

1781 245 years ago

James Abercrombie, Scottish general and politician (born 1706)

General James Abercrombie was a British Army officer and Whig politician who represented Banffshire in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1734 to 1754. He served as Command…

James Abercrombie, Scottish general and politician (born 1706)

1781 245 years ago

Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (born 1723)

Cornelius Harnett was an American Founding Father, politician, merchant, plantation owner, and slaveholder from Wilmington, North Carolina. He was a leading American Revolutionary …

Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (born 1723)

1781 245 years ago

Richard Jago, English priest and poet (born 1715)

Richard Jago was an English clergyman poet and minor landscape gardener from Warwickshire. Although his writing was not highly regarded by contemporaries, some of it was sufficient…

Richard Jago, English priest and poet (born 1715)

1781 245 years ago

Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian indigenous rebel leader (born 1742)

Túpac Amaru II was an Indigenous cacique who led a large Andean rebellion against the Spanish in Peru as self-proclaimed Sapa Inca of the new Inca Empire. He was later elevated to …

Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian indigenous rebel leader (born 1742)

1781 245 years ago

Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist and academic (born 1716)

Giovanni Battista Beccaria was an Italian physicist. A fellow of the Royal Society, he published several papers on electrical subjects in the Phil. Trans. Beccaria was one of Benja…

Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist and academic (born 1716)

1781 245 years ago

John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-American pastor and politician (born 1724)

Reverend John Joachim Zubly, born Hans Joachim Züblin, was a Swiss-born American pastor, planter, and statesman during the American Revolution. Although a delegate for Georgia to t…

John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-American pastor and politician (born 1724)

1781 245 years ago

Johann Kies, German astronomer and mathematician (born 1713)

Johann Kies was a German astronomer and mathematician. Born in Tübingen, Kies worked in Berlin in 1751 alongside Jérôme Lalande in order to make observations on the lunar parallax …

Johann Kies, German astronomer and mathematician (born 1713)

1781 245 years ago

American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett (pictured) rode 40 miles (64 km) to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legis

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence or simply the American Revolution, was the armed conflict that comprised the fin…

American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett (pictured) rode 40 miles (64 km) to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legis

1781 245 years ago

American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett rode 40 miles (64 km) to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of B

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence or simply the American Revolution, was the armed conflict that comprised the fin…

American Revolutionary War: Jack Jouett rode 40 miles (64 km) to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature of B

1780

Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster

Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg was a German politician and the most important statesman in the Principality of Münster in the second half of the 18th century. Fürstenberg …

Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg founds the University of Münster

1780

American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by Britis

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader Amer…

American Revolutionary War: In the largest defeat of the Continental Army, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by Britis

1780

The Cumberland Compact is signed by leaders of the settlers in the Cumberland River area of what would become the U

The Cumberland Compact was signed at a Longhunter and native American trading post and camp near the French Lick aka the "Big Salt Springs" on the Cumberland River on May 13, 1780,…

The Cumberland Compact is signed by leaders of the settlers in the Cumberland River area of what would become the U

1780

New England's Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canad

New England's Dark Day occurred on May 19, 1780, when an unusual darkening of the daytime sky was observed over the New England states and parts of eastern Canada. The primary caus…

New England's Dark Day, an unusual darkening of the day sky, was observed over the New England states and parts of Canad

1780

American Revolutionary War: At the Waxhaws Massacre, the British continue attacking after the Continentals lay down thei

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence or simply the American Revolution, was the armed conflict that comprised the fin…

American Revolutionary War: At the Waxhaws Massacre, the British continue attacking after the Continentals lay down thei

1780

Charles Nodier, French librarian and author (died 1844)

Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier was a French author and librarian who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the conte fantastique, gothic literature, and vampire tales. H…

Charles Nodier, French librarian and author (died 1844)

1780

Henri Braconnot, French chemist and pharmacist (died 1855)

Henri Braconnot was a French chemist and pharmacist.

Henri Braconnot, French chemist and pharmacist (died 1855)

1780

Henry Salt, English historian and diplomat, British Consul-General in Egypt (died 1827)

Henry Salt was an English artist, traveller, collector of antiquities, diplomat, and Egyptologist.

Henry Salt, English historian and diplomat, British Consul-General in Egypt (died 1827)

1780

François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician (died 1838)

François Carlo Antommarchi was Napoleon's medical doctor from 1819 to his death in 1821.

François Carlo Antommarchi, French physician (died 1838)