1778 (MDCCLXXVIII ) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar , the 1778th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 778th year of the 2nd millennium , the 78th year of the 18th century , and the 9th year of the 1770s decade. As of the start of 1778, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
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1778 .
June 28 : Battle of Monmouth
April– June
April 7 – Former British Prime Minister William Pitt delivers his last speech to Parliament, and speaks to the House of Lords "passionately but incoherently against the granting of independence" to the American colonies, but collapses during the debate, and dies five weeks later.[2]
April 12 – King George III appoints the five-member Carlisle Peace Commission to present peace terms to negotiate an end to the rebellion of Britain's 13 American colonies.[3]
April 30 – The 1,800 feet (550 m) long Hudson River Chain , designed to prevent British ships from moving up the river toward West Point, New York is stretched across the river and anchored by an engineering team under the direction of Captain Thomas Machin.[4]
May 12 – Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Greiz is elevated to Prince of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor . This year sees the first appearance of the modern-day national colors of Germany on a flag that closely resembles the modern flag of Germany , to occur anywhere within modern-day Germany.
May 30 – Benedict Arnold signs the U.S. Oath of Allegiance at Valley Forge .[5]
June 24 – A total solar eclipse takes place across parts of North America, from Texas to Virginia .
June 28 – American Revolutionary War : Battle of Monmouth – George Washington 's Continental Army battles British general Sir Henry Clinton 's army to a draw, near Monmouth County, New Jersey .
June – The Anglo-French War (1778–83) begins.
July– September
July 3 – American Revolutionary War : The Battle of Wyoming takes place near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania , ending in a terrible defeat for the local colonists.[6]
July 4 – American Revolutionary War : George Rogers Clark takes Kaskaskia .
July 10 – Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain .
July 26 – In the Russian Empire, the forced emigration of Christians from the Crimea to Pryazovia begins.[7]
July 27 – American Revolutionary War : First Battle of Ushant – British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
August 3 – The La Scala Opera House opens in Milan , with the première of Antonio Salieri 's Europa riconosciuta .
August 26 – Triglav , at 2,864 metres (9,396 ft) above sea level the highest peak of Slovenia , is ascended for the first time by four men: Luka Korošec, Matevž Kos, Štefan Rožič, and Lovrenc Willomitzer, on Sigmund Zois ' initiative.
August 29 – American Revolutionary War : The tactically inconclusive Battle of Rhode Island takes place, after which the Continental Army abandons its position on Aquidneck Island .
September – The Massachusetts Banishment Act , providing punishment for Loyalists , is passed.
September 7 – American Revolutionary War : Invasion of Dominica – The French capture the British fort there, before the latter is aware that France has entered the war in the Franco-American alliance .
September 17 – The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed, the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware).
September 19 – The Continental Congress passes the first budget of the United States .
October– December
October 12 – The Continental Congress advises the 13 member states to suppress "theatrical entertainments, horse-racing, gaming, and such other diversions as are productive of idleness, dissipation, and general depravity of principles and manners."[1]
November 26 : Captain Cook lands on Maui .
January–April
Thomas Lincoln
January 6 – Thomas Lincoln , Farmer, Carpenter (d. 1851 )
January 7 – Anthony Todd Thomson , British dermatologist (d. 1849 )
January 9 – Thomas Brown , Scottish metaphysician (d. 1820 )
January 10 – Teodoro Sánchez de Bustamante , Argentine politician (d. 1851 )
January 11 – Agathon Jean François Fain , French historian (d. 1837 )
January 12 – William Herbert , British politician (d. 1847 )
January 13 – Sir Isaac Goldsmid, 1st Baronet , British financier and one of the leading figures in the Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom (d. 1859 )
January 15 – Joseph Adamy , Nassauian politician (d. 1849 )
January 16
January 17
Donald Macdonell , Canadian politician (d. 1861 )
George Black , Canadian politician, businessman and important shipbuilder in Quebec, during the earlier part of the 19th century (d. 1854 )
January 18 – George Bellas Greenough , British geologist (d. 1855 )
January 20 – Louis Antoine François Baillon , French naturalist, collector (d. 1855 )
January 21 – Jeremiah O'Brien , American politician (d. 1858 )
January 23 – Alire Raffeneau Delile , French botanist (d. 1850 )
January 24 – Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry , England (d. 1820 )
January 25 – Matsudaira Norihiro , Japanese daimyō who ruled the Nishio Domain (d. 1839 )
January 26
January 27
January 28 – James Tallmadge, Jr. , American politician (d. 1853 )
January 29 – John Williams , Tennessee politician (d. 1837 )
January 31 – Franz Anton von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky , Austrian statesman (d. 1861 )
February 1 – Joseph Richardson , American politician (d. 1871 )
February 2 – Mary Anne Talbot , British wartime cross-dresser (d. 1808 )
February 3
February 4 – Augustin Pyramus de Candolle , Swiss botanist (d. 1841 )
February 5 – Jan Nepomucen Umiński , Polish general (d. 1851 )
February 6 – Ugo Foscolo , Italian writer, revolutionary and poet (d. 1827 )[9]
February 13 – William P. Van Ness , United States federal judge (d. 1826 )
February 14 – Fernando Sor , Spanish musician (d. 1839 )
February 16
February 19
February 22
José de San Martín
February 25 – José de San Martín , Argentine general (d. 1850 )
March 1
March 2
March 3
March 4
March 6
March 8 – Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova , French soldier, diplomat (d. 1853 )
March 10
March 19 – Edward Pakenham , Irish-born British general (d. 1815 )
March 22
March 23 – Paul Traugott Meissner , Austrian chemist (d. 1864 )
March 24
March 25 – Sophie Blanchard , French aeronaut (d. 1819 )
March 26 – Edward Blakeney , British Army officer (d. 1868 )
March 28 – Ludvig Stoud Platou , Norwegian politician (d. 1833 )
March 30 – Robert Moore , American politician (d. 1831 )
March 31 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck , Dutch zoologist (d. 1858 )
April 1 – Benjamin Jacob , British musician (d. 1829 )
April 3 – Pierre Bretonneau , French physician (d. 1862 )
April 7 – John J. Ely , Member of the New Jersey General Assembly (d. 1852 )
April 9
William Hazlitt
April 10
April 12 – John Strachan , Bishop of Toronto (d. 1867 )
April 14 – George Philipp Ludolf von Beckedorff , prominent Prussian Catholic convert, parliamentarian (d. 1858 )
April 15
April 18
April 19 – Elizabeth Wynne Fremantle , main author of the extensive Wynne Diaries , wife of Royal Navy officer Thomas Fremantle (1765–1819) (d. 1857 )
April 23 – John Harvey , British Army general (d. 1852 )
April 24 – John Graham , soldier notable for founding Grahamstown (d. 1821 )
April 27 – Henry Drury , English educator (d. 1841 )
April 28 – Adriaan van der Hoop , Dutch banker, politician (d. 1854 )
April 29 – Thomas Bateman , British physician, pioneer in the field of dermatology (d. 1821 )
April 30 – Arvid David Hummel , Swedish entomologist (d. 1836 )
May–August
May 2 – Nathan Bangs , American Methodist theologian (d. 1862 )
May 3 – Samuel Freeze , Canadian politician (d. 1844 )
May 6 – Henry Phillpotts , English bishop (d. 1869 )
May 8 – Marie-Louise Coidavid , Queen of the Kingdom of Haiti (1811–20) as the spouse of Henri I of Haiti (d. 1851 )
May 9 – Eli Ayers , Liberian politician (d. 1822 )
May 10 – William Ladd , American activist (d. 1841 )
May 12 – August Zeune , German educator (d. 1853 )
May 13 – Honoré V, Prince of Monaco (d. 1841 )
May 17 – Benjamin Bowring , English watchmaker (d. 1846 )
May 18
May 19
May 25 – Claus Harms , German clergyman, theologian (d. 1855 )
May 29 – Charles Kemeys Kemeys Tynte , British politician (d. 1860 )
May 30 – Richard Skinner , American politician (d. 1833 )
May 31 – Horatio Seymour , American politician (d. 1857 )
June 2 – Jean Julien Angot des Rotours , French colonial governor (d. 1844 )
June 4 – Martin Parmer , American politician (d. 1850 )
June 6 – Edmund Varney , American politician (d. 1847 )
June 7 – David Willson , Canadian Quaker minister (d. 1866 )
June 11 – John Robison , British inventor (d. 1843 )
June 13 – Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1819 )
June 14 – John Cushing Aylwin , United States naval officer (War of 1812) (d. 1813 )
Harry Croswell
June 16
June 17
June 19 – Robert Allen , Tennessee politician (d. 1844 )
June 20 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac , moderate royalist French statesman, during the Bourbon Restoration (1814–30) under King Charles X (d. 1832 )
June 22 – George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland , British politician (d. 1867 )
June 23 – Richard W. Meade , American merchant and art collector (d. 1828 )
June 26 – Mariya Svistunova , lady-in-waiting at the Russian Court (d. 1866 )
June 27 – Sir John Astley, 1st Baronet , British politician (d. 1842 )
June 28
July 2 – Daniel Wilson , Bishop of Calcutta (d. 1858 )
July 3 – Carl Ludvig Engel , German architect (d. 1840 )
July 6 – Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent , French scientist (d. 1846 )
July 7 – Beau Brummell , English man of fashion (d. 1840 )[12]
July 10
July 11 – Timothy Fuller , American politician (d. 1835 )
July 12 – Maria Dalle Donne , Bolognese physician (d. 1842 )
July 13 – Samuel Stevens, Jr. , American politician (d. 1860 )
July 15
July 17 – Benjamin Isaacs , Connecticut politician (d. 1846 )
July 19
July 20 – Joshua Tetley , British brewer (d. 1859 )
July 28 – Charles Stewart , American naval commander (d. 1869 )
July 30
August 2 – Georg Anton Rollett , Austrian naturalist (d. 1842 )
August 5 – Otto Christian Blandow , German bryologist (d. 1810 )
August 8 – John Bonfoy Rooper , British landowner, MP (d. 1855 )
Friedrich Ludwig Jahn
Bernardo O'Higgins
September–December
Clemens Brentano
September 9 – Clemens Brentano , German poet, novelist (d. 1842 )[15]
September 10 – Joshua Lawrence , American Baptist minister (d. 1843 )
September 12 – William Davidson , American politician (d. 1857 )
September 14
September 15 – Augustin Caron , Canadian politician (d. 1862 )
September 19
September 20
September 21 – Carl Ludwig Koch , German entomologist (d. 1857 )
September 24 – Michał Gedeon Radziwiłł , Polish-Lithuanian noble (d. 1850 )
September 25
September 26 – Jonathan Fisk , American politician (d. 1832 )
September 27
September 28
September 29
October 5
October 7
October 8 – Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen , French Catholic bishop (d. 1839 )
October 9
October 13 – William Marks , American politician (d. 1858 )
October 14 – Francis Fane , British Royal Navy admiral (d. 1844 )
October 19 – Valentine Blacker , Irish-born Surveyor General of India (d. 1826 )
October 22 – Javier de Burgos , Spanish writer, politician and jurist (d. 1849 )[16]
October 23 – Kittur Chennamma , Indian queen regnant (d. 1829 )
October 26 – Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg , British politician (d. 1866 )
October 28 – Ezekiel Blomfield , British minister (d. 1818 )
October 29 – William Creighton, Jr. , United States federal judge (d. 1851 )
October 30 – Benjamin Ames , American politician (d. 1835 )
October 31
November 1
November 3 – Karlo Lanza , Dalmatian politician (d. 1834 )
Giovanni Battista Belzoni
November 5
November 8 – Joseph Signay , Canadian Catholic bishop (d. 1850 )
November 11 – Nils Astrup , Norwegian politician (d. 1835 )
November 14
November 15
November 16 – Johann Joseph von Prechtl , Austrian technologist (d. 1854 )
November 18 – Lord William Stuart , British politician (d. 1814 )
November 19 – Charles de Salaberry , Canadian politician (d. 1829 )
November 21
November 22 – Aurora Wilhelmina Koskull , Swedish lady-in-waiting, politically active salonist (d. 1852 )
November 23
November 24 – Salusbury Pryce Humphreys , British Royal Navy officer during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812 (d. 1845 )
November 25
November 26
November 28
November 29 – Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko , Ukrainian writer, journalist, and playwright (d. 1843 )[17]
November 30 – Andrés Guazurary , Argentine general (d. 1825 )
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
Humphry Davy
Joseph Grimaldi
Carl Linnaeus
January 10 – Carl Linnaeus , Swedish botanist (b. 1707 )
February 18 – Joseph Marie Terray , French statesman (b. 1715 )
February 20 – Laura Bassi , Italian physicist and academic (b. 1711 )
February 27 – Alexander Murray of Elibank , fourth son of Alexander Murray (b. 1712 )
March 5 – Thomas Arne , English composer of Rule, Britannia! (b. 1710 )
March 7 – Charles De Geer , Swedish industrialist and entomologist (b. 1720 )
March 13 – Charles le Beau , French historian (b. 1701 )
April 8 – Pieter Teyler van der Hulst , Dutch businessman (b. 1702 )
April 22 – James Hargreaves , English weaver, carpenter, and inventor (b. 1720 )
May 8 – Lorenz Christoph Mizler , German music historian, polymath (b. 1711 )
May 11 – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham , Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1708 )[20]
May 12 – Paul-Joseph Le Moyne de Longueuil , seigneur and colonial army officer in New France, governor of Trois-Rivières (b. 1701 )
May 16 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness , English diplomat and politician (b. 1718 )
Voltaire
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
July 3
July 3 – Anna Maria Mozart , Austrian mother to the Mozarts (b. 1720 )
July 4 – Ebenezer Kinnersley , American scientist (b. 1711 )
August 5 – Charles Clémencet , French historian (b. 1703 )
August 7 – Sir Thomas Cave, 5th Baronet of England (b. 1712 )
August 12 – Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven , British general, politician (b. 1714 )
October 1 – Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers , British Royal Navy admiral (b. 1722 )
October 6 – George Hay , British politician (b. 1715 )
October 11 – Saliha Sultan , daughter of Ottoman Sultan (b. 1715 )
October 24 – Henry Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode , German politician, provost and author (b. 1716 )
November 9
November 11 – Anne Steele , English hymnwriter and essayist (b. 1717 )[25]
November 20 – Francesco Cetti , Italian Jesuit scientist (b. 1726 )
December 26 – Pedro Antonio de Cevallos , Spanish military Governor of Buenos Aires (1757– 1766) (b. 1715 )
December 30 – Constantine, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg (b. 1716 )
date unknown – Thomas Johnson , English furniture maker (b. 1714 )
Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909 , ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p166
"Pitt, William (The Elder; Earl of Chatham)", by Philip Woodfine, in British Political Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary , ed. by Keith Laybourn (ABC-CLIO, 2001) p264 Barry Alan Shain, The Declaration of Independence in Historical Context (Yale University Press, 2014) p657
Raymond C. Houghton, A Revolutionary War Road Trip on US Route 9 (Cyber Haus, 2003) pp37-38
Peter Gay, The Enlightenment – An Interpretation, Volume 2: The Science of Freedom , Wildwood House, London, 1973, pp. 88–89.