1773
Events
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January–March
- January 1 – The hymn that becomes known as Amazing Grace, at this time titled "1 Chronicles 17:16âÂÂ17", is first used to accompany a sermon led by curate John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England.
- January 12 – The first museum in the American colonies is established in Charleston, South Carolina; in 1915, it is formally incorporated as the Charleston Museum.
- January 17 – Second voyage of James Cook: Captain Cook in HMS Resolution (1771) becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle.
- January 18 РThe first opera performance in the Swedish language, Thetis and Phel̩e, performed by Carl Stenborg and Elisabeth Olin in Bollhuset in Stockholm, Sweden, marks the establishment of the Royal Swedish Opera.
- February 8 – The Grand Council of Poland meets in Warsaw, summoned by a circular letter from King StanisÃ
Âaw August Poniatowski to respond to the Kingdom's threatened partition between three foreign powers.
- February 27 – The construction of Christ Church (Alexandria, Virginia), known for being the house of worship for George Washington and the visiting site for subsequent U.S. presidents, is completed.
- March 9–19 – Second voyage of James Cook: Tobias Furneaux in explores the coast of Van Diemen's Land.
- March 15 – The popular (and enduring) comedy She Stoops to Conquer, by Irish playwright Oliver Goldsmith, is performed for the first time, premiering at London's Covent Garden Theatre.
April–June
JulyâÂÂSeptember
OctoberâÂÂDecember
- October 10
- Daniel Boone leads the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement in Kentucky, but is turned back in an attack by Native Americans, in which his son is killed.
- Russo-Turkish War (1768âÂÂ1774): Second of the Russian occupations of Beirut begins, following a naval bombardment which began on August 2. The Russians leave Albanian mercenaries as an occupying force.
- Paul Revere marries Rachel Walker, his second wife.
- October 12 â America's first insane asylum opens for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds in Williamsburg, Virginia.
- October 13 â French astronomer Charles Messier discovers the Whirlpool Galaxy, an interacting, grand design spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 31 million light-years, in the constellation Canes Venatici.
- October 14 â The Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (Polish for Commission for the Education of the People), formed in the PolishâÂÂLithuanian Commonwealth, is considered to be the world's first ministry of education.
- November 10 â Four ships â the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, the Beaver and the William â depart Britain for America, carrying the first Indian tea to be subject to the newly enacted taxes. The William is lost in a storm; the Dartmouth is the first ship to reach Boston, docking on November 28.
- December 16 â Boston Tea Party: A group of American colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor, in protest against British tax policies.
- December 23 â Moscow State Academy of Choreography was founded under the reign of Catherine II. It is the second ballet school in Russia after Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
Date unknown
- Russo-Turkish War (1768âÂÂ1774): Russian forces fail to take Silistria.
- Emelian Pugachev starts Pugachev's Rebellion in Russia, attacking and occupying Samara.
- John Harrison wins the Longitude prize, for his invention of the marine chronometer.
- Hilaire Rouelle discovers urea.
- Istanbul Technical University is established (under the name of Royal School of Naval Engineering) as the world's first comprehensive institution of higher learning dedicated to engineering education.
- Marsala wine first shipped to England.
- In China, written work begins on the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, the largest literary compilation of books in China's history (surpassing the Yongle Encyclopedia of the 15th Century). Upon completion in 1782, the books are bound in 36,381 volumes (Ã¥ÂÂ) with more than 79,000 chapters (å·), comprising about 2.3 million pages, and approximately 800 million Chinese characters.
- Scottish judge James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, begins publication of Of the Origin and Progress of Language, a contribution to evolutionary ideas of the Enlightenment.
- Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock publishes the last five cantos of his epic poem Der Messias in Hamburg.</onlyinclude>
Births
- February 9 – William Henry Harrison, American military leader and ninth President of the United States (d. 1841)
- March 14 – John Holmes, American politician (d. 1843)
- March 16 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (d. 1836)
- March 26 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician (d. 1838)
- April 4 – ÃÂtienne Maurice Gérard, Prime Minister and Marshal of France (d. 1852)
- April 9
- ÃÂtienne Aignan, French writer, librettist, and playwright (d. 1824)
- Marie Boivin, French midwife, inventor and obstetrics writer (d. 1841)
- April 14 РJean-Baptiste de Vill̬le, Prime Minister of France (d. 1854)
- May 2 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian philosopher (d. 1845)
- May 3 – Giuseppe Acerbi, Italian explorer (d. 1846)
- May 15 – Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, Austrian statesman (d. 1859)
- May 19 – Arthur Aikin, English chemist and mineralogist (d. 1854)
- May 31 – Ludwig Tieck, German writer (d. 1853)
- June 13 – Thomas Young, English scientist (d. 1829)
- July 23 – Thomas Brisbane, Scottish astronomer, Governor of New South Wales (d. 1860)
- August 12 – Karl Faber, German historian (d. 1853)
- August 22 РAim̩ Bonpland, French explorer, botanist (d. 1858)
- September 17 – Jonathan Alder, American settler (d. 1849)
- October 4 – Harriet Auber, English poet, hymnist (d. 1862)
- October 6 – Louis Philippe I, King of the French (d. 1850)
- November 6 – Henry Hunt, British politician (d. 1835)
- November 24 – Shadrach Bond, American politician and the first governor of Illinois (d. 1832)
- December 9 – Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, French general, diplomat (d. 1827)
- December 17 РSylvain Charles Val̩e, Marshal of France (d. 1846)
- December 21 – Robert Brown, Scottish botanist (d. 1858)
- December 27 – Sir George Cayley, English aviation pioneer (d. 1857)
- Unknown – Johann Gottfried Arnold, German cellist (d. 1806)
- Unknown – Kyra Frosini, Greek heroine (d. 1800)
- Unknown – Isabel Zendal, Spanish nurse
- Unknown – Anna Moór, Hungarian actress (d. 1841)
Deaths
- March 24
- Stephen Leake, English numismatist, officer of arms at the College of Arms in London (b. 1702)
- Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English statesman and man of letters (b. 1694)
- March 20 – Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben, German noble (b. 1715)
- May 8 – Ali Bey Al-Kabir, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (b. 1728)
- May 15 – Alban Butler, English Catholic priest, writer (b. 1710)
- May 28 – John Wayles, American lawyer and planter (b. 1715)
- June 21 – Jorge Juan y Santacilia, Spanish geodesist (b. 1713)
- June 27 – Mentewab, dowager Empress of Ethiopia (b. c. 1706)
- July 5 РFrancisco Jos̩ Freire, Portuguese historian, philologist (b. 1719)
- July 12 – Johann Joachim Quantz, German flutist, composer (b. 1697)
- July 23 – George Edwards, English ornithologist and naturalist (b. 1694)
- July 25 РAxel L̦wen, Swedish duke (b. 1686)
- August 3 – StanisÃ
Âaw Konarski, Polish writer (b. 1700)
- August 19
- Burkat Shudi, English harpsichord maker (b. 1702)
- Francesco Zahra, Maltese painter (b. 1710)
- August 20 – Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (b. 1701)
- September 23 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop and botanist (b. 1718)
- October 14 – Septimanie d'Egmont, French salonist (b. 1740)
- October 30 РPhilippe de La Gu̻pi̬re, French architect (b. 1725)
- November 2 – John Glas, Scottish minister (b. 1695)
- November 7 – Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine, French royal (b. 1714)
Full date unknown
References
Further reading
External links