1777
1777 was a
common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).
* Death of
Dolly Pentreath, claimed to be the last speaker of the
Cornish language.
* 2nd edition of
Encyclopædia Britannica published.
*
January 3 -
American Revolutionary War:
American general George Washington defeats
British general Charles Cornwallis at the
Battle of Princeton.
*
January 12 -
Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now
Santa Clara, California.
*
January 15 -
Vermont declares its independence from
New York becoming an independent country, a status it retained until it joined the
United States as the 14th state in
1791.
*
May 16 -
Lachlan McIntosh and
Button Gwinnett shoot each other during a
duel near
Savannah, Georgia.
Gwinnett, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, dies three days later.
*
June 13 -
American Revolutionary War:
Marquis de Lafayette lands near
Charleston, South Carolina to help the
Continental Congress train its army.
*
June 14 -
Stars and Stripes adopted by the
Continental Congress as the
Flag of the United States.
*
August 16 -
American Revolutionary War:
Battle of Bennington -
British forces are defeated by
American troops.
*
September 3 -
Cooch's Bridge -
Skirmish of
American Revolutionary war in
New Castle County,
Delaware where the
Flag of the United States was flown in battle for the first time.
*
September 11 -
Battle of Brandywine - Major
American Revolutionary war victory for
British in
Chester County,
Pennsylvania.
*
September 19 -
American Revolutionary War: First
Battle of Saratoga/
Battle of Freeman's Farm/
Battle of Bemis Heights.
*
October 4 -
American Revolutionary War:
Battle of Germantown- Troops under
George Washington are repelled by
British troops under
Sir William Howe.
*
October 17 -
American Revolutionary War:
Battle of Saratoga-
American troops defeat the
British.
*
November 15 -
American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate, the
Continental Congress approves the
Articles of Confederation in the temporary
American capital at
York, Pennsylvania.
*
November 17 -
Articles of Confederation submitted to the states for ratification.
*
November 29 -
San Jose, California founded. It is the first
pueblo in
Spanish Alta California.
*
December 24 -
Kiritimati discovered by
James Cook.
* The
code duello is adopted at the
Clonmell Summer Assizes as the form for
pistol duels in
Ireland. It is quickly denounced but nevertheless widely adopted throughout the
English-speaking world.
*
January 2 -
Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (d.
1857)
*
February 12 -
Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, French poet (d.
1843)
*
March 17 -
Roger Taney,
Chief Justice of the United States (d.
1864)
*
April 12 -
Henry Clay, American statesman (d.
1852)
*
April 30 -
Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d.
1855)
*
August 14 -
Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (d.
1851)
*
October 16 -
Lorenzo Dow, American Methodist preacher (d.
1834)
*
October 18 -
Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d.
1811)
*
December 4 -
Madame Récamier, French writer (d.
1849)
*
December 23 - Emperor
Alexander I of Russia (d.
1825)
*
Benjamin d'Urban, British general and colonial administrator (d.
1849)
*
January 10 -
Spranger Barry, Irish actor (b.
1719)
*
January 12 -
Hugh Mercer, American Revolutionary War officer (mortally wounded in battle)
*
February 9 -
Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (b.
1706)
*
February 24 - King
Joseph I of Portugal (b.
1714)
*
March 1 -
Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Austrian composer (b.
1715)
*
May 11 -
George Pigot, Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (b.
1719)
*
May 19 -
Button Gwinnett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b.
1735)
*
September 22 -
John Bartram, American botanist (b.
1699)
*
September 25 -
Johann H. Lambert, mathematician, physicist and astronomer (b.
1728)
*
October 21 -
Samuel Foote, English dramatist and actor (b.
1720)
*
November 10 -
Cornstalk, Shawnee chief
