Significant Events
- Jan 18 First elements of the First Fleet carrying 736 convicts from England to Australia arrives at Botany Bay to set up a penal colony
- Jan 26 Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day
- Jun 21 US Constitution comes into effect when New Hampshire is the 9th state to ratify it
- Aug 13 Prussia joins Anglo-Dutch alliance to form Triple Alliance to prevent spread of Russo-Swedish War of 1788-90
- Dec 17 Russian army of Grigory Potemkin occupies Ocharov
World Leaders in 1788
William Pitt the Younger
British Prime Minister
Famous People in 1788
Wolfang Amadeus Mozart
Classical Musician and Composer
Lord Byron
Robert PeelFamous Deaths
- Jan 5 Johann Schneider, German composer and pupil of Bach, dies at 85
- Jan 11 François Joseph Paul de Grasse, French admiral (commanded the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake), dies at 64
- Jan 14 François Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasetilly, comte de Grasse, French admiral (b. 1722)
- Jan 15 Gaetano Latilla, composer, dies at 77
- Jan 17 Alessio Prati, composer, dies at 37
