Jul 2 John Fitch, American inventor and clockmaker (1st US steamboat service), dies of an opium overdose at 55 Jul 15 Gaetano Pugnani, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 66 Jul 21 François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, Austrian field marshal, dies at 64 1797 Famous Deaths by Year 1799