On This Day

January 1788 in History

Events in History

  • Jan 1 London's Daily Universal Registrar becomes the Times
  • Jan 1 Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipate their slaves

USAConstitution of the United States

Jan 2 Georgia is 4th state to ratify US constitution

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Page one of the original copy of the Constitution of the United States
Page one of the original copy of the Constitution of the United States
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  • Jan 9 Connecticut becomes 5th state to ratify the US constitution
  • 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 20 Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah, Georgia

Event of interestEvent of Interest

Jan 26 Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day

1st Governor of New South Wales Arthur Phillip
1st Governor of New South Wales
Arthur Phillip
  • Jan 28 Lord Gordon found guilty of libel of Queen of France

Birthdays in History

  • Jan 8 Archduke Rudolph of Austria, Austrian clergyman & noble, born in Florence, Tuscany (d. 1831)
  • Jan 8 Pavel Kiselyov, Russian general & politician, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1874)
  • Jan 11 William Thomas Brande, English chemist (d. 1866)

Person of interestLord Byron

Jan 22 Lord Byron [George Gordon Byron], English romantic poet (Don Juan), born in London (d. 1824)

Romantic Poet Lord Byron
Romantic Poet
Lord Byron

Deaths in History

  • 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)

Person of interestBonnie Prince Charlie

Jan 31 Bonnie Prince Charlie [Charles Edward Stuart], English pretender to throne (Jacobite rebellion), dies of a stroke at 67

Pretender to the British throne Bonnie Prince Charlie
Pretender to the British throne
Bonnie Prince Charlie