1794 in History

Events in History

Event of Interest

Feb 4 French National Convention proclaims abolition of slavery

Politician and Revolutionary Georges Danton — Politician and Revolutionary
Georges Danton

Feb 11 1st session of US Senate open to the public
Feb 14 1st US textile machinery patent granted, to James Davenport, Philadelphia
Feb 26 Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down
Feb 28 US Senate voids Pennsylvania's election of Abraham Gallatin
Mar 3 Richard Allen founded African Methodist Episcopal Church
Mar 12 Theatre Royal in London's Dury Lane opens after being rebuilt

Historic Invention

Mar 14 Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin machine revolutionizing the cotton industry in the southern US states

Inventor of the Cotton Gin Eli Whitney — Inventor of the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney

Mar 22 Congress bans US vessels from supplying slaves to other countries
Mar 23 Josiah Pierson patents a "cold-header" (rivet) machine

Event of Interest

Mar 23 Lt-general Tadeusz Kościuszko returns to Poland

Military Leader and Statesman Tadeusz Kościuszko — Military Leader and Statesman
Tadeusz Kościuszko

Mar 27 The United States Government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
Mar 27 Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact

Mar 28 Louvre opens to the public (although officially opened since August)
Mar 28 Allies under the prince of Coburg defeat French forces at Le Cateau
Apr 4 Battle of Racławice, part of the Polish-Lithuanian uprising led by Tadeusz Kościuszko with a tactical Polish victory

Event of Interest

Apr 7 English chemist and theologian Joseph Priestley departs England for America on board Sansom at Gravesend

Chemist, Theologian and Author Joseph Priestley — Chemist, Theologian and Author
Joseph Priestley

Apr 21 NYC formally declares coast of Ellis Island publicly owned, so they can build forts to protect NYC from British
Apr 30 The Battle of Boulou is fought, in which French forces defeated the Spanish under General Union.

Event of Interest

May 6 Haiti, under Toussaint Louverture, revolts against France

General and Revolutionary Toussaint Louverture — General and Revolutionary
Toussaint Louverture

May 7 Influential Gothic romance "The Mysteries of Udolpho" is published by Ann Ratcliffe in London
May 17 Hard frost in southern New England
May 18 Second Battle of Bouvines (France-Austria)
Jun 1 Glorious First of June; first naval battle between Britain (under Admiral Lord Howe) and France (Vice-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse) during French Revolutionary Wars. Britain gains tactical win.
Jun 5 US Congress passes the Neutrality Act, banning Americans from serving in foreign armed forces
Jun 10 Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia forms
Jun 10 France revolutionary regime begins trials
Jun 16 1st stone laid at biggest Dutch grain windmill De Walvisch in Schiedam

New Settlement

Jun 23 Russian Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great) grants Jews permission to settle in Kiev

Empress of Russia Catherine the Great — Empress of Russia
Catherine the Great

Jun 24 Bowdoin College is founded in Maine, USA
Jun 25 French troops occupy Charleroi

Battle of Fleurus

Jun 26 Battle of Fleurus: major victory by forces of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan over the Coalition Army (Great Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburgs) first use of reconnaissance balloon

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*Jourdan at Fleurus with the balloon l'Entreprenant in the background*

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Jun 30 Battle of Fort Recovery, Ohio

Jul 2 Second Battle of Seneffe: France-Austria
Jul 13 Battle of the Vosges between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria
Jul 17 Richard Allen organizes Philadelphia's Bethel African Meth Episcopal Church

Coup d'état

Jul 27 Maximilien Robespierre is overthrown in a coup in Paris

Revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre — Revolutionary
Maximilien Robespierre

Jul 28 French Revolutionary figure Maximilien Robespierre and 22 other leaders of "the Terror" guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris
Jul 29 African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, dedicated
Jul 31 All Jacobijnse clubs together in Haarlem
Aug 1 Whiskey Rebellion begins in western Pennsylvania
Aug 8 Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver lead an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska
Aug 16 Hungarian revolutionary Ignác Martinovics arrested in Vienna

Victory in Battle

Aug 20 Battle of Fallen Timbers: Major General "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeats a joint British-Native American force at Fallen Timbers, Ohio in the final battle of the Northwest Indian War

Military Leader Anthony Wayne — Military Leader
Anthony Wayne

Aug 26 French troops occupy Lock

Event of Interest

Sep 21 French National Convention orders the remains of Comte de Mirabeau be removed from the Panthéon after his double-dealings with court revealed

Revolutionary and Politician Comte de Mirabeau — Revolutionary and Politician
Comte de Mirabeau

Event of Interest

Sep 21 Jean-Paul Marat's remains are transferred to the Panthéon in Paris, with the eulogy given by the Marquis de Sade

Revolutionary and Journalist Jean-Paul Marat — Revolutionary and Journalist
Jean-Paul Marat

Philosopher and Writer Marquis de Sade — Philosopher and Writer
Marquis de Sade

Sep 27 French troops conquer Crèvecoeur
Oct 9 French troops occupy Hertogenbosch
Oct 29 French troops occupies Venlo

Event of Interest

Oct 31 John Dalton's first lecture to Manchester Literary/Philosophical Society

Chemist, Physicist and Meteorologist John Dalton — Chemist, Physicist and Meteorologist
John Dalton

Nov 3 French troops conquer Maastricht
Nov 7 French troops conquer Nijmegen
Nov 9 Russian troops occupy Warsaw
Nov 19 Jakobin Club forms in Paris
Nov 19 Jay Treaty, first US extradition treaty, signed with Great Britain
Nov 21 Honolulu Harbor discovered
Nov 22 Strasbourg Alsace-Lorraine, prohibits circumcision and wearing of beards
Dec 8 1st issue of Herald of Rutland, VT published
Dec 15 Revolutionary Tribunal abolished in France
Dec 30 French troops conquer Grave Neth

Birthdays in History

Jan 25 François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist, born in Carpentras, France (d. 1878)
Feb 20 William Carleton, Irish novelist (d. 1869)

Santa Anna

Feb 21 Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico who dominated Mexican history in the first half of the 19th century, born in Xalapa, Veracruz (d. 1876)

Feb 25 Gerrit Schimmelpenninck, Dutch earl of Nijenhuis/Peckedam
Mar 5 Jacques Babinet, French physicist/mathematician/astronomer
Mar 5 Robert Cooper Grier, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1870)
Mar 16 Ami Boué, Austrian geologist (d. 1881)
Mar 26 Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter and designer who figured importantly in the German Nazarene movement, born in Leipzig, Saxony (d. 1872)
Mar 31 Thompson McKennan, American politician who served as the 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852)

Matthew C. Perry

Apr 10 Matthew C. Perry, Commodore of the United States Navy who opened Japan to Western influence and trade, born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 1858)

Apr 11 Edward Everett, American statesman and orator, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts (d. 1865)
Apr 12 Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (geometry), born in Paris (d. 1847)
Apr 15 Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist, born in Maureilhan, France (d. 1867)
Apr 17 Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer, born in Erlangen, Germany (d. 1868)
Apr 23 Wei Yuan, Chinese scholar and geographer of Qing Dynasty, born in Shaoyang, China (d. 1857)
May 13 Louis-Leopold Robert, French painter (d. 1835)
May 17 Anna Brownell Jameson, Anglo-Irish historian and writer (Loves of the Poets), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1860)
May 24 William Whewell, English polymath and philosopher (History of Inductive Science), born in Lancaster, Lancashire, England (d. 1866)
May 27 Cornelius Vanderbilt, American shipping and railroad magnate (New York Central Railroad), born in Port Richmond, New York (d. 1877)
May 29 Johann Heinrich von Mädler, German astronomer (published the most complete map of the Moon of the time, Mappa Selenographica, 4 vol. with Wilhelm Beer), born in Berlin (d. 1874)
Jun 28 Allen Frances Gardiner, British naval officer and missionary in inter alia Port Natal, born in Basildon, Berkshire, England (d. 1851)
Jul 3 Eberhard Friedrich Walcker, German organ builder (Paulskirche Frankfurt), born in Bad Cannstatt, Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1872)
Jul 5 Sylvester Graham, Minister and noted vegetarian (developed Graham cracker), born in Suffield, Connecticut (d. 1851)
Jul 14 John Gibson Lockhart [Scorpion], Scottish biographer (Life of Sir Walter Scott), born in Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 1854)
Jul 24 Heinrich Christian Pander, Baltic German biologist and embryologist, born in Riga, Latvia (d. 1865)
Jul 26 Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist, born in Husum, Denmark (d. 1865)
Aug 10 Leopold Zunz, German Jewish scholar (Science of Judaism), born in Detmold (d. 1886)
Aug 11 James Barton Longacre, American engraver (d. 1869)
Aug 15 Elias M. Fries, Swedish botanist (System mycologicum), born in Femsjö, Sweden (d. 1878)
Aug 17 Prince Alexander of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, German priest (d. 1849)
Aug 28 Johannes Zwijsen, Dutch archbishop (Utrecht Netherlands), born in Kerkdriel, Netherlands (d. 1877)
Sep 9 William Lonsdale, English geologist and paleontologist (fossil coral), born in Bath, Somerset, England (d. 1871)
Oct 10 William Whiting Boardman, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut), born in New Milford, Connecticut (d. 1871)
Oct 24 Friedrich Balduin von Gagern, German-Dutch army commandant, born in Weilburg, Germany (d. 1848)
Oct 26 Konstantin Thon, Russian architect (Grand Kremlin Palace), born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1881)
Nov 3 William Cullen Bryant, American poet (Thanatopsis), born in Cummington, Massachusetts (d. 1878)
Nov 17 George Grote, British historian (History of Greece), born in Clay Hill, England (d. 1871)
Nov 17 John Barrien Montgomery, Commander (Union Navy), (d. 1873)
Nov 23 Joan F Van Oordt, vicar (Groninger direction)
Dec 10 James Wolfe Ripley, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Windham County, Connecticut (d. 1870)
Dec 14 Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (Mayor of Albany, New York), born in Norwich, Connecticut (d. 1872)

Weddings in History

Wedding of Interest

Sep 15 4th US President James Madison (43) weds Dolley Madison (26) in Jefferson County, West Virginia

Wedding of Interest

Sep 22 Physicist Alessandro Volta (49) weds Teresa Peregrini

Physicist and Inventor Alessandro Volta — Physicist and Inventor
Alessandro Volta

Wedding of Interest

Nov 18 2nd Earl Grey Charles Grey (30) weds only daughter of 1st Baron Ponsonby Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby

British Prime Minister Charles Grey — British Prime Minister
Charles Grey

Deaths in History

Jan 8 Justus Möser, German statesman and writer, dies at 73
Jan 10 Georg Forster, German writer, naturalist (A Voyage Round the World) and revolutionary, dies at 39

Edward Gibbon

Jan 16 Edward Gibbon, English historian (The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire), dies in London at 56

Jan 31 Marriott Arbuthnot, British admiral (b. 1711)
Mar 4 Henri de La Rochejacquelin, French Royalist Army leader, dies at 21

Marquis de Condorcet

Mar 28 Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet, French enlightenment philosopher (Condorcet Method) and mathematician, is murdered or commits suicide in prison at 50

Mar 29 Marie-J-A-N C Condorcet, mathematician (Theory of Comets), dies at 50

Georges Danton

Apr 5 Georges Danton, French politician and revolutionary (1st president of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution), executed by guillotine at 34

Apr 8 Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicholas-Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician and philosopher, dies in prison during the French Revolution at 50
Apr 13 Nicolas Chamfort, French writer, dies at 53
Apr 18 Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, dies at 80
Apr 23 Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French lawyer and statesman, executed at 72
Apr 27 William Jones, British orientalist & jurist, dies at 47
May 8 Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, father of modern chemistry (identified oxygen and hydrogen), guillotined at 50
May 10 Élisabeth of France, princess of France, youngest sister of king Louis XVI, beheaded at 30
Jun 8 G A Borger, writer, dies
Jun 14 Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, Viceroy of Ireland, dies at 75
Jun 18 James Murray, British military officer and administrator (b. 1721)
Jun 19 Richard H Lee, US farmer (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 62
Jun 20 Félix Vicq-d'Azyr, French physician and anatomist (discover the theory of homology in biology), dies at 46
Jun 27 Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz, Austrian statesman (b. 1711)
Jun 27 Philippe de Noailles, duc de Mouchy, French soldier (b. 1715)
Jul 17 John Roebuck, English inventor and industrialist (b. 1718)
Jul 25 André Chenier, French poet (Avis aux Francais sur leurs), executed by guillotine during French Revolution at 31
Jul 28 Georges Couthon, French politician, beheaded at 39

Maximilien Robespierre

Jul 28 Maximilien Robespierre, French revolutionary (President of the National Convention, Member of Committee of Public Safety), executed by guillotine at 36

Aug 6 Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, British politician (b. 1714)
Aug 14 George Colman the Elder, English playwright, dies at 62
Sep 4 John Hely-Hutchinson, Irish statesman (b. 1724)
Sep 15 Abraham Clark, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1725)
Sep 25 Paul Rabaut, French Huguenot pastor (b. 1718)
Oct 20 James Adam, System architect (essays on agriculture), dies at about 64
Nov 3 François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and statesman, dies at 79
Nov 14 Pieter Nieuwland, Dutch scientist and mathematician (known as "Dutch Isaac Newton"), dies at 30

John Witherspoon

Nov 15 John Witherspoon, president of the College of New Jersey, dies at 71

Nov 17 Jacques François Dugommier, French general, dies at 56
Nov 22 John Alsop, American Continental Congressman (b. 1724)

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben

Nov 28 Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian-American military officer (major general of the Continental Army), dies at 64

1793
On This Day in History
1795