- Jan 9 1st hot-air balloon flight in the US lifts off in Philadelphia, piloted by Jean Pierre Blanchard
- Jan 9 Dutch Prince Willem V establishes 2 brigades Drive Artillery
- Jan 21 Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for "high treason" by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution
- Jan 21 Prussia & Russia sign partition treaty, dividing Poland.
- Jan 23 2nd Partition of Poland, between Prussia & Russia
- Jan 23 Humane Society of Philadelphia (1st aid society) organized
- Feb 1 France declares war on Great Britain and Netherlands
- Feb 1 Patent granted Ralph Hodgson, NY, for oiled silk & linen
- Feb 11 Prussian troops occupy Venlo, Netherlands
- Feb 12 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
- Feb 24 French troops conquer Breda
- Mar 4 French troops conquer Geertruidenberg, Netherlands
- Mar 4 Washington's 2nd inauguration as US President, shortest speech (133 words)
- Mar 5 French troops are defeated by Austrian forces and Liège is recaptured
- Mar 18 Second Battle at Neerwinden: Austria army beats France
- Mar 18 The first republican state in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann
- Mar 26 Pro-royalist uprising in Vendée region of France
- Apr 15 Bank of England issues first £5 note
- Apr 22 President Washington attends opening of Rickett's, 1st circus in US
Marat Acquitted by the Revolutionary Tribunal
Apr 24 French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is acquitted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of charges brought by the Girondin in Paris
- Apr 29 Cornerstone laid for Groningen's new town hall in the Netherlands
- May 9 Explorer Alexander Mackenzie sets out on his second expedition to the Pacific from Fort Fork (arrives at Pacific 22nd July)
- May 15 Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 metres", at a height of 5-6 metres, one of the first attempted flights
- May 19 Netherlands captures French island of St Maarten (held until 1795)
- May 21 Curacao Island Council forbids criticism of House of Orange
- May 25 Father Stephen Theodore Badin is 1st US Roman Catholic priest ordained
- May 30 French revolutionary Georges Couthon chosen to be a member of French Committee the Salut Public
- Jun 10 1st public zoo opens in Paris
- Jun 11 1st American stove patent is granted to Robert Haeterick
- Jun 24 1st republican constitution in France adopted
- Jul 20 Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie completes the first European east-to-west crossing of America north of Mexico
- Jul 22 Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada
- Jul 23 The Prussians conquer Mainz
- Jul 24 France passes 1st copyright law
- Jul 29 John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay
- Aug 1 France becomes 1st country to use the metric system
- Aug 8 The insurrection of Lyon occurs during the French Revolution.
- Aug 10 Louvre palace officially opens in Paris as The Museum Central des Arts
- Aug 12 The Rhône départment is created when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two: Rhône and Loire (Lêre).
- Aug 19 Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, then the US capital has its 1st fatality. Lasts till November killing around 5,000 people
French Revolution
Aug 23 French Revolution: The National Convention adopts the levée en masse, conscripting all able-bodied men between 18 and 25 for military service during the French Revolutionary Wars
- Aug 29 Slaves in French colony of St Domingue (Haiti) freed
- Sep 5 French Revolution: the "Reign of Terror" begins
Event of Interest
Sep 18 US President George Washington lays the cornerstone of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
- Sep 20 British troops under Major-general Williamson lands on (French) Haiti
Event of Interest
Oct 3 A warrant is issued for the arrest of French mathematician and philosopher Marquis de Condorcet forcing him into hiding
- Oct 5 French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France.
- Oct 16 Battle of Wattignies: French defeat Allied forces and lift siege of Maubeuge
Historic Invention
Oct 28 Eli Whitney applies for a patent on cotton gin
- Oct 31 Execution of Girondins in Paris during Reign of Terror
Event of Interest
Nov 3 French playwright, journalist and feminist Olympe de Gouges is guillotined
Gregory Conquers Julius Caesar
Nov 26 Republican calendar replaces Gregorian calendar in France
Event of Interest
Dec 9 Noah Webster establishes New York's 1st daily newspaper, the "American Minerva"
Event of Interest
Dec 23 Thomas Jefferson warns of slave revolts in the West Indies
- Dec 26 Battle of Geisberg: French defeat Austrians.