1776

This article is about the year 1776. For the musical, see 1776 (musical)

1776 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar).

Events

• January 10 – Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
• March 17 – American Revolutionary War: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington places artillery overlooking the city.
• March 28 – Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
• May 1 – Former Jesuit Adam Weishaupt founds the Bavarian Illuminati (Order of the Illuminati) in Ingolstadt, Bavaria.
• May 6 – Battle of Prague Prussian king Frederick the Great triumphs over Austrian army.
• June 8 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trois-Rivières – American invaders are driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
• June 12 – Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason adopted by the Virginia Convention of Delegates.
• June 17 – Lt. Jose Joaquin Moraga leads a band of colonists from Monterey Presidio, landing on June 29 and constructing the Mission Dolores of the new Presidio of San Francisco.
• July 4 – American Revolutionary War: United States Declaration of Independence.
• July 9 – An angry mob in New York City topples the equestrian statue of George III in Bowling Green.
• August 15 – First Hessian troops land on Staten Island to join British forces
• August 27 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Long Island – Washington's troops routed in Brooklyn by British under William Howe.
• September – First running of the St. Leger Stakes horse race in England.
• September 2-9 – Hurricane from NC to Nova Scotia – 4170 dead
• September 7 – World's first submarine attack. American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor.
• September 11 – American Revolutionary War: abortive peace conference between British and Americans on Staten Island.
• September 15 – American Revolutionary War: British land on Manhattan at Kip's Bay.
• September 16 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Harlem Heights
• September 22 – American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale executed in New York City for espionage.
• October 7 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
• October 9 – Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California.
• October 11 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Valcour Island – On Lake Champlain near Valcour Island, a British fleet led by Sir Guy Carleton defeats 15 American gunboats commanded by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. Although nearly all of Arnold's ships are destroyed, the two day-long battle will give Patriot forces enough time to prepare defenses of New York City.
• October 28 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains – British forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.
• November 16 – American Revolutionary War: Hessian mercenaries under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen capture Fort Washington from the American Continentals.
• December 5 – The Phi Beta Kappa society is organized at the College of William and Mary.
• December 23 – Thomas Paine, living with Washington's troops begins publishing The American Crisis, containing the stirring phrase, These are the times that try men's souls.
• December 25 – American Revolutionary War: Gen. George Washington orders the first issue of The Crisis read to his troops on Christmas Eve, then at 6 PM all 2600 of them march to McKonkey's Ferry, cross the Delaware River and land on the Jersey bank at 3 AM.
• December 26 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trenton – Washington's troops surprise the 1500 Hessian troops under the command of Col. [Johan Rall] at 8 AM outside Trenton and score a victory, taking 1000 prisoners while suffering only 6 wounded.

• Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations
• Edward Gibbon publishes The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
• Austria abolishes death penalty and torture and decriminalizes witchcraft
• British begin to use old ships docked close to shore as temporary prisons, prison junks
• 35th and last volume of Diderot's Encyclopedie published

Births

• January 24 – E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer, composer, and painter (d. 1822)
• February 11 – Joannis Capodistrias, Greek governor of Troezen (d. 1831)
• March 10 – Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia (d. 1810)
• April 1 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician (d. 1831)
• June 11 – John Constable, English painter (d. 1837)
• August 6 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (d. 1856)
• Muttusvami Dikshitar, Indian composer

Deaths

• August 25 – David Hume, Scottish philosopher (b. 1711)
• Francis Salvador, American patriot (b. 1747)