1776 - What happened in 1776 ?

January 1776

Wednesday 10:

Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense.

March 1776

Sunday 17:

American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington places artillery overlooking the city.

Thursday 28:

Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.

May 1776

Wednesday 01:

Adam Weishaupt founds the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Germany.

Saturday 04:

Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.

Wednesday 15:

American Revolution: Virginia convention instructs its delegates to propose a declaration of independence from Great Britain.

June 1776

Friday 07:

American invaders skirmish with British at Trois-Rivières, Quebec.

Saturday 08:

American invaders are driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec.

July 1776

Tuesday 02:

The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain, though a formal Declaration of Independence is not adopted until July 4.

Thursday 04:

American Revolutionary War: The Continental Congress approves a Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Monday 08:

The Liberty Bell was rung to summon citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress.

Thursday 11:

Captain James Cook begins third voyage.

August 1776

Thursday 01:

Formal signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Friday 02:

Delegates to the Continental Congress begin signing the United_States_Declaration of Independence.

Tuesday 27:

Battle of Long Island, in present day Brooklyn, New York, British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington

September 1776

Friday 06:

Hurricane hits Guadeloupe, killing more than 6000.

Saturday 07:

World's first submarine attack. The American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship Eagle in New York Harbor.

Monday 09:

The Continental Congress officially names their new country the United States.

Tuesday 10:

American Revolutionary War: Nathan Hale volunteers to spy.

Tuesday 17:

The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.

October 1776

Monday 07:

Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

Wednesday 09:

Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California.

Friday 11:

On Lake Champlain 15 American gunboats are defeated but give Patriot forces enough time to prepare defenses of New York City.

Monday 28:

British forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.

November 1776

Saturday 16:

American Revolutionary War: Hessian mercenaries capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.

December 1776

Thursday 05:

At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Phi Beta Kappa is founded as the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.

Saturday 07:

Marquis de Lafayette enters the American military as a major general.

Wednesday 18:

North Carolina's Constitution is ratified.

Wednesday 25:

George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River to attack the monarchy's Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey.

Thursday 26:

American Revolutionary War: The British were defeated in the Battle of Trenton