1771 CE

The Great Kalmyk (Torghut Migration) is led by Ubashi Khan, from the east bank of the Lower Volga River back to the homeland of Dzungaria, at this time under Qing dynasty rule. In California, Fathers Pedro Cambon and Angel Somera found Mission Vieja, later called, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, in what becomes San Gabriel, California. The opera Ascanio in Alba by Wolfgang Mozart, age 15, premieres in Milan.

In the 1770s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 5 – The Great Kalmyk (Torghut Migration) is led by Ubashi Khan, from the east bank of the Lower Volga River back to the homeland of Dzungaria, at this time under Qing dynasty rule.source
January 9 – Emperor Go-Momozono accedes to the throne of Tokugawa shogunate Japan following his aunt's abdication.source
22 January – Spain cedes the Falkland Islands to Britain.United Kingdom source
January - Mathildeordenen is created.Denmark source
8 February - Jacob Benzon is deposed as Steward of Norway, and the position was vacant until 1809.Norway source
15 June – Hof- og Stadsretten is established by royal charter in an attempt to rationalize the chaotic Danish court system.Denmark source
The trade monopoly with Iceland is transferred to the Danish crown.source
The territory of Baden-Baden is inherited by Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, reunifying the territories of Baden.source
The North Carolina General Assembly passes an act establishing the town of Martinsborough, named for Royal Governor Josiah Martin, on the land of Richard Evans, which will serve as the seat of Pitt County.source
William James of Bailieborough emigrates to the Thirteen Colonies of North America where he will make a great fortune in Albany, New York, and become father of Henry James Sr.Ireland source

Conflict & Security

March – War of the Regulation: North Carolina Governor William Tryon raises a militia to put down the long-running uprising of backcountry militias against North Carolina's colonial government.source
May 2: Former governor Christian von Proeck is deposed due to his reluctance to enforce royal decrees.Iceland source
May 11 – War of the Regulation: North Carolina Governor William Tryon marches his military out of Hillsborough, to come to the aid of General Hugh Waddell's beleaguered forces. Tryon's army stops at Alamance Creek, 5 mi away from the Regulator army.source
May 16 – War of the Regulation – Battle of Alamance: Regulators reject an appeal by Governor Tryon to disperse peacefully. Governor Tryon's forces crush the rebellion, causing many Regulators to move to frontier areas outside of North Carolina.source
May 23 – Battle of Lanckorona: A force of 4,000 Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat a Polish formation of 1,300 men.source
May – Three battles of Sarbakusa: An alliance of three of the most powerful aristocrats of Ethiopia (Goshu of Amhara, Wand Bewossen and Fasil of Damot) defeats Ras Mikael Sehul and Emperor Tekle Haymanot II, taking control of Ethiopia.source
July 13 – Russo-Turkish War (1768–74): Russian forces occupy the Crimea, under Prince Vasily Dolgorukov.source
July 17 – Bloody Falls massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.source
July 17 – Massacre at Bloody Falls: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacre a group of unsuspecting Inuit.Canada source
November 3 – Siamese conquest of Ha Tien ends the Siamese civil war of 1767-71.source

Exploration & Expansion

July 12 – The first voyage of James Cook around the world ends as HMS Endeavour returns to England after almost three years.source
12 July – first voyage of James Cook (begun 1768): HMS Endeavour anchors in The Downs, and Captain Cook goes ashore at Deal, Kent, following his global circumnavigation.United Kingdom source
September 8 – In California, Fathers Pedro Cambon and Angel Somera found Mission Vieja, later called, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, in what becomes San Gabriel, California.source
December 31 – Men, women and children of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes begin a 23-day encampment at Mobile, part of the British colony of West Florida, at the invitation of British Southern Indian superintendent John Stuart, as their leaders negotiate a treaty.source
Lieutenant Governor Michael Francklin of Nova Scotia travels to northern England to seek immigrants to replace those displaced by the Acadian expulsion.Canada source
Captain James Cook completes his first voyage around the world.Canada source
Reindeer were first brought to Iceland from Finnmark in Norway.Iceland source

Religion & Belief

February 12 – Upon the death of Adolf Frederick, he is succeeded as King of Sweden by his son Gustav III. At the time, however, Gustav is unaware of this, since he is abroad in Paris; the news of his father's death reaches him about a month later.source
7 August – foundation stone of Clifton House, Belfast, the Belfast Charitable Society's poorhouse, is laid.Ireland source
Construction of the Putuo Zongcheng Temple complex in Chengde, China is completed during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.source
Archbishop Richard Robinson founds the Armagh Public Library.Ireland source
The first of the Roman Catholic relief bills passes into law, permitting Catholics to reclaim and hold under lease for sixty-one years 50 acres (20 ha) of bog if more than a mile of any city or market town.Ireland source
Henry Evans - Cynghorion Tad i'w Fab (translated from English)Wales source
Peter Williams (1722-1796) - Hymns on Various Subjects (includes "Prayer for Strength", the first English translation of the hymn "Cwm Rhondda")Wales source

Economy & Finance

The company later known as H. H. Thiele is founded by Johan Rudolph Thiele.Denmark source
Warren Hastings of the British East India Company becomes governor of Bengal in India.United Kingdom source

Technology & Infrastructure

March 15 – The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers first meets in London, the world's oldest engineering society.source
15 March – Society of Civil Engineers first meets (in London), the world's oldest engineering society.United Kingdom source
30 September – Bath Assembly Rooms completed.United Kingdom source
November 16 – During the night the River Tyne in the north of England floods, destroying many bridges and killing several people; the replacement main bridge at Newcastle upon Tyne will not be completed until 1781.source
16 November – Several rivers flood in northern England, destroying many bridges and killing several people.United Kingdom source
26 November – First section of Monkland Canal opened.Scotland source
Limoges porcelain manufacture is established in France.source
Limoges porcelain manufacture is establishedFrance source
St George's Circus intersection built in London.United Kingdom source
Industrial Revolution: Richard Arkwright begins to develop cotton mills at Cromford in the Derwent Valley of Derbyshire, one of the earliest factory complexes.United Kingdom source

Science & Discovery

17 August – Edinburgh botanist James Robertson makes the first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis.Scotland source
Elis Roberts - Tair Rhan Oes DynWales source

Health & Medicine

1 March - The news of the King's death reach Gustav III of Sweden in Paris.Sweden source
April 4 – The first quarantines are started in Moscow and Saint Petersburg to fight the bubonic plague epidemic. Over the next 12 months, more than 52,000 people die from the plague in Moscow alone.source
September 15–17 – The Moscow plague riot results from an outbreak of bubonic plague, which kills 57,000.source
Norfolk and Norwich Hospital founded.United Kingdom source

Crime & Justice

October – Achmet Borumborad, con-artist, opens a Turkish Baths on Bachelor's Quay (modern day Bachelor's Walk), Dublin.Ireland source
December 3 – The cause of action in Sommersett's Case, which eventually leads to the end of slavery in Great Britain, begins when escaped slave James Somerset is found imprisoned on the ship Ann and Mary.source
David Williams - The Philosopher, in Three ConversationsWales source

Disasters & Accidents

October 9 – The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks off the coast of Finland; Captain Raymund Lourens and his crew escape unharmed.source

Climate & Environment

16 November – During the night, Solway Moss, on the Cumberland border, bursts, flooding local farms and settlements.Scotland source

Culture & Society

4 February - First meeting of the Cymdeithas y Gwyneddigion is held; Owen Jones is its president.Wales source
March 12 – The North Carolina General Assembly establishes Wake County (named for Margaret Wake, the wife of North Carolina Royal Governor William Tryon) from portions of Cumberland, Johnston and Orange counties. Bloomsberry (later known as Wake Courthouse) is made the informal county seat.source
30 May - Gustav III of Sweden returns to Sweden as monarch.Sweden source
June 11 – The Society of Gentlemen Supporters of the Bill of Rights meets in the London Tavern and changes its platform to a comprehensive program for British parliamentary reform in advance of the next election.source
August 8 – The first recorded town cricket match is played, at Horsham, England.source
8 August – first recorded town cricket match played at Horsham; Horsham Cricket Club formed here soon after 1806.United Kingdom source
October 17 – The opera Ascanio in Alba by Wolfgang Mozart, age 15, premieres in Milan.source
21 December - Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet, marries, as his second wife, Charlotte Grenville.Wales source
December - The first theatre in Norway is founded by Martin Nürenbach in Oslo; it would be dissolved in 1772.Norway source
Slovene literature: István Küzmics, the Hungarian Slovene writer and evangelical pastor, publishes (in Halle) the Nouvi Zákon, a translation of the New Testament into the Prekmurje Slovene language, with discrete South Slavic artwork.source
The Royal Theatre Ballet School in Copenhagen is founded.Denmark source
The song «Norges Skaal» is written by Johan Nordahl Brun.Norway source
Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition completes publication in Edinburgh.Scotland source

Births

22 February – Jørgen Aall, ship-owner and politician (died 1833)Norway source
April 13 – Richard Trevithick, English inventor (died 1833)source
April 18 – Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, Austrian field marshal (died 1820)source
May 11 – Laskarina Bouboulina, Greek independence heroine (died 1825)source
May 14 – Robert Owen, Welsh social reformer (died 1858)source
May 16 – Louis Henri Loison, French general (died 1816)source
June 5 – Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (died 1851)source
June 20: Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, colonizer and author (d.1820)Canada source
27 July - Simon Yorke, politician (died 1858)Wales source
August 15 – Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist, poet (died 1832)source
September 5 – Archduke Charles of Austria, Austrian general, statesman (died 1847)source
September 11 – Mungo Park, Scottish explorer (died 1806)source
September 23 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (died 1840)source
October 9 – Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (died 1815)source
12 October - Count Mikhail Miloradovich, Russian general of Serbian origin, prominent during the Napoleonic Wars. (died 1825)Russia source
October 23 – Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (died 1813)source
November 14 – Xavier Bichat, French anatomist and pathologist (died 1802)source
December 27 – William Johnson, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1834)source

Deaths

January 5 – John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, British statesman (born 1710)source
January 11 – Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, French writer (born 1704)source
February 12 – Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden (born 1710)source
February 20 – Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (born 1678)source
28 February – Johann Michael Lavien, planter (born c. 1717)Denmark source
29 April - Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia. (born 1700)Russia source
May 21 – Christopher Smart, English poet (born 1722)source
June 5 – Samuel Phillips (reverend), colonial American minister, 1st Pastor of the South Church in Andover (born 1690)source
June 8 – George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, English statesman (born 1716)source
9 June - Richard Trevor, former bishop of St David's, 63Wales source
July 30 – Thomas Gray, English writer (born 1716)source
September 17 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (born 1721)source
November 4 – Charles Lucas (politician), Irish apothecary (born 1713)source
November 6 – John Bevis, English physician, astronomer (born 1695)source
December 6 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist (born 1682)source
December 23 – Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, Canadian saint (born 1701)source
December 23 : Marie-Marguerite d'Youville, grey nun (b.1701)Canada source
December 26 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher (born 1715)source