1787 CE

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin arriving to write a new Constitution for the United States. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to convene a Constitutional Convention intended to amend the Articles of Confederation. However, a new Constitution for the United States is eventually produced. George Washington presides over the Convention. John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne, having resigned as Roman Catholic Bishop of Cork and married a cousin, Maria, contrary to his vow of celibacy, swears oaths of allegiance, abjuration and Supremacy of the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England in Clonmel, the only authenticated apostate in the Catholic hierarchy in Ireland.

In the 1780s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • 11 January – new Assembly Rooms opened in George Street, Edinburgh.Scotlandsource
  • February 2 – Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania is chosen as the new President of the Congress of the Confederation.source
  • February 21 – The Confederation Congress sends word to the 13 states that a convention will be held in Philadelphia on May 14 to revise the Articles of Confederation.source
  • March 3 – By a vote of 33 to 29, Harrisburg is approved as the new capital of Pennsylvania.source
  • April 2 – A Charter of Justice is signed, providing the authority for the establishment of the first New South Wales (i.e. Australian) Courts of Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction.source
  • 13 May – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth with the eleven ships of the First Fleet carrying around 700 convicts and at least 300 crew and guards to establish a penal colony in Australia.United Kingdomsource
  • May 14 – In Philadelphia, delegates begin arriving for a Constitutional Convention.source
  • May 14 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin arriving to write a new Constitution for the United States.United Statessource
  • May 22 – In Britain, Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, with support from John Wesley, Josiah Wedgwood and others.source
  • May 25 – In Philadelphia, delegates begin to convene the Constitutional Convention, intended to amend the Articles of Confederation (however, a new United States Constitution is eventually produced). George Washington presides over the Convention.source
  • May 25 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to convene a Constitutional Convention intended to amend the Articles of Confederation. However, a new Constitution for the United States is eventually produced. George Washington presides over the Convention.United Statessource
  • June 20 – Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention that the government be called the United States.source
  • July 13 – The Congress of the Confederation enacts the Northwest Ordinance, establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory (the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin). It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states, and limits the expansion of slavery.source
  • July 18 – The United States ratifies its first treaty with the Sultanate of Morocco.source
  • August 9 – South Carolina cedes to the United States its claims to a 12-mile wide strip of land that runs across northern Alabama and Mississippi.source
  • 3 September – the Leslie Baronetcy, of Tarbert in the County of Kerry, is created in the Baronetage of Ireland for Edward Leslie.Irelandsource
  • September 17 – The United States Constitution is signed by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.source
  • 26 October – The Royal Danish Academy of Surgery on Bredgade in Copenhagen is inaugurated.Denmarksource
  • 27 October – Ferdinand von Trauttmansdorff arrives as minister plenipotentiary.Belgiumsource
  • November 21 – Treaty of Versailles (1787) signed, forming an alliance between the Kingdom of France and the Lord Nguyễn Phúc Ánh, future Emperor of Vietnam.source
  • 21 November - The Treaty of Versailles (1787) is signed between Louis XVI and the Vietnamese prince Nguyễn Ánh.Francesource
  • December 7 – Delaware ratifies the Constitution, and becomes the first U.S. state.source
  • December 12 – Pennsylvania becomes the second U.S. state.source
  • December 18 – New Jersey becomes the third U.S. state.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 4 – Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts fails.source
  • May – Orangist troops attack Vreeswijk, Harmelen and Maarssen; civil war starts in the Dutch Republic.source
  • 4 June – Guilds of Brussels assemble to enroll militiamen.Belgiumsource
  • June 28 – Princess Wilhelmina of Orange, sister of King Frederick William II of Prussia, is captured by Dutch Republican patriots, taken to Goejanverwellesluis and not allowed to travel to The Hague.source
  • July and August – First public disturbances that will become the Brabant Revolution.Belgiumsource
  • 15–17 July – Students and soldiers fight in Filosofgangen in Copenhagen ("Studenterkrigen i Filosofgangen").Denmarksource
  • September 13 – Prussian troops invade the Dutch Republic; two days later the Rhinegrave Salm gives up Utrecht. Within a few weeks 40,000 Patriots (out of a population of 2,000,000) go into exile in Northern France.source
  • 20 September – Fighting between Austrian troops and citizen militiamen in Brussels.Belgiumsource
  • October 1 – Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792): Battle of Kinburn – Alexander Suvorov, though sustaining a wound, routs the Turks.source
  • Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) beginsRussiasource
  • Northwest Indian War (1785–1795)United Statessource

Exploration & Expansion

  • May 13 – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with the 11 ships of the First Fleet, carrying around 700 convicts and at least 300 crew and guards to establish a penal colony in Australia.source
  • July – Principal Triangulation of Great Britain begun under the direction of General William Roy from Hounslow Heath; in the autumn it is extended to France.United Kingdomsource
  • December 23 – Captain William Bligh sets sail from England for Tahiti, on HMS Bounty.source
  • 23 December – Captain William Bligh sets sail from Spithead for Tahiti on HMS Bounty.United Kingdomsource
  • Crimean journey of Catherine the GreatRussiasource
  • Patrick Miller of Dalswinton demonstrates his design of manually-propelled paddleboat on the Firth of Forth.Scotlandsource

Religion & Belief

  • January 6 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase 100 acres of land for the county seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro) for William Pitt the Younger.United Statessource
  • January 9 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase 100 acres of land for the seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro), for William Pitt the Younger.source
  • March 28 – In the British House of Commons, Henry Beaufoy files the first motion to repeal the Test Act 1673, which restricts the rights of non-members of the Church of England; Beaufoy's motion is rejected, and the Act is not repealed until 1829.source
  • March 30 – Biblical theology becomes a separate discipline from biblical studies, as Johann Philipp Gabler delivers his speech "On the proper distinction between biblical and dogmatic theology and the specific objectives of each" upon his inauguration as the professor of theology at the University of Altdorf in Germany. Craig Bartholomew, Out of Egypt: Biblical Theology and Biblical Interpretation (Zondervan, 2011) p2source
  • 23 April – Henri Van der Noot presents his "Mémoire sur les droits du peuple brabançon" to the States of Brabant.Belgiumsource
  • May 7 – The New Church (Swedenborgian) is founded in England.source
  • 19 July – Ludovico di Belgiojoso recalled as minister plenipotentiary; replaced as acting minister by Sir Joseph MurrayBelgiumsource
  • 19 August – John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne, having resigned as Roman Catholic Bishop of Cork and married a cousin, Maria, contrary to his vow of celibacy, swears oaths of allegiance, abjuration and Supremacy of the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England in Clonmel, the only authenticated apostate in the Catholic hierarchy in Ireland.Irelandsource
  • 7 November - Louis XVI signs the Edict of Versailles, giving religious freedom to non-Catholics in France.Francesource
  • December 8 – La Purisima Mission is founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén as the eleventh of the Spanish missions in California.source
  • December 8 – Mission La Purisima Concepcion is founded by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, becoming the 11th mission in the California mission chain.United Statessource
  • Autumn: A ship arrived from Copenhagen with materials for the cathedral in Reykjavík and six craftsmen to work on the construction.Icelandsource
  • Thomas Charles opens his first Sunday school, at Hengoed.Walessource

Economy & Finance

  • March 17 – The Bank of North America, the central bank of the United States government under the Articles of Confederation, is re-incorporated after its charter had expired in 1786.source
  • April 25 – The Customs and Excise Act 1787 receives Royal assent. It replaced all customs duties, which included poundage, by a system where individual tariffs would be applied to importations.source
  • 26 April – States of Brabant refuse to vote taxes until their grievances are addressed.Belgiumsource
  • 22 May – Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade with support from John Wesley, Josiah Wedgwood and others.United Kingdomsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 1 January – George III writes his first letter to Arthur Young's Annals of Agriculture, under the name of Ralph Robinson of Windsor.United Kingdomsource
  • August 27 – Launching a 45 ft steam powered craft on the Delaware River, John Fitch demonstrates the first U.S. patent for his design.source
  • November - Richard Crawshay uses puddling at the Cyfarthfa ironworks.Walessource
  • 1 December – Kinnaird Head Lighthouse first illuminated.Scotlandsource
  • December 3 – James Rumsey demonstrates his water-jet propelled boat on the Potomac River.source
  • Fort Augustaborg is constructed on the Danish Gold Coast.Denmarksource
  • Lomonosov Bridge completed in Saint PetersburgRussiasource
  • Kennetpans Distillery begins to operate a condensing rotative stationary steam engine designed by James Watt, the first in Scotland.Scotlandsource
  • Catrine is developed on the River Ayr around one of the first cotton mills in Scotland by Claud Alexander of Ballochmyle in partnership with David Dale.Scotlandsource
  • Construction of Margam orangery begins.Walessource

Science & Discovery

  • January 11 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.source
  • 11 January – William Herschel discovers the Uranian moons Titania and Oberon.United Kingdomsource
  • 19 February – William Herschel first uses the 40-foot telescope under construction for him at Slough.United Kingdomsource
  • March - Hester Piozzi returns from Italy with her second husband.Walessource
  • April 19 – British astronomer Sir William Herschel notices three red glowing spots on the dark part of the Moon.source
  • Antoine Lavoisier is the first to suggest that silica is an oxide of a hitherto unknown metallic chemical element, later isolated and named silicon.source
  • Caroline Herschel is granted an annual salary of £50, by King George III of Great Britain, for acting as assistant to her brother William in astronomy.source
  • A fossil bone recovered from Cretaceous strata at Woodbury, New Jersey is discussed by the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.source
  • Prince William Henry (future William IV) lands at Quebec.Canadasource
  • A law was passed on the protection of reindeer, which had been imported in 1784 and 1787.Icelandsource

Health & Medicine

  • 28 May – Governors General Maria Christina and Albert suspend implementation of Joseph II's reforms.Belgiumsource
  • The Scotch Distilling Act imposes a tax on gin exported from Scotland to England.Scotlandsource
  • The first Cymmrodorion Society is disbanded.Walessource

Crime & Justice

  • 15 March - Lofthusreisingen ends with the arrest of Christian Jensen Lofthuus.Norwaysource
  • December - Evan Evans (Ieuan Fardd), shortly before his death, sells his manuscript collection.Walessource
  • At an investigation into judicial abuses, it is stated that one judge takes wine to excess, before taking his seat on the Bench; and that another habitually disregards the pertinent French law and applies the law of England.Canadasource
  • English: A controversy between the historian Jens Kragh Høst (1772-1844) and Jacob Baden (1735-1840) and art historian Torkel Baden (1765-1849) attracts attention..Denmarksource
  • Summer – Calton weavers' strike in the west of Scotland. On 3 September, six of the Calton weavers are killed by troops.United Kingdomsource
  • Iolo Morganwg spends time as a prisoner in Cardiff jail.Walessource
  • Elis Roberts - Pedwar Chwarter y FlwyddynWalessource

Disasters & Accidents

Climate & Environment

  • The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Waynesborough, and designates it the seat for Wayne County, North Carolina. The town becomes extinct after 1865.source
  • HBC David Thompson wintered with Piegans on Bow River.Canadasource

Culture & Society

  • January 19 – Mozart's Symphony No. 38 is premièred in Prague.source
  • 24 January – Hamlet is played for the first time in Sweden by Andreas Widerberg at the Comediehuset in Gothenburg.Swedensource
  • 29 January – States of Brabant, meeting in Brussels, admonish the Emperor that the Joyous Entry cannot be unilaterally altered.Belgiumsource
  • 27 February - Royal British Bowmen, an archery society, formed in Wrexham.Walessource
  • February 28 – A charter is granted, establishing the institution which will become the University of Pittsburgh.source
  • 17 April – the Edinburgh edition of Robert Burns' Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is published by William Creech including a portrait of Burns by Alexander Nasmyth. The poet has great social success in the city's literary circles; 16-year-old Walter Scott meets him at the house of Adam Ferguson. Burns also writes the first version of "The Battle of Sherramuir" this year.Scotlandsource
  • May 31 – The original Lord's Cricket Ground in London holds its first cricket match; Marylebone Cricket Club founded.source
  • 31 May – the original Lord's Cricket Ground holds its first cricket match; Marylebone Cricket Club founded.United Kingdomsource
  • August 10 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composes his famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik.source
  • September 4 – The first secondary school open to girls in Denmark, J. Cl. Todes Døtreskole, is founded in Copenhagen.source
  • 4 September – J. Cl. Todes Døtreskole is founded as one of the first girls' schools in the city.Denmarksource
  • September 24 – Washington Academy (later Washington & Jefferson College) is chartered by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.source
  • October 27 – The first of The Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the U.S. Constitution, is published in The Independent Journal, a New York newspaper.source
  • October 27 – The first of The Federalist papers, a series of essays, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay calling for ratification of the U.S. Constitution, is published in a New York paper.United Statessource
  • October 29 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni (libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte) premieres in the Estates Theatre in Prague.source
  • November 1 – The first secondary school open to girls in Sweden, Societetsskolan, is founded in Gothenburg.source
  • Det Dramatiske Selskab in Christiansand is founded.Norwaysource

Births

  • January 1 – Manuel José Arce, Revolutionary General and first President of The Federal Republic of Central America (died 1847)source
  • February 10 – William Bradley, Britain's tallest man ever at 7 ft 9 in. (died 1820)source
  • February 23 – Emma Willard, American educator (died 1870)source
  • March 6 – Joseph von Fraunhofer, German optician (died 1826)source
  • March 10 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Prime Minister of Spain (died 1862)source
  • 28 April – Jean-Joseph Raikem, politician (died 1875)Belgiumsource
  • June 28 – Sir Harry Smith, English soldier, military commander (died 1860)source
  • August 24 – James Weddell, British sailor known for discovering the Weddell Sea (died 1834)source
  • September 10 – John J. Crittenden, U.S. Senator from Kentucky 1817-1819, 1835-1841, 1842-1848 & 1855-1861 (died 1863)United Statessource
  • 1 October: Björn Blöndal, District Commissioner.Icelandsource
  • November 4 – Edmund Kean, English actor (died 1833)source
  • November 7 – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Serbian linguist, major reformer of the Serbian language (died 1864)source
  • November 18 – Louis Daguerre, French artist, chemist (died 1851)source
  • November 21 – Samuel Cunard, Canadian businessman, prominent Nova Scotian, founder of the Cunard Line (died 1865)source
  • December 10 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator (died 1851)source
  • December 16 – Mary Russell Mitford, English novelist and dramatist (died 1855)source
  • December 17 – Jan Evangelista Purkyne, Czech anatomist, botanist (died 1869)source
  • Michael Lunin – political philosopher, revolutionaryRussiasource

Deaths