1788 CE

Massachusetts ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 6th U.S. state (see History of Massachusetts). Virginia ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 10th U.S. state under the new government (see History of Virginia). Robert Burns writes his version of the Scots poem Auld Lang Syne.

In the 1780s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 2 – Georgia ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the fourth U.S. state under the new government.source
  • January 9 – Connecticut ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the fifth U.S. state.source
  • January 22 – The Congress of the Confederation, effectively a caretaker government until the United States Constitution can be ratified by at least nine of the 13 states, elects Cyrus Griffin as its last president.source
  • 26 January – After Botany Bay was decided unsuitable for settlement, the First Fleet sails to Port Jackson and lands at Sydney Cove to establish a settlement (which becomes Sydney).Australiasource
  • February 6 – Massachusetts ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the sixth U.S. state.source
  • February 6 – Massachusetts ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 6th U.S. state (see History of Massachusetts).United Statessource
  • February 7 – Sydney is named and founded, in the British colony of New South Wales.source
  • 9 February – The Colony of New South Wales is formally proclaimed, with Phillip sworn in as Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief.Australiasource
  • April 28 – Maryland ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the seventh U.S. state.source
  • May 23 – South Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the eighth U.S. state.source
  • 25 May - The Royal Dramatic Theatre is inaugurated in Bollhuset in Stockholm.Swedensource
  • May – the Prime Minister moves for an investigation by the House of Commons into the slave trade to begin; it will be led by Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce.United Kingdomsource
  • June 21 – New Hampshire ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the ninth U.S. state, enabling the Constitution to go into effect. (The latter happens on March 4, 1789, when the first Congress elected under the new Constitution assembles.)source
  • June 25 – The Virginia Ratifying Convention ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the tenth U.S. state under the new government.source
  • June 25 – Virginia ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 10th U.S. state under the new government (see History of Virginia).United Statessource
  • July 24 – Governor General Lord Dorchester, by proclamation issued from the Chateau St. Louis in Quebec City, divides the British Province of Quebec into five Districts, namely: Gaspé, Nassau, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Hesse.source
  • July 26 – New York ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the eleventh U.S. state.source
  • August 12 – The Anjala conspiracy is signed.source
  • September 13 – The United States Congress of the Confederation passes an act providing a timeline for the voting for the first President under the new U.S. Constitution. William Waller Hening, ed., The Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, from the First Session of the Legislature, in the Year 1619 (George Cochran Publishing, 1823) p653source
  • October 21 – The 14th and last session of the Continental Congress and (the 6th as Congress under the Articles of Confederation) is adjourned.source
  • November 8 – Voting takes place in the 11 states that have ratified the United States Constitution for the first U.S. Senators; in Virginia, Richard Henry Lee and William Grayson, both anti-federalists, receive the highest number of votes in the Virginia Senate.source
  • November 15 – Cyrus Griffin of Virginia completes his service as the last President of the Congress of the Confederation, under the Articles of Confederation.source
  • Ontario is divided into five districts, under English law.Canadasource
  • Polish–Lithuanian CommonwealthPolandsource

Conflict & Security

  • February 9 – Austria enters the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92), and attacks Moldavia.source
  • 6 March – Lieutenant Philip Gidley King establishes a settlement on Norfolk Island with a party of fifteen convicts and seven men.Australiasource
  • April 13 – America's first recorded riot, the 'Doctors' Mob', begins. Residents of Manhattan are angry about grave robbers stealing bodies for doctors to dissect. The rioting is suppressed on April 15.source
  • May 15 – The Australian frontier wars begins. With the placement of a cournerstone.source
  • June 27 – The Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) breaks out following a staged attack on Swedish troops in Puumala, present-day Finland.source
  • August 10 – Emperor Shah Alam II was blinded by a maddened Indo-Afghan commander Ghulam Qadir Rohilla who sought revenge against the Mughal Empire.source
  • 21 August – Theater War: The Swedish attack on Russia caused Denmark-Norway to declare war on Sweden in accordance with its treaty obligations to Russia.Norwaysource
  • September 21 – Austro-Turkish War - Battle of Karánsebes: The Austrian army engages in a friendly-fire incident, which results in mass casualties.source
  • September 24 – The Theater War begins, when the army of Denmark–Norway invades Sweden.source
  • 24 September – The Theater War begins, when Denmark-Norway launches an attack on Sweden at Bohuslän as a diversion to support Russia, an ally of Denmark-Norway, who had in turn been attacked by Sweden in Gustav III's Russian War.Denmarksource
  • 24 September - 8,000-10,000 men under the command of Prince Charles of Hesse attacked Bohuslen from Norway.Norwaysource
  • Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) continuesRussiasource
  • Naval actions at the siege of Ochakov (1788)Russiasource
  • Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) beginsRussiasource
  • Northwest Indian War (1785–1795)United Statessource

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 18 – The leading ship (armed tender HMS Supply) in Captain Arthur Phillip's First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay, to colonise Australia.source
  • 18 January – Captain Arthur Phillip arrives in Botany Bay with the lead ship of the First Fleet, HMS Supply.Australiasource
  • 18 January – Captain Arthur Phillip's ship arrives at Botany Bay.United Kingdomsource
  • January 24 – The La Perouse expedition in the Astrolabe and Boussole arrives off Botany Bay, just as Captain Arthur Phillip is attempting to move his colony from there to Sydney Cove in Port Jackson.source
  • January 26 – Eleven ships of the First Fleet from Botany Bay, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, land at Sydney Cove (which will become Sydney), Australia, where he determines to establish the British prison colony of New South Wales, the first permanent European settlement on the continent.source
  • 26 January – eleven ships of First Fleet from Botany Bay led by Arthur Phillip land in what would become Sydney, Australia. Britain establishes the prison colony of New South Wales, the first permanent European settlement on the continent.United Kingdomsource
  • 14 February – HMS Supply leaves Sydney Cove to establish a settlement on Norfolk Island.Australiasource
  • February 17 – The uninhabited Lord Howe Island is discovered by the brig HMS Supply, commanded by Lieutenant Ball, who is on his way from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island with convicts to start a penal settlement there. They arrive at Norfolk Island on March 6.source
  • 17 February – the uninhabited Lord Howe Island is discovered by the brig HMS Supply, commanded by Lieutenant Ball, who is on his way from Botany Bay to Norfolk Island with convicts to start a penal settlement there.United Kingdomsource
  • 18 February – Lord Howe Island is discovered by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball on HMS Supply.Australiasource
  • March 10 – The La Perouse expedition leaves Sydney Cove for New Caledonia, never to be seen again.source
  • April 7 – American pioneers establish the town of Marietta (in modern-day Ohio), the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies.source
  • June 17 – English captains Thomas Gilbert and John Marshall, returning from Botany Bay, become the first Europeans to encounter the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean. They also chart islands in "Lord Mulgrove's range", later known as the Marshall Islands.source
  • 14 October – William Symington demonstrates a paddle steamer on Dalswinton Loch near Dumfries.Scotlandsource
  • Lowland Licence Act restricts exports of Scottish gin to England, effectively requiring a one-year pause in the trade.Scotlandsource

Religion & Belief

  • 1 January – first edition of The Times published under this title (previously The Daily Universal Register).United Kingdomsource
  • January 31 – Henry Benedict Stuart becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain, as King Henry IX and the figurehead of Jacobitism.source
  • 31 January – Henry Benedict Stuart becomes the new Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain as King Henry IX and the figurehead of Jacobitism.Scotlandsource
  • 31 January – Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati, becomes the new titular Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain as King Henry IX and the figurehead of Jacobitism.United Kingdomsource
  • 18 March – Great Sessions at Wrexham hear a graveyard dispute between the "Old" and "New" chapels at Llanuwchllyn.Walessource
  • March 21 – Great New Orleans Fire (1788) kills 25% of the population and destroys 856 buildings, including St. Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo, leaving most of the town in ruins. At the time New Orleans was a Spanish colony that would be secretly given to France in 1800. Not until 1803 would New Orleans as part of the Louisiana Purchase become part of the United States.United Statessource
  • Attorney-General Monk and Solicitor-General Williams are of opinion that, as the Jesuits have no civil existence as a Canadian corporation, their estates accrue to the Crown.Canadasource
  • Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly establishedRussiasource
  • Hester Lynch Piozzi – Letters to and from the late Samuel JohnsonWalessource

Economy & Finance

  • May 10 – The Royal Dramatic Theatre (Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern), Sweden's national drama company, is founded.source
  • 28 October – Lorentz Petersen's wine company is founded in Copenhagen.Denmarksource
  • Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
  • National income - ₹10,101 millionIndiasource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February 1 – Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patent a steamboat.source
  • February 1 – Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patent the steamboat in Georgia.United Statessource
  • September – Sydney's first road, from the Governor's House to Dawes Point, is completed.Australiasource
  • Annual British iron production reaches 68,000 tons.source
  • St Gregory's Church, Preshome, designed by Father John Reid, is built.Scotlandsource
  • Tobermory, Mull, and Ullapool are founded as herring ports by the British Fisheries Society to the designs of Thomas Telford.Scotlandsource
  • The estate house at Yair is built.Scotlandsource
  • Flax mills established at Brigton in Angus and Inverbervie in Kincardineshire.Scotlandsource
  • Undated – annual British iron production reaches 68,000 tons.United Kingdomsource
  • date unknown – Architect John Nash, during his "Welsh interlude", designs the stable block at Plas LlanstephanWalessource

Science & Discovery

  • 20 May – Marylebone Cricket Club publishes revised Laws of Cricket, establishing its position as the final arbiter of the rules of the game.United Kingdomsource
  • William Collins publishes Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland.Scotlandsource

Health & Medicine

  • 28 June - The outbreak of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–90).Swedensource
  • October – King George III of the United Kingdom becomes deranged; the Regency Crisis of 1788 starts.source
  • November 20 – In the United Kingdom, the Houses of Parliament are given the first formal report by Prime Minister Pitt of the mental illness of King George III. Parliament adjourns for two weeks, to await the results of examinations by royal physicians.source
  • Late October – a period of a mental instability for the King, George III, begins the Regency Crisis of 1788 only averted by his sudden recovery the following February.United Kingdomsource

Crime & Justice

  • 6 February – The first female convicts disembark at Port Jackson.Australiasource
  • March 14 – The Edinburgh Evening Courant carries a notice of £200 reward for the capture of William Brodie, a town councilor doubling as a burglar.source
  • April 13 – A riot, the Doctors' Mob, begins. Residents of Manhattan are angry about grave robbers stealing bodies for doctors to dissect. The rioting is suppressed on the 15th.United Statessource
  • 7 June - Riots broke out in Grenoble, the Day of the Tiles.Francesource
  • 25 June – Margaret Sullivan, a counterfeiter, becomes the penultimate woman in Britain to suffer a sentence of death by burning, in London (although she is in practice strangled before being burnt).United Kingdomsource
  • August 27 – The trial of Deacon William Brodie for burglary begins in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is sentenced to death by hanging.source
  • 27 August – trial of William Brodie begins in Edinburgh. He is sentenced to death by hanging.Scotlandsource
  • October 1 – William Brodie is hanged at the Tolbooth in Edinburgh.source
  • December 6 – Russo-Turkish War (1787–92): The Ottoman fortress of Ochakiv falls to the Russians after a prolonged siege, and a murderous storm with a temperature of -23 °C.source
  • Trial of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India, before the House of Lords, 12 Feb. 1788 – 23 Apr. 1795.Indiasource
  • Nicholas Owen – British Remains.Walessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • March 21 – The Great New Orleans Fire destroys 856 buildings, including St. Louis Cathedral and The Cabildo, leaving most of the town in ruins.source

Climate & Environment

  • 5 June – All the settlement's cattle brought from Cape Town escape; they are not recaptured until November 1795.Australiasource
  • July 13 – A hailstorm sweeps across France and the Dutch Republic, with hailstones 'as big as quart bottles' that take 'three days to melt'; immense damage is done.source
  • November 25 – Fifty consecutive days of temperatures below freezing strike France, a record that will be unbroken more than 200 years later.source

Culture & Society

  • January 1 – The first edition of The Times, previously The Daily Universal Register, is published in London.source
  • 9 January – Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa founded.United Kingdomsource
  • 4 June – Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon, becomes Chief Justice of the King's Bench.Walessource
  • June 7 – France: Day of the Tiles, which some consider the beginning of the French Revolution.source
  • June 9 – The African Association, an exploration group dedicated to plotting the Niger River and finding Timbuktu, is founded in England.source
  • June 26 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Vienna, completes his antepenultimate symphony, the Symphony No. 39 in E-flat.source
  • July 28 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Vienna, completes his penultimate symphony, the Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.source
  • 1 August – English Market in Cork is opened.Irelandsource
  • August 8 – King Louis XVI agrees to convene the Estates-General meeting in May 1789, the first time since 1614.source
  • 8 August - Louis XVI agreed to convene the Estates-General meeting in May 1789, for the first time since 1614.Francesource
  • August 10 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Vienna, completes his final symphony, the Symphony No. 41 in C Major, and nicknamed (after his death) The Jupiter.source
  • December – Robert Burns writes his version of the Scots poem Auld Lang Syne.source
  • December – Robert Burns writes his version of the Scots poem Auld Lang Syne. From Whitsun he has been tenant of Ellisland Farm.Scotlandsource
  • Eriksholm Manor is completed to designs by Caspar Frederik Harsdorff.Denmarksource
  • Fruntimmersskolan i Viborg foundedRussiasource
  • Kremlin Senate building completedRussiasource

Births

  • January 22 – George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, English poet (died 1824)source
  • February 5 – Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1850)source
  • February 22 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (died 1860)source
  • March 10 – Joseph von Eichendorff, German poet (died 1857)source
  • April 2 – Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet (died 1862)source
  • April 14 – David G. Burnet, President of the Republic of Texas (died 1870)source
  • April 14 – David Gouverneur Burnet, politician (died 1870)United Statessource
  • 17 April – Charles Hervey Bagot, South Australian pastoralist, mine owner and parliamentarian (died 1880)Australiasource
  • April 18 – Charlotte Murchison, Scottish geologist (died 1869)source
  • May 10 – Augustin-Jean Fresnel, French engineer, physicist and inventor (died 1827)source
  • May 22 – William Grant Broughton, first Anglican bishop in Australia (died 1853)source
  • June 8 – Charles A. Wickliffe, American politician, 14th Governor of Kentucky (died 1869)source
  • September 12 – Alexander Campbell, Irish-born founder of the Disciples of Christ (died 1866)source
  • September 21 – Margaret Taylor, First Lady of the United States (died 1852)source
  • September 25: Björn Gunnlaugsson, mathematician and cartographer.Icelandsource
  • October 24 – Sarah Josepha Hale, American author (died 1879)source
  • October 31 – David R. Porter, American politician (died 1867)source
  • Mathias Adler was an organist, sacristan and Principal of Pfarrschule Bischofshofen. (1788 - 1866)Austriasource

Deaths

  • January 31 – Charles Edward Stuart, claimant to the British throne (born 1720)source
  • February 28 – Thomas Cushing, American Continental Congressman (born 1725)source
  • March 29 – Charles Wesley, English co-founder (with his brother, John Wesley) of the religious movement known as Methodism (born 1707)source
  • March 29 – Charles Wesley (born 1707)United Statessource
  • April 12 – Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-born composer (born 1719)source
  • April 16 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist (born 1707)source
  • 29 May – Two convicts are killed by Aboriginals at Rushcutters Bay; Phillip leads a punitive attack on the Aborigines on 31 May.Australiasource
  • June 14 – Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (born 1714)source
  • June 21 – Johann Georg Hamann, German philosopher (born 1730)source
  • 21 June – Mathias Lunding, mayor of Copenhagen and director of the Danish Asiatic Company (born 1728)Denmarksource
  • August 2 – Thomas Gainsborough, British painter (born 1727)source
  • December 14 – King Charles III of Spain (born 1716)source
  • December 14 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer (born 1714)source
  • December 14 – King Charles III of Spain dies, and is succeeded by his son Charles IV.source
  • December 19 – Juan Bautista de Anza, Governor of the Spanish Province of New Mexico (born 1736)source
  • December 22 – Percivall Pott, English surgeon (born 1714)source
  • December 30 – Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian painter, elected to the Venetian Academy (born 1702)source
  • Samuel Greig, Scottish sailor who became a Russian admiralRussiasource