1789 CE

George Washington is unanimously elected the first president of the United States, by the United States Electoral College. At Federal Hall in New York City, the 1st United States Congress meets and declares the new United States Constitution to be in effect. A proposal for a Bill of Rights is adopted by the United States House of Representatives.

In the 1780s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 7 – The 1788-89 United States presidential election and House of Representatives elections are held.source
  • January 9 – Treaty of Fort Harmar: The terms of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784) and the Treaty of Fort McIntosh, between the United States Government and certain native American tribes, are reaffirmed, with some minor changes.source
  • January – King Gustav III summon the Riksdag of the Estates to Stockholm.Swedensource
  • February 4 – George Washington is unanimously elected the first president of the United States, by the United States Electoral College.source
  • February 21 – King Gustav III enforces the Union and Security Act, delivering the coup de grace to Sweden's 70-year-old parliamentarian system, in favor of absolute monarchy.source
  • March 4 – At Federal Hall in New York City, the 1st United States Congress meets, and declares the new United States Constitution to be in effect. The bicameral United States Congress replaces the unicameral Congress of the Confederation, as the legislature of the federal government of the United States.source
  • March 4 – At Federal Hall in New York City, the 1st United States Congress meets and declares the new United States Constitution to be in effect.United Statessource
  • April 1 – At Federal Hall, the United States House of Representatives attains its first quorum, and elects congressman Frederick Muhlenberg as the first Speaker of the House.source
  • April 6 – At Federal Hall, the United States Senate attains its first quorum, and elects John Langdon of Pennsylvania as its first president pro tempore. Later that day, the Senate and the House of Representatives meet in joint session for the first time, and the electoral votes of the first U.S. presidential election are counted. General George Washington is certified as president-elect, and John Adams is certified as vice-president elect.source
  • April 21 – John Adams takes office as the first vice president of the United States, and begins presiding over the United States Senate.source
  • 29 April – Joseph II's government in Brussels issues a decree establishing rural representation in the Third Estate of the States of Brabant and abolishing their right to veto taxes.Belgiumsource
  • April 30 – George Washington is inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City, beginning his term as the first president of the United States.source
  • June 17 – In France, representatives of the Third Estate at the Estates-General declare themselves the National Assembly.source
  • June – The Inconfidência Mineira is the first attempt at Brazilian independence from Portugal.source
  • July 9 – At Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly, and begins preparations for what will become the French Constitution of 1791.source
  • 9 July – Theater War part of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790): Denmark-Norway agreed to cease active engagement in the conflict. A statement of neutrality was issued by Denmark-Norway, not a formal peace treaty and Denmark-Norway leaves the war.Norwaysource
  • July 27 – The first agency of the Federal government of the United States under the new Constitution, the Department of Foreign Affairs (on September 15 renamed the Department of State), is established.source
  • August 4 – In France, members of the Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges.source
  • August 21 – A proposal for a Bill of Rights is adopted by the United States House of Representatives.source
  • August 26 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is proclaimed in France by the Constituent Assembly.source
  • September 24 – The Judiciary Act of 1789 establishes the federal judiciary, and the United States Marshals Service.source
  • September 25 – The United States Congress proposes a set of 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, for ratification by the states. Ratification for 10 of these proposals is completed on December 5, 1791, creating the United States Bill of Rights.source
  • October 24 – Brabant Revolution: Brabant revolutionaries cross the border from the Dutch Republic into the Austrian Netherlands; the first public reading of the Manifesto of the People of Brabant declares the independence of the Austrian Netherlands.source
  • November 20 – New Jersey ratifies the United States Bill of Rights, the first state to do so.source
  • November 21 – North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution, and becomes the 12th U.S. state.source
  • November 26 – A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States, as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress.source
  • The Bengal Presidency first establishes a penal colony, in the Andaman Islands.source
  • The Qajar dynasty establish themselves as rulers in Iran.source
  • Commanding officer of the colony's marine presence – Major Robert RossAustraliasource
  • Lord Grenville proposes that lands in Upper Canada be held in free and common soccage, and that the tenure of Lower Canadian lands be optional with the inhabitants.Canadasource
  • Members of the National Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges.Francesource
  • Elimination of the Permanent CouncilPolandsource

Conflict & Security

  • January 29 – In Vietnam, Emperor Quang Trung crushes the Chinese Qing forces in Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa. It is considered one of the greatest victories in Vietnamese military history.source
  • March 10 – In Japan, the Menashi–Kunashir rebellion begins between the Ainu people and Japanese.source
  • March 11 – The Venetian arsenal on the island of Corfu, containing 72,000 lb of gunpowder and 600 bombshells, explodes during a fire, killing 180 bystanders and knocking down a seawall.source
  • April 28 – Mutiny on the Bounty: Fletcher Christian leads the mutiny on the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty against Captain William Bligh, in the Pacific Ocean.source
  • 29 April – The Mutiny on the Bounty occurs; Captain William Bligh and 18 others are cast adrift.Australiasource
  • 14 June – Mutiny on the Bounty survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 4,000-mile journey in an open boat.United Kingdomsource
  • July 9 – The Theatre War officially ends in Scandinavia.source
  • July 12 – An angry Parisian crowd, inflamed by a speech from journalist Camille Desmoulins, demonstrates against the King's decision to dismiss Minister Necker.source
  • July 13 – The people begin to seize arms for the defense of Paris.source
  • July 14 – Survivors of the mutiny on the Bounty, including Captain William Bligh and 18 others, reach Timor after a nearly 4,000 mi journey in an open boat.source
  • July 14 – French Revolution: Storming of the Bastille – Citizens of Paris storm the fortress of the Bastille, and free the only seven prisoners held. In rural areas, peasants attack the manors of the nobility.source
  • July–August - Bread riots break out in North Wales.Walessource
  • August 7 – The United States Department of War is established.source
  • August 18 – The Liège Revolution breaks out in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.source
  • August 24 – The first naval battle of the Svensksund begins in the Gulf of Finland.source
  • August 24 - Battle of Svensksund (1789)Russiasource
  • September 22 – Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) – Battle of Rymnik: Alexander Suvorov roundly defeats 100,000 Turks.source
  • September 29 – The U.S. Department of War establishes the nation's first regular army, with a strength of several hundred men.source
  • 24 October – Army of émigré volunteers invades the Austrian Netherlands; Manifesto of the People of Brabant read out in Hoogstraten.Belgiumsource
  • October 27 – Battle of Turnhout: The Austrian army is beaten by Brabant revolutionaries.source
  • 12 November – The Norwegian army retreated from Bohuslen back to Norway. During the retreat, the Norwegian army lost 1,500-3,000 men to hunger, disease, poor sanitary conditions, and exposure to continual autumn rainfallNorwaysource
  • In Southern Africa, the Second Xhosa War between the Xhosa people and European settlers begins.source
  • In the adjacent Austrian Netherlands (the southern Low Countries), the Brabant Revolution erupted in late October 1789. This was a revolt against the centralizing reforms of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, who had abrogated the region's ancient charters. The revolutionaries, a mix of conservative "Statists" and progressive "Vonckists," invaded from the Dutch Republic, defeated Austrian forces at the Battle of Turnhout on October 27, and subsequently expelled the Austrians from most of the territory, eventually proclaiming the short-lived United Belgian States in early 1790.Netherlandssource
  • Northwest Indian War (1785–1795)United Statessource

Exploration & Expansion

  • 12 June – Phillip leads an expedition to Broken Bay (departed from Sydney on the 6th), and discovers the Hawkesbury River.Australiasource
  • 27 June – Captain Watkin Tench and party discover the Nepean RiverAustraliasource
  • July 10 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River Delta.source
  • 10 July – Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta in North America.Scotlandsource
  • Peggy of Castletown, Isle of Man, the world's oldest surviving private yacht, is built.source
  • The first version of a graphic description of a slave ship (the Brookes) is issued on behalf of the English Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade.source
  • David Thompson learns surveying from Philip Turnor.Canadasource
  • Alexander Mackenzie journeys to the Beaufort Sea, following what would later be named the Mackenzie River.Canadasource
  • 1789–93 – Alexander Mackenzie of Canada, seeking northern river route to the Pacific, travels to the Arctic Ocean; on second journey he crosses continent by land, making contact with many tribes.Canadasource
  • Charles Dibdin introduces the nautical song Tom Bowling in his London entertainment The Oddities.United Kingdomsource

Religion & Belief

  • April 7 – Selim III (1789–1807) succeeds Abdul Hamid I (1773–1789) as Ottoman Sultan.source
  • 18 June – In a government coup, Ferdinand von Trauttmansdorff, Joseph II's minister in Brussels, decrees the abolition of the Council of Brabant, the States of Brabant, and the Joyous Entry.Belgiumsource
  • July 23: Upon the death of his father, Finnur Jónsson, Hannes Finnsson becomes bishop of Skálholt.Icelandsource
  • August 14 – Christian VII issues a decree that Icelandic bishops should be consecrated in Iceland in order to save money.Icelandsource
  • 26 August – César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck, prince-bishop of Liège, flees to Trier; Republic of Liège proclaimed.Belgiumsource
  • November 2 – Decree on the goods of the clergy placed at the disposal of the Nation passed by the National Constituent Assembly.source
  • November 6 – Pope Pius VI creates the first diocese in the United States at Baltimore, and appoints John Carroll the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States.source
  • November 6 – Pope Pius VI appoints John Carroll the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States.United Statessource
  • Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, decrees that all peasant labor obligations be converted into cash payments.source
  • Thomas Campbell's Strictures on the Ecclesiastical and Literary History of Ireland, From the Most Ancient Times Till the Introduction of the Roman Ritual, and the Establishment of Papal Supremacy, by Henry II, King of England. Also, An Historical Sketch of the Constitution and Government of Ireland, from the Most Early Authenticated Period Down to the Year 1783 is published in Dublin.Irelandsource
  • In August 1789, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège also experienced a bloodless coup, the "Happy Revolution," where the local populace overthrew the Prince-Bishop in demands for democratic reforms.Netherlandssource
  • St. Vladimir's Cathedral (St. Petersburg)Russiasource

Economy & Finance

  • April – Privy Council report on the slave trade published.United Kingdomsource
  • 12 May – William Wilberforce makes his first major speech in the House of Commons on the abolition of the slave trade.United Kingdomsource
  • 6 June – Joseph II instructs his minister in Brussels to decree that ordinary taxes will henceforth no longer be subject to annual approval by the States of Brabant.Belgiumsource
  • July 4 – The U.S. Congress passes its first bill, the Tariff of 1789, setting out tariffs.source
  • July 4 – Congress passes its first tax on 30 different items at 8.5% with discount to American ships over foreign ones.United Statessource
  • Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
  • The Swedish National Debt Office is founded.Swedensource
  • Richard Price - Love for our CountryWalessource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 20 April – first boat passes through the Thames and Severn Canal's Sapperton Tunnel near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. At 3,817 yd it is the longest tunnel of any kind in England at this date.United Kingdomsource
  • September 11 – Alexander Hamilton is appointed as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.source
  • 5 October – The first ship built in the colony, Rose Hill Packet, begins service on the Parramatta River.Australiasource
  • 24 October – Royal Canal Company incorporated to construct a waterway from Dublin to the River Shannon.Irelandsource
  • December – steamboat experiments on the Forth and Clyde Canal by Patrick Miller of Dalswinton.Scotlandsource
  • Thomas Jefferson returns from Europe, bringing the first macaroni machine to the United States.source
  • The pedal-powered tricycle is invented by two Frenchmen, Blanchard and Maguier.source
  • Fort Washington (Cincinnati, Ohio) is built to protect early U.S. settlements in the Northwest Territory.source
  • Kirov Plant (factory) establishedRussiasource
  • Moscow Gostiny Dvor shopping mall rebuiltRussiasource
  • Fort Washington is built in Cincinnati, to protect early U.S. settlements in the Northwest Territory.United Statessource
  • unknown date - Blaenavon Ironworks begins production.Walessource

Science & Discovery

  • August 28 – William Herschel discovers Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons.source
  • 28 August – William Herschel discovers Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons.United Kingdomsource
  • 17 September – William Herschel discovers Mimas, another of Saturn's moons.United Kingdomsource
  • 22 September – (Today's New South Wales) Commonly cited as the first white child or the first white female born in Australia, Rebecca Small (22 September 1789 – 30 January 1883), was born in Port Jackson, the eldest daughter of John Small a boatswain in the First Fleet which arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788.Australiasource
  • 9 October – the first recorded cricket century to be scored in Scotland is made by the Hon. Colonel Charles Lennox: he scores 136 not out.Scotlandsource
  • German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovers the element uranium, while studying the mineral pitchblende.source
  • Andreas Hjorth founds what will later become known as Emil Hjorth & Sønner.Denmarksource
  • Robert Burns is appointed an exciseman.Scotlandsource

Health & Medicine

  • 3 February – Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces a Regency Bill to Parliament so that the Prince of Wales may serve as regent for his father George III during a period of mental illness, but the King recovers before the Bill becomes law.United Kingdomsource
  • April – An outbreak of smallpox at the Sydney Cove settlement kills many local Eora Aboriginals, including Arabanoo.Australiasource
  • July 11 – Louis XVI of France dismisses popular Chief Minister Jacques Necker.source
  • October 10 – Physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposes to the French National Assembly the adoption of more humane and egalitarian forms of capital punishment, including use of the guillotine.source
  • 21 November – James Ruse, a convict, provisionally given land at Parramatta to establish Experiment Farm.Australiasource
  • December 23 – A leaflet circulated in France accuses the Marquis de Favras of plotting to rescue the royal family.source
  • Influenced by Benjamin Rush's argument against the excessive use of alcohol, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community form a temperance movement in the United States.source
  • An angry Parisian crowd, inflamed by a speech from journalist Camille Desmoulins, demonstrates against the King's decision to dismiss Necker.Francesource
  • Andrew Duncan delivers the first lectures on forensic medicine in Britain, at the University of Edinburgh.Scotlandsource
  • The Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society is founded by James McGrigor and James Robertson.Scotlandsource
  • Andrew Pears introduces Pears soap in London.United Kingdomsource
  • Influenced by Dr. Benjamin Rush's argument against the excessive use of alcohol, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community form a temperance association.United Statessource

Crime & Justice

  • 7 January – Johan Henrik Hästesko is arrested for involvement in the Anjala conspiracy.Swedensource
  • 20 February – Hanging as a capital punishment was abolished.Norwaysource
  • 18 March – Catherine Murphy, a counterfeiter, becomes the last woman in Britain to suffer a sentence of death by burning, at Newgate Prison in London (although she is in practice strangled before being burnt).United Kingdomsource
  • July 1 – The comic ballet La fille mal gardée, choreographed by Jean Dauberval, is first presented under the title Le ballet de la paille, at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, at Bordeaux, France.source
  • The governor of the Bastille, Launay, three officers and three disabled are arrested and escorted to the city hall and massacred by the crowd.Francesource
  • Riot in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine suburb of Paris against the manufacturer of Réveillon wallpapers.Francesource
  • Jacques de Flesselles, provost of the merchants of Paris, is accused of treason and killed with a pistol shot.Francesource
  • Summer - The Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte Conspiracy to depose the king is instigated, but discontinued, at court.Swedensource
  • Iolo Morganwg - Barddoniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym, incorporating probable forgeries by MorganwgWalessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • 12 May - Stjärnorp Castle burns down.Swedensource
  • An estimated 150,000 of Paris's 600,000 people are without work.source

Climate & Environment

Culture & Society

  • January 21 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts. The anonymous author is William Hill Brown.source
  • January 21 – William Hill Brown's anonymous sentimental epistolary novel The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature, usually considered the first American novel, is published in Boston.United Statessource
  • January 23 – Georgetown University is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (part of modern-day Washington, D.C.), as the first Roman Catholic college in the United States.source
  • January – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes the pamphlet What Is the Third Estate? (Qu'est-ce que le tiers-état?), influential on the French Revolution.source
  • May 5 – In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 175 years, taken as the start of the French Revolution (1789–1799).source
  • 12 May - Thomas Jones organises an eisteddfod at the New Inn (modern-day Owain Glyndwr Hotel) in Corwen, where for the first time the public are admitted.Walessource
  • 4 June – Australia's first theatrical performance The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar staged with convicts acting in the roles.Australiasource
  • June 20 – The Tennis Court Oath is taken in Versailles.source
  • June 23 – Louis XVI of France makes a conciliatory speech urging reforms to a joint session, and orders the three estates to meet together.source
  • 9 July – The Theater War, which began the previous year, formally ends.Denmarksource
  • 17 July – The town of Hammerfest was founded.Norwaysource
  • 18 August – Beginning of Liège Revolution: democrats occupy the town hallBelgiumsource
  • September 2 – The United States Department of the Treasury is founded.source
  • September 22 – The United States Department of the Post Office is established.source
  • October 5 – Women's March on Versailles: Some 7,000 women march 12 mi from Paris to the royal Palace of Versailles to demand action over high bread prices.source
  • 4 November – Richard Price preaches a sermon in London, A Discourse on the Love of Our Country, igniting the Revolution Controversy.United Kingdomsource
  • November – foundation stone for Old College, University of Edinburgh, laid.Scotlandsource
  • December 11 – The University of North Carolina, the oldest public university in the United States, is founded.source
  • The Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Elementary Treatise of Chemistry), an influential chemistry textbook by Antoine Lavoisier, is published; translated into English in 1790, it comes to be considered the first modern chemical textbook.source
  • Former slave Olaudah Equiano's autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, one of the earliest published works by a black writer, is published in London.source

Births

Deaths

  • January 4 – Thomas Nelson Jr., American signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Virginia (1781) (born 1738)source
  • January 10 – James Mitchell Varnum, American brigadier general of the Revolutionary War, Continental Congressman for Rhode Island (born 1748)source
  • January 23 – Frances Brooke, English writer (born 1724)source
  • February 12 – Ethan Allen, American major general of the Revolutionary War, Vermont statesman (born 1738)source
  • February 19 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and President of Delaware (born 1738)source
  • March 29 – Thomas Collins, President of Delaware, dies in office.United Statessource
  • April 7 – Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (born 1722)source
  • April 7 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan (born 1725)source
  • April 7 - Petrus Camper, physician, anatomist, and palaeontologist among othersNetherlandssource
  • May 5 – Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti, Italian literary critic (born 1719)source
  • 18 May – Arabanoo, cultural mediator between the British settlers and Eora AboriginalsAustraliasource
  • July 23: Finnur Jónsson, bishop.Icelandsource
  • September 23 – Silas Deane, American Continental Congressman for Connecticut (born 1737)source
  • November 10 – Richard Caswell, American major general of the Revolutionary War, Continental Congressman and Governor of North Carolina (1776–80, 1785–87) (born 1729)source
  • November 17 – Samuel Holden Parsons, American major general of the Revolutionary War, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives (born 1737)source
  • November 26 – John Elwes, English miser and politician (born 1714)source
  • December 3 – Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (born 1714)source
  • December 23 – Charles-Michel de l'Épée, French philanthropist, developer of signed French (born 1712)source