1795 CE

War of the First Coalition: Flanders campaign: The French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands. William V, Prince of Orange, flees the Dutch Republic for exile at Kew. The British Army is evacuated from Bremen, having been unsuccessful in the Flanders Campaign under Prince Frederick, Duke of York.

In the 1790s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 19 – The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in Amsterdam, ending the Dutch Republic (Republic of the Seven United Netherlands).source
  • February 7 – The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed.source
  • April 5 – The Peace of Basel is signed, between France and Prussia.source
  • April 23 – Sweden becomes the first monarchy to recognize the French Republic - Swedish ambassador introduced into the French Convention.source
  • June 8 – George Washington submits the Jay Treaty to the United States Senate for ratification.United Statessource
  • June 24 – The United States Senate ratifies the Jay Treaty with Great Britain.source
  • July 22 – The Second Treaty of Basel is signed between the French First Republic and Spain, ending the War of the Pyrenees. Spain cedes its half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola to France.source
  • August 3 – The signing of the Treaty of Greenville puts an end to the Northwest Indian War.source
  • August 14 – President Washington signs the Jay Treaty with Britain on behalf of the United States.source
  • August 22 – French Revolution: The Constitution of the Year III is ratified by the National Convention.source
  • August 28 – The Third Treaty of Basel is signed, between the French First Republic and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel.source
  • September 5 – The United States signs a treaty with the Dey of Algiers, ruled by Baba Hassan, pledging the payment of $23,000 a year tribute to prevent piracy against American ships.source
  • September 28 – The Alliance of St Petersburg is formed between Britain, Russia and Austria against France.source
  • September - Hester Thrale and her second husband, Gabriele Piozzi, settle in Wales, where they begin renovating Bachygraig.Walessource
  • October 1 – The Austrian Netherlands is annexed to the French Republic, as the Belgian departments.source
  • October 20 – The United States signs a treaty with Spain, opening commerce along the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, and establishing boundaries between U.S. territory and Spanish Florida.source
  • October 24 – The Third Partition of Poland is made, dividing the territory of the Commonwealth of Poland between the Habsburg monarchy, Prussia and the Russian Empire. On November 25, Stanisław August Poniatowski formally abdicates as last King of Poland.source
  • October 27 – The United States and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid, which establishes the boundaries between Spanish colonies and the U.S.source
  • November 2 – French Revolution: The French Directory takes power; the influence of the Sans-culottes declines.source
  • 2 November – French Revolution: The French Directory takes power; the influence of the Sans-culottes declines.Francesource
  • November – Parliament passes the Treasonable Practices Act and the Seditious Meetings Act prohibiting assemblies of more than fifty people.United Kingdomsource
  • Alliance with France (May 1795)Netherlandssource
  • The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia were forced to be annexed into Russian rule.Polandsource
  • Abdication of King Stanisław August PoniatowskiPolandsource
  • The Vilna Governorate, replacing the Grodno GovernorateRussiasource

Conflict & Security

  • January 16 – War of the First Coalition: Flanders campaign: The French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands.source
  • January 18 – Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam: William V, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (Republic of the Seven United Netherlands), flees the country.source
  • 18 January – William V, Prince of Orange, flees the Dutch Republic for exile at Kew.Francesource
  • January 20 – French troops enter Amsterdam.source
  • January 23 – Flanders campaign: Capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder: The Dutch fleet, frozen in Zuiderzee, is captured by the French 8th Hussars.source
  • March 13–14 – War of the First Coalition Battle of Genoa: The British and Neapolitan fleets are victorious over the French.source
  • April – the British Army is evacuated from Bremen, having been unsuccessful in the Flanders Campaign under Prince Frederick, Duke of York.United Kingdomsource
  • May 1 – Unification of Hawai‘i: Battle of Nuʻuanu: Kamehameha I of the Island of Hawaii defeats the Oahuans, solidifying his control of the major islands of the archipelago and officially founding the Kingdom of Hawaii.source
  • May 1 – Battle of Nu'uanu: Kamehameha I of the island of Hawaii defeats the Oahuans, solidifying his control of the major islands of the archipelago and officially founding the Kingdom of Hawaii.United Statessource
  • May 31 – French Revolution: Revolutionary Tribunal suppressed.source
  • May–June – The Battle of Richmond Hill is fought in the colony of New South Wales, between the Darug people and British colonial forces.source
  • May or June – The Battle of Richmond Hill takes place between the native Darug people and the New South Wales Corps.Australiasource
  • June 16–17 – War of the First Coalition: Cornwallis's Retreat – A British Royal Navy battle squadron commanded by William Cornwallis fends off a numerically superior French Navy fleet, off the coast of Brittany.source
  • August 17 – A large slave rebellion occurs in Curaçao, suppressed the following month.source
  • August 25 – British forces capture Trincomalee, Ceylon.source
  • September 11 – Battle of Krtsanisi: The Persian emperor Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar defeats the forces of Heraclius II of Georgia.source
  • September 15 – French Revolutionary Wars – Invasion of the Cape Colony: British forces capture Cape Town in the Dutch Cape Colony, to use its strategic facilities against the French Navy.source
  • September 21 – Battle of the Diamond: Protestant forces defeat Catholic troops in Loughgall, Ireland, leading to the foundation of the Orange Order.source
  • 21 September – The Loyal Orange Institution (Orange Order) is formed in County Armagh following the Battle of the Diamond.Irelandsource
  • October 2 – British forces capture the Île d'Yeu off the coast of Brittany.source
  • October 5 – 13 Vendémiaire: Royalist riots in Paris are crushed by troops under Paul Barras and newly-reinstalled artillery officer Napoleon Bonaparte.source
  • British forces land off Quiberon to aid the revolt in Brittany.source
  • Commanding officer of the New South Wales Corps – William PatersonAustraliasource
  • The Nizam of Hyderabad defeated at the Battle of Kharda by the Marathas.Indiasource
  • Batavian Revolution in AmsterdamNetherlandssource

Exploration & Expansion

  • July - Ezekiel Hughes, Edward Bebb and others leave Llanbryn-mair on foot, bound for Philadelphia.Walessource
  • 7 September – HMS Reliance arrives in Sydney. Among the ship's passengers and crew are the Aboriginal Bennelong returning from a visit to England, the surgeon and explorer George Bass, and midshipman Matthew Flinders.Australiasource
  • December 28 – Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (modern-day Toronto).source
  • Daniel McGinnis discovers the supposed Money Pit on Oak Island, Nova Scotia. (according to one story)source
  • The town of Louisburgh, County Mayo, is established by Lord Altamount of Westport to house Catholic refugees fleeing sectarian conflict in the north of Ireland.Irelandsource
  • Society of the United Irishmen members including Theobald Wolfe Tone and Henry Joy McCracken meet at Cavehill to the north of Belfast.Irelandsource
  • The Universal British Directory includes the first-ever entry for Merthyr Tydfil.Walessource

Religion & Belief

  • March – English Benedictine monks expelled from Douai are permitted to proceed to England.source
  • 22 September – London Missionary Society inaugurated.United Kingdomsource
  • English Benedictine monks expelled from the Priory of St. Gregory's at Douai, France are permitted to proceed to England where they settle as guests of Sir Edward Smythe at Acton Burnell, Shropshire; later they will establish Downside Abbey in Somerset. This year also English Benedictine nuns expelled from the Priory of Our Lady of Good Hope in Paris settle initially in Dorset; later they will form Saint Mary's Abbey, Colwich.United Kingdomsource
  • John Jones (Jac Glan-y-gors) - Seren Tan GwmmwlWalessource
  • Thomas Evans (Tomos Glyn Cothi) - The Miscellaneous Repository neu Y Drysorfa GymysgedigWalessource

Economy & Finance

  • 5 May – a tax on hair-powder under the Duty on Hair Powder Act 1795 comes into effect, helping to end the fashion for powdering hair and wigs.United Kingdomsource
  • Jim Beam is founded as Old Jake Beam Sour Mash.source
  • Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
  • 1790s – British create protective tariffs to encourage timber production for Navy after Napoléon Bonaparte cuts off Baltic supply of tall trees and hardwood. First in New Brunswick then in Lower and Upper Canada. Montreal merchants expand transport to handle trade.Canadasource
  • Travancore comes under British protection; see Company rule in IndiaIndiasource
  • Dutch East India Company goes bankruptNetherlandssource
  • Archibald Constable starts in business for himself as a dealer in rare books in Edinburgh, origin of the publishing business which enters the 21st century as Constable & Robinson.Scotlandsource
  • Samuel Homfray brings an unsuccessful suit, at Hereford Assizes, of the commoners against the Dowlais Company.Walessource
  • The events of the French Revolution cause corn prices to rise dramatically, but wages do not follow. Food riots are commonplace across Wales for the several years after.Walessource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • July 25 – Construction of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales begins.source
  • 18 November – the River Clyde, in spate, floods the centre of Glasgow and brings down the recently erected bridge at the foot of the Saltmarket.Scotlandsource
  • The Hudson's Bay Company trading post Fort Edmonton is constructed; the city of Edmonton, Alberta, eventually grows from it.source
  • Acting Governor of New South Wales – William PatersonAustraliasource
  • A road Act is passed, in Lower Canada, though opposed by country people, who fear a return of the Statue labor of Governor Haldimand's time.Canadasource
  • The first Wexford bridge across the River Slaney in the town of Wexford, built by the American Lemuel Cox in wood, is completed.Irelandsource
  • Gallowgate Barracks in Glasgow are built.Scotlandsource
  • Copper bolts forged at Parys Mountain are used in the construction of an American warship, the USS Constitution.Walessource

Science & Discovery

  • April 7 – The metric system is adopted in France.source
  • 7 April – France adopts the metre as the unit of length.Francesource

Health & Medicine

  • 6 May – introduction of Speenhamland system of outdoor relief for the poor (originally by magistrates meeting at the Pelican Inn, Speenhamland, Berkshire).United Kingdomsource
  • The British Royal Navy makes the use of lemon juice mandatory, to prevent scurvy.source

Crime & Justice

  • April 23 – Former Governor-General of India Warren Hastings is acquitted by the British House of Lords of misconduct.source
  • 23 April – former Governor-General of India Warren Hastings acquitted by the House of Lords of misconduct.United Kingdomsource
  • 15 September – a group of workers felling timber on the estate of Lord Carysfort in County Wicklow discover gold, leading to the Wicklow gold rush.Irelandsource
  • Governor of New South Wales – John HunterAustraliasource
  • Inspector of Public Works – John MacarthurAustraliasource
  • Trial of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India, before the House of Lords, 12 Feb. 1788 – 23 Apr. 1795.Indiasource

Disasters & Accidents

  • June 5–7 – The Copenhagen Fire of 1795, starting in a naval warehouse, destroys 941 houses.source
  • 5 June – The Copenhagen Fire of 1795 breaks out around 3 p.m. at the Navy’s old base at Gammelholm.Denmarksource
  • July to September – a Newcomen atmospheric engine begins pumping at Elsecar New Colliery in the South Yorkshire Coalfield; 220 years later it will be the only operable example on its original site.United Kingdomsource
  • The Leda and the Swan statue in Copenhagen Harbour is dismantled.Denmarksource

Climate & Environment

  • January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the CET records dating back to 1659.source
  • January – the coldest month ever in the Central England temperature series with an average of −3.1.United Kingdomsource
  • 11 September – Floods devastate the farms at Hawkesbury.Australiasource
  • December 13 – Wold Cottage meteorite: A meteorite falls at Wold Newton, a hamlet in Yorkshire in England. This meteorite fall is subsequently used as a literary premise by science fiction writer Philip José Farmer, as the basis for the Wold Newton family.source
  • ? - A tornado strikes Sydney, destroying crops and trees in the early settlement, 1st tornado recorded in the BOM's severe weather archives.Australiasource
  • 10 to 12 February – great floods on the Rivers Severn and Wye result from ice breakup, snowmelt and heavy rainfall; many bridges damaged.United Kingdomsource
  • Riots over shortages of bread in many towns across Britain.United Kingdomsource
  • Only 12.9 mm of rain fall in September but as much as 173.2 mm in October, creating the largest month-to-month rise in the England and Wales Precipitation series.United Kingdomsource

Culture & Society

  • January 14 – The University of North Carolina opens to students at Chapel Hill, becoming the first state university in the United States.source
  • January 14 – The University of North Carolina (renamed The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963) opens to students, becoming the first state university in the United States.United Statessource
  • 17 January – Duddingston Curling Society formally organised.Scotlandsource
  • 28 January - The town of Farsund is founded.Norwaysource
  • March 29 – Ludwig van Beethoven makes his public debut in Vienna performing his Second Piano Concerto under the baton of his teacher Antonio Salieri.source
  • April 8 – George, Prince of Wales, marries Caroline of Brunswick.source
  • 8 April – marriage of George, Prince of Wales, to his cousin Caroline of Brunswick at St James's Palace on the promise of being relieved of his debts; the couple separate after a year.United Kingdomsource
  • 8 April - George, Prince of Wales, marries his first cousin, Princess Caroline of Brunswick.Walessource
  • June 3 – The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies are founded at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.source
  • 5 June – the Royal College of St Patrick established at Maynooth by Act of Grattan's Parliament to provide university-level education for Roman Catholic ecclesiastical and lay students.Irelandsource
  • June - Cecilia Thrale, youngest daughter of Hester Thrale, elopes with John Meredith Mostyn, a member of the prominent Anglesey family.Walessource
  • 22 August – Constitution of the Year III enacted, establishing the Directory.Francesource

Births

  • January 26 – Policarpa Salavarrieta, Colombian spy, revolutionary heroine working for the independence of Colombia (died 1817)source
  • February 3 – Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan revolutionary leader, general and statesman (died 1830)source
  • February 18 – George Peabody, American businessman and "father of modern philanthropy" (died 1869)source
  • March 12 – William Lyon Mackenzie, Scottish-born Canadian journalist, 1st Mayor of Toronto (died 1861)source
  • May 19 – Johns Hopkins, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1873)source
  • May 23 – Charles Barry, English architect (died 1860)source
  • June 19 – James Braid, Scottish surgeon, hypnotism pioneer (died 1860)source
  • June 21 – José María Pinedo, Argentinian naval commander (died 1885)source
  • 21 July – George Gawler, second Governor of South Australia, born in Southsea.Australiasource
  • October 15 – King Frederick William IV of Prussia (died 1861)source
  • 27 October: Agnes Magnúsdóttir, criminal (Murder of Nathan Ketilsson)Icelandsource
  • October 31 – John Keats, English poet (died 1821)source
  • November 2 – James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States (died 1849)source
  • November 2 – James K. Polk, 11th president of the U.S. from 1845 to 1849 (died 1849)United Statessource
  • December 3 – Rowland Hill, English teacher, inventor and social reformer (died 1879)source
  • December 4 – Thomas Carlyle, Scottish-born writer, historian (died 1881)source
  • December 21 – Leopold von Ranke, German historian (died 1886)source
  • Ary Scheffer (10 Feb 1795, Dordrecht)-Dutch/French Romantic painterNetherlandssource

Deaths

  • January 3 – Josiah Wedgwood, English potter, entrepreneur (born 1730)source
  • January 23 – John Sullivan, American general in the American Revolutionary War, delegate in the Continental Congress (born 1740)source
  • February 11 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet (born 1740)source
  • May 18 – Robert Rogers, British Army officer and American colonial frontiersman (born 1731)source
  • May 18: Robert Rogers, army officer and author (born 1731)Canadasource
  • May 19 – James Boswell, Scottish author (born 1740)source
  • May 19 – Josiah Bartlett, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (born 1729)source
  • June 8 – Titular King Louis XVII of France (born 1785)source
  • June 8 – Louis XVII, Prince Royal and titular King of France, dies in captivity in the Temple (Paris) and will be buried in an unmarked grave. The heir to the French throne, his uncle Louis XVIII, succeeds him as titular king (he will become the actual king on April 6, 1814). On June 28, the French republican government announces the death, due to mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis (many doubt the statement).source
  • June 23 – James Craig, Scottish architect (born 1739)source
  • July 3 – Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (born 1716)source
  • 6 July – Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein, physician, physicist and engineer (born 1723)Denmarksource
  • August 26 – Alessandro Cagliostro, Italian Freemason (born 1743)source
  • October 10 – Samuel Fraunces, American restaurateur (born 1722)source
  • October 10 – Samuel Fraunces, restaurateur (born 1722)United Statessource
  • December 23 – Henry Clinton, British general (born 1730)source
  • December 28 – Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian scientist (born 1747)source
  • Ivan Betskoy (1704–1795) - education reformerRussiasource