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The 1770s

680 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 18th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1770 CE58 entries

  • March 26 – First voyage of James Cook: English explorer Captain James Cook and his crew aboard complete the circumnavigation of New Zealand.
  • June 3 – Gaspar de Portolà and Father Junípero Serra establish Monterey, the presidio of Alta California territory for Spain from 1777–1822, United Mexican States 1824–1846, until the California Republic.
  • August 22 (August 23 by Cook's log) – First voyage of James Cook: Captain Cook determines that New Holland (Australia) is not contiguous with New Guinea, and claims the whole of its eastern coast for Great Britain, later naming it all New South Wales.

1771 CE57 entries

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • October 17 – The opera Ascanio in Alba by Wolfgang Mozart, age 15, premieres in Milan.

1772 CE53 entries

  • January 17 – Johann Friedrich Struensee and Queen Caroline Matilda are arrested, leading to his execution and her banishment from Denmark.
  • June 22 – Somersett's Case: Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, delivers the decision that leads to the end of slavery in England.
  • August 5 – The first Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth begins. The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria becomes part of the crown lands of the Habsburg monarchy.

1773 CE64 entries

  • May 8 – In Egypt, Ottoman rebels revolt, killing Ali Bey, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt.
  • October 14 – The Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (Polish for National Education Committee), formed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, is considered to be the world's first ministry of education.
  • December 16 – Boston Tea Party: A group of American colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor, in protest against British tax policies.

1774 CE76 entries

  • May 17 – The colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations issues the first call for an "Intercolonial Congress" that eventually is set up as the Continental Congress.
  • September 21 – George Mason and George Washington found the Fairfax County Militia Association, a military unit independent of British control.
  • November 15 – The government of the Republic of Venice allows adventurer and ladies' man Giacomo Casanova to return home after a 17-year absence.

1775 CE82 entries

  • January – The Habsburg monarchy forces the Ottoman Empire to cede Bukovina to its rule.
  • November 13 – American Revolution: Battle of Montreal – American forces under Brigadier General Richard Montgomery capture Montreal. British General Guy Carleton escapes to Quebec.
  • November 17 – The city of Kuopio, Finland (belonging to Sweden at this time) is founded by King Gustav III of Sweden.

1776 CE93 entries

1777 CE69 entries

  • January 2 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of the Assunpink Creek: American general George Washington's army repulses a British attack by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis, in a second battle at Trenton, New Jersey.
  • June 14 – The Stars and Stripes is adopted by the Continental Congress as the flag of the United States.
  • November 29 – San Jose, California, is founded. It is the first pueblo in Spanish Alta California.

1778 CE66 entries

  • March 6–October 24 – Captain Cook explores and maps the Pacific Northwest coast of North America, from Cape Foulweather (Oregon) to the Bering Strait.
  • June 28 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Monmouth – George Washington's Continental Army battles British general Sir Henry Clinton's army to a draw, near Monmouth County, New Jersey.
  • July 3 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Wyoming takes place near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, ending in a terrible defeat for the local colonists.

1779 CE62 entries

  • January 22 – American Revolutionary War – Claudius Smith is hanged at Goshen, Orange County, New York for supposed acts of terrorism upon the people of the surrounding communities.
  • September 14–15 – American Revolutionary War – Little Beard's Town, a loyalist stronghold, is burnt by the Sullivan Expedition.
  • October 4 – The Fort Wilson Riot against James Wilson and others in Philadelphia takes place.