Disasters & Accidents in the 18th century

230 sourced entries, 1700 CE to 1799 CE, oldest first. Also see Disasters & Accidents across every century or everything else in the 18th century.

1700February 3 – The 'Lesser Great Fire' destroys a substantial part of central Edinburgh, Scotland.source
17003 February – "Lesser Great Fire" around Parliament Close, Edinburgh, leaves 400 families homeless.Scotland source
1700April – Fire destroys many buildings in Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia, including two in the palace complex.source
1701Upper gallery of the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin collapses for the second time.Ireland source
1702April 3 – The Dutch East India Company ship Merestein strikes rocks and sinks in Saldanha Bay off Jutten Island, Africa with the loss of 101 of the 200 people on board.source
1702May 16 – Much of the city of Uppsala, Sweden is destroyed in a fire.source
1702May 19 – Over 90% of the city of Bergen, Norway, is destroyed and reduced to ashes in a Great Fire.source
1702May 19 - The largest city fire in Bergen's history. 7/8 of the city burns down.Norway source
1703January 9 – The Jamaican town of Port Royal, a center of trade in the Western Hemisphere and at this time the largest city in the Caribbean, is destroyed by a fire. British ships in the harbor are able to rescue much of the merchandise that has been unloaded on the docks, but the inventory in market-places in town is destroyed.source
1703HMS Mary with loss of all but one of the 270 onboard including Rear admiral Basil Beaumont.England source
1703The Eddystone Lighthouse near Plymouth is destroyed in the storm together with its designer Henry Winstanley and 5 others.England source
1703Royal Navy ships wrecked on the Goodwin Sands includeEngland source
1703HMS Restoration with loss of all 387 on board.England source
1704March 23 – War of the Spanish Succession: The English Navy ships HMS Kent, HMS Bedford and HMS Antelope intercept two newly-built Spanish warships, Porta Coeli and Santa Teresa off of the coast of Cape Spartel, as the Spaniards attempt to sail into the Strait of Gibraltar. The two Spanish ships are captured after a seven-hour battle and taken toward Lisbon, but the Santa Teresa sinks along the way.source
170410 September – Lower Largo-born sailor Alexander Selkirk chooses to be marooned from a privateer ship in the Juan Fernández Islands.Scotland source
170511 April – English captain Thomas Green and two of his crew are hanged at Leith for alleged piracy on the Malabar Coast.Scotland source
1706The La troupe du Roi de Suede leaves Sweden and the theater of Bollhuset remains closed for fifteen years.Sweden source
1706At Esgair Hir mines, Cardiganshire, "The Governour and Company of the Mine-Adventurers of England [the company owned by Humphrey Mackworth] allow £20 per annum for a Charity-School for the Children of the miners and workmen belonging to the said Company. The said Company also give £30 yearly to a Minister to read prayers, preach, and catechise the children."Wales source
1707October 22 – Scilly naval disaster: Four British Royal Navy ships run aground in the Isles of Scilly, because of faulty navigation. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and at least 1,450 sailors all drown.source
170722 October – Scilly naval disaster: Four Royal Navy ships, including HMS Association, run aground in the Isles of Scilly because of faulty navigation – Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and at least 1450 sailors are drowned.United Kingdom source
1708April 28 – The Great Hoei fire breaks out in Kyoto, Japan, destroying the Imperial Palace and a large portion of the old capital.source
1708June 8 – War of the Spanish Succession: Wager's Action, a naval confrontation, takes place between a British squadron under Charles Wager and the Spanish treasure fleet off Cartagena in the Caribbean Sea. Spanish galleon San José explodes and sinks with the loss of almost all her 600 crew and an estimated 8.8 million ounces troy weight in gold; her wreck is located in 2015.source
17088 June – War of the Spanish Succession: Wager's Action, a naval confrontation, takes place between a British squadron under Charles Wager and the Spanish treasure fleet off Cartagena in the Caribbean Sea. Spanish galleon San José explodes and sinks with the loss of almost all her 600 crew and an estimated 8.8 million ounces troy weight in gold; her wreck is located in 2015.United Kingdom source
1708Fearful of a Swedish attack, the Russians blow up the city of Tartu, Estonia.source
1708The Russians burn the city of Porvoo, Finland (at the time part of Sweden).source
1708The original wooden Belfast Castle, the home of Sir Arthur Chichester, baron of Belfast, is burned down.Ireland source
1709Priceless medieval altarpieces, created by Tyrolese sculptor Michael Pacher, are destroyed.source
1710August 2 – British Royal Navy 90-gun ship HMS Vanguard is relaunched from Chatham; Vanguard sank in Chatham Dockyard in the Great Storm of 1703, but was raised in 1704 for rebuilding.source
1710September 9 − Philip V abandons MadridSpain source
1710November 9 − Archduke Charles evacuates MadridSpain source
1711October 7 – HMS Feversham is wrecked on Scaterie Island, Nova Scotia with the loss of 102 lives.source
1711October 11 – Panic kills 241 people in the stampede on the Guillottière bridge in France near Lyon. Revelers returning from a festival on the other side of the Rhône river are blocked by from crossing after a collision between a carriage and a cart. At least 25 fall off the bridge and into the river, while 216 are trampled by people behind them.source
1711November 5 – The southwest spire of Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire, England is struck by lightning, resulting in a fire that spreads to the nave and tower, destroying roofs, bells, clock and organ.source
17115 November – the southwest spire of Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire is struck by lightning, resulting in a fire that spreads to the nave and tower, destroying roofs, bells, clock and organ.United Kingdom source
1711November 7 – The Dutch East India Company ship Liefde runs aground and sinks off Out Skerries, Shetland, with the loss of all but one of her 300 crew.source
17117 November – Dutch East Indiaman Liefde runs aground and sinks off Out Skerries, Shetland with the loss of all but one of her 300 crew.Scotland source
1712March 15 – HMS Dragon, a 38-gun fourth rate frigate of the British Royal Navy, is wrecked on Les Casquets rocks to the west of Alderney.source
171215 March – HMS Dragon, a 38-gun fourth rate frigate of the Royal Navy, is wrecked on Les Casquets rocks to the west of Alderney.United Kingdom source
17128 April – The Danish frigate Heyeren sinks in Præstø Ghord after being shot upon by the Swedish frigate Hvita Örn.Denmark source
1715January 13 – A fire in London, described by some as the worst since the Great Fire of London (1666) almost 50 years earlier, starts on Thames Street when fireworks prematurely explode "in the house of Mr. Walker, an oil man"; more than 100 houses are consumed in the blaze, which continues over to Tower Street before it is controlled.source
171510 June – A Jacobite mob sacks Cross Street Chapel in Manchester, going on to destroy another at Monton.United Kingdom source
1715July 24 – 1715 Treasure Fleet: A Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships, under General Don Juan Ubilla, leaves Havana, Cuba for Spain. Seven days later, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida (some centuries later, treasure salvage is found from these wrecks).source
17164 July - Fredrikshald is set on fire by its inhabitants as to prevent the city being taken by the forces of King Charles XII.Norway source
1716A fire in Wapping destroys 150 houses.United Kingdom source
1717April 26 – The Whydah Gally, flagship of English pirate Samuel Bellamy, is wrecked in a storm off Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The Whydah sinks with a reputed 4 1/2 tons of treasure on board, and all but two of her crew are lost, including Bellamy.source
171724 December - HDMS Lossen is wrecked during the Christmas storm of 1717, outside the island Vesterøy in Hvaler.Norway source
1717Collegium of Mining and ManufacturingRussia source
171924 July - Nyköping is burned during the Russian Pillage of 1719–1721.Sweden source
171919 August - Norrtälje is burned during the Russian Pillage of 1719-1721Sweden source
1719December 2 – Workers in Falun Mine, Sweden, find the apparently petrified body of "Fet-Mats" Israelsson (died 1677), in a flooded part of the copper workings.source
1721January 6 – The Committee of Inquiry on the collapse of the South Sea Company in Great Britain publishes its findings.source
17216 January – The Committee of Inquiry on the collapse of the South Sea Company publishes its findings.United Kingdom source
172115 April - A great fire in Gothenburg.Sweden source
1721May to June - Hudiksvall, Härnösand, Piteå, Sundsvall, Söderhamn and Umeå are burned by the Russians during the Russian Pillage of 1719-1721, but Gävle is successfully defended.Sweden source
1722February - Jane Brereton's husband Thomas drowns in the River Dee at Saltney; following his death, she returns to live in Wrexham.Wales source
1722November 20 – The Dutch East India Company cargo ship Schoonenberg runs aground in South Africa's Struis Bay and is looted by most of its 110 crew, beginning a legend and questions of whether the wreck was part of a conspiracy or simply an accident. Almost 300 years later, the event is reconstructed in detail by investigators.source
1722Possible date – Burning of Janet Horne as a witch – see 1727 in Scotland.Scotland source
17231 May - A great fire in Stockholm destroys the Katarina Church and a large part of the city around it.Sweden source
172311 November – 18 people drown in the River Tweed near Melrose when a ferry boat capsizes.Scotland source
172423 June - The Hølonda Church burns down.Norway source
1724November 19 – The Dutch East India Company frigate Slot ter Hooge strikes rocks and sinks off Porto Santo Island, Madeira, with the loss of 221 of the 254 people on board.source
172419 November - according to legend, that day emperor Peter I of Russia rushes into the cold Neva to save the drowning soldiers while inspecting ironworks. This icy water rescue is said to have exacerbated Peter's bladder problems and caused his death in February 1725.Russia source
1725August 27 – At least 216 people die in the sinking of the Chameau, a ship of the French Navy, after the vessel is driven by a storm into rocks off of the coast of Nova Scotia. Reportedly, 180 bodies wash ashore near Louisbourg. The ship's cargo, which included a fortune in gold and silver coins, is discovered 240 years later in 1965.source
1725August 27 - French ship Chameau sank near Louisbourg.Canada source
1725A fire in Wapping, London, destroys 70 houses.source
1725A fire in Wapping, England destroys 70 houses.United Kingdom source
172625 June – A fire breaks out in Viborg destroying more than 150 buildings.Denmark source
17278 September – a barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell, Cambridgeshire, kills 78 people, many of them children.United Kingdom source
1728October 20–23 – The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 (the largest in the Danish city's history) burns.source
172820 October – The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 breaks out.Denmark source
1729May 8 – A fire breaks out inside the fully walled town of Haiger within the Holy Roman Empire (in the modern-day state of Hesse in Germany) and destroys all the buildings.source
1729May 12 – Six English pirates, including Mary Critchett, seize control of the sloop John and Elizabeth while being transported to America to complete their criminal sentences. They overpower their captors but are later captured in Chesapeake Bay by HMS Shoreham and hanged in August.source
172912 May – six English pirates, including Mary Critchett, seize control of the sloop John and Elizabeth while being transported to America to complete their criminal sentences. They overpower their captors but are later taken in Chesapeake Bay by HMS Shoreham and hanged in August.United Kingdom source
1729July 27 – A fire that breaks out on this day in Constantinople destroys 12,000 houses and kills 7,000 inhabitants.source
1731January 8 – An avalanche from the Skafjell mountain causes a massive wave in the Storfjorden fjord in Norway that sinks all boats that happen to be in the water at the time and kills people on both shores.source
17318 January – An avalanche from the Skafjell mountain causes a massive wave in the Storfjorden fjord, that sinks all boats that happen to be in the water at the time and kills people on both shores.Norway source
1731February 3 – A fire in Brussels at the Coudenberg Palace, at this time the home of the ruling Austrian Duchess of Brabant, destroys the building, including the state records stored therein.source
17318 April – Maglekilde Watermill is the first of a number of buildings which are destroyed in a series of devastating fires that hits Roskilde in 1731.Denmark source
1731April 28 – A fire at White's Chocolate House, near St. James's Palace in London, destroys the historic club and the paintings therein, but is kept from spreading by the fast response of firemen.source
173128 April – a fire at White's Chocolate House, near St. James's Palace in London, destroys the historic club and the paintings therein, but is kept from spreading by the fast response of firemen.United Kingdom source
1731June 4 – The English market town of Blandford Forum is destroyed by fire, with the exception of 26 houses. About one-third of the uninsured losses are paid for by the collection of disaster relief money.source
17314 June – great fire destroys much of the centre of Blandford Forum, Dorset.United Kingdom source
17315 June – Tiverton fire of 1731, a great fire in Tiverton, Devon.United Kingdom source
1731September 30 – The village of Barnwell, Cambridgeshire, England, is "burned down entirely" by a fire.source
173130 September – the village of Barnwell, Cambridgeshire, is "burned down entirely" by a fire.United Kingdom source
1731October 23 – A fire at Ashburnham House in Westminster destroys 114 irreplaceable manuscripts (including a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) and damages 98 others (among them the manuscript of Beowulf). Richard Bentley, the King's librarian and the House's owner, saves the only copy of the Codex Alexandrinus, carrying it under one arm as he leaps from a window. Bentley's ten year labor in translating the Greek Testament is ruined by the blaze. The remaining 844 manuscripts later form the heart of the collections of the British Library.source
173123 October – fire at Ashburnham House in London damages the nationally owned Cotton library, housed there at this time.United Kingdom source
1732September 16 – A military warehouse explosion kills up to two-thirds of the population of Campo Maior, Portugal.source
1734March – upper gallery of the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin collapses for the third time.Ireland source
1734June 21 – In Montreal, New France, a black slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is tortured then hanged by the French authorities for allegedly setting a fire that destroyed part of the city.source
1734December 24 – A fire destroys the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, the residence of the Spanish royal family, along with more than 400 valuable paintings, 100 sculptures and thousands of documents.source
1734The first city fire in Kristiansand.Norway source
1735February 3 – All 256 people on board the Dutch East India Company ships Vliegenthart and Anna Catherina die when the two ships sink in a gale off of the Netherlands coast. The wreckage of Vliegenthart remains undiscovered until 1981.source
1736April 19 – A fire in Stony Stratford, England, consumes 53 houses.source
173619 April – 53 houses in the Northamptonshire town of Stony Stratford are consumed by fire.United Kingdom source
1736August 12 – A fire in Saint Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire, destroys 2,000 buildings, the city's post office, and several palaces.source
1736December 7 – Benjamin Franklin builds the first volunteer fire company in Philadelphia.source
1737July 17 – The British ship Catherine founders in a storm off of Nova Scotia's Cape Sable Island during its voyage from Ireland to Boston, killing 98 of the 201 people on board.source
1738January 1 – At least 664 African slaves drown when the Dutch West Indies Company slave ship Leusden capsizes and sinks in the Maroni River during its arrival in Surinam. The Dutch crew escapes, and leaves the slaves locked below decks to die.source
1738December 27 – After setting off from Rotterdam in August with 240 immigrants to America, the British ship Princess Augusta is wrecked near Block Island off of the coast of the colony of Rhode Island. During the voyage, 200 passengers and seven crew die from illness spread by contaminated water. Another 20 die after the crew leaves and rows to shore. The wreck later becomes the subject of the legend of the "Palatine Light" ghost ship and of John Greenleaf Whittier's 1867 poem "The Palatine".source
1740January 8 – All 237 crewmen on the Dutch East India Company ship Rooswijk are drowned when the vessel strikes the shoals of Goodwin Sands, off of the coast of England, as it is beginning its second voyage to the Indies. The wreckage is discovered more than 250 years later, in 2004.source
17408 January – Dutch East India Company ship Rooswijk is wrecked on the shoals of Goodwin Sands with the loss of all 237 crew as it begins its second voyage to the Indies.United Kingdom source
1740First steam engine installed in Ireland, for pumping at Doonane Colliery, Shrule.Ireland source
1740The original Ballymena Castle burns down.Ireland source
1741May 14 – HMS Wager, one of the vessels of George Anson's voyage around the world, is wrecked on the coast of Chile, killing most of the crew who have survived scurvy.source
174114 May – HMS Wager, one of the vessels of George Anson's voyage around the world is wrecked on the coast of Chile, killing most of the surviving crew.United Kingdom source
17426 May – 150 houses in the Northamptonshire town of Stony Stratford are consumed by a fire, the second in 6 years.United Kingdom source
1742June 20 – İzmir, formerly the ancient Greek city of Smyrna, is destroyed by fire.source
1743April 13 – The British East India Company ship Princess Louisa is wrecked off the coast of Maio Island in the Cape Verde Islands, killing 49 of her 179 crew.source
174313 April – British East India Company ship Princess Louisa is wrecked off the coast of Maio Island in the Cape Verde Islands, killing 49 of her 179 crew.United Kingdom source
1743July 13 – All 276 people on board the Dutch East India Company ship Hollandia drown after the ship strikes a rock off of the Isles of Scilly in England near Cornwall. The wreckage is located in 1971.source
174313 July – all 276 people on board the Dutch East India Company ship Hollandia 1742 ship drown after the ship strikes a rock off Annet, Isles of Scilly.United Kingdom source
1744January 6 – The Royal Navy ship Bacchus engages the Spanish Navy privateer Begona, and sinks it; 90 of the 120 Spanish sailors die, but 30 of the crew are rescued.source
174426 February – a house in Pill Lane, Dublin, collapses while Roman Catholic mass is being held there, killing the priest and nine of the congregation.Ireland source
1744March 13 – The British ship Betty capsizes and sinks off of the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) near Anomabu. More than 200 people on board die, although there are a few survivors.source
1744July 8 – The Royal Navy privateer Somerset capsizes and sinks in the Bristol Channel, killing 86 of the 97 crew.source
17443 October – HMS Victory is wrecked on the Casquets in the Channel Islands with the loss of around 900 lives.United Kingdom source
1744October 4 – In one of the greatest disasters for the Royal Navy, HMS Victory sinks in a storm in the English Channel, killing 1,100 sailors and officers it had been bringing back from Gibraltar to England, including Admiral John Balchen. The wreck will be located 264 years later, in January, 2009.source
1744December 18 - Maria Theresa, Queen of Austria, orders the expulsion of Jews from Bohemia.Austria source
1745December 28 – For 5 days, fire destroys buildings in Istanbul.source
1747September 21 – A hurricane in the Caribbean Sea sinks 11 British ships, most of them off the coast of Saint Kitts.source
1748March 25 – A fire in the City of London starts at Change Alley in Cornhill and continues for two days. Dr. Samuel Johnson later writes, "The conflagration of a city, with all its turmoil and concominant distress, is one of the most dreadful spectacles which this world can afford to human eyes". Another history notes more than a century later that "the fire led to a great increase in the practice of fire insurance", after the blaze causes more than £1,000,000 worth of damage.source
174828 March – a fire in the City of London causes over a million pounds worth of damage.United Kingdom source
1748June 1 – A fire in Moscow kills 482 people and destroys 5,000 buildings.source
1749April 14 – British Royal Navy ship HMS Namur is wrecked in a storm near Fort St. David, India, with the loss of 520 lives.source
174914 April – second-rate HMS Namur is wrecked in a storm near Fort St. David, India, with the loss of 520 lives.United Kingdom source
1749June 4 – A fire in Glasgow leaves 200 families homeless.source
17494 June – A fire in Glasgow leaves 200 families homeless.Scotland source
1749September 28 – Three Russian survivors of the shipwreck on Edgeøya return to their homeland after more than six years, as the ship Nikolai i Andrei brings them to the port of Arkhangelsk. A fourth survivor, Fedor Veriginare, died of scurvy during the six-week voyage home.source
1750January 24 – A fire in Istanbul destroys 10,000 homes.source
1750July 11 – Halifax, Nova Scotia is almost completely destroyed by fire.source
17518 June - A great fire in Stockholm.Sweden source
1751July 31 – Fire destroys 1,000 houses in Stockholm.source
1752June 3 – A fire destroys 13,000 houses in Moscow in the Russian Empire, only 11 days after a May 23 fire destroyed 5,000 homes; by June 6, two-thirds of the city has been damaged or destroyed.source
1752June 21 – Pickawillany (now Piqua, Ohio), the capital of the Miami Indian nation, is attacked and burned by Odawa, Ojibwe and French soldiers under the command of Odawa War Chief Charles Michel de Langlade.source
1753January 3 – King Binnya Dala of the Hanthawaddy Kingdom orders the burning of Ava, the former capital of the Kingdom of Burma.source
1753November 12 – A fire destroys the Emperor's Palace in Moscow.source
175422 May – In fiction, the village of Brigadoon disappears into the Highland mist (alternate sources say 1747).Scotland source
1755July 17 – In a convoy of ships from Great Britain, returning to India for the East India Company, the lead ship Doddington (on her third voyage) wrecks in Algoa Bay near modern-day Port Elizabeth in South Africa, losing 247 of its 270 passengers and crew, together with a chest of gold coins from Robert Clive worth £33,000. In 1998, 1,400 coins from the wreck site are offered for sale, and in 2002 a portion is given to the South African government. Around twenty survivors of the wreck are eventually able to make safety after an open boat voyage.source
1755December 2 – The second Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of England is destroyed by fire.source
17552 December – the second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.United Kingdom source
1758December 13 – The ship Duke William sinks in the North Atlantic, with the loss of over 360 lives, while deporting Acadians from Prince Edward Island to France.source
1758A fire destroys parts of Christiania, Norway.source
1759July 19 – The Great Stockholm Fire 1759 breaks out at Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden.source
175919 July - The Great Stockholm Fire 1759 reduced about 20 blocks with about 300 houses to ash, and rendered about 2000 persons homeless.Sweden source
1759October 18 – A fire destroys the Macedonian city of Salonika, reducing 4,000 houses to ashes.source
1759Fire destroys 250 houses in Stockholm.source
1759Thursday June 28 - French fire ships, intended to burn the British fleet, at Quebec, are taken ashore by British sailors.Canada source
1760February 15 – The British Royal Navy ship HMS Royal Katherine runs aground off Bolt Head in England, with the loss of 699 lives.source
176015 February – HMS Royal Katherine runs aground off Bolt Head, South Devon, with the loss of 699 lives.United Kingdom source
1760March 20 – The Great Fire of Boston, Massachusetts, destroys 349 buildings and marks the biggest conflagration in the American colonies up to this time.source
1760April 12 – Two of six French ships run into a British blockade led by Britain's Admiral Edward Boscawen. Of the remaining four, one sinks before it can reach North America.source
176113 January – The Fire Insurance for All Danish Market Towns is instituted by law.Denmark source
1761August 6 – The Parlement of Paris votes to close all colleges, associations and seminaries associated with the Jesuit Order, following a long campaign by Louis-Adrien Le Paige.source
176225 August – The first Drottningholm Palace Theatre burns down.Sweden source
1763August – Fire in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, destroys 2,600 houses.source
1764The old city (original core) of Fredrikstad burns down.Norway source
1765May 18 – Not long after British rule has started over the formerly French colony of Quebec, an accidental fire destroys one quarter of the town of Montreal.source
176518 May – Fire destroys a large part of the town of Montreal, Quebec.Canada source
1767Autumn - Cyfarthfa Ironworks probably first comes into blast.Wales source
176830 May: Eggert Ólafsson and his wife, Ingibjörg Halldórsdóttir drowned after their boat capsizes in Breiðafjörður.Iceland source
1768August 7 – The palace of the Ottoman Grand Vizier is destroyed by a fire in Constantinoplesource
1768August 30 – A fire burns much of the Library of the Vatican.source
1768December 1 – The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøya, Norway.source
17681 December — The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøya.Norway source
1769August 18 – Brescia Explosion: The city of Brescia, Italy is devastated when the Church of San Nazaro is struck by lightning. The resulting fire ignites 200,000 lb (90,000 kg) of gunpowder being stored there, causing a massive explosion, which destroys 1/6 of the city and kills 3,000 people.source
1770February 1 – Thomas Jefferson's home at Shadwell, Virginia is destroyed by fire, along with most of his books.source
1770May 20 – A stampede at a celebration of the newly wedded Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste in Paris kills more than a hundred people.source
177020 May – A stampede at a celebration of the newly wedded Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste in Paris kills more than a hundred peopleFrance source
1771October 9 – The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks off the coast of Finland; Captain Raymund Lourens and his crew escape unharmed.source
1773National Mineral Resources UniversityRussia source
1775February 26 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates.source
1775November – the 90ft tall round tower adjoining the Church of St Michael le Pole in Dublin is damaged in "the great storm of 1775", and subsequently demolished for safety in 1778.Ireland source
1775Colliers and Salters (Scotland) Act 1775 provides for gradual removal of conditions of servitude on coal miners.Scotland source
1776June 6 – A fire destroys major parts of the town of Askersund, Sweden.source
1776September 20 – The Great Fire of New York (1776) starts during the night, ending the following morning.source
1776September 20 – The Great Fire of New York (1776) begins, continuing overnight.United States source
1776The Pennsylvania Provincial Council dissolves.United States source
1776Brunswick Town, North Carolina is attacked by British soldiers of the Royal Navy ship Cruizerwho burn most of the town including St. Philip's Church.United States source
1778The 90ft tall round tower adjoining the Church of St Michael le Pole in Dublin is demolished for safety reasons after being damaged by a storm in November 1775Ireland source
1780September 29 – The Danish ship-of-the-line Printz Friderich runs aground on the Kobbergrund shoal and is a total losssource
1780November 28 – A lightning strike in Saint Petersburg begins a fire that burns 11,000 homes.source
1781January 5 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces, led by Benedict Arnold.source
17815 January – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.United Kingdom source
17826 February – The collapse of a floor due to a rotten beam at Neale's Musick Hall, Dublin leaves many people injured, 11 of whom die shortly afterwards due to their injuries.Ireland source
178229 August – HMS Royal George capsizes at Spithead with the loss of 800 lives.United Kingdom source
1785May 10 – An unmanned hot air balloon released as part of a bet crashes in Tullamore, Ireland, causing a fire that burns down about 100 houses, making it the world's first aviation disaster (by 36 days). The town’s coat of arms now represents a phoenix emerging from the ashes.source
178510 May – a hot air balloon collides with a chimney in Tullamore, setting light to around 100 houses in the town centre.Ireland source
1785June 15 – After several attempts, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and his companion, Pierre Romain, set off in a balloon from Boulogne-sur-Mer, but the balloon suddenly deflates (without the envelope catching fire) and crashes near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais, killing both men, making it the first fatal aviation disaster.source
1786January 6 – The outward bound East Indiaman Halsewell is wrecked on the south coast of England in a storm, with only 74 of more than 240 on board surviving.source
17866 January – the outward bound East Indiaman Halsewell is wrecked on the Isle of Purbeck in a storm with only 74 of more than 240 on board surviving.United Kingdom source
1786September 25 – The mine of Huancavelica in the Peruvian Andes collapses killing more than a hundred people. The event is a major setback for quicksilver production in the Spanish Empire.source
1787The first Theatre Royal, Dublin, closes.Ireland source
1788March 21 – The Great New Orleans Fire destroys 856 buildings, including St. Louis Cathedral and The Cabildo, leaving most of the town in ruins.source
178912 May - Stjärnorp Castle burns down.Sweden source
1789An estimated 150,000 of Paris's 600,000 people are without work.source
179023–24 September – The Danish Asiatic Company's Chinaman Juliane Maria wrecks in the Chinese Sea.Denmark source
1792December (date unknown) – eleven people are drowned near the eighth lock of the Grand Canal when an overloaded barge capsizes.Ireland source
1792The first steam winding engine at a Scottish colliery is erected at Barrachnie in the Monklands coalfield.Scotland source
1792The French Theater of Gustav III is dissolved.Sweden source
1793July 31 – Oulu Castle in Finland is destroyed in an explosion following the burning of a powder cellar.source
179322 November - Two ships, the Morva and the Cavendish, are wrecked on The Smalls off Pembrokeshire.Wales source
1793Crowds in Paris burn monarchist emblems.source
179426 February – The first Christiansborg Palace is destroyed in a fire.Denmark source
17944 May – Dublin Society of United Irishmen suppressed.Ireland source
179423 July – Ratcliffe Fire destroys over 400 homes in London.United Kingdom source
1794December 8 – The Great New Orleans Fire (1794) burns over 200 buildings in the French Quarter.source
1795June 5–7 – The Copenhagen Fire of 1795, starting in a naval warehouse, destroys 941 houses.source
17955 June – The Copenhagen Fire of 1795 breaks out around 3 p.m. at the Navy’s old base at Gammelholm.Denmark source
1795July 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 Kingdom source
1795The Leda and the Swan statue in Copenhagen Harbour is dismantled.Denmark source
179622 September – Frigate HMS Amphion blows up while preparing for sea at Plymouth, killing 300 out of the 312 aboard.United Kingdom source
1796December 18 – British Royal Navy ship HMS Courageux is wrecked on the Barbary Coast with the loss of 464 of the 593 onboard.source
179618 December – HMS Courageux is wrecked on the Barbary Coast with the loss of 464 of the 593 on board.United Kingdom source
1797November 16 – (or November 23?) – British Royal Navy frigate HMS Tribune is wrecked on the approaches to Halifax, Nova Scotia; of the 240 on board, all but 12 are lost.source
179716 November (or 23 November?) – Royal Navy frigate HMS Tribune is wrecked on the approaches to Halifax, Nova Scotia; of the 240 on board, all but 12 are lost.United Kingdom source
179817 February - The French corvette Cérès was wrecked on the shores of Norway.Norway source
1798May – Blessington House, County Wicklow is burnt to the ground by rebels, and will never be rebuilt.Ireland source
17987 June – Carnew is burned by rebels led by Anthony Perry.Ireland source
17981 October – Sydney's first church St Philip's is destroyed by fire.Australia source
179824 October – attempted British landing at Blankenberge fails.Belgium source
179911 February – The jail in Sydney is burned by arsonists.Australia source
179913 June – Colliers Act ("An Act to explain and amend the Laws relative to Colliers in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland") frees coal miners from bondage to their employers, the last vestige of serfdom in Scotland.Scotland source
1799October 9 – HMS Lutine (a famous treasure wreck) is sunk in the West Frisian Islands.source
17999 October – Sinking of HMS Lutine, a famous treasure wreck, in the West Frisian Islands.United Kingdom source
179923 October – The River Severn ferry at The Tuckies, Jackfield, Shropshire capsizes and 28 workers from Coalport China Works are drowned.United Kingdom source
1799November 5 – HMS Sceptre is driven ashore and wrecked in a storm in Table Bay, South Africa, with the loss of 349 and 41 survivors.source
17995 November – HMS Sceptre is wrecked in a storm in Table Bay, South Africa, with the loss of 349 and 41 survivors.United Kingdom source
179925 December – HMS Ethalion is wrecked off the Penmarks.Wales source
179928 December – The jail in Parramatta is lost to arson.Australia source