Editing 1785 (section)

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 1]] 
** The Burmese Konbaung Dynasty annexes the [[Mrauk U Kingdom]] of [[Arakan]].
** The first issue of the ''[[Daily Universal Register]]'', later known as ''[[The Times]]'', is published in London.
* [[January 7]] &ndash; Frenchman [[Jean-Pierre Blanchard]] and American [[John Jeffries]] travel from [[Dover]], England to [[Calais]], France in a hydrogen gas [[balloon (aeronautics)|balloon]], becoming the first to cross the [[English Channel]] by air.
* [[January 11]] &ndash; [[Richard Henry Lee]] is elected as President of the U.S. Congress of the Confederation.<ref name="Harper1785">''Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909'', ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p167</ref>
* [[January 20]] &ndash; [[Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút]]: Invading [[Thai people|Siamese]] forces, attempting to exploit the political chaos in [[Vietnam]], are ambushed and annihilated at the [[Mekong]] River, by the [[Tây Sơn dynasty|Tây Sơn]].
* [[January 27]] &ndash; The [[University of Georgia]] in the United States is chartered by the [[Georgia General Assembly]] meeting in [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]]. The first students are admitted in [[Athens, Georgia]] in 1801.
* [[February 9]] &ndash; Sir [[Warren Hastings]], who has been governing [[India]] on behalf of King George III as the Governor-General of the [[Bengal Presidency|Presidency of Fort William]] (later [[British India]]), resigns.  [[Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet|Sir John Macpherson]] administers British India until [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|General Charles Cornwallis]] arrives 19 months later.<ref>G.S.Chhabra, ''Advance Study in the History of Modern India'', Volume-1: 1707-1803 (Lotus Press, 2005) p282</ref>
* [[February 27]] &ndash; The Confederation Congress votes an $80,000 expense to establish diplomatic relations with [[Morocco]].<ref>''The Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America: From the Signing of the Definitive Treaty of Peace, September 10, 1783 to the Adoption of the Constitution, March 4, 1789'', Volume II (Blair & Rives, 1837) p365</ref> 
* [[March 7]] &ndash; Scottish geologist [[James Hutton]] first presents his landmark work, ''[[Theory of the Earth]]; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe'' to the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]].<ref>Jill Schneiderman, ''The Earth Around Us: Maintaining A Livable Planet'' (Henry Holt and Company, 2000) p24</ref>
*General [[Henry Knox]] is appointed as the Confederation Congress's Secretary of War, with added duties as the Secretary of Navy, both functions now of the U.S. Department of Defense.<ref name="Harper1785"/>
* [[March 10]]
**American engineer [[James Rumsey]] sends a letter to [[George Washington]] informing of his plans to create a successful [[steamboat]].<ref>''Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents'', Part 1 (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1850) p535</ref>  
**[[Thomas Jefferson]] is appointed the new U.S. Minister to France, and Benjamin Franklin's request for permission to return home is accepted.<ref name="Harper1785"/>