Editing 1796 (section)

=== January–March ===
* [[January 16]] – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the [[National Assembly of the Batavian Republic]]. (The next Dutch [[general elections]] are held in [[1888]].)
* [[February 1]] – The capital of [[Upper Canada]] is moved from [[Newark, Upper Canada|Newark]] to [[York, Upper Canada|York]].
* [[February 9]] – The [[Qianlong Emperor]] of China abdicates at age 84 to make way for his son, the [[Jiaqing Emperor]].
* [[February 15]] – [[French Revolutionary Wars]]: The [[Invasion of Ceylon (1795)]] ends when [[Johan van Angelbeek]], the [[Batavian Republic|Batavian]] governor of [[Ceylon]], surrenders [[Colombo]] peacefully to British forces.
* [[February 16]] – The Kingdom of Great Britain is granted control of [[Ceylon]] by the Dutch.<ref name="Cassell's Chronology346"/>
* [[February 29]] – Ratifications of the [[Jay Treaty]] between Great Britain and the United States are officially exchanged, bringing it into effect.<ref name="Harper1796">''Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909'', ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p171.</ref>
* [[March 9]] – Widow [[Joséphine de Beauharnais]] marries [[General]] [[Napoléon Bonaparte]].
* [[March 20]] – The U.S. House of Representatives demands that the U.S. State Department supply it with documents relating to the negotiation of the Jay Treaty; President Washington declines the request, citing that only the U.S. Senate has jurisdiction over treaties.<ref name="Harper1796"/>
* [[March 26]] – Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at [[Nice]] to take command of the [[Army of Italy (France)|Army of Italy]] (37,000 men and 60 guns), which is scattered in detachments as far as [[Genoa]].<ref>Reginald George Burton (2010). Napoleon's Campaigns in Italy 1796–1797 & 1800, p. 22. {{ISBN|978-0-85706-356-4}}</ref>
* [[March 30]] – [[Carl Gauss]] obtains conditions for the constructibility by ruler and compass of regular polygons, and is able to announce that the regular 17-gon is constructible by ruler and compasses.