Editing 1786

{{Year dab|1786}}
{{Year nav|1786}}
[[File:Shays' Rebellion.jpg|thumb|250px|[[August 29]]: [[Shays' Rebellion]] of taxpayers begins in U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts]]
{{C18 year in topic}}
[[File:Mont Blanc and Dome du Gouter.jpg|thumb|right| [[August 8]]: [[Mont Blanc]] climbed for the first time.]]
{{Year article header|1786}}

== Events ==
<onlyinclude>

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 3]] &ndash; The third [[Treaty of Hopewell]] is signed between the [[United States]] and the [[Choctaw]].
* [[January 6]] &ndash; The outward bound [[East Indiaman]] ''[[Halsewell (East Indiaman)|Halsewell]]'' is wrecked on the south coast of England in a storm, with only 74 of more than 240 on board surviving.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Loss of the Halsewell East-Indiaman|title=Remarkable Shipwrecks; Or, A Collection of Interesting Accounts of Naval Disasters: With Many Particulars of the Extraordinary Adventures and Sufferings of the Crews of Vessels Wrecked at Sea, and of Their Treatment on Distant Shores. Together with an Account of the Deliverance of Survivors|url=https://archive.org/details/remarkableshipw00stargoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/remarkableshipw00stargoog/page/n248 214]|access-date=2013-02-02|year=1813|publisher=Andrus and Starr}}</ref>
* [[February 2]] &ndash; In a speech before [[The Asiatic Society]] in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[William Jones (philologist)|Sir William Jones]] notes the formal resemblances between [[Latin]], [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], and [[Sanskrit]], laying the foundation for [[historical linguistics|comparative linguistics]] and [[Indo-European studies]].
* [[March 1]] &ndash; The [[Ohio Company of Associates]] is organized by five businessmen at a meeting at the [[Bunch-of-Grapes]] Tavern in [[Boston]] to purchase land from the United States government to form settlements in the modern-day U.S. state of [[Ohio]].<ref>"Manasseh Cutler, the Man Who Purchased Ohio", by William F. Poole, in ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register'' (April 1873) p161</ref><ref>''The Cincinnati Directory Advertiser for the Years 1836–7'' (J. H. Woodruff, 1836) p198</ref> 
* [[March 13]] &ndash; Construction begins in [[Dublin]] on the [[Four Courts]] Building, with the first stone laid down by the United Kingdom's Viceroy for Ireland, the [[Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland|Duke of Rutland]].<ref>Sir John Carr, ''The Stranger in Ireland, Or, A Tour in the Southern and Western Parts of that Country in the Year 1805'' (Lincoln & Gleason, 1806) p274</ref>

=== April&ndash;June ===
* [[April 2]] &ndash; The [[Creek Nation]] declares war on the U.S. [[State of Georgia]] over the matter of white settlers on land not ceded by the Nation. A truce is negotiated on April 17 between Creek Chief [[Alexander McGillivray]] (Hoboi-Hili-Miko) and U.S. Army General [[Lachlan McIntosh]] but is soon repudiated.<ref>Lucian Lamar Knight, ''Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials, and Legends'' (Byrd Printing, 1913) p476
</ref>
* [[April 11]] &ndash; Columbia College (modern-day [[Columbia University]]) holds its first graduation, with eight students, including [[DeWitt Clinton]].<ref>Robert McCaughey, ''Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University'' (Columbia University Press, 2012) p54</ref> 
* [[April 25]] &ndash; The United States and the Kingdom of Portugal sign their first commercial treaty, but it is never ratified.<ref>Robert Morris, ed., ''The Papers of Robert Morris, 1781-1784: November 1, 1782 – May 4, 1783'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988) p627</ref>
* [[April 27]] &ndash; British astronomer [[William Herschel]] publishes his first list of his discoveries, ''Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars''; two additional books are published in 1789 and 1802.<ref>Stephen James O'Meara, ''Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects'' (Cambridge University Press, 2016) p534</ref>
* [[May 1]] &ndash; [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s opera ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' premieres in [[Vienna]].
* [[May 21]] &ndash; The trial in the [[Affair of the Diamond Necklace]] ends in Paris.
* [[June 2]] &ndash; The [[Tignon law]] is enacted by [[Spanish Governor of Louisiana]] [[Esteban Rodríguez Miró]], to force black women to wear a [[tignon]] headscarf.<ref>{{cite book|title=Creole: The History and Legacy of Louisiana's Free People of Color|date=2000|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=978-0-8071-4205-9|editor-last=Kein|editor-first=Sybil|location=Baton Rouge|page=62|oclc=703156104}}</ref>
* [[June 6]] &ndash; [[Nathaniel Gorham]] is chosen as the new President of the U.S. Confederation Congress to substitute for John Hancock, who cannot take office because of illness.<ref name="Harper1786">{{cite book|title=Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A.D. to 1909|editor1-last=Lossing|editor1-first=Benson John|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Woodrow|publisher=Harper & Brothers|year=1910|page=167}}</ref>
* [[June 10]] &ndash; An [[1786 Kangding-Luding earthquake|earthquake]]-caused [[landslide dam]] on the [[Dadu River (Sichuan)|Dadu River]] gives way, killing 100,000 in the [[Sichuan]] province of China.
* [[June 25]] &ndash; [[Gavriil Pribylov]] discovers [[St. George Island (Alaska)|St. George Island]] of the [[Pribilof Islands]] in the [[Bering Sea]].

=== July&ndash;September ===
* [[July 14]] &ndash; [[Convention of London (1786)|Convention of London]] between the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] and the [[Kingdom of Spain]]: British settlements on the [[Mosquito Coast]] of Central America are to be evacuated; Spain expands the territory available to the British in [[Belize]] on the [[Yucatán Peninsula]], for cutting [[mahogany]].
* [[July 31]] &ndash; The '[[Kilmarnock volume]]' of [[Robert Burns]]' ''Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'' is published in [[Scotland]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect  |last=Burns   |first=Robert |year= 1786 |publisher= Printed for John Wilson |location=Kilmarnock |isbn=9780665395598 |edition= First |url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_39559  |access-date=26 January 2016}} via Internet Archive</ref> 
* [[August]]
** [[James Rumsey]] tests his first [[steamboat]] on the [[Potomac River]], at [[Shepherdstown, West Virginia|Shepherdstown, Virginia]].
** The [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet of Great Britain]] approves the establishment of a [[penal colony]], at [[Botany Bay]] in Australia.
* [[August 1]] &ndash; [[Caroline Herschel]] discovers a [[comet]] (the first discovered by a woman) from England.
* [[August 8]] &ndash; [[Mont Blanc]] is climbed for the first time, by [[Michel-Gabriel Paccard]] and [[Jacques Balmat]].
* [[August 11]] &ndash; Captain [[Francis Light]] acquires the island of [[Penang]] from the Sultan of [[Kedah]] on behalf of the [[British East India Company]], renaming it ''Prince of Wales Island'' in honour of the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|heir to the British throne]],<ref name="Cassell's Chronology339">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/339|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/339 339]}}</ref> and establishing the settlement of [[George Town, Penang|George Town]]. This is the first [[colony]] of the [[British Empire]] in Southeast Asia.
* [[August 17]] &ndash; [[Frederick William II of Prussia|Frederick William]], the paternal nephew of Frederick the Great, becomes King of Prussia as Frederick William II.
* [[August 18]] &ndash; The Kingdom of [[Denmark]] (including [[Norway]]) charters six settlements in [[Iceland]] to trade with it, thus ending the [[Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly]], and founding [[Reykjavík]].
* [[August 29]] &ndash; [[Shays' Rebellion]] begins in [[Massachusetts]].
* September–December &ndash; [[Goethe]] undertakes his ''[[Italian Journey]]'' (published in [[1817]]).
* [[September 2]] &ndash; A [[hurricane]] strikes [[Barbados]].
* [[September 11]]–[[September 14|14]] &ndash; The [[Annapolis Convention (1786)|Annapolis Convention]] is held by delegates from six of the 13 states (Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and New York) resulting in the scheduling of the [[Philadelphia Convention]] to draft a national constitution.<ref name="Harper1786"/>
* [[September 14]] &ndash; [[Connecticut]] cedes to the United States all of its claims to lands between the 41st and 42nd parallels north and west of the [[Connecticut Western Reserve]].<ref name="Harper1786"/>
* [[September 25]] &ndash; The mine of [[Huancavelica]] in the [[Peru]]vian [[Andes]] collapses killing more than hundred people.<ref name=historica/> The event was a major setback for [[Mercury (element)|quicksilver]] production in the [[Spanish Empire]].<ref name=historica>{{Cite journal |title=El derrumbe de Huancavelica en 1786: Fracaso de una reforma borbónica |journal=Histórica |last=Lang |first=Mervyn |url= |volume=X |issue=2 |pages=213–226 |year=1986 |doi=10.18800/historica.198602.003 |language=es}}</ref>
* [[September 26]] &ndash; [[Eden Agreement]]: A commercial treaty is signed between the Kingdoms of Great Britain and France.<ref name=CBH>{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Alan|last2=Palmer |first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=230–231|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}</ref>

=== October&ndash;December ===
[[File:Östersund from Frösön.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Östersund]]]]
* [[October 6]] &ndash; [[HMS Bellerophon (1786)|HMS ''Bellerophon'']] begins service with the Royal Navy.<ref>Colin Pengelly, ''HMS Bellerophon'' (Pen and Sword, 2014)</ref>
* [[October 10]] &ndash; The Confederation Congress of the United States directs backpay for seven months for Virginia officers who have been waiting since 1782.<ref>''Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia'' (January 6, 1787) p145</ref>  
* [[October 12]] &ndash; King George III of the United Kingdom appoints Captain Arthur Phillip as the first Governor of New Holland, which comprises the area of modern Australia from the [[135th meridian east]] to the east coast and all adjacent islands in the Pacific Ocean.<ref>"Conquest", by [[Alan Atkinson (historian)|Alan Atkinson]], in ''Australia's Empire'', ed. by Deryck M. Schreuder, Deryck Schreuder and Stuart Ward (Oxford University Press, 2008) p33</ref>
* [[October 16]] &ndash; The Confederation Congress establishes the United States Mint to make common coinage and currency for the U.S., to replace individual state coins.<ref name="Harper1786"/>
* [[October 23]]
** The 13th century AH begins on the [[Islamic calendar]] on the 1st of Muharram 1201 AH 
** The settlement of [[Östersund]] is established in [[Sweden]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ltz.se/artikel/slakt-o-vanner/foreningen-gamla-ostersund-2|title=Föreningen Gamla Östersund|publisher=Länstidningen Östersund|language=sv|author=Lennart Sundström|date=November 5, 2013|access-date=September 10, 2018|archive-date=September 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910204138/https://www.ltz.se/artikel/slakt-o-vanner/foreningen-gamla-ostersund-2|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[October 24]] &ndash; General David Cobb of the Massachusetts militia defeats a body of rebel insurgents at [[Taunton, Massachusetts]] in one of the battles of [[Shays' Rebellion]].<ref>''Collections of the Old Colony Historical Society'' No. 6 (1899) p151</ref>
* [[November 7]] &ndash; The oldest musical organization in the United States, the ''[[Stoughton Musical Society]]'', is founded.
* [[November 30]] &ndash; [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Peter Leopold Joseph]] of [[Habsburg-Lorraine]], Grand Duke of [[Tuscany]], promulgates a penal reform, making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. This day is therefore commemorated by 300 cities around the world as [[Cities for Life Day]].
* [[December 4]] &ndash; [[Mission Santa Barbara]] is founded by Padre [[Fermín Lasuén]] as the tenth of the [[Spanish missions in California]].[[File:Mission Santa Barbara 1987.jpg|thumb|right| [[December 4]]: [[Mission Santa Barbara]] is founded.]]
* [[December 20]] &ndash; [[Robert Burns]]'s ''Address to a [[Haggis]]'' is first published, in [[Edinburgh]].

=== Date unknown ===
* The town of [[Martinsborough, North Carolina]], named for Royal Governor [[Josiah Martin]] in [[1771]], is renamed "Greenesville" in honor of United States General [[Nathanael Greene]] by the [[North Carolina General Assembly]] (the name "Greenesville" is later shortened, to become [[Greenville, North Carolina|Greenville]]).
* The last reliably recorded [[wolf]] in Ireland is hunted down and killed near [[Mount Leinster]], [[County Carlow]], for killing sheep.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ucd.ie/gsi/pdf/33-2/lupus.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.ucd.ie/gsi/pdf/33-2/lupus.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=A geographical perspective on the decline and extermination of the Irish wolf ''canis lupus''|first=Kieran R.|last=Hickey|journal=Irish Geography|volume=33|year=2000|pages=185–98|doi=10.1080/00750770009478590|access-date=2011-02-25}}{{dead link|date=May 2024}}</ref></onlyinclude>

== Births ==
* [[January 7]] &ndash; [[John Catron]], [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]] (d. [[1865]])
* [[January 8]] &ndash; [[Nicholas Biddle (banker)|Nicholas Biddle]], President of the Second Bank of the United States (d. [[1844]])
* [[January 11]] &ndash; [[Joseph Jackson Lister]], English opticist, physician (d. [[1869]])
* [[January 12]] &ndash; [[Sir Robert Inglis, 2nd Baronet|Sir Robert Inglis, Bt]], English politician (d. [[1855]])
* [[January 23]] &ndash; [[Auguste de Montferrand]], French architect (d. [[1858]])
[[File:Maria Pavlovna of Russia by V.Borovikovskiy (1800s, Pavlovsk).jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859)|Maria Pavlovna of Russia]]]]
* [[February 16]] &ndash; [[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859)|Maria Pavlovna of Russia]], Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach (d. [[1859]])
* [[February 26]] &ndash; [[François Arago]], French astronomer, physicist and politician (d. [[1853]])
* [[February 24]] &ndash;  [[Wilhelm Grimm]], German philologist and folklorist (d. [[1859]])
* [[March 4]] &ndash; [[Agustina de Aragón]], Spanish heroine (d. [[1857]]) 
* [[March 22]] &ndash; [[Joachim Lelewel]], Polish historian (d. [[1861]])
* [[March 25]] &ndash;  [[Giovanni Battista Amici]], Italian astronomer, microscopist and botanist (d. [[1863]])
* [[April 16]] &ndash; [[John Franklin]], British naval officer and explorer (d. [[1847]]) 
* [[April 28]] &ndash; [[Elizabeth Andrew Warren]], Cornish botanist, marine [[Phycology|algolologist]] (d. [[1864]])
* [[May 29]] &ndash; [[Alexander Bryan Johnson]], American philosopher (d. [[1867]])
* [[June 13]] &ndash; [[Winfield Scott]], American general, presidential candidate (d. [[1866]])
*[[June 26]] &ndash; [[Sunthorn Phu]], Thai poet (d. [[1855]])
[[File:David Crockett.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Davy Crockett]]]]
[[File:Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld - Rothwell 1832.jpg|thumbnail|right|110px|[[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]]]]
* [[August 17]]
** [[Davy Crockett]], American frontiersman (d. [[1836]])
** [[Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]], mother of [[Queen Victoria]] (d. [[1861]])
* [[August 25]] &ndash; King [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]] (d. [[1868]])
* [[August 31]] &ndash; [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]], French chemist (d. [[1889]])
* [[September 10]] &ndash; [[Nicolás Bravo]], 3-time President of Mexico (d. [[1854]])
* [[September 11]] &ndash; [[Friedrich Kuhlau]], German composer (d. [[1832]])
* [[September 18]]
** King [[Christian VIII of Denmark]] (d. [[1848]])
** [[Justinus Kerner]], German physician (d. [[1862]])
* [[September 24]] &ndash; [[Charles Bianconi]], Italian-Irish entrepreneur (d. [[1875]])
* [[September 29]] &ndash; [[Guadalupe Victoria]], 1st [[President of Mexico]] (d. [[1843]])
* [[November 18]]
** [[Henry Bishop (composer)|Henry Bishop]], English composer (d. [[1855]])
** [[Carl Maria von Weber]], German composer (d. [[1826]])
* [[December 12]] &ndash; [[William L. Marcy]], American statesman (d. [[1857]])

=== Date unknown ===
* [[Kim Jeong-hui]], Korean epigrapher (d. [[1856]])
* ''probable'' &ndash; [[Moshoeshoe I]] of [[Lesotho]] (d. [[1870]])

== Deaths ==
* [[January 4]] &ndash; [[Moses Mendelssohn]], Jewish philosopher (b. [[1729]])
* [[January 7]] &ndash; [[Jean-Étienne Guettard]], French physician, scientist (b. [[1715]]) 
* [[January 14]] &ndash; [[Meshech Weare]], Governor of New Hampshire (b. [[1713]])
* [[January 26]] &ndash; [[Hans Joachim von Zieten]], Prussian field marshal (b. [[1699]])
* [[February 25]] &ndash; [[Thomas Wright (astronomer)|Thomas Wright]], British astronomer (b. [[1711]])
* [[February 28]] &ndash; [[John Gwynn (architect)|John Gwynn]], English architect and engineer (b. [[1713]])
* [[March 11]] &ndash; [[Charles Humphreys]], American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. [[1714]])
* [[April 10]] &ndash; [[John Byron]], British naval officer (b. [[1723]])
* [[April 20]] &ndash; [[John Goodricke]], English astronomer (b. [[1764]])
* [[May 1]] &ndash; [[Benjamin Waller]], American politician (b. [[1716]])
* [[May 2]] &ndash; [[Petronella Johanna de Timmerman]], Dutch poet, scientist (b. [[1723]])
* [[May 15]] &ndash; [[Eva Ekeblad]], Swedish scientist and agronomist, first female member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] (b. [[1724]])
* [[May 19]] &ndash; [[John Stanley (composer)|John Stanley]], English composer (b. [[1712]])
[[File:Carl Wilhelm Scheele from Familj-Journalen1874.png|thumb|110px|right|[[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]]]] 
* [[May 21]] &ndash; [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]], Swedish chemist (b. [[1742]])
* [[May 22]] &ndash; [[Carl Fredrik Mennander]], Swedish bishop (b. [[1712]])
* [[May 25]] &ndash; [[Peter III of Portugal]], consort of Queen [[Maria I of Portugal]] (b. [[1717]])
* [[June 17]] &ndash; [[Adam Drummond (politician)|Adam Drummond]], British politician (b. [[1713]])
* [[June 19]] &ndash; [[Nathanael Greene]], major general in the [[Continental Army]], 3rd Quartermaster General (b. [[1742]])
* [[July 28]] &ndash; [[Carlo Marchionni]], Italian architect (b. [[1702]])
[[File:Friedrich der Große (1781 or 1786) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|110px|right|[[Frederick II of Prussia]]]]
* [[August 17]] &ndash; King [[Frederick II of Prussia]] ("Frederick the Great") (b. [[1712]])
* [[August 27]] &ndash; [[Carl Fredrik Scheffer]], Swedish politician (b. [[1715]])
* [[September 5]] &ndash; [[Jonas Hanway]], English merchant, traveler, and philanthropist (b. [[1712]])
* [[September 17]] &ndash; [[Tokugawa Ieharu]], Japanese shōgun (b. [[1737]])
* [[September 18]] &ndash; [[Giovanni Battista Guadagnini]], Italian luthier (b. [[1711]])
* [[October 2]] &ndash; [[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel]], British admiral (b. [[1725]])
* [[October 5]] &ndash; [[Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch]], German botanist (b. [[1714]])
* [[October 17]] &ndash; [[Johann Ludwig Aberli]], Swiss artist (b. [[1723]])
* [[October 20]] &ndash; [[Humphrey Sturt]], British architect (b. [[1725]])
* [[October 31]] &ndash; [[Princess Amelia of Great Britain]], Second daughter of George II of Great Britain (b. [[1711]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Princess Amelia |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/princess-amelia |website=Westminster Abbey |access-date=8 October 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[November 30]] &ndash; [[Bernardo de Gálvez]], Spanish military leader who aided the United States in its quest for independence, in the [[American Revolutionary War]] (b. [[1746]])
* [[December 26]] &ndash; [[Gasparo Gozzi]], Italian critic, dramatist (b. [[1713]])<ref>{{cite book|author=John Louis DiGaetani|title=Carlo Gozzi: A Life in the 18th Century Venetian Theater, an Afterlife in Opera|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LEJdAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-0077-5|page=184}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=Blair's Chronological Tables |author1=John Blair |author-link=John Blair (priest) |author2=J. Willoughby Rosse|location= London |publisher=[[Henry George Bohn|H.G. Bohn]] |year=1856 |via=Hathi Trust |chapter-url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t6349vh5n?urlappend=%3Bseq=701 |chapter=1786 |hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t6349vh5n?urlappend=%3Bseq=701 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1786}}
[[Category:1786| ]]