1779 encyclopedia topics

Events of 1779

January 9 - British troops surrender to the Marathas in Wadgaon, India, and are forced to return all terrorities acquired since 1773.
January 11 - Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur.
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.
January 29 - After a second petition for partition from its residents, the North Carolina General Assembly abolishes Bute County, North Carolina (established 1764) by dividing it and naming the northern portion Warren County (for Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren) and the southern portion Franklin County (for Benjamin Franklin). The General Assembly also establishes Warrenton (also named for Joseph Warren) to be the county seat of Warren County and Louisburg (named for Louis XVI of France) to be the county seat of Franklin County.

February 14: Captain James Cook dies on the Sandwich Islands on his third and last voyage.
May 13 - War of Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives a part of the Bavarian territory (the Innviertel) and relinquishes the rest.
June 1 - American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold is court-martialed for malfeasance in his treatment of government property.
June 16 - American Revolutionary War: In support of the U.S., Spain declares war on England.

July 16 - American Revolutionary War: United States forces led by General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point, New York from British troops.
July 22 - Battle of Minisink: The Goshen Militia is destroyed by Joseph Brant's forces.
July 24 - American Revolutionary War: American forces led by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall launch the Penobscot Expedition in what is now Castine, Maine, resulting in the worst naval defeat in U.S. history until Pearl Harbor.
July - The Great Siege of Gibraltar (fourteenth and last military siege) starts. This is an action by French and Spanish forces to wrest control of Gibraltar from the established British garrison. The garrison, led by George Augustus Eliott, later 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar, survives all attacks and a blockade of supplies.

September - Battle of Baton Rouge: Spanish troops under Bernardo de Galvez capture the city from the British.
September 23 - American Revolution - Battle of Flamborough Head: The American ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, engages the British ship Serapis. The Bonhomme Richard sinks, but the Americans board the Serapis and other vessels, and are victorious.
October 4 - The Fort Wilson Riot takes place.
November 2 - The North Carolina General Assembly carves a new county from Dobbs County, North Carolina and names it Wayne County in honor of United States General Anthony Wayne.
December 13 - Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais marries Joséphine Tascher.
December 25 - Fort Nashborough, later to become Nashville, Tennessee, is founded by James Robertson.

The Iron Bridge is completed across the River Severn in Shropshire (the first all cast-iron bridge ever constructed).
Boulton and Watt's Smethwick Engine, now the oldest working engine in the world, is brought into service.
The city of Tampere, Finland is founded.