1777
| Years: 1774 1775 1776 - 1777 - 1778 1779 1780 | |
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| Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century 1777 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1777 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).
Events
- The Cornish language died out
- 2nd edition of Encyclopædia Britannica published
- January 3 - American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
- January 12 - Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded in what is now Santa Clara, California
- January 16 - Vermont declares its independence from New York becoming an independent country, a status it retained until it joined the United States as the 14th state in 1791
- June 13 - American Revolutionary War: Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina to help the Continental Congress train its army.
- June 14 - Stars and Stripes adopted by the Continental Congress as the Flag of the United States.
- August 16 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Bennington - British forces are defeated by American troops.
- September 3 - American Revolutionary War: The Flag of the United States flies in battle for the first time, at Cooch's Bridge in Delaware.
- October 17 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Saratoga- American troops defeat the British.
- November 15 - American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation in the temporary American capital at York, Pennsylvania.
- November 29 - San Jose, California founded. It is the first pueblo in Spanish Alta California.
- December 24 - Kiritimati discovered by James Cook
- The code duello is adopted at the Clonmell Summer Assizes as the form for pistol duels in Ireland. It is quickly denounced but nevertheless widely adopted throughout the English-speaking world.
Births
- January 2 - Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (d. 1857)
- February 12 - Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, French poet (d. 1843)
- March 17 - Roger Taney, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1864)
- April 12 - Henry Clay, American statesman (d. 1852)
- April 30 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1855)
- August 14 - Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (d. 1851)
- October 16 - Lorenzo Dow, American Methodist preacher (d. 1834)
- October 18 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d. 1811)
- December 4 - Madame Récamier, French writer (d. 1849)
- December 23 - Emperor Alexander I of Russia (d. 1825)
Deaths
- February 24 - King Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714)
- May 19 - Button Gwinnett
- September 22 - John Bartram, American botanist (b. 1699)