1796
| Years: 1793 1794 1795 - 1796 - 1797 1798 1799 | |
| Decades: 1760s 1770s 1780s - 1790s - 1800s 1810s 1820s | |
| Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century 1796 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. (see link for calendar)
| Contents |
Events
- February 1 - The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York
- March 9 - Widow Joséphine de Beauharnais marries General Napoléon Bonaparte.
- March 30 - Carl Gauss obtained conditions for the constructibility by ruler and compass of regular polygons and was able to announce that the regular 17-gon was constructible by ruler and compasses.
- April 2 - The only night of would-be Shakespearean play of Vortigern and Rowena (actually written by William Henry Ireland)
- May 10 - First Coalition: Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte wins a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men.
- May 14 - Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.
- May 15 - Napoleon's troops take Milan
- June 1 - Tennessee is admitted as the 16th U.S. state.
- July 11 - The U.S. takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.
- July 22 - Surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company name an area in Ohio "Cleveland" after Gen. Moses Cleaveland, the superintendent of the surveying party.
- September 8 - French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Bassano - French forces defeat Austrian troops at Bassano.
- November: John Adams defeats Thomas Jefferson in U.S. presidential election
- November 4 - The Treaty of Tripoli (between the United States and Tripoli) is signed at Tripoli (see also 1797)
- November 17 November 6 Old Style - Catherine II of Russia called Catherine "The Great" dies and is succeeded by her son Paul I of Russia. His wife Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg becomes Empress consort.
- November 17 - French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Arcole - French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.
- December 7 - U.S. Electoral College meets to elect John Adams president
- The Ron Santa Teresa distillery is established in Venezuela.
- British government purchase a 40 acre (162,000 m²) site at Norman Cross the first purposely built prisoner of war camp in England at that time.
- Mungo Park visits Segu kingdom
- The Qianlong Emperor abdicates at age 84 to make way for his son, the Jiaqing Emperor.
- The British seize Ceylon from the Dutch.
Ongoing events
Births
- January 25 - William MacGillivray, Scottish naturalist and ornithologist (d. 1852)
- February 22 - Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, Belgian mathematician (d. 1874)
- March 18 - Jakob Steiner, Swiss mathematician (d. 1863)
- May 1 - Junius Brutus Booth, English actor (d. 1852)
- May 4 - Horace Mann, American educator and abolitionist (d. 1859)
- July 6 - Emperor Nicholas I of Russia (d. 1855)
- July 16 - Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, French painter (d. 1875)
- July 23 - Franz Berwald, Swedish composer (d. 1868)
- August 15 - John Torrey, American botanist (d. 1873)
- August 25 - James Lick, American land speculator (d. 1876)
- September 19 - Hartley Coleridge, British poet (d. 1849)
- October 23 - Stefano Franscini, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1857)
- November 30 - Carl Loewe, German composer (d. 1869)
Deaths
- February 23 - Jean-Nicolas Stofflet, French royalist general (executed) (b. 1751)
- July 21 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet (b. 1759)
- September 21 - François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French royalist general (killed in battle) (b. 1769)
- November 6 - Catherine the Great of Russia (b, 1729)