March. Adam Smith publishes his groundbreaking work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

July 4. The Thirteen Colonies of North America declare themselves indipendent from the British motherland.

August 25. Philosopher David Hume dies in Edinburgh.

Agosto 27. The British troops defeat the rebels in the Battle of Long Island, New York.

Spanish missionaries found San Francisco.

A new artistic movement is growing in Germany. It is called "Sturm und Drang" [Storm and Impulse].

June 13. Nineteen-year-olf Marquis de Lafayette comes to the United States to help the Colonies in the war against the motherland.

June 14. The Continental Congress adopts the star-spangled banner as national flag.

July 2. Vermont is the first colonial territory where slavery is abolished [After the Revolution, Vermont will remain an independent republic. The state will join the Union only as late as 1791.]

September 11. The rebel troops commanded by George Washington are defeated in the Battle of Brandywine.

September 25. His Majesty's general William Howe conquers Philadelphia.

October 17. His Majesty's general John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga. The attempt to isolate New England from the other Colonies meets complete failure.

February 6. Louis XVI's France enters the war on the side of the Colonies.

April 1. Oliver Pollock, a businessman from New Orleans, is the first to use the "$" sign referring to the American dollar.

April 23. The continental Navy destroys British ships and fortifications at Whitehaven, Cumbria, Northern England.


May 30. Philosopher and novelist François-Marie Arouet aka Voltaire dies at the age of 83.

June 18. Continental troops reconquer Philadelphia.

July 2. Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau dies at the age of 66.

La Scala, one of the biggest theatres in the world, is under construction in Milan.

February 14. Explorer James Cook is killed at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii.

April. Charles III's Spain enters the war on the side of the US and France.

July 24. Gibraltar is sieged by French and Spanish troops.

September 23. The US Navy sinks two British ships in the Battle of Flamborough Head, a promontory on the Yorkshire coast.

In Italy, Bortolo Nardini founds his renowned grappa [schnaps] distillery.