Maryland. General Howe’s British troops, after 25 days at sea, manage to land in Chesapeake Bay (they had departed from Delaware, on the other side of the peninsula). Their objective is Philadelphia, the capital of the United States. Now, however, the Americans facing them have European military instructors, French weapons and cannons, and room to retreat to their rear.

New York State. Among the British troops, German dragoon Colonel Baum, leading 800 men of His Majesty’s troops, stands out. But among the Americans, 1,500 New Hampshire volunteers have just arrived and clash with Baum’s men. The Indians flee at the first clash. The German dragoons launch a desperate charge with their sabers. Baum is killed, and the Americans emerge victorious.

Battle of Oriskany, New York. Saratoga Campaign. One of the bloodiest of the American Revolutionary War and one of the few where almost all the combatants were North Americans. An American force led by Nicholas Herkimer and supported by the Oneida Indians attempted to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix. British commander Barry St. Leger, with his Hanau Jäger (light infantry), the King’s Royal Regiment of New York led by Sir John Johnson, and Indian allies from the Six Nations (primarily Iroquis, Mohawks, Senecas, Huron, and Nipissing), intercepted the mission. During the battle, Herkimer was mortally wounded. The American rebels left 385 of their number on the field and 30 were captured, while the Loyalists and Indians on the opposing side suffered 65 deaths. After the battle, however, the morale of the Loyalists and Indians was undermined by the sacking of their camp by the rebels.

United States. Congress authorizes the enlistment of 88 regiments of the so-called Continental Army.

Washington, with the help of a favorable wind and a sudden fog, silently withdraws his troops (9,000 men and heavy artillery) from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

George Washington arrives in front of New York (English) with 10,000 Continentals, facing 30,000 men, including 12,000 German mercenaries: at the end of the Battle of Long Island, Washington finds himself bottled up in the Brooklyn Heights

The Battle of Long Island rages off the Brooklyn Heights

During the American War of Independence, the French consul reports that 7,250 Venetian sailors were enlisted on the American and French sides. And approximately 3,000 fought for the British side.

American Declaration of Independence signed in Philadelphia

Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

New York, American Colonies of the British Empire: General Sir William Howe lands 30,000 British soldiers on the beaches of Staten Island, south of Manhattan. The British consolidate their position and will attack only a month and a half later. The American rebels then have time to reinforce their defenses in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

St. Patrick’s Day. Massachusetts, American Colonies of the British Empire: British troops, outflanked by Washington, are forced to abandon the city. They will never set foot there again.

America’s first economic and social cycle. From George Washington to John Quincy Adams. The Founding Fathers were visionary and cultured people, generally of English descent with some Scottish influence, while the pioneers were generally poor and uneducated.

Henry Cavendish in London combines hydrogen, oxygen and electricity to make water

The Natural History Museum of Modena is founded

George Washington assumes command of American forces before Boston

Paris. The Comte de Vergennes, at the court of Louis XVI, writes, “…the recovery of America by the English is impossible. All their efforts to multiply their forces overseas will be in vain.”

Battle of Bunker Hill: First Assault: General Stark’s New Hampshire troops opened fire with muskets on the Redcoats: entire ranks fell, but British discipline prevailed, and the gaps were filled by the shouts of officers who had to use the precious seconds the rebels needed to reload. The second volley of musket fire brought about a second massacre. The screams of the wounded drowned those of the officers. The third volley left so few men standing that the British could not attempt a bayonet charge. Stark’s men now fired at will. The remaining Redcoats were 96.

Battle of Bunker Hill, near Boston: New Hampshire sharpshooters litter the beach with British dead.

Boston. American General Artemas Ward of Massachusetts orders the occupation of the Bunker Hill peninsula, opposite Boston.

Jubilee celebrated by Pius VI

The Continental Congress is established in the United States of America, it will be dissolved in 1788

Peace of Kucuk Kaynarca between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, the Russians gain access to the Black Sea.

America, representatives of 13 American colonies decide to boycott English products (First Congress of Philadelphia)

Englishman Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen

The Swede Carl Scheele first isolated chlorine and immediately noted its caustic nature: it was green, suffocated, and bleached plants and litmus paper. Chlorine was discovered during one of the great scientific challenges of the time: proving whether all acids contained oxygen. Hydrochloric acid (or muriatic acid, as it was known at the time, from muria, meaning brackish water) did indeed contain chlorine instead of oxygen, but the definitive absence of oxygen would not be demonstrated until 1810 by Humphry Davy.

Paris. Lavoisier demonstrates for the first time that the transformation of copper and iron into green copper and rust, respectively, is accompanied by a gain in weight, hypothesizing that these substances absorb something from the air. He will later demonstrate that this “something” is oxygen. Lavoisier had already demonstrated years earlier that diamonds, sulfur, and phosphorus all gain weight when burned in air (taking into account both the ash and the gases emitted, of course).

Boston Tea Party, a protest by merchants against the English tea monopoly, the English government closes the port and declares a state of siege.

Second Voyage of Captain James Cook; he carries with him the K-1 watch prepared by Larcum Kendall, a copy of John Harrison’s H-4; Cook writes “Mr Kendall’s Watch (which costs 450 punds) exceeded the expectations of his most zealous advocate and by being now and then corrected by lunar observations has been our faithful guide through all vicissitudes of climate”

The Modena Botanical Garden is founded

Lagrange found exact solutions to some special cases of the Three-Body Problem. A famous example is the one found in Jupiter’s Trojan satellites, discovered in 1906 (the asteroid Achilles in this case), precisely at the points where Lagrange had indicated, which are now called Lagrangian Points. Lagrange’s 1772 work is entitled “Essay on the Three-Body Problem.”