1776

Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century

Decades: 1720s 1730s 1740s 1750s 1760s - 1770s - 1780s 1790s 1800s 1810s 1820s

Years: 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 - 1776 - 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781

• January 10 - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
• March 17 - American Revolutionary War: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington places artillery overlooking the city.
• March 28 - Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
• May 1 - Former Jesuit Adam Weishaupt founds the Bavarian Illuminati (Order of the Illuminati) in Ingolstadt, Bavaria.
• June 12 - Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason adopted by the Virginia Convention of Delegates.
• June 17 - Lt. Jose Joaquin Moraga[?] leads a band of colonists from Monterey Presidio, landing on June 29 and constructing the Mission Dolores[?] of the new Presidio of San Francisco.
• July 4 - American Revolutionary War: United States Declaration of Independence.
• September - First running of the St. Leger Stakes horse race in England.
• December 5 - The Phi Beta Kappa society is organized at the College of William and Mary.
• December 23 - Thomas Paine, living with Washington's troops begins publishing The Crisis[?], containing the stirring phrase, These are the times that try men's souls.
• December 25 - American Revolutionary War: Gen. George Washington orders the first issue of The Crisis read to his troops on Christmas Eve, then at 6 PM all 2600 of them march to McKonkey's Ferry[?], cross the Delaware River and land on the Jersey bank at 3 AM.
• December 26 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trenton - Washington's troops surprise the 1500 Hessian troops under the command of Col. [Johan Rall] at 8 AM outside Trenton and score a victory, taking 1000 prisoners while suffering only 6 wounded.

• Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations
• Edward Gibbon publishes The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Births

• January 24 - E.T.A. Hoffmann, poet, composer, and painter (+ 1822)
• February 11 - Joannis Capodistrias Greek governor of Troezen[?] (1827-1831)
• March 10 - Louise[?] (Luise), queen of Prussia (+ 1810)
• April 1 - Sophie Germain, mathematician (+ 1831)
• June 11 - John Constable, landscape painter
• August 6 - Amedeo Avogadro, chemist

Deaths

• David Hume, Scottish philosopher