Benjamin Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard's Almanack.
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Tea Party.
First Continental Congress drafts “Declaration of Rights and Grievances.”
The American Revolution begins with battle of Lexington and Concord. Second Continental Congress. Priestley discovers hydrochloric and sulfuric acids
U.S. Navy Department established
Declaration of Independence.
Gen. George Washington crosses the Delaware Christmas night
Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
Capt. James Cook discovers Hawaii.
Revolutionary War ends with Treaty of Paris.
The Constitution of the United States signed.
In U.S., Washington elected president with all 69 votes of the Electoral College, takes oath of office in New York City. Vice President: John Adams. Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson. Secretary of Treasury: Alexander Hamilton
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, spurring the growth of the cotton industry and helping to institutionalize slavery in the U.S. South.
; John Adams elected president; Thomas Jefferson, vice president.
