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| align="center" colspan=2 | Years:
1775 1776 1777 - 1778 - 1779 1780 1781
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| align="center" colspan=2 | 1750s 1760s - 1770s ''' - 1780s 1790s 1800s
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| align="center" | - 18th Century ''' - 19th Century
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1778 was a Common Year Starting On Thursday (see link for calendar).
Events
- The term Thoroughbred was first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick .
- January 18 - Third Pacific expedition of Capt. James Cook , with ships ''HMS Resolution'' and ''HMS Discovery'', first view O'ahu then Kaua'i in the Hawaiian Islands , which he names the " Sandwich Islands ."
- February 5 - South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles Of Confederation .
- the Treaty Of Alliance and the Treaty Of Amity And Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
- arrives at Valley Forge , Pennsylvania and begins to train the Continental Army .
- declares war on the Kingdom Of Great Britain .
- - British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
- , Matevž Kos , Štefan Rožič and Lovrenc Willomitzer on Sigismund Zois 's initiative.
- September - The Massachusetts Banishment Act , providing punishment for Loyalists , is passed.
- November 26 - In the Hawaiian Islands , Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover Maui .
- France introduced the first state-controlled Brothel .
- The first Settlement was made in the area of what is now Louisville, Kentucky by 13 families under Col. George Rogers Clark .
- Phillips Academy , the most prestigious secondary boarding school in the United States, was founded by Samuel Phillips Jr.
- first Ironbridge
Births
- January 3 - Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski , Polish bishop (d. 1861 )
- February 22 - Rembrandt Peale , American artist (d. 1860 )
- March 19 - Edward Pakenham , British general (d. 1815 )
- April 10 - William Hazlitt , English essayist (d. 1830 )
- May 18 - Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess Of Londonderry , British politician (d. 1854 )
- August 11 - Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , German patriot (d. 1852 )
- September 8 - Clemens Brentano , German poet (d. 1842 )
- September 19 - Henry Peter Brougham , Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1868 )
- November 1 - Gustav IV Adolf Of Sweden (d. 1837 )
- December 17 - Sir Humphry Davy , English chemist (d. 1829 )
- December 19 - Marie Thérèse Charlotte (d. 1851)
Deaths
- January 10 - Carolus Linnaeus , Swedish botanist (b. 1707 )
- February 18 - Joseph Marie Terray , French statesman (b. 1715 )
- February 20 - Laura Bassi , Italian scholar (b. 1711 )
- March 5 - Thomas Augustine Arne , English compoer (b. 1710 )
- March 7 - Charles De Geer , Swedish industrialist and entomologist (b. 1720 )
- March 13 - Charles Le Beau , French historian (b. 1701 )
- April 22 - James Hargreaves , English weaver, carpenter, and inventor (b. 1720 )
- May 16 - Robert Darcy, 4th Earl Of Holderness , English diplomat and politician (b. 1718 )
- May 30 - Voltaire , French philosopher (b. 1694 )
- June 12 - Philip Livingston , American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1716 )
- June 16 - Konrad Ekhof , German actor (b. 1720 )
- June 24 - Pieter Burmann The Younger , Dutch philologist (b. 1714 )
- July 2 - Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Swiss philosopher (b. 1712 )
- July 2 - Bathsheba Ruggles , American murderer (b. 1746 ?)
- August 5 - Charles Clémencet , French historian (b. 1703 )
- August 12 - Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke Of Ancaster And Kesteven , British general and politician (b. 1714 )
- November 9 - Giovanni Battista Piranesi , Italian artist (b. 1720 )
- November 20 - Francesco Cetti , Italian Jesuit scientist (b. 1726 )
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