Events from the year

1775 Events Summary The American Revolutionary War began this year, with the first military engagement on April 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord on the day after Paul Revere's ride. The Second Continental Congress took various steps tow ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

–

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

–

Frederick North, Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He ...

(

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

)

Events

* 17 January – first performance of

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and I ...

's comedy of manners ''

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...

'' at the

Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. * 9 February –

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

declares

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in rebellion. * 22 March –

: Edmund Burke's speech before the

on conciliation with the American colonies. * 3 April –

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian-British composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor (music), conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly ac ...

makes his London debut as a

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

ist. * 19 April – the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

begins with the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

. * 10 May – American Revolution:

Capture of Fort Ticonderoga The capture of Fort Ticonderoga occurred during the American Revolutionary War on May 10, 1775, when a small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold surprised and captured the fort's small British garrison. T ...

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

forces. * 12 May – American Revolution: Battle of Crown Point. * 12 June – American Revolution: British forces offer a pardon to all colonists who would lay down their arms. * 16 June – American Revolution:

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Boston, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peri ...

. * 5 July – American Revolution: the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

sends the

Olive Branch Petition The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8, 1775, in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. The Congress had already authoriz ...

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, hoping for a reconciliation. * 30 July –

second voyage of James Cook The second voyage of James Cook, from 1772 to 1775, commissioned by the British government with advice from the Royal Society, was designed to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible to finally determine whether there was any great s ...

: anchors at

Spithead Spithead is an eastern area of the Solent and a roadstead for vessels off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast, with the Isle of Wight lying to the south-west. Spithead and the ch ...

Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

having completed the first eastabout global

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...

. * 12 August–3 November – American Revolution: Battle of Fort St. Jean. * 23 August – American Revolution: refusing even to look at the Olive Branch Petition, King George issues a

Proclamation of Rebellion The Proclamation of Rebellion, officially titled A Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition, was the response of George III of Great Britain, George III to the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill at the outset of the American Revolution ...

against the American colonies. * 24 September – American Revolution:

Battle of Longue-Pointe The Battle of Longue-Pointe () was an attempt by Ethan Allen and a small force of American and Quebec militia to capture Montreal from British forces on September 25, 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War. Allen, who had been instructed ...

. * 9 December – American Revolution:

Battle of Great Bridge The Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The refusal by colonial Virginia militia forces led to the departure of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and any ...

– victory by the Virginia's Second Regiment and the Culpeper (Virginia) Minuteman Battalion, leads to withdrawal of the British from the port of Norfolk Borough. * 30–31 December – American Revolution: Battle of Quebec – British forces repulse an attack by the American Continental Army. * 1775–76 Winter – Unusually deadly

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

epidemic in London kills nearly 40,000.

Undated

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

John Wilkinson (industrialist) John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson (1728 – 14 July 1808) was an English industrialist who pioneered the manufacture of cast iron and the use of cast-iron goods during the Industrial Revolution. He was the inventor of a precision boring machine that c ...

invents and

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s a new kind of boring machine. ** The 1769

Watt steam engine The Watt steam engine design was an invention of James Watt that became synonymous with steam engines during the Industrial Revolution, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design. The Newcomen ...

patent is extended to June 1800 by Act of Parliament and the first engines are built under it. **

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indu ...

introduces

jasperware Jasperware, or jasper ware, is a type of pottery first developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1770s. Usually described as stoneware, it has an unglazed matte "biscuit" finish and is produced in a number of different colours, of which the most com ...

pottery. * Actress

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known Tragedy, tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder siste ...

makes her debut at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dru ...

Portia Portia may refer to: Biology * ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders *Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia *''Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly Other uses *Portia (given name), the history and usage of the give ...

in ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' but is not well received.

Publications

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's ''

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland ''A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland'' (1775) is a travel narrative by Samuel Johnson about an eighty-three-day journey through Scotland, in particular the islands of the Hebrides, in the late summer and autumn of 1773. The sixty-three ...

''. *

Augustus Toplady Augustus Montague Toplady (4 November 174011 August 1778) was an English Anglican cleric and hymn writer. He was a major Calvinist opponent of John Wesley. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages". Three of his other hy ...

's hymn "

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages is an epithet that is used in some translations of Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26:4 and may refer to: Films * Rock of Ages (1918 film), ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * Rock of Ages (2012 film), ''Roc ...

" (first version, in ''

The Gospel Magazine The ''Gospel Magazine'' is a Calvinist, evangelical Christian magazine from the United Kingdom, and is one of the longest running of such periodicals, having been founded in 1766. Most of the editors have been Anglicans. It is now published bi ...

'', October).

Births

* 24 January –

John Buonarotti Papworth John Buonarotti Papworth (24 January 1775 – 16 June 1847) was a British architect, artist and a founder member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He adopted the middle name "Buonarotti" in around 1815. As well as being active in ...

, architect (died

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Fr� ...

) * 30 January –

Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor (30 January 177517 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose ''Imaginary Conversations,'' and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contempora ...

, writer (died 1864) * 10 February **

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

, writer (died 1834) ** James Smith, author (died 1839) * 12 February –

Louisa Adams Louisa Catherine Adams (; February 12, 1775 – May 15, 1852) was the first lady of the United States from 1825 to 1829 during the presidency of John Quincy Adams. She was born in England and raised in France. Her father was an influential Amer ...

First Lady of the United States First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...

(died

1852 in the United States Events from the year 1852 in the United States. Incumbents Federal government * President: Millard Fillmore ( W-New York) * Vice President: ''vacant'' * Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Maryland) * Speaker of the House of Representatives ...

) * 12 March –

Joseph Chitty Joseph Chitty (12 March 1776 – 17 February 1841) was an English lawyer and legal writer, author of some of the earliest practitioners' texts and founder of an important dynasty of lawyers. Life and practice He was himself the son of a Joseph C ...

, lawyer and legal writer (died 1841) * 23 April –

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

, painter (died 1851) * 13 May –

Henry Crabb Robinson Henry Crabb Robinson (13 May 1775 – 5 February 1867) was an English lawyer, remembered as a diarist. He took part in founding London University. Life Robinson was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, as the third and youngest son of Henry Robin ...

, man of letters, lawyer and diarist (died 1867) * 5 July –

William Crotch William Crotch (5 July 177529 December 1847) was an English composer and organist. According to the British musicologist Nicholas Temperley, Crotch was "a child prodigy without parallel in the history of music", and was certainly the most dist ...

, composer (died 1847) * 31 August –

Agnes Bulmer Agnes Bulmer (31 August 1775 – 20 August 1836) was an English poet. Her work '' Messiah's Kingdom'' is thought to be the longest epic poem ever written by a woman, and took over nine years to complete. Biography Early life Agnes Collinson wa ...

, poet (died 1836) * 25 November –

Charles Kemble Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a British actor from the prominent Kemble family. Life Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble, and Ir ...

, actor (died 1854) * 14 December –

Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald (14 December 1775 – 31 October 1860), styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval officer, politician and mercenary. Serving during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic ...

, admiral (died 1860) * 16 December –

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

, novelist (died 1817)

Deaths

* 8 January –

John Baskerville John Baskerville (baptised 28 January 1707 – 8 January 1775) was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wo ...

, printer (born 1707) * 6 February – William Dowdeswell, politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1721) * 7 March – Thomas Nuthall, politician and attorney * 28 May –

Barlow Trecothick Barlow Trecothick ( – 28 May 1775) was a City of London merchant brought up in the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay who became one of the Members of Parliament for the City of London and was Lord Mayor of London in 1770. Early life Tr ...

, merchant and politician (born c. 1719) * 17 June – Major

John Pitcairn Major John Pitcairn (28 December 1722 – 17 June 1775) was a British military officer. Born in Dysart, Fife, he enlisted in the Chatham Marine Division of the British Naval Service at the age of 23. He served in North America during the Fr ...

, marine (killed in battle) (born 1722) * 16 September –

Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, (16 November 168416 September 1775), of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, known as The Lord Bathurst from 1712 to 1772, was a British Tory politician. Bathurst sat in the English and British House of Commons ...

, privy councillor (born 1684) * 21 November – John Hill, botanist and writer (born c. 1716) * 7 December – Charles Saunders, admiral (born c. 1715)

Incumbents

Events

Undated

Publications

Births

Deaths

See also

References

Further reading