1776 took place during the height of the American Revolution, and was singled out by Abraham Lincoln as a turning point through the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Events January–February January 1 – American Revolutionary War: Burning of Norfolk – The town of Norfolk, Virginia is destroyed, by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces. January 10 – American Revolution: Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet Common Sense, arguing for independence from British rule in the Thirteen Colonies. January 20 – American Revolution: South Carolina Loyalists led by Robert Cunningham sign a petition from prison, agreeing to all demands for peace by the formed state government of South Carolina. January 24 – American Revolution: Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga. February 17 – Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. February 27 – American Revolution: Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge – Scottish North Carolina Loyalists charge across Moore's Creek Bridge near Wilmington to attack what they mistakenly believe to be a small force of rebels. Several leaders are killed in the ensuing battle. The patriot victory ends virtually all British authority in the province.
March–April March – Restrictions on the grain trade in Sweden are lifted. March 1 – The Peshwa of the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company sign the Treaty of Purandar in which the British are able to secure Salsette Island and accept Sawai Madhavrao as a new Peshwa. The Marathas agree not to recognise existence of the French in India. March 2–3 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Nassau: The American Continental Navy and Marines make a successful assault on Nassau, Bahamas. Battle of the Rice Boats: American Patriots resist the Royal Navy on the Savannah River; British control over the Province of Georgia is lost. March 4 – American Revolutionary War: American Patriots capture Dorchester Heights, dominating the port of Boston. March 9 – Scottish economist Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations in London. March 17 – American Revolutionary War: Threatened by Patriot cannons on Dorchester Heights, the British evacuate Boston, ending the 11‑month Siege of Boston. March 25 – American Revolutionary War: American Patriots conduct a Raid on Tybee Island, primarily seeking to capture runaway slaves who sought refuge with British forces stationed there. March 28 Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco. Foundation of the ballet troupe which becomes the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russian Empire. April 12 – American Revolution: The Royal Colony of North Carolina produces the Halifax Resolves, making it the first British colony to officially authorize its Continental Congress delegates to vote for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. April 27 – Jeongjo becomes the King of Joseon following the death of his grandfather Yeongjo.
May–June May 1 – Adam Weishaupt founds the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. May 4 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III of Great Britain. May 15–26 – American Revolution: Battle of the Cedars – British forces skirmish with the American Continental Army around Les Cèdres, Quebec. June 6 – A fire destroys major parts of the town of Askersund, Sweden. June 7 – American Revolution: Lee Resolution – Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposes to the Second Continental Congress (meeting in Philadelphia) that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." June 8 – American Revolution: Battle of Trois-Rivières – The invading American Continental Army is driven back at Trois-Rivières, Quebec. June 10 – Death of King Hsinbyushin of the Konbaung dynasty in Burma. June 11 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress appoints a Committee of Five to draft a Declaration of Independence. June 12 – American Revolution: The Virginia Declaration of Rights (by George Mason) is adopted by the Virginia Convention of Delegates. June 15 – American Revolution: Delaware Separation Day – The Delaware General Assembly votes to suspend government under the British Crown. June 17 – Lt. José Joaquín Moraga leads a band of colonists from Monterey Presidio, landing on June 29 and, with Father Francisco Palóu, constructing the Mission San Francisco de Asís ("Mission Dolores") of the new Presidio of San Francisco, the oldest surviving building in the modern-day city. June 28 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Sullivan's Island – South Carolina militia repel a British attack on Charleston. June 29 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet – The American Continental Navy successfully challenges the British Royal Navy blockade off New Jersey.
July–August July 2 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress adopts the Lee Resolution. July 4 – American Revolution: United States Declaration of Independence – The Continental Congress approves the declaration by the United States of its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. The text was drafted during June by Benjamin Franklin. July 4 - The Albertina art museum is founded in Vienna, Austria. July 8 – American Revolution: The Liberty Bell rings in Philadelphia for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. July 9 – American Revolution – An angry mob in New York City topples and beheads the equestrian statue of George III of Great Britain in Bowling Green; much of its metal content will be used to make musket balls. July 12 – Captain James Cook sets off from Plymouth, England, in HMS Resolution on his third voyage, to the Pacific Ocean and Arctic, which will be fatal to him. July 21 – Mozart's Serenade No. 7 (the "Haffner") is first performed in Salzburg, Austria. July 29 – Domínguez–Escalante expedition: Francisco Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and eight other Spaniards set out from Santa Fe on an 1800-mile (2900 km) trek through the American Southwest. They are the first Europeans to explore the vast region between the Rockies and the Sierras. August 1 – The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata is established in southern South America. August 2 – Delegates of most of the American colonies sign the Declaration of Independence. August 15 – American Revolution: The first Hessian troops land on Staten Island, to join British forces. August 25 – Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume dies in Edinburgh. August 27 – American Revolution: Battle of Long Island – George Washington's troops are defeated in Brooklyn by the British, under William Howe. August – The guild organisation Marchandes de modes is founded in Paris.
September–October September 1 – Cherokee–American wars: The invasion of the Cherokee Nation by 6,000 patriot troops from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina begins. The troops destroy 36 Cherokee towns. September 6 – A hurricane hits Guadeloupe, killing more than 6,000 people. September 7 – American Revolutionary War: World's first submarine attack – The American submersible craft Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship in New York Harbor. September 9 – The Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States (previously the United Colonies). September 11 – American Revolutionary War: An abortive peace conference takes place between the British and Americans, on Staten Island. September 15 – American Revolutionary War: Landing at Kip's Bay – British troops land on Manhattan at Kips Bay.
September 16 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Harlem Heights – The Continental Army under Washington is victorious against the British on Manhattan. September 17 – The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain. September 20 – The Great Fire of New York (1776) starts during the night, ending the following morning. September 22 – American Revolutionary War – Nathan Hale is executed by the British in New York City for espionage. September 24 The first running of the St Leger Stakes horse race (not yet named) in England, first of the British Classic Races, devised by Anthony St Leger (British Army officer), takes place on Cantley Common at Doncaster. The winner is a filly (later named Allabaculia) owned by the organiser, the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. The Bolshoi Theatre company hosts its first annual opera season, with the opening of the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. October 7 – Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. October 9 – Father Francisco Palóu founds the Mission San Francisco de Asís, in what becomes San Francisco. October 11 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Valcour Island – On Lake Champlain near Valcour Island, a British fleet led by Sir Guy Carleton defeats 15 American gunboats, commanded by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. Although nearly all of Arnold's ships are destroyed, the two-day-long battle will give Patriot forces enough time to prepare the defenses of New York City. October 18 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Pell's Point – Troops of the American Continental Army resist a British and Hessian force in The Bronx. October 28 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains – British forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans. October 31 – In his first speech before the British Parliament since the Declaration of Independence this summer, King George III acknowledges that all is not going well for Britain, in the war with the United States.
November–December November 16 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Fort Washington – Hessian forces under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen capture Fort Washington (Manhattan) from the American Continental Army. The captain of the American navy ship Andrew Doria fires a salute to the Dutch flag on Fort Oranje, and Johannes de Graaff answers with 11 gun shots. November 20 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Fort Lee – The invasion of New Jersey, by British and Hessian forces, leads to the subsequent general retreat of the American Continental Army. December 5 – The Phi Beta Kappa society is founded at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. December 6 – The General Assembly of Virginia votes to create Kentucky County as the portion of the colony's Fincastle County that is located west of the Cumberland Mountains.Lewis Preston Summers, History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 (1903, reprinted by The Overmountain Press, 1989) p254 In 1792, the county will become the 15th state of the United States as the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The rest of Fincastle County, between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachians is divided into the first county to be named after George Washington (Washington County, Virginia) in the south along the border with the North Carolina colony, and Montgomery County in the north. The divisions take effect on December 31. December 7 – American Revolutionary War: The Marquis de Lafayette attempts to enter the American military as a major general. December 12 – The second Continental Congress ends after a session that began on May 10, 1775, and continued for 582 days.Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909, ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p166 December 19 – American Revolution – Thomas Paine, living with Washington's troops, publishes the first in the series of pamphlets on The American Crisis in The Pennsylvania Journal, opening with the stirring phrase, "These are the times that try men's souls."