1773
Events
January– March
January 1 – The hymn that becomes known as Amazing Grace , at this time titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17", is first used to accompany a sermon led by curate John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire , England.
January 12 – The first museum in the American colonies is established in Charleston, South Carolina ; in 1915, it is formally incorporated as the Charleston Museum .
January 17 – Second voyage of James Cook : Captain Cook in HMS Resolution (1771) becomes the first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle .
January 18 – The first opera performance in the Swedish language , Thetis and Phelée , performed by Carl Stenborg and Elisabeth Olin in Bollhuset in Stockholm , Sweden , marks the establishment of the Royal Swedish Opera .
February 8 – The Grand Council of Poland meets in Warsaw, summoned by a circular letter from King Stanisław August Poniatowski to respond to the Kingdom's threatened partition between three foreign powers.
February 27 – The construction of Christ Church (Alexandria, Virginia) , known for being the house of worship for George Washington and the visiting site for subsequent U.S. presidents, is completed.
March 9 – 19 – Second voyage of James Cook : Tobias Furneaux in HMS Adventure (1771) explores the coast of Van Diemen's Land .
March 15 – The popular (and enduring) comedy She Stoops to Conquer , by Irish playwright Oliver Goldsmith , is performed for the first time, premiering at London's Covent Garden Theatre .
October–December
October 10
October 12 – America's first insane asylum opens for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds in Williamsburg, Virginia .
October 13 – French astronomer Charles Messier discovers the Whirlpool Galaxy , an interacting , grand design spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 31 million light-years , in the constellation Canes Venatici .
October 14 – The Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (Polish for National Education Committee ), formed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , is considered to be the world's first ministry of education.
November 10 – Four ships – the Dartmouth , the Eleanor , the Beaver and the William – depart Britain for America, carrying the first Indian tea to be subject to the newly enacted taxes. The William is lost in a storm; the Dartmouth is the first ship to reach Boston , docking on November 28 .
December 16 – Boston Tea Party : A group of American colonists , dressed as Mohawk Indians, steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor , in protest against British tax policies.
December 23 – Moscow State Academy of Choreography was founded under the reign of Catherine II . It is the second ballet school in Russia after Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet .
Date unknown
Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) : Russian forces fail to take Silistria .
Emelian Pugachev starts Pugachev's Rebellion in Russia , attacking and occupying Samara .
John Harrison wins the Longitude prize , for his invention of the marine chronometer .
Hilaire Rouelle discovers urea .
Istanbul Technical University is established (under the name of Royal School of Naval Engineering ) as the world's first comprehensive institution of higher learning dedicated to engineering education.
Marsala wine first shipped to England.
In China , written work begins on the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries , the largest literary compilation of books in China's history (surpassing the Yongle Encyclopedia of the 15th Century). Upon completion in 1782 , the books are bound in 36,381 volumes (册) with more than 79,000 chapters (卷), comprising about 2.3 million pages, and approximately 800 million Chinese characters .
Scottish judge James Burnett, Lord Monboddo , begins publication of Of the Origin and Progress of Language , a contribution to evolutionary ideas of the Enlightenment .
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock publishes the last five cantos of his epic poem Der Messias in Hamburg .
Births
Robert Fullerton
William Henry Harrison
Klemens von Metternich
May 15 – Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich , Austrian statesman (d. 1859 )
May 19 – Arthur Aikin , English chemist and mineralogist (d. 1854 )
May 31 – Ludwig Tieck , German writer (d. 1853 )
June 13 – Thomas Young , English scientist (d. 1829 )
July 23 – Thomas Brisbane , Scottish astronomer, Governor of New South Wales (d. 1860 )
August 12 – Karl Faber , German historian (d. 1853 )
August 22 – Aimé Bonpland , French explorer, botanist (d. 1858 )
September 17 – Jonathan Alder , American settler (d. 1849 )
Louis Philippe I
October 4 – Harriet Auber , English poet, hymnist (d. 1862 )
October 6 – Louis Philippe I , King of the French (d. 1850 )
November 6 – Henry Hunt , British politician (d. 1835 )
November 24 – Shadrach Bond , American politician and the first governor of Illinois (d. 1832 )
December 9 – Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt , French general, diplomat (d. 1827 )
December 17 – Sylvain Charles Valée , Marshal of France (d. 1846 )
December 21 – Robert Brown , Scottish botanist (d. 1858 )
December 27 – Sir George Cayley , English aviation pioneer (d. 1857 )
Unknown – Johann Gottfried Arnold , German cellist (d. 1806 )
Unknown – Kyra Frosini , Greek heroine (d. 1800 )
Unknown – Isabel Zendal , Spanish nurse
Unknown – Anna Moór , Hungarian actress (d. 1841 )
Deaths
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
March 24
March 20 – Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben , German noble (b. 1715 )
May 8 – Ali Bey Al-Kabir , Mamluk Sultan of Egypt (b. 1728 )
May 15 – Alban Butler , English Catholic priest, writer (b. 1710 )
May 28 – John Wayles , American lawyer and planter (b. 1715 )
June 21 – Jorge Juan y Santacilia , Spanish geodesist (b. 1713 )
June 27 – Mentewab , dowager Empress of Ethiopia (b. c. 1706 )
July 5 – Francisco José Freire , Portuguese historian, philologist (b. 1719 )
July 12 – Johann Joachim Quantz , German flutist, composer (b. 1697 )
July 23 – George Edwards , English ornithologist and naturalist (b. 1694 )
July 25 – Axel Löwen , Swedish duke (b. 1686 )
August 3 – Stanisław Konarski , Polish writer (b. 1700 )
August 19
August 20 – Enrique Florez , Spanish historian (b. 1701 )
September 23 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus , Norwegian bishop and botanist (b. 1718 )
October 14 – Septimanie d'Egmont , French salonist (b. 1740 )
October 30 – Philippe de La Guêpière , French architect (b. 1725 )
November 2 – John Glas , Scottish minister (b. 1695 )
November 7 – Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine , French royal (b. 1714 )
Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz