January–March •
January 9 – British Prime Minister
William Pitt the Younger introduces an
income tax of two
shillings to the
pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's effort in the
French Revolutionary Wars. •
January 17 –
Maltese patriot
Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a number of other patriots, is executed. •
January 21 – The
Parthenopean Republic is established in Naples by French General
Jean Étienne Championnet; King
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies flees. •
January 27 –
French Revolutionary Wars:
Macau Incident – French and Spanish warships encounter a British
Royal Navy escort squadron in the
Wanshan Archipelago of China inconclusively. •
February 7 – The
Jiaqing Emperor of China comes into his full powers on the death of his father, the
Qianlong Emperor. He prosecutes corrupt court official
Heshen and issues a decree prohibiting the import of
opium to China. •
February 9 –
Quasi-War: In the single-ship action of
USS Constellation vs ''L'Insurgente'' in the Caribbean, the American ship is the victor. •
February 28 –
French Revolutionary Wars:
Action of 28 February 1799 – British Royal Navy frigate
HMS Sybille defeats the
French frigate Forte off the mouth of the
Hooghly River in the
Bay of Bengal, but both captains are killed. •
March 1 –
Federalist James Ross becomes
President pro tempore of the United States Senate. •
March 4 – The Russo-Ottoman
Siege of Corfu (1798–1799) ends with the surrender of the French garrison, bringing an end to the first period of
French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799). •
March 7 –
War of the Second Coalition:
Siege of Jaffa –
Napoleon captures
Jaffa in
Palestine from the Ottomans and his troops proceed to kill more than 2,000 Albanian captives. •
March 14 – The public premiere of
Haydn’s oratorio
The Creation takes place at the
Burgtheater in Vienna. •
March 21 – War of the Second Coalition: Victory of
Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over the French army of
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at the
Battle of Ostrach. •
March 23 – War of the Second Coalition: Victory of
Franjo Jelačić and the Austrian army over the French army of
André Masséna at the
Battle of Feldkirch. •
March 25 – War of the Second Coalition: Victory of
Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over the French army of
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at the
Battle of Stockach (1799), a key crossroads at the western end of Lake Constance. •
March 29 – New York passes a law aimed at gradually abolishing
slavery in the state.
April–June •
April 16 –
French Revolutionary Wars: At the
Battle of Mount Tabor severely outnumbered French forces repulse an
Ottoman attack. •
April 27 – French Revolutionary Wars: The
Battle of Cassano takes place outside of
Milan, as Russian and Austrian troops commanded by General
Alexander Suvorov rout the French Army under the command of General
Jean Moreau. •
April 28 – Two French diplomats to the
Second Congress of Rastatt are killed and another badly injured by Austrian cavalry, as they tried to leave the town. An inquiry was held, which blamed French emigres. •
May 4 –
Battle of Seringapatam:
Tipu Sultan is defeated and killed by the British, ending the
captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam ends and concluding the
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. •
May 21 – The
Siege of Acre ends after two months;
Napoleon's attempt to widen
his Middle Eastern campaign into Syria is frustrated by Ottoman forces, and he withdraws to Egypt. •
May 27 –
War of the Second Coalition:
Battle of Winterthur –
Habsburg forces secure control of north-east Switzerland from the French
Army of the Danube. •
June 7 – War of the Second Coalition:
First Battle of Zurich – Four days of fighting ends in victory for
Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over the French army under
André Masséna. •
June 13 –
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies is restored to his kingdom following the collapse of the
Parthenopean Republic. •
June 17 –
War of the Second Coalition:
Battle of the Trebbia – The beginning of the battle that marked the debacle of
Étienne Macdonald's French army.
Suvorov scores a comprehensive victory. •
June 18 –
French Revolutionary Wars:
Action of 18 June 1799 – A French frigate squadron, under Rear-admiral
Perrée, is captured by the British fleet under
Lord Keith, off
Toulon.
July–September •
July 7 –
Ranjit Singh's men take their positions outside
Lahore. •
July 12 –
Ranjit Singh captures
Lahore from the
Bhangi Misl, a key step in establishing the
Sikh Empire, and becoming
Maharaja of the
Punjab. •
July 15 – In the Egyptian port city of
Rosetta, French Captain Pierre Bouchard finds the
Rosetta Stone. •
July 25 – At
Aboukir, Egypt,
Napoleon defeats 10,000
Ottoman Mamluk troops under
Mustafa Pasha. •
August 15 –
War of the Second Coalition:
Battle of Novi – the defeat of
Barthélemy Joubert's army by
Suvorov's Austrian–Russian troops. •
August 27 – War of the Second Coalition:
Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland – Britain and Russia send an expedition to the
Batavian Republic. •
August 29 –
Pope Pius VI, at this time the longest reigning Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, dies as a
prisoner of war in the citadel of the French city of
Valence, after 24½ years of rule. •
August 30 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland:
Vlieter Incident – A squadron of the
Batavian Republic's navy, commanded by Rear-Admiral
Samuel Story, surrenders to the British Royal Navy, under Sir
Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, near
Wieringen, without joining action. •
September 10 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland:
Battle of Krabbendam – The Russo-British expedition force defends its initial gains from attacks by Franco-Dutch forces. •
September 18 –
War of the Second Coalition:
Battle of Mannheim – Victory of
Archduke Charles and the Austrian army over a French force under
Jacques Léonard Muller •
September 19 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland:
Battle of Bergen – Franco-Dutch forces hold their ground against the Russo-British expedition force. •
September 23 –
Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford, the
Governor of British Ceylon (modern-day
Sri Lanka), issues a proclamation declaring that the laws of the Netherlands for the conquered
Dutch Ceylon shall be enforced until superseded by new laws. •
September 29 – The
Second Roman Republic, a
puppet state formed by the French Army after their dissolution of the
Papal States and the occupation of
Rome, is dissolved 19 months after its creation on February 15, 1798. •
September 30 –
Suvorov's Swiss campaign:
Battle of Muottental – the rout of Masséna's French troops by Suvorov's army.
October–December •
October 2 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland:
Battle of Alkmaar – The Russo-British expedition force wins a small tactical victory over the Franco-Dutch forces. •
October 6 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland:
Battle of Castricum – Franco-Dutch forces defeat the Russo-British expedition force. •
October 9 – (a famous treasure wreck) is sunk in the
West Frisian Islands. •
October 12 –
Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse becomes the first woman to jump from a balloon with a parachute, from an altitude of over France. •
October 16 –
War of the Second Coalition:
Action of 16 October 1799 – A Spanish treasure convoy worth more than £54,000,000 is captured by the British
Royal Navy off
Vigo. •
October 18 – Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland: Anglo-Russian expedition forces surrender in
North Holland. •
November 5 –
HMS Sceptre is driven ashore and wrecked in a storm in
Table Bay, South Africa, with the loss of 349 and 41 survivors. •
November 9 –
Coup of 18 Brumaire:
Napoleon overthrows the
French Directory in a ''coup d'état'', which ends the
French Revolution. •
November 10 (19 Brumaire) – A remnant of the
Council of Ancients in France abolishes the
Constitution of the Year III, and ordains the
French Consulate with Napoleon as First Consul, with the
Constitution of the Year VIII. •
November 30 –
1799–1800 Papal conclave opens in
Venice at
San Giorgio Monastery. •
December 3 – War of the Second Coalition:
Battle of Wiesloch: Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal
Anton Sztáray defeats the French at
Wiesloch. •
December 10 – France adopts the metre as its official unit of length. •
December 14 –
George Washington, first President of the United States, dies at
Mount Vernon, Virginia, aged 67. •
December 31 – The
Dutch East India Company's charter is allowed to expire by the
Batavian Republic.
Date unknown • The Place Royale in Paris is renamed
Place des Vosges, when the Department of Vosges becomes the first to pay new Revolutionary taxes. •
Eli Whitney, holding a 1798 United States government contract for the manufacture of
muskets, is introduced by
Oliver Wolcott Jr. to the concept of
interchangeable parts, an origin of the
American system of manufacturing. • Conrad John Reed, 12, finds what he describes as a "heavy yellow rock" along Little Meadow Creek in
Cabarrus County, North Carolina, and makes it a doorstop in his home. Conrad's father John Reed learns that the rock is actually gold in 1802, initiating the first gold rush in the United States. • The assassination of the 14th
Tu'i Kanokupolu,
Tukuʻaho,
Tonga begins half a century of civil war in
Tonga. • The
Nawab (provincial governor) of
Oudh in northern India sends to
George III of Great Britain the
Padshah Nama, an official history of the reign of
Shah Jahan. •
William Cockerill begins building
cotton-spinning machinery in Belgium. • The small town of
Tignish, Prince Edward Island, Canada is founded. == Births ==