January– March •
January 5 – The Great
Kalmyk (
Torghut Migration) is led by
Ubashi Khan, from the east bank of the Lower
Volga River back to the homeland of
Dzungaria, at this time under
Qing dynasty rule. •
January 9 –
Emperor Go-Momozono accedes to the throne of
Tokugawa shogunate Japan following his aunt's abdication. •
February 12 – Upon the death of
Adolf Frederick, he is succeeded as King of
Sweden by his son
Gustav III. At the time, however, Gustav is unaware of this, since he is abroad in Paris; the news of his father's death reaches him about a month later. •
March –
War of the Regulation:
North Carolina Governor
William Tryon raises a militia to put down the long-running uprising of backcountry militias against North Carolina's colonial government. •
March 12 – The
North Carolina General Assembly establishes
Wake County (named for
Margaret Wake, the wife of North Carolina Royal Governor
William Tryon) from portions of
Cumberland,
Johnston and
Orange counties. Bloomsberry (later known as Wake Courthouse) is made the informal county seat. •
March 15 – The
Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers first meets in London, the world's oldest engineering society.
April–June •
April 4 – The first quarantines are started in
Moscow and
Saint Petersburg to fight the
bubonic plague epidemic. Over the next 12 months, more than 52,000 people die from the plague in Moscow alone. •
May –
Three battles of Sarbakusa: An alliance of three of the most powerful aristocrats of
Ethiopia (Goshu of Amhara,
Wand Bewossen and Fasil of Damot) defeats
Ras Mikael Sehul and Emperor
Tekle Haymanot II, taking control of Ethiopia. •
May 11 – War of the Regulation: North Carolina Governor William Tryon marches his military out of
Hillsborough, to come to the aid of General Hugh Waddell's beleaguered forces. Tryon's army stops at Alamance Creek, away from the Regulator army. •
May 16 – War of the Regulation –
Battle of Alamance: Regulators reject an appeal by Governor Tryon to disperse peacefully. Governor Tryon's forces crush the rebellion, causing many Regulators to move to frontier areas outside of North Carolina. •
May 23 –
Battle of Lanckorona: A force of 4,000
Russians under
Alexander Suvorov defeat a
Polish formation of 1,300 men. •
June 11 – The
Society of Gentlemen Supporters of the Bill of Rights meets in the London Tavern and changes its platform to a comprehensive program for British parliamentary reform in advance of the next election.
July–September •
July 12 – The
first voyage of James Cook around the world ends as returns to England after almost three years. •
July 13 –
Russo-Turkish War (1768–74): Russian forces occupy the
Crimea, under Prince Vasily Dolgorukov. •
July 17 –
Bloody Falls massacre:
Chipewyan chief
Matonabbee, traveling as the guide to
Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting
Inuit. •
August 8 – The first recorded town cricket match is played, at
Horsham, England. •
September 8 – In
California, Fathers Pedro Cambon and Angel Somera found
Mission Vieja, later called,
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, in what becomes
San Gabriel, California. •
September 15–
17 – The
Moscow plague riot results from an outbreak of
bubonic plague, which kills 57,000.
October–December •
October 9 – The
Dutch merchant ship
Vrouw Maria sinks off the coast of Finland; Captain Raymund Lourens and his crew escape unharmed. •
October 17 – The opera
Ascanio in Alba by
Wolfgang Mozart, age 15, premieres in
Milan. •
November 3 – Siamese conquest of Ha Tien ends the
Siamese civil war of 1767-71. •
November 16 – During the night the
River Tyne in the north of England floods, destroying many bridges and killing several people; the replacement main bridge at
Newcastle upon Tyne will not be completed until
1781. •
December 3 – The cause of action in
Sommersett's Case, which eventually leads to the end of slavery in Great Britain, begins when escaped slave James Somerset is found imprisoned on the ship
Ann and Mary. •
December 31 – Men, women and children of the
Choctaw and
Chickasaw tribes begin a 23-day encampment at
Mobile, part of the British colony of
West Florida, at the invitation of British Southern Indian superintendent John Stuart, as their leaders negotiate a treaty.
Date unknown • The territory of
Baden-Baden is inherited by
Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach,
reunifying the territories of Baden. • The trade monopoly with
Iceland is transferred to the Danish crown. • The North Carolina General Assembly passes an act establishing the town of
Martinsborough, named for Royal Governor
Josiah Martin, on the land of Richard Evans, which will serve as the
seat of
Pitt County. • Construction of the
Putuo Zongcheng Temple complex in
Chengde, China is completed during the reign of the
Qianlong Emperor. •
Limoges porcelain manufacture is established in France. •
Slovene literature:
István Küzmics, the
Hungarian Slovene writer and
evangelical pastor, publishes (in
Halle) the
Nouvi Zákon, a translation of the
New Testament into the
Prekmurje Slovene language, with discrete
South Slavic artwork. == Births ==