1778
1778 was a Common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).
Events The term Thoroughbred was first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick. January 18 - Third Pacific expedition of Capt. James Cook , with ships HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery , first view O'ahu then Kaua'i in the Hawaiian Islands , which he names the "Sandwich Islands ." February 5 - South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation . February 6 - American Revolutionary War : In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic. February 23 - American Revolutionary War: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge , Pennsylvania and begins to train the Continental Army . July 10 - American Revolutionary War: Louis XVI of France declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain . July 27 - American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant - British and French fleets fight to a standoff. August 26 - Triglav, at 2,864 metres above sea level the highest peak of Slovenia , was ascended for the first time by four brave men: Luka Korošec, Matevž Kos, Štefan Rožič and Lovrenc Willomitzer on Sigismund Zois 's initiative. September - The Massachusetts Banishment Act , providing punishment for Loyalists , is passed. November 26 - In the Hawaiian Islands , Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover Maui . France introduced the first state-controlled brothel . The first settlement was made in the area of what is now Louisville, Kentucky by 13 families under Col. George Rogers Clark . Phillips Academy , the most prestigious secondary boarding school in the United States, was founded by Samuel Phillips Jr. Births January 3 - Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski , Polish bishop (d. 1861 ) February 22 - Rembrandt Peale , American artist (d. 1860 ) March 19 - Edward Pakenham , British general (d. 1815 ) April 10 - William Hazlitt , English essayist (d. 1830 ) May 18 - Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry , British politician (d. 1854 ) August 11 - Friedrich Ludwig Jahn , German patriot (d. 1852 ) September 8 - Clemens Brentano , German poet (d. 1842 ) September 19 - Henry Peter Brougham , Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1868 ) November 1 - Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (d. 1837 ) December 17 - Sir Humphry Davy , English chemist (d. 1829 ) Deaths January 10 - Carolus Linnaeus , Swedish botanist (b. 1707 ) February 18 - Joseph Marie Terray , French statesman (b. 1715 ) February 20 - Laura Bassi , Italian scholar (b. 1711 ) March 5 - Thomas Augustine Arne , English compoer (b. 1710 ) March 7 - Charles De Geer , Swedish industrialist and entomologist (b. 1720 ) March 13 - Charles le Beau , French historian (b. 1701 ) April 22 - James Hargreaves , English weaver, carpenter, and inventor (b. 1720 ) May 16 - Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness , English diplomat and politician (b. 1718 ) May 30 - Voltaire , French philosopher (b. 1694 ) June 12 - Philip Livingston , American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1716 ) June 16 - Konrad Ekhof , German actor (b. 1720 ) June 24 - Pieter Burmann the Younger , Dutch philologist (b. 1714 ) July 2 - Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Swiss philosopher (b. 1712 ) July 2 - Bathsheba Ruggles , American murderer (b. 1746 ?) August 5 - Charles Clémencet , French historian (b. 1703 ) August 12 - Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven , British general and politician (b. 1714 ) November 9 - Giovanni Battista Piranesi , Italian artist (b. 1720 )