Editing 1787

{{Year dab|1787}}
{{Year nav|1787}}
[[File:Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States.jpg|250px|thumb|[[September 17]]: The [[United States Constitution]] is signed by delegates of the 13 member states in [[Philadelphia]].]] 
{{C18 year in topic}}
{{Year article header|1787}}

== Events ==
<onlyinclude>

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 9]] &ndash; The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase {{Convert|100|acre|km2}} of land for the seat of [[Chatham County, North Carolina|Chatham County]]. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to [[Pittsboro, North Carolina|Pittsboro]]), for [[William Pitt the Younger]].
* [[January 11]] &ndash; [[William Herschel]] discovers [[Titania (moon)|Titania]] and [[Oberon (moon)|Oberon]], two [[moons of Uranus]].
* [[January 19]] &ndash; [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Symphony No. 38 (Mozart)|Symphony No. 38]]'' is premièred in [[Prague]].
* [[February 2]] &ndash; [[Arthur St. Clair]] of [[Pennsylvania]] is chosen as the new President of the Congress of the Confederation.<ref name="Harper1787">''Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909'', ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p167</ref>
* [[February 4]] &ndash; [[Shays' Rebellion]] in [[Massachusetts]] fails.
* [[February 21]] &ndash; The Confederation Congress sends word to the 13 states that a convention will be held in Philadelphia on May 14 to revise the Articles of Confederation.<ref name="Harper1787"/>
* [[February 28]] &ndash; A charter is granted, establishing the institution which will become the [[University of Pittsburgh]].
* [[March 3]] &ndash; By a vote of 33 to 29, [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] is approved as the new capital of [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name=Konkle>Burton Alva Konkle, ''George Bryan and the Constitution of Pennsylvania, 1731-1791'' (William J. Campbell publishing, 1922) p299</ref>
* [[March 17]] &ndash; The [[Bank of North America]], the central bank of the United States government under the [[Articles of Confederation]], is re-incorporated after its charter had expired in 1786.<ref name=Konkle/><ref>''Congressional Record'' (December 8, 1913) p446</ref>
* [[March 28]] &ndash; In the British House of Commons, [[Henry Beaufoy]] files the first motion to repeal the [[Test Act 1673]], which restricts the rights of non-members of the Church of England.;<ref>Sheldon J. Godfrey and Judy Godfrey, ''Search Out the Land: The Jews and the Growth of Equality in British Colonial America, 1740-1867'' (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995) p129</ref> Beaufoy's motion is rejected, and the Act is not repealed until 1829.  
* [[March 30]] &ndash; [[Biblical theology]] becomes a separate discipline from biblical studies, as [[Johann Philipp Gabler]] delivers his speech "On the proper distinction between biblical and dogmatic theology and the specific objectives of each" upon his inauguration as the professor of theology at the [[University of Altdorf]] in Germany.<ref>Craig Bartholomew, ''Out of Egypt: Biblical Theology and Biblical Interpretation'' (Zondervan, 2011) p2
</ref>

=== April&ndash;June ===
* [[April 2]] &ndash; A Charter of Justice is signed, providing the authority for the establishment of the [[Vice Admiralty Court (New South Wales)|first New South Wales (i.e. Australian) Courts of Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction]].
* [[May 7]] &ndash; [[The New Church (Swedenborgian)]] is founded in England.
* [[May 13]] &ndash; Captain [[Arthur Phillip]] leaves [[Portsmouth]], England, with the 11 ships of the [[First Fleet]], carrying around 700 convicts and at least 300 crew and guards to establish a [[penal colony]] in Australia.
* [[May 14]] &ndash; In [[Philadelphia]], delegates begin arriving for a [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]].<ref name="Harper1787"/>
* [[May 22]] &ndash; In Britain, [[Thomas Clarkson]] and [[Granville Sharp]] found the [[Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade]], with support from [[John Wesley]], [[Josiah Wedgwood]] and others.
* [[May 25]] &ndash; In [[Philadelphia]], delegates begin to convene the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]], intended to amend the [[Articles of Confederation]] (however, a new [[United States Constitution]] is eventually produced). [[George Washington]] presides over the Convention.
* [[May]] &ndash; [[Orangism (Dutch Republic)|Orangist]] troops attack [[Vreeswijk]], [[Harmelen]] and [[Maarssen]]; civil war starts in the [[Dutch Republic]].
* [[May 31]] &ndash; The original [[Lord's Cricket Ground]] in London holds its first [[cricket]] match;<ref name="Cassell's Chronology339340">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/339|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/339 339–340]}}</ref> [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] founded.<ref>{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Alan|last2=Palmer |first2=Veronica|year=1992|title= The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=230–231|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}}</ref>
* [[June 20]] &ndash; [[Oliver Ellsworth]] moves at the [[Federal Convention]] that the government be called the United States.
* [[June 28]] &ndash; [[Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange|Princess Wilhelmina of Orange]], sister of King [[Frederick William II of Prussia]], is captured by [[Dutch Republic]]an [[Patriots (Dutch Republic)|patriots]], taken to [[Goejanverwellesluis]] and not allowed to travel to [[The Hague]].

=== July&ndash;September ===
* [[July 13]] &ndash; The [[Congress of the Confederation]] enacts the [[Northwest Ordinance]], establishing governing rules for the [[Northwest Territory]] (the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin). It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states, and limits the expansion of [[slavery]].<ref name="Harper1787"/>
* [[July 18]] &ndash; The United States ratifies its first treaty with the Sultanate of Morocco.<ref name="Harper1787"/>
* [[August 9]] &ndash; South Carolina [[State cessions|cedes]] to the United States its claims to a 12-mile wide strip of land that runs across northern Alabama and Mississippi.<ref name="Harper1787"/>
* [[August 10]] &ndash; [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] composes his famous [[Eine kleine Nachtmusik]].
* [[August 27]] &ndash; Launching a {{Convert|45|ft|m|adj=on}} steam powered craft on the Delaware River, [[John Fitch (inventor)|John Fitch]] demonstrates the first U.S. [[patent]] for his design.
* [[September 13]] &ndash; [[Prussian invasion of Holland|Prussian troops invade]] the [[Dutch Republic]]; two days later the [[Johann Friedrich von Salm-Grumbach|Rhinegrave Salm]] gave up Utrecht. Within a few weeks 40,000 [[Patriots (Dutch Republic)|Patriots]] (out of a population of 2,000,000) go into exile in [[French Flanders|Northern France]].
* [[September 17]] &ndash; The [[United States Constitution]] is signed by the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]].<ref name="Harper1787"/>
* [[September 24]] &ndash; Washington Academy (later [[Washington & Jefferson College]]) is chartered by the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Coleman|first=Helen Turnbull Waite|title=Banners in the Wilderness: The Early Years of Washington and Jefferson College|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|year=1956|url=https://archive.org/details/bannersinthewild012852mbp|oclc=2191890|page=[https://archive.org/details/bannersinthewild012852mbp/page/n252 199]}}</ref>

=== October&ndash;December ===
* [[October 1]] &ndash; [[Russo-Turkish War (1787–92)]] &ndash; [[Battle of Kinburn (1787)|Battle of Kinburn]]: [[Alexander Suvorov]], though sustaining a wound, routs the Turks.
* [[October 27]] &ndash; The first of ''[[The Federalist Papers]]'', a series of essays calling for ratification of the [[U.S. Constitution]], is published in ''[[The Independent Journal]]'', a New York newspaper.
* [[October 29]] &ndash; [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s opera ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' ([[libretto]] by [[Lorenzo Da Ponte]]) premieres in the [[Estates Theatre]] in [[Prague]].
* [[November 1]] &ndash; The first secondary education school open to girls in Sweden, ''[[Societetsskolan]]'', is founded in Gothenburg.
* [[November 21]] &ndash; [[Treaty of Versailles (1787)]] signed, forming an alliance between the [[Kingdom of France]] and the Lord [[Gia Long|Nguyễn Phúc Ánh]], future Emperor of Vietnam.
* [[December 3]] &ndash; [[James Rumsey]] demonstrates his water-jet propelled boat on the [[Potomac River]].
* [[December 7]] &ndash; [[Delaware]] ratifies the Constitution, and becomes the first [[U.S. state]].
* [[December 8]] &ndash; [[La Purisima Mission]] is founded by Padre [[Fermín Lasuén]] as the eleventh of the [[Spanish missions in California]].
* [[December 12]] &ndash; [[Pennsylvania]] becomes the second [[U.S. state]].
* [[December 18]] &ndash; [[New Jersey]] becomes the third [[U.S. state]].
* [[December 23]] &ndash; Captain [[William Bligh]] sets sail from England for [[Tahiti]], on {{HMS|Bounty}}.<ref name="Cassell's Chronology339340"/>

=== Date unknown ===
* [[Caroline Herschel]] is granted an annual salary of [[Pound sterling|£]]50, by King [[George III of Great Britain]], for acting as assistant to her brother [[William Herschel|William]] in [[astronomy]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ogilvie|first= Marilyn Bailey|title=Women in Science: Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century|url=https://archive.org/details/womeninscience00mari|url-access=registration|publisher=MIT Press|year=1986|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=[https://archive.org/details/womeninscience00mari/page/97 97–98]|isbn=0-262-65038-X}}</ref>
* The [[North Carolina General Assembly]] incorporates [[List of North Carolina state parks#Former units|Waynesborough]], and designates it the seat for [[Wayne County, North Carolina]]. The town becomes extinct after 1865.
* [[Antoine Lavoisier]] is the first to suggest that [[silica]] is an [[oxide]] of a hitherto unknown metallic [[chemical element]], later isolated and named [[silicon]].
* [[J. Cl. Todes Døtreskole]], the first serious school for girls in Denmark, is founded.
*A fossil bone recovered from [[Cretaceous]] strata at [[Woodbury, New Jersey]] is discussed by the [[American Philosophical Society]] in [[Philadelphia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs |editor1=Currie, Philip J. |editor2=Padian, Kevin |isbn=0-12-226810-5|location=San Diego|publisher=Elsevier|oclc=37141172|date = October 1997}}</ref>

== Births ==
[[File:Fraunhofer 2.jpg|thumb|110px|right|[[Joseph von Fraunhofer]]]]
* [[January 1]] &ndash; [[Manuel José Arce]], Revolutionary General and first President of The [[Federal Republic of Central America]] (d. [[1847]])
* [[February 10]] &ndash; [[William Bradley (giant)|William Bradley]], Britain's tallest man ever at 7&nbsp;ft 9 in. (d. [[1820]])
* [[February 23]] – [[Emma Willard]], American educator (d. [[1870]])
* [[March 6]] &ndash; [[Joseph von Fraunhofer]], German optician (d. [[1826]])
* [[March 9]] &ndash; [[Josephine Kablick]], Czech botanist, paleontologist (d. [[1863]])
* [[March 10]] &ndash; [[Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo]], Prime Minister of Spain (d. [[1862]])
* [[March 11]] &ndash; [[Ivan Nabokov]], Russian General (d. [[1852]])
* [[April 26]] &ndash; [[Ludwig Uhland]], German poet (d. [[1862]])<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Uhland, Johann Ludwig}}</ref>
* [[May 25]] &ndash; [[José María Bocanegra]], 3rd President of Mexico (d. [[1862]])
* [[June 28]] &ndash; [[Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet|Sir Harry Smith]], English soldier, military commander (d. [[1860]])
* [[July 28]] &ndash; [[Pedro Vélez]], Mexican politician (d. [[1848]])
* [[August 21]] &ndash; [[John Owen (North Carolina politician)|John Owen]], 24th Governor of North Carolina (d. [[1841]])<ref>{{cite book|title=Governor John Owen Family Bible Records|url=https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/governor-john-owen-family-bible-records/1348382?item=1348384|via=Digital Collections of the [[State Archives of North Carolina]] and the [[State Library of North Carolina]]}}</ref>
* [[August 24]] &ndash; [[James Weddell]], British sailor known for discovering the [[Weddell Sea]] (d. [[1834]]) 
* [[September 5]] &ndash; [[François Sulpice Beudant]], French mineralogist, geologist (d. [[1850]])
* [[October 4]], &ndash; [[François Guizot]], Prime Minister of France (d. [[1874]])
* [[November 4]] &ndash; [[Edmund Kean]], English actor (d. [[1833]])
* [[November 7]]
** [[Carl Carl]], Polish-born actor and theatre director (d. [[1854]])
** [[Vuk Stefanović Karadžić]], Serbian linguist, major reformer of the Serbian language (d. [[1864]])
[[File:Louis Daguerre 2.jpg|thumb|110px|right|[[Louis Daguerre]]]]
* [[November 18]] &ndash; [[Louis Daguerre]], French artist, chemist (d. [[1851]])
* [[November 21]] &ndash; [[Samuel Cunard]], Canadian business, prominent Nova Scotian, founder of the [[Cunard Line]] (d. [[1865]])
* [[November 25]] &ndash; [[Franz Xaver Gruber]], Austrian composer (d. [[1863]]) 
* [[December 10]] &ndash; [[Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet]], American educator (d. [[1851]])
* [[December 11]] &ndash; [[Macacha Güemes]], Argentine heroine (d. [[1866]])
* [[December 16]] &ndash; [[Mary Russell Mitford]], English novelist and dramatist (d. [[1855]])<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Mitford, Mary Russell (DNB00)|last=Lee|first=Elizabeth |authorlink=|volume=38|p=84}}</ref>
* [[December 17]] &ndash; [[Jan Evangelista Purkyne]], Czech anatomist, botanist (d. [[1869]])

===Date unknown===
* [[Juana Galán]], Spanish heroine (d. [[1812]])
* [[Shaka]], Zulu king (d. [[1828]])

== Deaths ==
* [[January 1]] &ndash; [[Arthur Middleton]], American politician (b. [[1742]])
* [[January 4]] &ndash; [[Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen]], German prince (b. [[1702]])
* [[February 2]] &ndash; [[Ignác Raab]], Czech artist (b. [[1715]])
* [[February 5]] &ndash; [[Hugh Farmer]], British theologian (b. [[1714]])
* [[February 4]] &ndash; [[Pompeo Batoni]], Italian painter (b. [[1708]])
[[File:Rudjer Boskovic.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Roger Joseph Boscovich]]]]
* [[February 13]]
** [[Roger Joseph Boscovich|Rudjer Boscovich]], Croatian scientist, diplomat (b. [[1711]])
** [[Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes]], French statesman, diplomat (b. [[1717]])
* [[February 21]] &ndash; [[Antonio Rodríguez de Hita]], Spanish composer (b. [[1722]])
* [[February 28]] &ndash; [[Princess Ulrike Friederike Wilhelmine of Hesse-Kassel]], German princess (b. [[1722]])
* [[March 8]] &ndash; [[Samuel Graves]], British Royal Navy admiral (b. [[1713]])
* [[March 22]] &ndash; [[Charles de Fitz-James]], Marshal of France (b. [[1712]])
* [[April 2]] &ndash; [[Thomas Gage]], British general (b. [[1719]])
* [[May 10]] &ndash; [[William Watson (scientist)|William Watson]], English physician, scientist (b. [[1715]])
* [[May 26]] &ndash; [[Lord John Murray]], British politician (b. [[1711]])
* [[May 28]] &ndash; [[Leopold Mozart]], Austrian composer (b. [[1719]])
* [[May 31]] &ndash; [[Felix of Nicosia]], Cypriot Catholic saint (b. [[1715]])
* [[June 10]] &ndash; [[La Caramba]] (Maria Antonia Fernandez), Spanish flamenco singer and dancer (b. [[1751]])
* [[June 14]] &ndash; [[Johann Georg Dominicus von Linprun]], German scientist (b. [[1714]])
* [[June 17]] &ndash; [[José de Gálvez]], Spanish politician (b. [[1720]])
* [[June 20]] &ndash; [[Carl Friedrich Abel]], German composer (b. [[1723]])
* [[July 4]] &ndash; [[Charles, Prince of Soubise]], Marshal of France (b. [[1715]])
* [[July 25]] &ndash; [[Arthur Devis (1712–1787)|Arthur Devis]], British artist (b. [[1712]])
* [[August 1]] &ndash; [[Alphonsus Liguori]], Italian founder of the Redemptorist Order (b. [[1696]])
* [[August 7]] &ndash; [[Francis Blackburne (priest)|Francis Blackburne]], English Anglican churchman, activist (b. [[1705]])
* [[August 13]] &ndash; [[Marc Antoine René de Voyer]], French noble (b. [[1722]])
* [[August 16]] &ndash; [[John Ponsonby (politician)]], Irish politician (b. [[1713]])
* [[September 7]] &ndash; [[Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 4th Duke of Liria and Jérica]], Spanish duke (b. [[1752]])
* [[October 7]] &ndash; [[Henry Muhlenberg]], German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church (b. [[1711]])
* [[October 28]] &ndash; [[Johann Karl August Musäus]], German author and collector of folk tales (b. [[1735]])<ref>{{cite book|author1=Franz J. L. Thimm|author2=William Henry Farn|title=The Literature of Germany, from Its Earliest Period to the Present Time, Historically Developed ... Edited by W. H. Farn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nbBfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA59|year=1844|pages=59}}</ref>
* [[November 3]] &ndash; [[Robert Lowth]], English bishop and grammarian (b. [[1710]])
* [[November 4]] &ndash; [[Johan Daniel Berlin]], Norwegian composer and organist (b. [[1714]])
[[File:Joseph Siffred Duplessis - Christoph Willibald Gluck - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|110px|[[Christoph Willibald Gluck]]]]
* [[November 15]] &ndash; [[Christoph Willibald Gluck]], German composer (b. [[1714]])
* [[December 11]] &ndash; [[Robert de Lamanon]], French botanist (b. [[1752]])
* ''date unknown''
** [[Maria Pellegrina Amoretti]], Italian lawyer (b. [[1756]])
** The Two-Headed Boy of Bengal, sufferer from the rare condition [[Craniopagus parasiticus]] (b. [[1783]])
** [[Francis William Drake]], British admiral and Governor of Newfoundland (b. [[1724]])

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

WIKI
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=Blair's Chronological Tables |author1=John Blair |author2=J. Willoughby Rosse|location= London |publisher=[[Henry George Bohn|H.G. Bohn]] |year=1856 |via=Hathi Trust |chapter=1787 |hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t6349vh5n |author1-link=John Blair (priest) }}

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