1778 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1778 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George III of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Frederick North, Lord North, Tory

Events

* 18 January - Third Pacific expedition of 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." [cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 6 February - American Revolutionary War: Britain declares war on France, for aiding the Americans.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 227-228|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 16 June - American Revolutionary War: Spain declares war on Britain.
* 28 June - American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Monmouth takes place in Monmouth, New Jersey.cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=331–332]
* 3 July - American Revolutionary War: the Wyoming Valley battle and massacre takes place near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, ending in a defeat of the local colonists.
* 10 July - American Revolutionary War: Louis XVI of France declares war on Great Britain.
* 27 July - American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant - British and French fleets fight to a standoff.
* September - First St. Leger Stakes horse race held.
* 26 November - In the Hawaiian Islands, James Cook becomes the first European to discover Maui.

Ongoing

* American Revolutionary War 1775–1783
* First Anglo-Maratha War 1777–1783

Undated

* Joseph Bramah invents a type of flush toilet.
* The HMS Victory is commissioned and remains in active service for the following 32 years, most notably at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). [cite web|url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1750-1800|title=Icons, a portrait of England 1750-1800|accessdate=2007-08-25]

Births

* 19 March - Edward Pakenham, general (died 1815)
* 10 April - William Hazlitt, essayist (died 1830)
* 18 May
** Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, politician (died 1854)
** Andrew Ure, doctor and writer (died 1857)
* 7 June - Beau Brummell, arbiter of fashion (died 1840)
* 19 September - Henry Peter Brougham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (died 1868)
* 25 November - Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, Christian writer (died 1856)
* 17 December - Humphry Davy, chemist (died 1829)
* 18 December - Joseph Grimaldi, clown (died 1837)

Deaths

* 5 March - Thomas Augustine Arne, composer (b. 1710)
* 22 April - James Hargreaves, weaver, carpenter, and inventor (b. 1720)
* 11 May - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1708)
* 16 May - Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, diplomat and politician (b. 1718)
* 12 August - Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, general and politician (b. 1714)

References

ee also