January 11 » The first American life insurance company, the Corporation for Relief of Poor and Distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of the Poor and Distressed Widows and Children of the Presbyterian Ministers (now part of Unum Group), is incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
May 1 » Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
August 19 » Battle of Lagos Naval battle during the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France.
September 13 » Battle of the Plains of Abraham: the British defeat the French near Quebec City in the Seven Years' War, known in the United States as the French and Indian War.
November 25 » An earthquake hits the Mediterranean destroying Beirut and Damascus and killing 30,000-40,000.
December 31 » Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.
Day of marriage January 24, 1785
The temperature on January 24, 1785 was about -1.0 °C. Wind direction mainly south. Weather type: betrokken mist. Source: KNMI
January 7 » Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England, to Calais, France, in a gas balloon.
January 20 » Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong river by the Tây Sơn in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.
January 27 » The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
November 28 » The first Treaty of Hopewell is signed, by which the United States acknowledges Cherokee lands in what is now East Tennessee.
Day of death December 2, 1789
The temperature on December 2, 1789 was about 1.0 °C. Wind direction mainly south east. Weather type: zeer betrokken. Source: KNMI
January 23 » Georgetown College, the first Catholic university in the United States, is founded in Georgetown, Maryland (now a part of Washington, D.C.).
April 7 » Selim III became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.
April 28 » Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island.
June 8 » James Madison introduces twelve proposed amendments to the United States Constitution in Congress.
August 7 » The United States Department of War is established.
September 24 » The United States Congress passes the Judiciary Act, creating the office of the Attorney General and federal judiciary system and ordering the composition of the Supreme Court.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: J. van Broekhoven, "Database Van Broekhoven", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/database-van-broekhoven/I80460.php : accessed February 4, 2026), "Cornelia Leermakers (1759-1789)".
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