April 18 » American Revolution: The British advancement by sea begins; Paul Revere and other riders warn the countryside of the troop movements.
June 17 » American Revolutionary War: Colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill.
September 25 » American Revolution: Ethan Allen surrenders to British forces after attempting to capture Montreal during the Battle of Longue-Pointe.
October 18 » American Revolutionary War: The Burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine).
November 7 » John Murray, the Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, starts the first mass emancipation of slaves in North America by issuing Lord Dunmore's Offer of Emancipation, which offers freedom to slaves who abandoned their colonial masters to fight with Murray and the British.
December 3 » USSAlfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
Christening day July 5, 1776
The temperature on July 5, 1776 was about 22.0 °C. Wind direction mainly south east. Weather type: zeer betrokken weerlicht. Source: KNMI
January 27 » American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
March 9 » The Wealth of Nations by Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith is published.
May 15 » American Revolution: The Fifth Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
August 10 » American Revolutionary War: Word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.
August 27 » Battle of Long Island: In what is now Brooklyn, New York, British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington.
November 16 » American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the independence of the United States.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Hendrik Dreyer, "Dreyer Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/dreyer-tree/I530522.php : accessed February 3, 2026), "Jacobus van Zijl (1775-????)".
Copy warning
Genealogical publications are copyright protected. Although data is often retrieved from public archives, the searching, interpreting, collecting, selecting and sorting of the data results in a unique product. Copyright protected work may not simply be copied or republished.
Please stick to the following rules
Request permission to copy data or at least inform the author, chances are that the author gives permission, often the contact also leads to more exchange of data.
Do not use this data until you have checked it, preferably at the source (the archives).
State from whom you have copied the data and ideally also his/her original source.