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 1 » Seven Years' War: The Battle of Minden, an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French. In Britain this was one of a number of events that constituted the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 and is celebrated as Minden Day by certain British Army regiments.
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 May 4, 1776
The temperature on May 4, 1776 was about 12.0 °C. Wind direction mainly northwest by west. Weather type: zeer betrokken. Source: KNMI
May 4 » Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
August 10 » American Revolutionary War: Word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.
September 11 » British–American peace conference on Staten Island fails to stop nascent American Revolutionary War.
September 16 » American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
October 11 » American Revolution: A fleet of American boats on Lake Champlain is defeated by the Royal Navy, but delays the British advance until 1777.
December 19 » Thomas Paine publishes one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled "The American Crisis".
Day of death January 4, 1804
The temperature on January 4, 1804 was about -2.0 °C. Wind direction mainly east-southeast. Weather type: zeer betrokken. Source: KNMI
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De Republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden werd in 1794-1795 door de Fransen veroverd onder leiding van bevelhebber Charles Pichegru (geholpen door de Nederlander Herman Willem Daendels); de verovering werd vergemakkelijkt door het dichtvriezen van de Waterlinie; Willem V moest op 18 januari 1795 uitwijken naar Engeland (en van daaruit in 1801 naar Duitsland); de patriotten namen de macht over van de aristocratische regenten en proclameerden de Bataafsche Republiek; op 16 mei 1795 werd het Haags Verdrag gesloten, waarmee ons land een vazalstaat werd van Frankrijk; in 3.1796 kwam er een Nationale Vergadering; in 1798 pleegde Daendels een staatsgreep, die de unitarissen aan de macht bracht; er kwam een nieuwe grondwet, die een Vertegenwoordigend Lichaam (met een Eerste en Tweede Kamer) instelde en als regering een Directoire; in 1799 sloeg Daendels bij Castricum een Brits-Russische invasie af; in 1801 kwam er een nieuwe grondwet; bij de Vrede van Amiens (1802) kreeg ons land van Engeland zijn koloniën terug (behalve Ceylon); na de grondwetswijziging van 1805 kwam er een raadpensionaris als eenhoofdig gezag, namelijk Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (van 31 oktober 1761 tot 25 maart 1825).
January 1 » French rule ends in Haiti. Haiti becomes the first black-majority republic and second independent country in North America after the United States.
February 14 » Karađorđe leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
February 21 » The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
August 11 » Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria.
November 30 » The Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate begins an impeachment trial of Federalist Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase.
December 2 » At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Charles Olson, "Olson's Tree", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/olsons-tree/P14881.php : accessed March 6, 2026), "Lydia Smith (1759-1804)".
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