January 28 » Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
May 28 » French and Indian War: In the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under the 22-year-old Lieutenant colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in what is now Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania.
July 3 » French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
Day of marriage February 3, 1774
The temperature on February 3, 1774 was about -1.0 °C. Wind direction mainly northeast. Weather type: zeer betrokken. Special wheather fenomena: ijs. Source: KNMI
June 13 » Rhode Island becomes the first of Britain's North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves.
August 1 » British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen gas, corroborating the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
September 1 » Massachusetts Bay colonists rise up in the bloodless Powder Alarm.
September 4 » New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
September 5 » First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia.
October 21 » The flag of Taunton, Massachusetts is the first to include the word "Liberty".
Day of death November 5, 1781
The temperature on November 5, 1781 was about 7.0 °C. There was 22 mm of rainWind direction mainly south. Weather type: betrokken regen. Source: KNMI
January 1 » American Revolutionary War: One thousand five hundred soldiers of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment under General Anthony Wayne's command rebel against the Continental Army's winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey in the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny of 1781.
February 3 » American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.
March 1 » The Articles of Confederation goes into effect in the United States.
April 29 » American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique.
October 17 » American Revolutionary War: British General Charles, Earl Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.
November 29 » The crew of the British slave ship Zong murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance.
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/P2243.php : accessed January 3, 2026), "John Parke Custis (1754-1781)".
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