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1781| 1730–1807 | UK [newspapers] | The Daily Advertiser is launched in London, England. With its dependence on advertisements, this may be regarded as the first modern newspaper. | | 1781 | Switzerland, UK [painting] | The Swiss-born British artist Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli) paints The Nightmare. Capturing the Gothic mood of the period, it is one of the most vivid and macabre images of early Romanticism. | | 1781 | Germany [philosophy] | The German philosopher Immanuel Kant publishes the first of his major works, the Critique of Pure Reason, which explores the theory of knowledge. It will become one of the central works of modern philosophy. | | 1781 | Scotland [technology] | Scottish engineer James Watt discovers how to convert the up-and-down motion of his steam engine into rotary motion, which can then turn a shaft. | | 1781 | AMERICA [everyday life] | The population of America is around 3.5 million. The majority live on the east coast and there is very little settlement of the rest of the country. | | 13 March 1781 | England [astronomy] | German-born English astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus. | | 9 June 1781 | England [births and deaths] | George Stephenson, English engineer, inventor of the railway locomotive, born in Wylam, Northumberland, England (–1848). | | 1 July 1781 | India [colonization] | Sir Eyre Coote, Irish-born British commander in chief in India, defeats Hyder Ali, Sultan of Mysore, at Porto Novo, establishing British hegemony over southern India. | | 5 September 1781 | America [American Revolution] | In perhaps the decisive battle of the American Revolution, the French fleet under François, comte de Grasse, defeats off the Virginia Capes the attempt of a British fleet from New York under Admiral Thomas Graves to drive it from Chesapeake Bay. Continued French occupation of the Bay seals the fate of the British forces under Charles, Lord Cornwallis, in Yorktown. | | 19 October 1781 | America [American Revolution] | British forces under Charles, Lord Cornwallis, surrender to the besieging American and French forces at Yorktown, Virginia, after a three-week siege. The British also evacuate Charleston in South Carolina and Savannah in Georgia. |
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