| January 1 | London's Daily Universal Registrar becomes the Times |
| January 1 | Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipate their slaves |
| January 2 | Georgia is 4th state to ratify U.S. constitution |
| January 9 | Connecticut becomes 5th state |
| January 18 | English settlers arrive in Australia's Botany Bay to setup penal colony |
| January 20 | Pioneer African Baptist church organizes in Savannah, Ga |
| January 26 | Captain Arthur Phillip hoists English flag on Port Jackson, New South Wales |
| January 28 | Captain Arthur Phillip forms English colony at Sydney, Botany Bay NSW |
| January 28 | Lord Gordon found guilty of libel of queen of France |
| January 29 | Australia Day |
| February 1 | 1st U.S. steamboat patent issued, by Georgia to Briggs and Longstreet |
| February 6 | Massachusetts becomes 6th state to ratify constitution |
| February 9 | Austria declares war on Russia |
| March 21 | Fire destroyed 856 buildings in New Orleans Louisiana |
| March 21 | Gustavus Vassa petitions Queen Charlotte, to free enslaved Africans |
| April 7 | 1st settlement in Ohio, at Marietta |
| April 15 | England, Netherlands and Prussia sign peace treaty |
| April 28 | Maryland becomes 7th state to ratify constitution |
| May 9 | English parliament accepts abolishing of slave trade |
| May 23 | South Carolina becomes 8th state to ratify U.S. constitution |
| June 7 | Masses stone French government army at Grenoble |
| June 11 | 1st British ship built on Pacific coast begun at Nootka Sound |
| June 21 | U.S. Constitution goes into effect as New Hampshire is 9th to ratify |
| June 21 | Vizille France population demands local parliament |
| June 25 | Virginia becomes 10th state to ratify U.S. constitution |
| July 17 | Russian fleet destroys Swedish |
| July 26 | New York becomes 11th state to ratify constitution |
| July 26 | Sydney, Australia settled by British colonists |
| August 8 | King Louis XVI calls French States and Generals together |
| August 13 | Prussia joins Anglo-Dutch alliance to form Triple Alliance to prevent spread of Russo-Swedish War of 1788-90 |
| August 17 | Losantville, OH (now Cincinnati) founded |
| August 22 | Sierra Leone, settled by British as a former haven for slaves |
| August 27 | Jacques Neeker names French minister of Finance |
| September 13 | New York City becomes 1st capital of US |
| December 17 | Russian army of Grigorij Potemkin occupies Ocharov |
| December 19 | Chinese troops occupy capital Thang Long Vietnam |
| December 21 | Hue Tay Son becomes emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam |
| December 23 | Maryland votes to cede a 10 mile area for District of Columbia |
BrainyHistory
