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July 14: Storming of the Bastille takes place in the French Revolution.
1789 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar1789
MDCCLXXXIX
Ab urbe condita2542
Armenian calendar1238
ԹՎ ՌՄԼԸ
Assyrian calendar6539
Balinese saka calendar1710–1711
Bengali calendar1195–1196
Berber calendar2739
British Regnal year29 Geo. 3 – 30 Geo. 3
Buddhist calendar2333
Burmese calendar1151
Byzantine calendar7297–7298
Chinese calendar戊申年 (Earth Monkey)
4486 or 4279
    — to —
己酉年 (Earth Rooster)
4487 or 4280
Coptic calendar1505–1506
Discordian calendar2955
Ethiopian calendar1781–1782
Hebrew calendar5549–5550
Hindu calendars
 - Vikram Samvat1845–1846
 - Shaka Samvat1710–1711
 - Kali Yuga4889–4890
Holocene calendar11789
Igbo calendar789–790
Iranian calendar1167–1168
Islamic calendar1203–1204
Japanese calendarTenmei 9 / Kansei 1
(寛政元年)
Javanese calendar1715–1716
Julian calendarGregorian minus 11 days
Korean calendar4122
Minguo calendar123 before ROC
民前123年
Nanakshahi calendar321
Thai solar calendar2331–2332
Tibetan calendarས་ཕོ་སྤྲེ་ལོ་
(male Earth-Monkey)
1915 or 1534 or 762
    — to —
ས་མོ་བྱ་ལོ་
(female Earth-Bird)
1916 or 1535 or 763

1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1789th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 789th year of the 2nd millennium, the 89th year of the 18th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1780s decade. As of the start of 1789, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Events

[edit]
French Revolution: June 20: Tennis Court Oath, drawing by David.

January–March

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April–June

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April 28: Mutiny on the Bounty.
April 30: George Washington, inaugurated as the First President of the United States.

July–September

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October–December

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Date unknown

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Births

[edit]
René Edward De Russy
Georg Ohm
Catharine Sedgwick

Deaths

[edit]
Frances Brooke
Petrus Camper
Silas Deane

References

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

1789

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
1789 was a transformative year in global history, primarily defined by the onset of the French Revolution amid France's severe fiscal crisis exacerbated by poor harvests and war debts, which compelled King Louis XVI to convene the Estates-General on May 5 after over a century of disuse.[1] The Third Estate, representing the commoners, declared itself the National Assembly on June 17, vowing in the Tennis Court Oath on June 20 to draft a constitution, events that escalated tensions leading to the storming of the Bastille prison on July 14 by Parisian revolutionaries seeking arms and symbolizing defiance against royal authority.[2] Concurrently, the United States operationalized its new constitutional framework with George Washington's inauguration as the first president on April 30 in New York City, marking the start of federal governance following the Constitution's ratification.[3] The French Revolution's early phase in 1789 dismantled feudal privileges on August 4 and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen on August 26, articulating principles of liberty, property, and resistance to oppression, though these reforms were driven by pragmatic responses to bankruptcy rather than abstract ideals alone.[2] In the American context, the First Congress convened in March, laying foundations for executive departments and judiciary, while international ripples included the mutiny on HMS Bounty on April 28 in the Pacific, led by Fletcher Christian against Captain William Bligh during a breadfruit expedition.[4] These events underscored 1789's theme of upheaval, from monarchical challenges in Europe to republican consolidation in the New World, setting precedents for modern political structures amid economic and social strains.[5]

Events

North American Political Foundations

The United States federal government began functioning under the Constitution on March 4, 1789, when the First Congress assembled at Federal Hall in New York City, transitioning from the weaker Articles of Confederation to a system with separated powers and checks and balances.[6][7] A quorum was achieved in the House of Representatives on April 1 and in the Senate shortly thereafter, enabling the counting of electoral votes.[8] George Washington received unanimous electoral votes for president, reflecting broad consensus on his leadership to stabilize the new republic.[3] Washington's inauguration occurred on April 30, 1789, administered by Chancellor Robert R. Livingston on the balcony of Federal Hall before a large crowd, symbolizing the birth of constitutional executive authority.[9][3] In his address, Washington emphasized reliance on divine providence and the Constitution's framework for governance, avoiding partisan appeals.[10] The First Congress promptly addressed structural needs, establishing the executive departments of Foreign Affairs (later State) on July 27 and War on August 7, providing administrative machinery for national policy.[11] The Judiciary Act of 1789, enacted September 24 and signed by Washington, created a hierarchical federal court system with district courts for local matters, circuit courts for appeals, and a Supreme Court for final adjudication, fulfilling Article III's mandate while specifying jurisdictions like admiralty and federal crimes.[12][13] This act appointed the first Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice John Jay, and marshals to enforce federal law, essential for national cohesion amid state-level disputes.[14] Later in September, Congress proposed twelve constitutional amendments addressing individual rights and procedural safeguards, submitted to states for ratification to secure broader support for the federal structure.[15] These measures in 1789 entrenched the tripartite government, prioritizing enumerated powers and federal supremacy to prevent the centrifugal forces that had undermined the Confederation.[16]

European Revolutionary Upheavals

The French Revolution erupted in 1789 against the backdrop of fiscal collapse, exacerbated by France's costly aid to the American Revolution, inefficient taxation systems that spared privileged orders, and the harsh winter of 1788-1789 which devastated harvests and inflated bread prices. King Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General on May 5, 1789, after 175 years of dormancy, with 600 deputies from the Third Estate (commoners), 300 from the nobility, and 300 from the clergy convening at Versailles.[17] [2] Elections from January to April had produced cahiers de doléances—lists of grievances—highlighting demands for tax reform and ending feudal burdens.[17] Disputes over voting procedures—by estate (favoring privileged orders) versus by head—culminated in the Third Estate declaring itself the National Assembly on June 17, asserting sovereignty on behalf of the nation. Barred from their hall on June 20, deputies relocated to a tennis court and swore the Tennis Court Oath, pledging not to disband until a constitution was established. Louis XVI's attempted dissolution on June 23 failed, as troops amassed around Paris amid rising urban unrest fueled by food shortages and unemployment.[17] [2] Tensions peaked on July 14 when approximately 1,000 Parisians stormed the Bastille prison-fortress in search of gunpowder and as a stand against royal despotism; the garrison surrendered after four hours, with 98 attackers and one defender killed, leading to the execution of governor Bernard-René de Launay. This event galvanized nationwide revolt, triggering the Great Fear—a wave of peasant insurrections from July 19 onward that destroyed manor records and prompted the Assembly's August 4 night session, where feudal dues, tithes, and privileges were unilaterally abolished, affecting millions under seigneurial rights.[17] [5] Legislative progress followed with the August 26 adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, enshrining liberty, property, equality before law, and resistance to oppression, though preserving monarchy and drawing from Enlightenment principles while reflecting bourgeois interests. Royal authority waned further during the October 5-6 Women's March on Versailles, where thousands of market women, backed by National Guard under Marquis de Lafayette, compelled Louis XVI and the Assembly to relocate to Paris, symbolizing the capital's dominance over the crown.[17] Echoing French unrest, the Austrian Netherlands saw the Brabant Revolution ignite in late October 1789, as Statists—conservative rebels led by Henri van der Noot—invaded from Dutch exile with 2,800 men, routing Habsburg troops and exploiting opposition to Emperor Joseph II's centralizing edicts that nullified provincial charters like Brabant’s 1356 Joyeuse Entrée. Complementing this, the Liège Revolution on August 18 overthrew Prince-Bishop César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck amid demands for democratic reforms, establishing a provisional government influenced by French Jacobinism until Austrian restoration in 1791. These Low Countries upheavals, though brief and ultimately suppressed by 1790-1791, underscored Enlightenment critiques of absolutism and clerical power across Habsburg domains.[18] [19] [20]

Global Exploration and Conflicts

In the Pacific Ocean, the mutiny on HMS Bounty unfolded on April 28, 1789, when acting lieutenant Fletcher Christian and 18 crew members seized control of the armed merchant ship from Captain William Bligh during its return voyage from Tahiti to the West Indies.[21] The expedition, commissioned by the British Admiralty in 1787, aimed to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti for transplantation as a cheap food source for enslaved populations in the Caribbean, reflecting ongoing European efforts to exploit botanical resources across global trade routes.[4] Bligh and 18 loyalists were set adrift in a 23-foot launch with limited provisions; remarkably, Bligh navigated approximately 3,618 nautical miles over 47 days to reach Timor in the Dutch East Indies, with only one death from causes unrelated to the journey.[21] The mutineers, influenced by prolonged exposure to Tahitian life, sailed Bounty back to Tahiti before burning the ship and settling on remote Pitcairn Island in January 1790 to evade capture.[21] Concurrent with these events, the Nootka Crisis emerged in the North Pacific as a flashpoint of Anglo-Spanish imperial rivalry over fur trading rights and territorial claims along the Northwest Coast of North America. In May 1789, Spanish naval officer Esteban José Martínez arrived at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island with two frigates and seized four British vessels owned by captain John Meares, who had established a small trading post there the previous year, asserting Spain's exclusive sovereignty under the Treaty of Tordesillas and subsequent papal bulls.[22] Martínez's actions, including the arrest of British traders and the construction of a fortified Spanish outpost, prompted outrage in Britain, where Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger mobilized naval preparations for potential war, escalating tensions that threatened broader European conflict amid the unfolding French Revolution.[22] The dispute underscored competing European ambitions in the fur trade, driven by demand for sea otter pelts in China, and highlighted Indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth interactions with foreign traders at Nootka, where local chief Maquinna played a mediating role.[23] Diplomatic resolutions via the Nootka Conventions in 1790 averted war, affirming mutual trading rights while Spain retained nominal sovereignty but effectively ceding practical control to British interests.[22] These incidents exemplified the precarious nature of European overseas expansion in 1789, where exploratory voyages for economic gain frequently intersected with naval power projections and internal shipboard dissent, far from metropolitan oversight.[21][22] While no major large-scale wars erupted globally outside European theaters that year, such localized conflicts and maritime upheavals contributed to the reconfiguration of colonial spheres in the Pacific, influencing subsequent expeditions like George Vancouver's surveys.[22]

Other Notable Occurrences

On April 28, 1789, acting lieutenant Fletcher Christian led a mutiny against Captain William Bligh aboard HMS Bounty in the South Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,300 miles from Tahiti. The ship, a 215-ton armed merchant vessel, had departed England in 1787 under orders from Sir Joseph Banks to transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the British West Indies as a cheap food source for slaves. After arriving in Tahiti in October 1788 and spending five months collecting over 1,000 breadfruit plants, the crew grew reluctant to leave the island's permissive society, leading to widespread discontent with Bligh's strict discipline.[21][4] The mutineers, numbering 25 including Christian, seized control while Bligh and 18 loyalists were cast adrift in the 23-foot launch with minimal provisions: 150 pounds of bread, 16 pieces of pork, six quarts of rum, six bottles of wine, and 28 gallons of water. Bligh's navigational skill enabled the survivors to sail 3,618 nautical miles over 47 days to Coupang, Dutch Timor, arriving on June 14 with only one death from causes unrelated to starvation. This open-boat voyage demonstrated exceptional seamanship amid hostile weather and limited resources.[21][24] The mutineers returned briefly to Tahiti, where 16 chose to remain, before Christian and eight others, taking 18 Polynesians (including six men, 11 women, and one boy), sailed to Pitcairn Island in January 1790. There, internal conflicts led to the deaths of most mutineers and Tahitians by 1800, with the Bounty burned to avoid detection. Descendants of the survivors were discovered on Pitcairn in 1808 by the American sealer Topaz. Bligh faced a court-martial in England in 1792, was honorably acquitted, and later commanded HMS Warrior and participated in the Napoleonic Wars.[24][21] In the Ottoman Empire, Selim III ascended to the throne on April 7, 1789, following the death of his uncle Abdul Hamid I, amid the ongoing Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). Selim's early reign focused on military reforms, though initial efforts were overshadowed by defeats such as the Russian victory at Focșani on July 1, 1789, where 38,000 Ottoman troops suffered heavy losses against a smaller Russo-Austrian force. These events highlighted the empire's logistical and tactical weaknesses against European armies.

Scientific and Technological Advances

Chemistry and Physics Breakthroughs

In 1789, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier published Traité élémentaire de chimie, a seminal work that formalized modern chemical methodology by emphasizing precise measurements, rejecting the phlogiston theory of combustion, and classifying substances into elements and compounds based on experimental evidence rather than speculative hypotheses.[25][26] The treatise included a table of 33 simple substances, of which 23 were genuine elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur, while others like light and heat were later reclassified; this list advanced the periodic understanding of matter by prioritizing empirical decomposition over alchemical traditions.[27] Lavoisier's experiments in the work demonstrated the law of conservation of mass, showing that in sealed vessels, the total mass remains constant during chemical reactions, as verified through quantitative weighings of substances like mercury oxide reduced by charcoal.[28] This principle, derived from meticulous calorimetry and gas analysis, refuted earlier notions of matter creation or destruction and laid groundwork for stoichiometry, influencing both chemistry and the physical conservation laws in mechanics.[25] The publication also introduced a rational nomenclature system, naming compounds by their constituent elements (e.g., "oxide of mercury" for HgO), which promoted clarity and reproducibility in scientific discourse and was adopted by subsequent chemists.[26] In the same year, German analytical chemist Martin Klaproth isolated uranium from pitchblende ore through dissolution in nitric acid followed by precipitation and reduction, naming it after the planet Uranus; this marked the first identification of a radioactive element, though its properties were not fully understood until the 19th century.[29] Physics saw fewer discrete breakthroughs in 1789, with ongoing applications of prior work such as Charles-Augustin de Coulomb's electrostatic measurements from the mid-1780s informing static electricity studies, but no major new laws or discoveries were recorded that year amid the era's focus on chemical quantification.[25] Lavoisier's conservation principle, however, bridged disciplines by aligning chemical transformations with Newtonian physical invariance.[28]

Astronomical and Exploratory Discoveries

In 1789, astronomer William Herschel commenced observations with his newly constructed 40-foot (12-meter) reflector telescope at his observatory in Slough, England, which remained the world's largest for decades and enabled deeper cosmic surveys.[30] Using this instrument on August 28, Herschel discovered Enceladus, a moon of Saturn approximately 500 kilometers in diameter, characterized by its icy surface and subsequent findings of geysers emitting water vapor.[31] On September 17, he identified Mimas, another Saturnian satellite about 400 kilometers across, notable for its heavily cratered terrain including the large Herschel crater spanning one-third of its diameter.[31] These detections expanded the known Saturnian system, previously comprising five moons observed by earlier astronomers, and underscored Herschel's systematic approach to planetary observation amid his broader cataloging of nebulae and binary stars.[31] Exploratory efforts that year included the launch of the Malaspina Expedition from Spain on July 30, a Spanish naval venture under captains Alessandro Malaspina and José Bustamante y Guerra aboard the corvettes Descubierta and Atrevida, aimed at scientific mapping of Pacific coastlines, hydrographic surveys, and evaluation of colonial territories from Alaska to Patagonia over five years. The expedition yielded detailed charts, ethnographic records, and natural history specimens, though its findings were suppressed until the 19th century due to political sensitivities. Concurrently, fur trader Alexander Mackenzie initiated an overland expedition from Fort Chipewyan in present-day Alberta, Canada, navigating westward rivers and reaching the [Arctic Ocean](/page/Arctic Ocean) on August 14 via a 1,700-kilometer route that traced the waterway later named the Mackenzie River, marking one of the earliest European traversals of interior North America to the northern coast.[32] These ventures reflected Enlightenment-era priorities of empirical geographic and natural resource assessment, though Mackenzie's journey encountered indigenous resistance and navigational challenges without achieving a hoped-for Pacific link.[32]

Notable Individuals

Births

  • February 22 – René-Édouard de Russy (d. 1865), French-born American military engineer who constructed coastal fortifications, invented the barbette depressing gun carriage, and served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy from 1833 to 1838.
  • March 16 – Georg Simon Ohm (d. 1854), German physicist and mathematician who discovered the relationship between electric potential, current, and resistance, now known as Ohm's law.[33]
  • August 21 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy (d. 1857), French mathematician who made fundamental contributions to analysis, including the Cauchy integral theorem and the definition of continuity in terms of limits.[34]
  • September 15 – James Fenimore Cooper (d. 1851), American novelist renowned for his Leatherstocking Tales, which depicted frontier life and Native American themes, establishing him as a pioneer of American literature.[35]
  • December 28 – Catharine Maria Sedgwick (d. 1867), American writer of popular domestic fiction and historical novels, including Hope Leslie, which critiqued Puritan society and advocated for women's education.[36]

Deaths

Several prominent historical figures perished in 1789, amid a year marked by revolutionary fervor in France and ongoing geopolitical shifts elsewhere. Ethan Allen, the Vermont-born frontiersman and key leader of the Green Mountain Boys who spearheaded the capture of Fort Ticonderoga from British forces on May 10, 1775, died on February 12 in Burlington, Vermont, at age 51 from a stroke, or "apoplectic fit," following a period of declining health.[37] Jacques de Flesselles, the intendant (financial administrator) of Paris appointed by King Louis XVI, was shot and killed on July 14 by an angry mob during the initial phases of the Estates-General crisis, his death emblematic of the escalating violence that precipitated the storming of the Bastille later that day.[38][39] Royal and imperial losses included Abdul Hamid I, the 27th Ottoman Sultan who ruled from 1774 and navigated military defeats against Russia and Austria in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774 and its aftermath, succumbing to a stroke on January 7 in Constantinople at age 64.[39] Louis Joseph, the first Dauphin of France under Louis XVI and eldest son of the royal couple, died on June 4 at Versailles from tuberculosis at just seven years old, depriving the monarchy of its direct heir and exacerbating perceptions of divine disfavor amid fiscal woes.[39] Intellectual and scientific contributors who passed included Charles-Michel de l'Épée, the French cleric and pioneer of sign language education for the deaf, establishing the first public school for deaf students in Paris in 1760; he died on December 23 at age 76 from natural causes.[38] Petrus Camper, the Dutch anatomist, physiologist, and paleontologist known for early comparative studies of skulls and the "facial angle" metric influencing craniometry, died on April 9 in 's-Hertogenbosch at age 67 after a brief illness.[40] Silas Deane, the American Continental Congress delegate and diplomat who negotiated early French aid for the Revolution but later fell into controversy over alleged double-dealing, died on September 23 in London, possibly from poisoning or suicide, at age 52—his death unresolved and debated among contemporaries.[41][39] Other figures included Thomas Nelson Jr., the Virginia signer of the Declaration of Independence and governor during the Yorktown campaign, who died on January 4 at age 50 from asthma-related complications; and John Cleland, the English author of the erotic novel Fanny Hill (1748), passing on January 23 at age 84 in London.[41] These deaths, while not exhaustive, reflect the era's toll on leaders and innovators across continents.[40]

References

  1. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: PHASES AND DATES
  2. French Revolution Timeline
  3. George Washington's Inaugural Address - National Archives
  4. Mutiny on the HMS Bounty | April 28, 1789 - History.com
  5. The United States and the French Revolution, 1789–1799
  6. The First Federal Congress
  7. On this day, government begins under our Constitution
  8. Congress Profiles | US House of Representatives
  9. President Washington's Inauguration
  10. April 30, 1789: First Inaugural Address - Miller Center
  11. Timeline 1789-1815 - U.S. Capitol - Visitor Center
  12. Federal Judiciary Act (1789) | National Archives
  13. Anniversary of the Federal Court System
  14. The Judiciary Act of 1789: Charter for U.S. Marshals and Deputies
  15. The Bill of Rights: A Transcription - National Archives
  16. Constitutional Convention and Ratification, 1787–1789
  17. French Revolution | History, Summary, Timeline, Causes, & Facts
  18. Brabant Revolution | Belgian Uprising, Peasant Revolt & Catholic ...
  19. Belgium from Revolution to the War of the Sixth Coalition 1789-1814
  20. [PDF] The Liège Revolution and the Electoral Congress of Frankfurt (1790 ...
  21. Mutiny on the Bounty | Royal Museums Greenwich
  22. https://www.britannica.com/event/Nootka-Sound-controversy
  23. The Nootka Crisis - Canadian History Ehx
  24. Bligh, Breadfruit and Betrayal: The True Story behind the Mutiny on ...
  25. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier The Chemical Revolution - Landmark
  26. Chemistry Timeline, 1755-1901: Victorian Chemistry in Context
  27. 225th Anniversary: Death of Antoine Lavoisier - ChemistryViews
  28. The Conservation of Mass | Learn Science at Scitable - Nature
  29. Outline History of Nuclear Energy
  30. Caroline and William Herschel: Revealing the invisible - ESA
  31. Sept. 17, 1789: William Herschel discovers Mimas
  32. in the Years 1789 and 1793 [excerpt] - American Journeys
  33. Georg Ohm | Biography & Facts - Britannica
  34. Famous People Born in 1789 - #1 is Augustin-Louis Cauchy
  35. James Fenimore Cooper - New Jersey Hall of Fame
  36. Catharine Maria Sedgwick | Novelist, Feminist, New England
  37. Famous People Who Died in February 1789 - On This Day
  38. Famous Deaths in 1789 - #1 was Jacques de Flesselles - Playback.fm
  39. Famous People Who Died in 1789
  40. Famous People Who Died in 1789 - On This Day
  41. Died in 1789 - Famous Birthdays
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