Major Events
- Jan 5 British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond, Virginia
- Mar 13 William Herschel sees what he thinks is a "comet" but is actually the discovery of the planet Uranus
- Sep 4 Los Angeles is founded by 44 Spanish speaking mestizos in the Bahia de las Fumas (Bay of Smokes)
- Sep 5 American Revolutionary War: French fleet of 24 ships under Comte de Grasse defeat British forces under Admiral Thomas Graves and Samuel Hood at the Battle of the Chesapeake [Battle of the Virginia Capes] and trap General Lord Charles Cornwallis
- Sep 28 9,000 American and 7,000 French troops begin the siege of Yorktown
- Oct 19 British forces under General Charles Cornwallis sign terms of surrender to George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown at 2 pm, ending the US Revolutionary War
- More 1781 Events
Did You Know?
Crew of slave ship Zong murder about 142 African slaves by dumping them into the sea, to claim insurance
George Stephenson
Stamford Raffles
Eugène de BeauharnaisMore People Born in 1781
Who Died in 1781
- Jan 12 Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate (b. 1691)
- Jan 15 Marianne Victoria of Borbón, queen regent of Portugal (b. 1718)
- Jan 17 Marie de Negre Dables, marquess, dies
- Jan 22 Johann Siebenkas, composer, dies at 66
- Feb 4 Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer, dies at 43
More 1781 Deaths
Articles About 1781
Battle That Gave Birth To The USA
The Battle of Chesapeake Bay was one of the most decisive battles of the world. Before it, the creation of the United States was possible; after it, it was certain.September 5
Surrender at Yorktown
'Surrender of Lord Cornwallis' by John Trumbull depicting the British surrender which ended the American Revolutionary WarOctober 29
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Frederick North
Frederick the Great
Louis XVI