On This Day

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What Happened in August 1781

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Historical Events

Surrender at Yorktown

Aug 1 British army under General Cornwallis occupies Yorktown, Virginia

'Surrender of Lord Cornwallis' by John Trumbull depicting the British surrender which ended the American Revolutionary War
  • Aug 5 Battle of Dogger Bank (Fourth Anglo-Dutch War): a British strategic victory, although both sides claimed to have won

Event of Interest

Aug 20 George Washington begins to move his troops south to fight Cornwallis

First US President George Washington
  • Aug 21 Jury in Sheffield, Massachusetts, grants two slaves Bett (later Elizabeth Freeman) and Bron their freedom after Freeman brings the case to court [1]
Events in 1781

Famous Birthdays

  • Aug 9 Michael Umlauf, Austrian violinist, composer and conductor (premiere of Beethoven's 9th), born in Vienna (d. 1842)
  • Aug 12 Robert Mills, American engineer and architect (Washington Monument on the National Mall), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 1855) [1]
Born in 1781


What Happened in 1781

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