1779 to 1780

1779

x - The first proto-bicycle know as a "velocipedes" can be seen in Paris.
feb 06 - USA and France enter treaty in support of American independence from Britain.
mar 03 - Franklin meets with King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, to confirm the French-American treaty.
apr 01 to 30 - In retaliation for Indian raids on colonial settlements, American troops from North Carolina and Virginia attack Chickamauga Indian villages in Tennessee.
may 10 - British troops burn Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia.
jun 01 - British Gen. Clinton takes 6000 men up the Hudson toward West Point.
jun 16 - Spain declares war on England, but does not make an alliance with the American revolutionary forces.
jul 05 to 11 - Loyalists raid coastal towns in Connecticut, burning Fairfield, Norwalk and ships in New Haven harbor.
jul 10 - Naval ships from Massachusetts are destroyed by the British while attempting to take the Loyalist stronghold of Castine, Maine.
aug 14 - A peace plan is approved by Congress which stipulates independence, complete British evacuation of America and free navigation on the Mississippi River.
aug 29 - American forces defeat the combined Indian and Loyalist forces at Elmira, New York. Following the victory, American troops head northwest and destroy nearly 40 Cayuga and Seneca Indian villages in retaliation for the campaign of terror against American settlers.
sep 03 - oct 28 - Americans suffer a major defeat while attacking the British at Savannah, Georgia. Among the 800 American and Allied casualties is Count Casimir Pulaski of Poland. British losses are only 140.
sep 23 - Off the coast of England, John Paul Jones fights a desperate battle with a British frigate. When the British demand his surrender, Jones responds, "I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones then captures the frigate before his own ship sinks.
sep 27 - John Adams is appointed by Congress to negotiate peace with England.
oct 17 - Washington sets up winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, where his troops will suffer another harsh winter without desperately needed supplies, resulting in low morale, desertions and attempts at mutiny.
dec 26 - British Gen. Clinton sets sail from New York with 8000 men and heads for Charleston, South Carolina, arriving there on feb 01.

1780

x - Steel pen points begin to replace quill feathers.
x - James Watt invents a paper copier, using a special ink that stays wet for 24 hours, thus allowing someone to press another paper over it and copy the ink.
apr 08 - The British attack begins against Charleston as warships sail past the cannons of Fort Moultrie and enter Charleston harbor. Washington sends reinforcements.
may 06 - The British capture Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South Carolina.
may 12 - The worst American defeat of the Revolutionary War occurs as the British capture Charleston and its 5400-man garrison (the entire southern American Army) along with four ships and a military arsenal. British losses are only 225.
may 25 - After a severe winter, Gen. Washington faces a serious threat of mutiny at his winter camp in Morristown, New Jersey. Two Continental regiments conduct an armed march through the camp and demand immediate payment of salary (overdue by 5 months) and full rations. Troops from Pennsylvania put down the rebellion. Two leaders of the protest are then hanged.
jun 11 - A new Massachusetts constitution is endorsed asserting "all men are born free and equal," which includes black slaves.
jun 13 - Gen. Horatio Gates is commissioned by Congress to command the Southern Army.
jun 23 - American forces defeat the British in the Battle of Springfield, New Jersey.
jul 11 - 6000 French soldiers under Count de Rochambeau arrive at Newport, Rhode Island. They will remain there for nearly a year, blockaded by the British fleet.
aug 03 - Benedict Arnold is appointed commander of West Point. Unknown to the Americans, he has been secretly collaborating with British Gen. Clinton since May of 1779 by supplying information on Gen. Washington's tactics.
aug 16 - A big defeat for the Americans in South Carolina as forces under Gen. Gates are defeated by troops of Gen. Charles Cornwallis, resulting in 900 Americans killed and 1000 captured.
aug 18 - An American defeat at Fishing Creek, South Carolina, opens a route for Gen Cornwallis to invade North Carolina.
sep 23 - A British major in civilian clothing is captured near Tarrytown, New York. He is found to be carrying plans indicating Benedict Arnold intends to turn traitor and surrender West Point. Two days later, Arnold hears of the spy's capture and flees West Point to the British ship Vulture on the Hudson. He is later named a brigadier general in the British Army and will fight the Americans.
oct 07 - Gen. Cornwallis abandons his invasion of North Carolina after Americans capture his reinforcements, a Loyalist force of 1000 men.
oct 14 - Gen. Nathanael Greene, Washington's most able and trusted General, is named as the new commander of the Southern Army, replacing Gen. Gates. Greene then begins a strategy of rallying popular support and wearing down the British by leading Cornwallis on a six month chase through the back woods of South Carolina into North Carolina into Virginia then back into North Carolina. The British, low on supplies, are forced to steal from any Americans they encounter, thus enraging them.
x - The beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England ?+. Cotton mills start flourishing and spreading across the countryside.