Explore the major historical events, famous births, and notable deaths that occurred in the year 1789. This year saw 49 significant events. 2 notable figures were born.
William Hill Brown (November 12, 1765 – September 2, 1793) was an American novelist, the author of what is usually considered the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy (1789), and "Harriot, or…
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801.
First US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington's presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ends 1791)
Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on HMS Bounty against its captain William Bligh in the South Pacific
Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States established under the Constitution.
William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice
James Madison (March 16, 1751 [O.S. March 5, 1750] – June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817.
The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799.
French Revolution: The Third Estate of the French Estates-General swears the Tennis Court Oath at the Palace of Versailles, vowing not to disband until a new constitution is formed
Bastille Day - the French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris, now celebrated as France's National Day
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1789), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil...
The Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, 1 Stat. 73) is a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress.
The First U.S. Congress proposes the Bill of Rights, a set of amendments to the constitution guaranteeing essential liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceful assembly
George Washington transmits the proposed constitutional amendments, known as the United States Bill of Rights, to the states for ratification
Women of Paris march to Versailles in the March on Versailles to confront Louis XVI about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the king and his court moved to Paris
Lexicographer Noah Webster (31) weds Rebecca Greenleaf
In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, Benjamin Franklin writes "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes"
The National Thanksgiving Proclamation was the first presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving in the United States.
Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States.
John Odell signs contract for £336 to build St Peter's church in the Bronx
Chinese troops are driven out of Vietnam's capital, Thăng Long
Pennsylvania ends prohibition of theatrical performances
First whale harpooned in the Pacific Ocean by English ship Emilia off the coast of South America [1]
Society of St Tammany is formed by Revolutionary War soldiers. It later becomes an infamous group of NYC political bosses
The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George...
Spanish capture British schooner Northwest America near Vancouver Island
The Tariff Act of 1789 was the first major piece of legislation passed in the United States after the ratification of the United States Constitution.
The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799.
The National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante) was a constituent assembly in the Kingdom of France formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789 during the first...
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, is named by acclamation colonel-general of the new National Guard of Paris
US Customs begins enforcing the Tariff Act
French Revolution: The National Constituent Assembly meets and issues the first decrees that abolish centuries of feudalism in France
The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and...
The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799.
French Revolution: The National Assembly proclaims freedom of speech
The National Constituent Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen at the beginning of the French Revolution
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments.
Bank of New York makes the first loan to the US government ($200,000) to pay the salaries of President Washington and members of Congress
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations.
First loan is raised to pay the salaries of the US President and Congress
US Congress passes act requiring the first Postmaster General to report to the President through the Secretary of the Treasury
4th US Postmaster General: Samuel Osgood of Mass takes office
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department responsible for the operation and...
The National Thanksgiving Proclamation was the first presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving in the United States.
In the history of France, the period from 1789 to 1914, dubbed the "long 19th century" by the historian Eric Hobsbawm, extends from the French Revolution to the brink of World War I.
Fleeing slaves under Bonni attack military post on Suriname
Bourbon whiskey is first distilled from corn by Elijah Craig in Bourbon County, Virginia (modern-day Kentucky)
Thirty-three amendments to the Constitution of the United States (also referred to formally as articles of amendment) have been proposed by the United States Congress and sent to the states for...
Georg Ohm, German mathematician and physicist, known for german mathematician and physicist, was born on 1789-03-16. Georg Simon Ohm was a German mathematician and physicist.
James Fenimore Cooper, American writer, known for american writer, was born on 1789-09-15.
William Hill Brown (November 12, 1765 – September 2, 1793) was an American novelist, the author of what is usually considered the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy (1789), and "Harriot, or…
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801.
First US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington's presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ends 1791)
Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on HMS Bounty against its captain William Bligh in the South Pacific
Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States established under the Constitution.
William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice
James Madison (March 16, 1751 [O.S. March 5, 1750] – June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817.
The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799.
French Revolution: The Third Estate of the French Estates-General swears the Tennis Court Oath at the Palace of Versailles, vowing not to disband until a new constitution is formed
Bastille Day - the French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris, now celebrated as France's National Day
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1789), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil...
The Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, 1 Stat. 73) is a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress.
The First U.S. Congress proposes the Bill of Rights, a set of amendments to the constitution guaranteeing essential liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right to peaceful assembly
George Washington transmits the proposed constitutional amendments, known as the United States Bill of Rights, to the states for ratification
Women of Paris march to Versailles in the March on Versailles to confront Louis XVI about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the king and his court moved to Paris
Lexicographer Noah Webster (31) weds Rebecca Greenleaf
In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, Benjamin Franklin writes "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes"
The National Thanksgiving Proclamation was the first presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving in the United States.
Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States.
John Odell signs contract for £336 to build St Peter's church in the Bronx
Chinese troops are driven out of Vietnam's capital, Thăng Long
Pennsylvania ends prohibition of theatrical performances
First whale harpooned in the Pacific Ocean by English ship Emilia off the coast of South America [1]
Society of St Tammany is formed by Revolutionary War soldiers. It later becomes an infamous group of NYC political bosses
The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George...
Spanish capture British schooner Northwest America near Vancouver Island
The Tariff Act of 1789 was the first major piece of legislation passed in the United States after the ratification of the United States Constitution.
The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799.
The National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante) was a constituent assembly in the Kingdom of France formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789 during the first...
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, is named by acclamation colonel-general of the new National Guard of Paris
US Customs begins enforcing the Tariff Act
French Revolution: The National Constituent Assembly meets and issues the first decrees that abolish centuries of feudalism in France
The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and...
The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the Coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799.
French Revolution: The National Assembly proclaims freedom of speech
The National Constituent Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen at the beginning of the French Revolution
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments.
Bank of New York makes the first loan to the US government ($200,000) to pay the salaries of President Washington and members of Congress
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations.
First loan is raised to pay the salaries of the US President and Congress
US Congress passes act requiring the first Postmaster General to report to the President through the Secretary of the Treasury
4th US Postmaster General: Samuel Osgood of Mass takes office
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department responsible for the operation and...
The National Thanksgiving Proclamation was the first presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving in the United States.
In the history of France, the period from 1789 to 1914, dubbed the "long 19th century" by the historian Eric Hobsbawm, extends from the French Revolution to the brink of World War I.
Fleeing slaves under Bonni attack military post on Suriname
Bourbon whiskey is first distilled from corn by Elijah Craig in Bourbon County, Virginia (modern-day Kentucky)
Thirty-three amendments to the Constitution of the United States (also referred to formally as articles of amendment) have been proposed by the United States Congress and sent to the states for...
Georg Ohm, German mathematician and physicist, known for german mathematician and physicist, was born on 1789-03-16. Georg Simon Ohm was a German mathematician and physicist.
James Fenimore Cooper, American writer, known for american writer, was born on 1789-09-15.