1796

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( 1790s: )     1796
Napoleon Bonaparte forces a crossing of the bridge at Arcole, a move that makes his career.
year 1796

Events

• January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.)
• February 15 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Invasion of Ceylon (1795) ends when Johan van Angelbeek, the Batavian governor of Ceylon, surrenders Colombo peacefully to British forces.
• February 16 – The Kingdom of Great Britain is granted control of Ceylon by the Dutch.
• March 9 – Widow Joséphine de Beauharnais marries General Napoléon Bonaparte.
• March 20 – The U.S. House of Representatives demands that the U.S. State Department supply it with documents relating to the negotiation of the Jay Treaty; President Washington declines the request, citing that only the U.S. Senate has jurisdiction over treaties.
• March 26 – Napoleon Bonaparte arrives at Nice to take command of the Army of Italy (37,000 men and 60 guns), which is scattered in detachments as far as Genoa.
• April 12 – War of the First Coalition – Battle of Montenotte: Napoleon Bonaparte gains his first victory as an army commander.
• May 10 War of the First Coalition – Battle of Lodi: General Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Austrian rearguard, in forcing a crossing of the bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men, 14 guns, and 30 ammunition wagons.
• May 14 – Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination, in England.
• May 15 – Napoleon's troops take Milan.
• June 23 – Napoleon Bonaparte seizes the Papal States, which become part of the revolutionary Cisalpine Republic. Pope Pius VI signs the Armistice of Bologna, and is forced to pay a contribution (34 million francs).
• July 11 – The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain, under the terms of the Jay Treaty.
• July 21 – Mungo Park reaches Ségou, the capital of the Bamana Empire.
• August 19 – Second Treaty of San Ildefonso: Spain and France form an alliance against Great Britain.
• September 2 – Jewish emancipation in the Batavian Republic (Netherlands).
• September 17 – U.S. President George Washington issues his Farewell Address, which warns against partisan politics and foreign entanglements. In addition, he sets a precedent by declining to run for a third term.
• September 28 – Empress Catherine the Great signs an agreement with Great Britain, formally joining Russia to the coalition.
• November 3 – John Adams defeats Thomas Jefferson, in the U.S. presidential election.
• November 6 - Catherine the Great dies, and is succeeded by her son Paul I of Russia. His wife Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg becomes Empress consort.
• November 17 – Battle of Arcole: French forces under General Napoleon defeat the Austrians at Arcole. After a bold maneuver, he outflanks the Austrian army (24,000 men) under Freiherr József Alvinczi, and cuts off its line of retreat. Alvinczi is forced to take up a defensive position behind the Brenta River.
• December – The British government begins work on a 40-acre (162,000 m²) site at Norman Cross, for the world's first purpose-built prisoner-of-war camp.
• December 7 – The U.S. Electoral College meets to elect John Adams president of the United States.

Date unknown

• The Spanish government lifts the restrictions against neutrals trading with the colonies, thus acknowledging Spain's inability to supply the colonies with needed goods and markets.
• Annual British iron production reaches 125,000 tons.

 

Event

Event	Start	End	Description
French Revolution	5 May 1789	9 November 1799	Often cited event in world history that has an even more brutal side to it than is usually discussed.

 

New Groups

Group	Image	Type	Description
University of Strathclyde		Public	Glasgow's second-oldest university
Lycée Henri-IV			Considered one of the most demanding and prestigious secondary schools in France.

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