1785, January 1st ยท Great Britain ยท London ยท Media ยท Media ยท John Walter
Daily Universal Register
Publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register
1785, January 7th ยท France ยท English Channel, The ยท Exploration ยท Exploration and Discovery ยท Francois Blanchard
1st Channel Crossing
Completes the first Channel crossing in a hot air balloon
1785, January 7th ยท France ยท Calais ยท Science ยท Technology ยท Jean-Pierre Blanchard
1st Hot Air Balloon
1st to pilot a hot-air balloon across the Channel from Dover to Calais
1785, January 10th ยท Germany ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท Jakob Grimm
Birth of Jakob Grimm
Birth of Jakob Grimm
February 17853 historical events
1785, February 10th ยท Austria ยท Vienna ยท Arts ยท Classical Music ยท Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No 20
Completes Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor.
1785, February 24th ยท France ยท House ยท House of Bonaparte ยท Charles Bonaparte
Death of Charles Bonaparte
Death of Charles Bonaparte, father of Napoleon I
1785, February 24th ยท United States of America ยท Government ยท Continental ยท John Quincy Adams
Minister of England
Appointed Minister of England
April 17852 historical events
1785, April 4th ยท Great Britain ยท London ยท Science ยท Technology ยท Edmund Cartwright
Invention of Power Loom
Patents his invention, the Power Loom
1785, April 4th ยท Great Britain ยท London ยท Science ยท Technology ยท Edmund Cartwright
Patent
Patents his invention, the Power Loom
June 17851 historical events
1785, June 1st ยท Great Britain ยท London ยท Government ยท Whig Party Government ยท George III
Reception of John Adams The first American ambassador to
Receives John Adams The first American ambassador to Britain
September 17853 historical events
1785, September 1st ยท Austria ยท Vienna ยท Arts ยท Classical Music ยท Joseph Haydn
Haydn Quartets
Receives Mozart's dedication of the six Haydn Quartets.
1785, September 1st ยท Austria ยท Vienna ยท Arts ยท Classical Music ยท Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Haydn Quartets
Publishes six string quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn.
1785, September 1st ยท France ยท Valence ยท Warfare ยท Military ยท Napoleon I
Lieutenant
Appointed Lieutenant en second of a Battalion in an artillery regiment
November 17859 historical events
1785, November 5th ยท France ยท Valence ยท Warfare ยท Military ยท Napoleon I
Lieutenant
Joins his regiment in Valence. Joins his regiment at Valence
1785, November 8th ยท Austria ยท Maastricht ยท House ยท House of Habsburg ยท Joseph II
Rule of Maastricht
Under the Treaty of Fountainbleus abandons his claim to Maastricht
1785, November 8th ยท Austria ยท River Scheldte ยท House ยท House of Habsburg ยท Joseph II
Rule of River Scheldte
Under the Treaty of Fountainbleau Holland recognizes Joseph s rule over the Scheldt
1785, November 8th ยท Austria ยท Fontainbleau ยท House ยท House of Habsburg ยท Joseph II
Treaty of Fontainbleau
Receives 10 million guilders in compensation. Holland recognizes Joseph IIs sovereignty over part of the River Scheldt. Abandons his claim to Maastricht & free navigation of Sheldte outside his dominions
1785, November 8th ยท Austria ยท Fontainebleau ยท House ยท House of Habsburg ยท Joseph II
Abandonment of Maastricht Claim
Receives compensation while abandoning demands concerning Maastricht and the Scheldt.
1785, November 8th ยท Austria ยท Fontainebleau ยท House ยท House of Habsburg ยท Joseph II
Treaty of Fontainebleau
Accepts a settlement ending his territorial claim to Maastricht.
1785, November 10th ยท France ยท Paris ยท Government ยท Government of France ยท Louis XVI
Alliance Agreement at Paris
An alliance is agreed between France & Holland
1785, November 10th ยท France ยท Paris ยท Government ยท Government of France ยท Louis XVI
Alliance is agreed between France and Holland
An alliance is agreed between France & Holland
1785, November 30th ยท United States of America ยท Washington ยท Government ยท Continental ยท John Quincy Adams
Demands Britain relinquish military posts along Great Lakes & in Ohio, Britain
Demands Britain relinquish military posts along Great Lakes & in Ohio, Britain refuses
December 17851 historical events
1785, December 16th ยท Austria ยท Vienna ยท Arts ยท Classical Music ยท Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No 22
Completes Piano Concerto No 22 in E-flat major.
1785 ยท Austria ยท Bavaria ยท House ยท House of Habsburg ยท Joseph II
Rule of Bavaria
Emperor Joseph II of Austria makes another try at attaching the Bavarian lands to his Habsburg possessions, and even contracts with Elector Charles Theodore to swap it for the Austrian Netherlands
1785 ยท Austria ยท Transylvania ยท Warfare ยท Military ยท Joseph II
Reballion of Romanian peasants
Suppresses the uprising of the Romanian peasants. Massacres many of the Magyar nobility
1785 ยท France ยท Religion ยท Roman Catholic Church ยท Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord Benevente
Church Properties
Instrumental in drafting a general inventory of church properties in France
1785 ยท France ยท France ยท Science ยท Civil Engineering ยท Jacques Noel Sane
Sane Wins Large Ship Design Competition
The naval architect's design for a powerful three decked warship was selected for further standard construction. The resulting expertise carried over into later shipbuilding practice.
1785 ยท France ยท Paris ยท Science ยท Physics ยท Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
Coulomb Law
Uses a torsion balance to measure forces between electric charges.
1785 ยท France ยท Paris ยท Science ยท Physics ยท Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
Electrostatic Force Measurement
Establishes the inverse-square law governing electrostatic attraction and repulsion.
Kant publishes Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, developing the basis of his moral philosophy.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท Mary Wollstonecraft
Travels to Lisbon
Wollstonecraft traveled to Portugal to assist her friend Fanny Blood, an experience that affected her early fiction.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
Garden Book Published
The Garden formed a section of The Task, celebrating horticulture and rural observation.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
Poplar Field Poem Circulates
Cowper's The Poplar Field dates from this period and laments environmental loss through a remembered landscape.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
Sofa Opens the Task
The Sofa served as the opening book of Cowper's published poem The Task, turning an ordinary object into literary reflection.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
The Task Published
Cowper published The Task, a six book poem combining domestic observation, landscape and moral reflection.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
Timepiece Book Published
The Timepiece appeared as a book of The Task, broadening the poem's meditations on society and religion.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
Winter Evening Book Published
The Winter Evening formed part of The Task and depicted private domestic life alongside wider affairs.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
Winter Morning Walk Published
The Winter Morning Walk appeared within The Task and explored contemplation of the natural world.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Literature ยท William Cowper
Winter Walk at Noon Published
The Winter Walk at Noon completed The Task with meditations on creation and spiritual life.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Arts ยท Poetry ยท Thomas Warton
Poet Laureate Appointment
Appointed Poet Laureate
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Doncaster ยท Economy ยท Textile Industry ยท Edmund Cartwright
Power Loom
Cartwright patents a mechanically powered loom for factory weaving.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Bengal ยท Government ยท Whig Party Government ยท Warren Hastings
Resignation of Warren Hastings
Resigns amid allegations of autocratic behavior & returns to England
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Government ยท Whig Party Government ยท William Pitt the Younger Chatham, 2nd
Reform of Trade
Fails to create a commercial union of the British Isles
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Government ยท Whig Party Government ยท William Pitt the Younger Chatham, 2nd
Taxation
Reduces the duty on tea in an attempt to reduce smuggling
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Humanities ยท Social Science ยท Edmund Burke
Speech on Nabob of Arcot Debts
Burke criticized financial and political corruption connected with the Carnatic and the East India Company's interests.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Humanities ยท Social Science ยท Thomas Paine
Bridge Engineering Research
Paine developed plans for an iron bridge, combining mechanical experimentation with his broader reform interests.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Nevis ยท Politics ยท Empire ยท Horatio Nelson
West Indies Dispute
Clashes with colonial merchants over enforcement of imperial trade law.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Science ยท Astronomy ยท Frederick William Herschel
Discovery of Andromeda Galaxy
Herschel observes a faint reddish hue in the core region of Andromeda and believes Andromeda to be the nearest of all the "great nebulae", and based on the color and magnitude of the nebula, incorrectly guesses that it is no more than 2,000 times the distance of Sirius
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Science ยท Astronomy ยท Frederick William Herschel
Discovery of Uranus
Produces a diagram of the shape of the Galaxy with the Solar System close to the centre
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Science ยท Astronomy ยท Frederick William Herschel
Uranus
The first attempt to describe the shape of the Milky Way and the position of the Sun within it is carried out by William Herschel carefully counting the number of stars in different regions of the sky
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Slough ยท Science ยท Astronomy ยท William Herschel
Early Distance Estimate for Andromeda
Notes the appearance of the Andromeda nebula and attempts an early estimate of its distance, still treating it as a nearby great nebula.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Science ยท Geology ยท James Hutton
Theory of the Earth
Publication of "Theory of the Earth"
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Science ยท Technology ยท Henry Court
Industrial Revolution
From 1785, imports decreased because of the new iron making technology, and Britain became an exporter of bar iron as well as manufactured wrought iron consumer goods
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Papplewich ยท Science ยท Technology ยท James Watt
Invention of Steam Engine
1st Boulton & Watt steam engines are used for spinning at a factory in Nottinghamshire
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Birmingham ยท Science ยท Technology ยท Joseph Priestley
Lunar Society
Joins Birmingham scientific circles while pursuing experiments in chemistry and electricity.
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Warfare ยท Military ยท John Francis Edward Acton Acton, 6th
Prime Minister of Naples
Appointed Prime Minister of Naples
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Portsmouth ยท Warfare ยท Military ยท William IV
Lieutenant
Appointed Lieutenant aboard the Hebe, 40 gun frigate
1785 ยท Great Britain ยท Nevis ยท Warfare ยท Military ยท Horatio Nelson
Frances Nisbet
Meets Frances Nisbet while stationed in the Caribbean.
1785 ยท Ireland ยท Ballinacurra ยท Exploration ยท Exploration and Discovery ยท Edward Bransfield
Birth of Edward Bransfield
Edward Bransfield is born at Ballinacurra in County Cork and later becomes a naval navigator associated with the first charting of the Antarctic mainland.
1785 ยท Russia ยท Government ยท Government of Russia ยท Catherine II the Great
Constitution of Russia
The Nobility Charter grants limited rights of noble assembly & provincial Government
1785 ยท Russia ยท House ยท House of Holstein ยท Catherine II the Great
Charter
The nobles are granted full control over their serfs and lands. The Nobility Charter grants limited rights of noble assembly & provincial Government. Noble status is made hereditary
1785 ยท Russia ยท House ยท House of Holstein ยท Catherine II the Great
Reform of Nobility Rights
The Nobility Charter grants limited rights of noble assembly & provincial Government
1785 ยท Russia ยท House ยท House of Holstein ยท Catherine II the Great
Rule of Alaska
Catherine II encourages the colonization of Alaska
1785 ยท United States of America ยท Washington ยท Government ยท Government of USA ยท Thomas Jefferson
National Lands
Townships divided into sections & sold to developers for not less than $1 per acre. Public lands are surveyed & divided into townships