Events from the year

1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to allow ...

in Great Britain.

Incumbents

* Monarch – George III * Prime Minister – Frederick North, Lord North ( Tory) * Parliament –

14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...

(until 1 September),

15th 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...

(starting 31 October)

Events

* 16 January – American Revolutionary War: British naval victory at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent led by Admiral Sir George Rodney over a Spanish squadron. The future William IV is present as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

. * 8 March – American Revolutionary War: the League of Armed Neutrality is formed by Russia with Denmark and Sweden to try to prevent the Royal Navy from searching neutral vessels for contraband. * 17 March – American Revolutionary War: the British

San Juan Expedition The San Juan Expedition (also known as the San Juan Mission or the Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition) was a group of Mormon settlers intent on establishing a colony in what is now southeastern Utah, in the western United States. Their difficult passa ...

sails from Jamaica under the command of Captains John Polson and

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

to attack the Captaincy General of Guatemala (modern-day Nicaragua) in

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

. * 26 March – the '' British Gazette and Sunday Monitor'', the first Sunday newspaper in Britain, begins publication. * 29 April – American Revolutionary War: the Spanish commander of the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception on the San Juan River in modern-day Nicaragua surrenders it to the

. * 4 May – the first

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

horse race is run on Epsom Downs,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The victor is Diomed. * 12 May – American Revolutionary War:

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

is taken by British forces. * 2 June – an Anti-Catholic mob led by Lord George Gordon marches on Parliament leading to the outbreak of the

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days of rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

in London. * 7 June – the

are ended by the intervention of troops. About 285 people are shot dead, with another 200 wounded and around 450 arrested, of whom around 25 will be executed. * July – Robert Raikes initiates a

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

movement, in Gloucester. * 10 July – American Revolutionary War: 6,000 French troops led by Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau land in Newport, Rhode Island but are pinned down by the British. * September – outbreak of the Second Anglo-Mysore War in India. * 9 August – American Revolutionary War: Spanish

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Luis de Córdova y Córdova captures a British convoy totalling 55 vessels amongst

Indiamen East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s and other cargo ships off Cape St. Vincent. * 16 August – American Revolutionary War:

Battle of Camden The Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780), also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General ...

– the British defeat the Americans near Camden, South Carolina. * 6 September–18 October –

1780 British general election The 1780 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 15th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was he ...

. Lord North continues as prime minister with a reduced majority. * 2 October – American Revolutionary War: British spy

John André John André (2 May 1750/1751''Gravesite–Memorial''
Westmi ...

is hanged by American forces. * 7 October – American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia defeat the

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

militia at the Battle of Kings Mountain. * 9–20 October – Great Hurricane of 1780 in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

: At least a dozen ships of the Royal Navy, stationed in the area because of the American Revolutionary War, are totally lost, many with all (or most) hands, and others damaged; hundreds of sailors are killed. * 20 November – American Revolutionary War: Britain declares war on the Dutch Republic to stop it from joining the League of Armed Neutrality. * 30 November – American Revolutionary War: The

is forced to withdraw. * 20 December – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War breaks out.

Undated

* The

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor dynasty, Tudor and House of Stuart, Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was ...

calls, in the House of Lords, for manhood suffrage and annual parliaments, which are rejected. * William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, begins development of Buxton Crescent and the Great Stables to promote Buxton in the Derbyshire Peak District as a spa resort. * The market town of Middleton, Dorset, is demolished by order of the landowner, Joseph Damer, Lord Milton, and the population moved to a new model village, Milton Abbas. *

Cherhill White Horse Cherhill White Horse is a hill figure on Cherhill Down, 3.5 miles east of Calne in Wiltshire, England. Dating from the late 18th century, it is the third oldest of several such white horses in Great Britain, with only the Uffington White Horse ...

cut in Wiltshire. * The original Craven Cottage is built by William Craven, 6th Baron Craven, in London.

Births

* 25 January – Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, clockmaker (died 1854) * 25 February – John Bird Sumner,

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

(died 1862) * 19 March –

William Charles Ellis Sir William Charles Ellis (10 March 1780 – 24 October 1839) was the superintendent of the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum. His ideas on the treatment of mental illness became widely influential. Biography Ellis was born in Alford, Lincoln ...

, physician specialising in mental illness (died 1839) * 21 May – Elizabeth Fry, humanitarian (died 1845) * 22 September – Prince Alfred of Great Britain, royal prince (died 1782) * 26 December –

Mary Somerville Mary Somerville (; , formerly Greig; 26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorary ...

, née Fairfax, Scottish-born mathematician (died 1872) * Elizabeth Philpot, paleontologist (died 1857)

Deaths

* 14 February – William Blackstone, jurist (born 1723) * 12 May – Herod, racehorse (born 1758) * 18 May – Charles Hardy, governor of Newfoundland (born c. 1714) * 3 June – Thomas Hutchinson, American-born last governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (born 1711) * 4 September – John Fielding, magistrate and social reformer (born 1721) * 2 October –

John André John André (2 May 1750/1751''Gravesite–Memorial''
Westmi ...

, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War (executed) (born 1750) * 17 October – William Cookworthy, chemist (born 1705) * 26 November – Sir James Denham Steuart, 4th Baronet, economist (born 1712) * 14 December – Ignatius Sancho, composer, actor, writer and abolitionist (born c. 1729 on a slave ship) * 26 December – John Fothergill, physician (born 1712) * ''date unknown'' – Thomas Dilworth, cleric and writer (year of birth unknown)

References