1789
| File:Decade.png ( 1780s: ) 1789 link | |
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| 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution |
Events
- February – King Gustav III of Sweden enforces the Union and Security Act, delivering the coup de grace to Sweden's 70-year-old parliamentarian system, in favor of absolute monarchy.
- February 4 – George Washington is unanimously elected the first President of the United States, by the United States Electoral College.
- April 7 – Selim III (1789–1807) succeeds Abdul Hamid I (1773–1789), as Ottoman Sultan.
- April 21 – John Adams takes office as the first Vice President of the United States, and begins presiding over the United States Senate.
- April 30 – George Washington is inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City, beginning his term as the first President of the United States.
- May 5 – In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 175 years.
- The French Revolution begins.
- June – The Inconfidência Mineira is the first attempt at Brazilian independence from Portugal.
- June 17 – In France, representatives of the Third Estate at the Estates-General declare themselves the National Assembly.
- June 20 – The Tennis Court Oath is made in Versailles.
- June 23 – Louis XVI of France makes a conciliatory speech urging reforms to a joint session, and orders the three estates to meet together.
- July – An estimated 150,000 of Paris's 600,000 people are without work.
- July 9 – At Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly, and begins preparations for what will become the French Constitution of 1791.
- July 11 – Louis XVI of France dismisses popular Chief Minister Jacques Necker.
- July 12 – An angry Parisian crowd, inflamed by a speech from journalist Camille Desmoulins, demonstrates against the King's decision to dismiss Minister Necker.
- July 14 – The French Revolution (1789–1799) begins with the Storming of the Bastille: Citizens of Paris storm the fortress of the Bastille, and free the only seven prisoners held. In rural areas, peasants attack manors of the nobility.
- August 4 – In France, members of the Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism, and abandon their privileges.
- August 7 – The United States Department of War is established.[1]
- August 21 – A proposal for a Bill of Rights is adopted by the United States House of Representatives.[2]
- August 26 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is proclaimed in France, by the Constituent Assembly.
- September 2 – The United States Department of the Treasury is founded.
- September 11 – Alexander Hamilton is appointed as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
- September 24 – The Judiciary Act of 1789 establishes the federal judiciary, and the United States Marshals Service.[3]
- September 25 – The United States Congress proposes a set of 12 amendments to the U.S. constitution, for ratification by the states. Ratification for 10 of these proposals is completed on December 5, 1791, creating the United States Bill of Rights.
- September 26 – Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Minister to France, is appointed as the first U.S. Secretary of State.
- September 29 – The U.S. Department of War establishes the nation's first regular army, with a strength of several hundred men.
- October 5 – Women's March on Versailles: Some 7,000 women march 12 miles (19 km) from Paris to the royal Palace of Versailles, to demand action over high bread prices.
- November 6 – Pope Pius VI creates the first diocese in the United States at Baltimore, and appoints John Carroll the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States.
Date unknown
- Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, decrees that all peasant labor obligations be converted into cash payments.
- The Bengal Presidency first establishes a penal colony, in the Andaman Islands.