| January 1 | Date of action in the opera "Madeleine" |
| January 13 | De Beaumarchais' "Les Deux Amis," premieres in Paris |
| January 19 | Battle of Golden Hill (Lower Manhattan) |
| March 5 | Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a U.S. Senator (Mississippi) |
| March 5 | Boston Massacre, British troops kill 5 in crowd. Crispus Attackus becomes 1st black to die for American freedom |
| April 9 | Captain James Cook discovers Botany Bay (Australia) |
| April 12 | Townsend Acts repealed |
| April 19 | Amsterdam buys Van Aerssens family 1/3 part of Suriname |
| April 19 | Captain James Cook 1st sees Australia |
| April 20 | Captain Cook arrives in New South Wales |
| April 28 | Captain James Cook in Endeavor lands at Botany Bay in Australia |
| May 16 | Marie Antoinette (14) marries future King Louis XVI (15) of France |
| June 3 | Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo founded in California |
| June 11 | Captain James Cook discovers Great Barrier Reef off Australia |
| June 19 | General Church of New Jerusalem established |
| June 28 | Quakers open a school for blacks in Philadelphia |
| July 6 | Battle at Cesme: Russian fleet beats Turkish |
