| January 3 | Washington defeats British at Battle of Princeton, NJ |
| January 12 | Mission Santa Clara de Asis founded in California |
| January 15 | People of New Connecticut, Vermont, declare independence from England |
| January 16 | Vermont declares independence from NY |
| January 18 | San Jose, California, founded |
| February 5 | Georgia becomes 1st U.S. state to abolish both entail and primogeniture |
| February 13 | de Sade arrested without charge, imprisoned in Vincennes fortress |
| February 16 | Messier adds M53 to his catalog (globular cluster in Coma Berenice) |
| February 21 | English ambassador Joseph Yorke demands dismissal of Governor John de Graaff for saluting U.S. flag |
| April 14 | New York adopts new constitution as an independent state |
| April 16 | Battle of Bennington-New England's Green Mountain Boys rout Brits |
| April 20 | New York adopts new constitution as an independent state |
| April 26 | Sybil Ludington, 16, rode from New York to Ct rallying her fathers militia |
| May 1 | RB Sheridans "School for Scandal," premieres in London |
| May 12 | 1st ice cream advertisement (Philip Lenzi-NY Gazette) |
| May 13 | University library at Vienna opens |
| June 13 | Leonard Norcross patents a submarine diving suit |
| June 13 | Marquis de Lafayette lands in US |
| June 14 | Continental Congress adopts Stars and Stripes replacing Grand Union flag |
| July 2 | Vermont becomes 1st American colony to abolish slavery |
| July 6 | British General Burgoyne captures Fort Ticonderoga from Americans |
| July 8 | Vermont becomes 1st state abolishing slavery, adopts male suffrage |
| July 31 | Marquis de Lafayette, 19, made major-general of Continental Army |
| August 4 | Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley establishes 1st circus |
| August 16 | Americans defeat British in Battle of Bennington, Vt |
| September 11 | Battle of Brandywine, Pa; Americans lose to British |
| September 19 | Battle of Freeman's Farm (Bemis Heights) or 1st Battle of Saratoga |
| September 20 | Paoli massacre |
| September 25 | English general William Howe conquers Philadelphia |
| September 26 | British troops occupy Philadelphia during American Revolution |
| September 27 | Battle of Germantown; Washington defeated by British |
| September 27 | English General William Howe occupies Philadelphia |
| September 30 | Congress, flees to York Pa, as British forces advance |
| October 4 | Battle of Germantown |
| October 4 | General George Washington's troops attacked British at Germantown, Pennsylvania |
| October 5 | Washington begins assault on Germantown, Penn |
| October 6 | Battle of Germantown; Washington defeated by British |
| October 7 | Americans beat Brits in 2nd Battle of Saratoga and Battle of Bemis Hts |
| October 15 | Major James Graves Simcoe appointed commandant of Queen's Rangers |
| October 17 | British General John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga NY |
| November 15 | Articles of Confederation adopted by Continental Congress |
| December 2 | British General Howe plots attack on Washington's army for Dec 4 |
| December 8 | Captain Cook leaves Society Islands |
| December 17 | France recognizes independence of English colonies in America |
| December 17 | ,George Washingtons army returns to Valley Forge Pennsylvania |
| December 18 | 1st national Thanksgiving Day, commemorating Burgoyne's surrender |
| December 19 | Washington settles his troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania for winter |
