1786

Historical events in 1786

• The first shipyard opens on The River Spey
  
• Wilhelm Carl Grimm (d.1859), compiler of "Grimm's Fairytales," was born in Germany.
• Sir John Franklin, arctic explorer, was born. He discovered the North-West Passage.

• The opera "The Marriage of Figaro," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered in Vienna.
• Winfield Scott, U.S. Army general famous for his victories in the War of 1812 and the War with Mexico, was born.
• Morocco agreed to stop attacking American ships in the Mediterranean for a payment of $10,000.
• The US Congress adopted the silver dollar and decimal system of money.
• Frederick the Great (b.1712) died.
• Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard became the first men to climb Mont Blanc in France.
• Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and politician who died in the defense of the Alamo, was born.
• In Scotland. The National Lighthouse Board was created to minimize the dangers of the seacoast to ships.
• George Washington called for the abolition of slavery.
• Two French ships appeared off the coast of Monterey, the first foreign vessels to visit Spain's California colonies.    
• Harvard University organized the 1st astronomical expedition in US.
• Scotsman Gregor MacGregor (d.1845), later known as His Serene Highness Gregor I, Prince of Poyais, was born in Scotland.
• Andres Lopez of Mexico painted "Sacred Heart of Jesus."
• Tiepolo painted "The Third Temptation of Jesus."
• Robert Burns published his first book of poetry in Kilmarnock, Scotland.
• Meg Nicholson (d.1828) attempted to stab King George III. She was sent to Bedlam and died there at age 77.
• French explorer Jean-Francois de Galaup de la Perouse set foot near Makena Beach on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
• Capt. Francis Light landed in Penang and built Fort Cornwallis. Light, acting on behalf of the East India Company, swindled the island from the ruling sultan with a promise of protection. The British usurped the land to break the Dutch monopoly on the spice trade.
• Scotland. New Lanark Mills are the biggest cotton mills in the world.