1787
1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar).
EventsIn Britain, Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharpthe "Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade" with support from John Wesley, Josiah Wedgwood and others.January 11 - William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moonss of Uranus.February 4 - Shays' Rebellion fails May 13 - Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England with eleven ships full of convicts to establish a penal colony in Australia. May 14 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to meet to write a new Constitution for the United States. May 25 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates begin to convene a Constitutional Convention intended to amend the Articles of Confederation. However, a new Constitution for the United States was eventually produced. George Washington presided over the Convention. June 6 - Franklin College, named for Benjamin Franklin, opens in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It later merges with Marshall College to become Franklin and Marshall College. July 13 - The U.S. Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery. August 27 - Launching a forty-five-foot craft on the Delaware River, John Fitch demonstrates the first US patent for his design. September 17 - United States Constitution adoptedDecember 7 - Delaware ratifies the Constitution and becomes the first U.S. state.December 12 - Pennsylvania becomes the second U.S. state.December 18 - New Jersey becomes the third U.S. state.
BirthsJanuary 6 - Gaspard Théodore Ignace de la Fontaine, Luxembourgish politician.March 16 - Georg Ohm, German physicistApril 26 - Ludwig Uhland, German poet (d. 1862)December 10 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, educator (d. 1851)
DeathsJune 20 - Karl Friedrich Abel, aged 63, German baroque composerNovember 3 - Robert Lowth, Bishop of the Church of EnglandNovember 15 - Christoph Willibald Gluck, composer
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