[caption id=“attachment_3560” align=“alignleft” width=“280”] The Betsy Ross Flag from 1776[/caption]

In the year 1776, Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire(Feb 17), Illuminati is founded in Ingolstadt, Bavaria (May 1), Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to the British rule (May 4), the Continental Congress ratifies the declaration by the United States of its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain (Jul 4), American troops destroy pro-Britain Cherokee towns (Sep 1), the Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States (Sep 9), the Continental Army defeats the British on Manhattan (Sep 16), the Bolshoi Theater in Russia hosts its first annual opera season (Sep 24), the American Revolution goes on – and all these fine people were born:

1776-xxxx Hamilton Brown* sugar planter/slave owner in Jamaica - County Antrim, Ireland (1843/c. 66) 1776-xxxx Thomas Abthorpe Cooper* actor/ active in the U.S. - London, England (1841/c. 65) 1776-xxxx 1776-0101 1776-0104 Jean-Baptiste Prosper Jollois* engineer/Egyptologist - Brienon-sur-Armançon, Kingdom of France (1842/66) 1776-0106 Auguste Jean Ameil* soldier/ military leader - Paris, Kingdom of France (1822/46) 1776-0107 Marie Hackman* (b Laube) Finnish businesswoman (lumber)/of German descent - Viborg, Russian Empire (1865/89) 1776-0110 George Birkbeck* physician/ philanthropist/pioneer in adult education - Settle, West Riding of Yorkshire, England (1841/65) 1776-0121 Elisha Haley* politician/civil engineer - Groton, Connecticut Colony, British America(1860/84) 1776-0124 E. T. A. Hoffmann* jurist/ author of fantasy and Gothic horror/composer - Königsberg, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire (1822/46) 1776-0128 Gabriel Israel Hartman* philosopher/librarian - Lumparland, Åland, Sweden-Finland (1809/33) 1776-0131 1776-0201 1776-0204 Jan Gerard Kemmerling* Dutch notary/mayor - Gulpen (1818/41) 1776-0204 Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus* German physician/proto-evolutionary biologist - Bremen (1837/61) 1776-0211 Ioannis Kapodistrias* Governor of Greece - Corfu, Venetian Ionian Islands (1831/55) 1776-0212 Mary Young Pickersgill* seamstress/ flagmaker/philanthropist – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British America (1857/81) 1776-0214 Christian von Esenbeck* German botanist/physician/natural philosopher - Odenwald, Holy Roman Empire (1858/82) 1776-0220 1776-0223 John Walter* newspaper editor at The Times – London, England (1847/71) 1776-0226 John Paterson* missionary to Northern Europe - Duntocher, Scotland (1855/79) 1776-0228 1776-0301 John Collins* manufacturer/ politician/Governor of Delaware - Sussex County, Delaware Colony, British America (1822/46) 1776-0305 Gerard Troost* Dutch-American physician/mineralogist/to America at age 34 - s-Hertogenbosch (1850/74) 1776-0312 Lady Hester Stanhope* socialite/ adventurer/archaeologist - Chevening, England (1839/63) 1776-0320 Joshua Bates* clergyman/ educator - Cohasset, Massachusetts (1854/77) 1776-0330 Vasily Tropinin* painter - Korpovo Village, Russian Empire (1857/81) 1776-0401 Sophie Germain* mathematician/physicist/philosopher - Paris, Kingdom of France (1831/55) 1776-0411 Jerome Inglott* Maltese philosopher/theologian - Senglea, Hospitaller Malta (1835/59) 1776-0420 William Weston Young* Quaker entrepreneur/potter/inventor (firebrick) - Bristol, England (1847/) 1776-0427 Hyacinthe Jadin* composer - Versailles, Kingdom of France (1800/24) 1776-0430 J. H. Heidenstrauch* merchant/builder of the Presidential Palace and the Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki- Helsinki, Sweden-Finland (1847/71) 1776-0504 Johann Friedrich Herbart* German philosopher/psychologist/founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline - Oldenburg (1841/65) 1776-0507 Dániel Berzsenyi* Hungarian farmer/poet - Hetye, Holy Roman Empire (1836/59) 1776-0510 George Thomas Smart* musician/ teacher of singing/conductor - London, England (1867/90) 1776-0517 Amos Eaton* botanis/ geologist/educator - Chatham, New York (1842/66) 1776-0529 Peter Erasmus Müller* Danish bishop/historian/linguist - Copenhagen, Denmark-Norway (1834/53) 1776-0531 1776-0601 George Schetky* violoncellist/one of the first American composers/to America at age 11 - Edinburgh, Scotland (1831/c. 55) 1776-0605 1776-0610 1776-0611 John Constable* landscape painter - East Bergholt, East Anglia, England (1837/60) 1776-0612 Pierre Révoil* painter - Lyon, Kingdom of France (1842/65) 1776-0620 1776-0621 Luis de la Cruz y Ríoz* painter - Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spanish Empire (1853/77) 1776-0621 William Wadd* surgeon/ medical author - London, England (1829/53) 1776-0628 Charles Mathews* actor/ theater manager/performer of the first monopolylogue - Devonport, Devon, England (1835/59) 1776-0630 1776-0701 Sophie Gay* author - Paris, Kingdom of France (1852/75) 1776-0701 Samuel Thatcher* lawyer/ politician/ - Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America (1872/96) Find a Grave 1776-0704 Pär Aron Borg* pedagogue/sign language creator – Avesta, Kingdom of Sweden (1839/62) 1776-0704 Ethan Allen Brown* politician - Darien, Connecticut (1852/75) 1776-0711 William Bradbery* entrepreneur/the first in England to cultivate watercress - Didcot, Berkshire, England (1860/84) 1776-0722 Etheldred Benett* often credited with being the first female geologist - Tisbury, Wiltshire, England (1845/68) 1776-0726 Pierre Fouquier* physician/ medical translator - Maissemy, Kingdom of France (1850/74) 1776-0731 1776-0801 Gabriel Palander* university professor/mathematician - Vanaja, Sweden-Finland (1821/45) 1776-0802 1776-0804 Pierre-Simon Ballanche* counterrevolutionary philosopher/writer - Lyon, Kingdom of France (1847/70) 1776-0809 Amedeo Avogadro* Italian scientist - Turin, Piedmont-Sardinia (1856/79) 1776-0809 Jacob Munch* Norwegian military officer/painter/relative of Edvard Munch - Christiania, Denmark-Norway (1839/62) 1776-0820 1776-0829 Georg Friedrich Treitschke* librettist/ lepidopterist/translator - Leipzig, Holy Roman Empire (1842/65) 1776-0831 1776-0901 1776-0904 Stephen Whitney* wealthy New York merchant - Derby, Connecticut (1860/83) 1776-0905 Henrik Wilhelm Romanson* physician/active in Uppsala, Sweden - Puumala, Sweden-Finland (1853/76) 1776-0908 Heinrich Meldahl* Danish industrial designer/architect/owner of an iron foundry - Copenhagen, Denmark-Norway (1840/63) 1776-0910 1776-0917 Langdon Cheves* lawyer/ businessman/politician - Abbeville County, South Carolina (1857/80) 1776-0921 Karl Gustav Bonuvier* actor/theater director/founder of the first theater house in Finland - Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden (1858/81) 1776-0925 1776-0927 Maria Versfelt* Dutch writer/ actress/adventurer - Lith, North Brabant, Dutch Republic (1845/68) 1776-0930 1776-1001 1776-1006 Hirata Atsutane* 平田 篤胤 scholar/theologian of the Shintō religion - Kubota Domain, Dewa Province, Tokugawa Shogunate (1843/67) 1776-1008 Pieter van Os* painter/engraver - The Hague, Dutch Republic (1839/62) 1776-1010 Carl Gustav von Schoultz* Finnish army major - Viapori, Sweden-Finland (1841/64) 1776-1013 Peter Barlow* mathematician/ physicist - Norwich, Norfolk, England (1862/85) 1776-1013 John Gibb* engineer/ contractor - Scotland (1850/74) 1776-1026 Hans Hansson Marcken Långholm** father of Anders Johan Hansinpoika Långholm - Torpp, Katternö, Pedersöre, Sweden-Finland (1832/55) 1776-1101 1776-1105 Abraham Teerlink* painter/ draughtsman - Dordrecht, Dutch Republic (1857/80) 1776-1108 1776-1111 Philip E. Thomas* banker/railroad executive/“The Father of American Railways” - Colesville, Maryland (1861/84) 1776-1115 1776-1120 William Blackwood* publisher - Edinburgh, Scotland (1834/57) 1776-1124 **Jean-Joseph Marce**l* engineer/ printer (Rosetta Stone) - Paris, Kingdom of France (1854/77) 1776-1130 Philippe André de Vilmorin* horticulturist - Paris, Kingdom of France (1862/85) 1776-1201 1776-1203 Nicolas Charles Seringe* physician/botanist - Longjumeau, Kingdom of France (1858/82) 1776-1205 Konrad Langenbeck* German surgeon – Horneburg, Holy Roman Empire (1851/74) 1776-1210 1776-1214 Ingelbrecht Knudssøn* Norwegian civil servant/politician- Byneset, Sør-Trøndelag, Denmark-Norway (1826/49) 1776-1215 1776-1220 José María del Castillo y Rada*  President of the United Provinces of the New Granada - Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar (1833/56) 1776-1225 John Slater* industrialist/ founder of Slaterville, Rhode Island - England (1843) 1776-1227 Nikolay Kamensky* army general/victorious in the Finnish War/related to the British actress Helen Mirren – Russian Empire (1811/34) 1776-1229 Gustaf af Wetterstedt* Swedish nobleman/statesman - Vasa, Sweden-Finland (1837/60) 1776-1231 Johann Spurzheim* German physician/proponent of phrenology - Trier, Electrorate of Trier (1832/55) P.S. After the declaration of independence on Jul 4th, 1776, the first state that was admitted to the new union was Delaware, on December 7th, 1787. Thereof the nickname “The First State”, and therefore the country code USA does not yet apply here. 1776-0 1776-0 1776-0 Updated 2025-0125 Helsinki Search for another year here