1771

Events

January 5 - The Great Kalmyk is led by Ubashi Khan, from the east bank of the Lower Volga River back to the homeland of Dzungaria, at this time under Qing dynasty rule.
January 9 - Emperor Go-Momozono accedes to the throne of Tokugawa shogunate Japan following his aunt's abdication.
February 12 - Upon the death of Adolf Frederick, he is succeeded as King of Sweden by his son Gustav III. At the time, however, Gustav is unaware of this, since he is abroad in Paris; the news of his father's death reaches him about a month later.
March - War of the Regulation: North Carolina Governor William Tryon raises a militia to put down the long-running uprising of backcountry militias against North Carolina's colonial government.
March 12 - The North Carolina General Assembly establishes Wake County from portions of Cumberland, Johnston and Orange counties. Bloomsberry is made the informal county seat.
March 15 - The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers first meets in London, the world's oldest engineering society.

April 4 - The first quarantines are started in Moscow and Saint Petersburg to fight the bubonic plague epidemic. Over the next 12 months, more than 52,000 people die from the plague in Moscow alone.
May - Three battles of Sarbakusa: An alliance of three of the most powerful aristocrats of Ethiopia defeats Ras Mikael Sehul and Emperor Tekle Haymanot II, taking control of Ethiopia.
May 11 - War of the Regulation: North Carolina Governor William Tryon marches his military out of Hillsborough, to come to the aid of General Hugh Waddell's beleaguered forces. Tryon's army stops at Alamance Creek, away from the Regulator army.
May 16 - War of the Regulation - Battle of Alamance: Regulators reject an appeal by Governor Tryon to disperse peacefully. Governor Tryon's forces crush the rebellion, causing many Regulators to move to frontier areas outside of North Carolina.
May 23 - Battle of Lanckorona: A force of 4,000 Russians under Alexander Suvorov defeat a Polish formation of 1,300 men.
June 11 - The Society of Gentlemen Supporters of the Bill of Rights meets in the London Tavern and changes its platform to a comprehensive program for British parliamentary reform in advance of the next election.

July 12 - The first voyage of James Cook around the world ends as returns to England after almost three years.
July 13 - Russo-Turkish War (1768–74): Russian forces occupy the Crimea, under Prince Vasily Dolgorukov.
July 17 - Bloody Falls massacre: Chipewyan chief Matonabbee, traveling as the guide to Samuel Hearne on his Arctic overland journey, massacres a group of unsuspecting Inuit.
August 8 - The first recorded town cricket match is played, at Horsham, England.
September 8 - In California, Fathers Pedro Cambon and Angel Somera found Mission Vieja, later called, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, in what becomes San Gabriel, California.
September 15-17 - The Moscow plague riot results from an outbreak of bubonic plague, which kills 57,000.

October 9 - The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks off the coast of Finland; Captain Raymund Lourens and his crew escape unharmed.
October 17 - The opera Ascanio in Alba by Wolfgang Mozart, age 15, premieres in Milan.
November 3 - Siamese conquest of Ha Tien ends the Siamese civil war of 1767-71.
November 16 - During the night the River Tyne in the north of England floods, destroying many bridges and killing several people; the replacement main bridge at Newcastle upon Tyne will not be completed until 1781.
December 3 - The cause of action in Sommersett's Case, which eventually leads to the end of slavery in Great Britain, begins when escaped slave James Somerset is found imprisoned on the ship Ann and Mary.
December 31 - Men, women and children of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes begin a 23-day encampment at Mobile, part of the British colony of West Florida, at the invitation of British Southern Indian superintendent John Stuart, as their leaders negotiate a treaty.

The territory of Baden-Baden is inherited by Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, reunifying the territories of Baden.
The trade monopoly with Iceland is transferred to the Danish crown.
The North Carolina General Assembly passes an act establishing the town of Martinsborough, named for Royal Governor Josiah Martin, on the land of Richard Evans, which will serve as the seat of Pitt County.
Construction of the Putuo Zongcheng Temple complex in Chengde, China is completed during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
Limoges porcelain manufacture is established in France.
Slovene literature: István Küzmics, the Hungarian Slovene writer and evangelical pastor, publishes the Nouvi Zákon, a translation of the New Testament into the Prekmurje Slovene language, with discrete South Slavic artwork.