1779

January–March

• January 11
• * British troops surrender to the Marathas in Wadgaon, India, and are forced to return all territories acquired since 1773.
• January 22 - American Revolutionary War - Claudius Smith is hanged at Goshen, Orange County, New York for supposed acts of terrorism upon the people of the surrounding communities.
• January 29 - After a second petition for partition from its residents, the North Carolina General Assembly abolishes Bute County, North Carolina by dividing it and naming the northern portion Warren County, the southern portion Franklin County. The General Assembly also establishes Warrenton to be the seat of Warren County, and Louisburg to be the seat of Franklin County.
• February 12 - Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Bouligny arrives with Malagueño colonists at Bayou Teche, to establish the city of New Iberia, Louisiana.
• February 14 - Captain James Cook is killed on the Sandwich Islands, on his third voyage.
• March 1 - Capture and sack of Vientiane by Siamese forces.
• March 10 - The Treaty of Aynalıkavak is signed between Ottoman Turkey and the Russian Empire, regarding the Crimean Khanate.

  April–June

• April 12 - Spain and France secretly sign the Convention of Aranjuez, with Spain joining an alliance against Great Britain in return for France's pledge to recover all Spanish territory lost to the British.
• May 13 - War of the Bavarian Succession - Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives a part of the Bavarian territory, and relinquishes the rest.
• June 1 - American Revolutionary War - Benedict Arnold is court-martialed for malfeasance, in his treatment of government property.
• June 16 - American Revolutionary War - In support of France, Spain declares war on Britain.
• June 21 - King Charles III of Spain issues a declaration of war against Great Britain.

  July–September

• July 16 - The Great Siege of Gibraltar begins. This is an action by French and Spanish forces to wrest control of Gibraltar from the established British garrison. The garrison, led by George Augustus Eliott, survives all attacks and a blockade of supplies.
• July 16
• * American Revolutionary War - United States forces, led by General Anthony Wayne, capture Stony Point, New York from British troops.
• * Declaratory Rescript of the Illyrian Nation issued in order to regulate organization of Eastern Orthodox Church in Habsburg monarchy.
• July 20 - Tekle Giyorgis I begins the first of his five reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.
• July 22 - Battle of Minisink: The Goshen Militia is destroyed by Joseph Brant's forces.
• July 24 - American Revolutionary War - American forces, led by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, launch the Penobscot Expedition in what is now Castine, Maine, resulting in the worst naval defeat in U.S. history, until surpassed by the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
• August 17 - Action of 17 August 1779: The 64-gun British warship HMS Ardent is captured by France in the English Channel off of Plymouth after an ineffective attempt by the British captain to properly aim its cannons at the French frigate Junon.
• August 23 - Martín de Mayorga, Captain-General of Guatemala, becomes the Spanish Viceroy of New Spain after the death of Antonio María de Bucareli.
• September 14-15 - American Revolutionary War - Little Beard's Town, a loyalist stronghold, is burnt by the Sullivan Expedition.
• September 21 - Battle of Baton Rouge - Spanish troops under Bernardo de Gálvez capture the city from the British.
• September 23 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Flamborough Head - The American ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, engages the British ship. The Bonhomme Richard sinks, but the Americans board the Serapis and other vessels, and are victorious.
• September 28 - Samuel Huntington is elected as the seventh President of the Continental Congress.

  October–December

• October 1 - The city of Tampere, Finland is founded by King Gustav III of Sweden.
• October 4 - The Fort Wilson Riot against James Wilson and others in Philadelphia takes place.
• November 2 - The North Carolina General Assembly carves a new county from Dobbs County, North Carolina and names it Wayne County, in honor of United States General Anthony Wayne.
• December 13 - Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais marries Joséphine Tascher.
• December 25 - Fort Nashborough is founded by James Robertson.
• December 31 - Affair of Fielding and Bylandt: Following a brief naval engagement between the British and Dutch off the Isle of Wight, the Dutch merchantmen and naval vessels are captured and taken to Portsmouth, England.

  Date unknown

• Industrial Revolution in England:
• * The Iron Bridge is erected across the River Severn in Shropshire, the world's first bridge built entirely of cast iron. It will open to traffic on January 1, 1781.
• * The spinning mule is perfected by Lancashire inventor Samuel Crompton.
• * Boulton and Watt's Smethwick Engine, now the oldest working engine in the world, is brought into service.
• A joint Spanish-Portuguese survey of the Amazon basin begins to determine the boundary between the colonial possessions in South America; it continues until 1795.