Historical Events in 1798

French Occupation of Rome

Feb 20 French General Louis Alexandre Berthier forcibly removes Pope Pius VI from Rome during French occupation of Rome (Pope later dies a prisoner in Valence)

Mar 7 The French army enters Rome: the birth of the Roman Republic
Mar 9 Dr George Balfour becomes 1st naval surgeon in the US Navy
Mar 29 Republic of Switzerland forms
Apr 7 Mississippi Territory organized
Apr 23 Dutch emperor accepts new Constitution
Apr 30 US Department of the Navy forms
May 24 Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins
May 26 British kill about 500 Irish insurgents at the Battle of Tara
May 27 The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland, large rebel force kills local militia
Jun 5 The Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated
Jun 7 Jews of Pesaro Italy fast commemorating murder of Jews

Essay on the Principle of Population

Jun 7 Thomas Malthus publishes the first edition of his influential 'Essay on the Principle of Population' (date of the unsigned preface)

Economist and Demographer Thomas Malthus

Jun 13 Mission San Luis Rey de Francia founded in California
Jun 25 US passes Alien Act allowing president to deport dangerous aliens

Napoleon Reaches Alexandria

Jul 1 Napoleon's fleet reaches Alexandria, Egypt

Jul 2 Marine Police established by The West India Committee to guard merchant vessels on the river Thames, London, beginnings of the world's oldest continuously serving police force [1]
Jul 6 US law makes aliens "liable to be apprehended, restrained, ... & removed as alien enemies"
Jul 7 Quasi-War: the U.S. Congress rescinds treaties with France sparking the 'war'

Event of Interest

Jul 11 US Marine Corps formally established as a distinct military branch by an Act of Congress signed by President John Adams

Jul 14 1st direct US federal tax on states enacted to finance military build-up; dwellings, land, and slaves are subject to tariff
Jul 14 US Sedition Act prohibits "false, scandalous & malicious" writing against government
Jul 16 US Public Health Service forms & US Marine Hospital authorized
Jul 21 Napoleon Bonaparte wins Battle of Pyramids in Egypt (Battle of Embabeh) against Mamluk rulers, wiping out most of the Egyptian army
Jul 23 Napoleon Bonaparte captures Alexandria, Egypt

Battle of the Nile

Aug 1 Battle of the Nile: British Royal Navy under Admiral Horatio Nelson attacks and decimates the French fleet at Aboukir Bay off the Nile Delta, Egypt

Aug 2 Battle of the Nile: British Royal Navy under Admiral Horatio Nelson further decimates the French fleet
Aug 3 Battle of the Nile: British Admiral Horatio Nelson forces the remnants of the French fleet to surrender, concluding a decisive victory for the British who capture or destroy 11 French ships of the line and 2 frigates

Irish Rebellion of 1798

Aug 22 French troops land in Kilcummin harbour in County Mayo, Ireland, to aid Wolfe Tone's United Irishmen's Irish Rebellion

Irish Republican and Revolutionary Wolfe Tone

Aug 27 Battle of Castlebar, Ireland: French army and Irish rebels rout a larger the British force
Sep 1 Britain signs treaty with Nizam of Hyderabad, India
Sep 2 First bank robbery in the US: Bank of Pennsylvania robbed of $162,821 at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia
Sep 3 Battle of St. George's Caye: Week long battle begins between the Spanish Empire and Great Britain off the coast of Belize
Sep 5 New conscription law goes into effect in France
Sep 10 British Honduras beats Spain in battle of St George
Oct 12 Flemish uprising against French occupied Boerenkrijg
Oct 12 Friedrich von Schiller's "Wallensteins Lager" premieres in Weimar
Nov 8 Irish revolutionary Wolfe Tone is sentenced to death by hanging for his part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Tone requests to be shot instead so as to die a soldier's death.
Nov 16 Kentucky becomes first state to nullify an act of Congress
Nov 17 Beginning of a 5 day New England Blizzard that covers thousands of houses and kills hundreds
Nov 19 Dutch Rijksmuseum founded in the Hague (moved to Amsterdam 1808)
Nov 27 Rabbi Shneur Zalman, author (Tanya), released from St Petersburg jail
Dec 4 Rebellious Flemish farmers occupy Hasselt
Dec 5 Dutch troops occupy Hasselt
Dec 14 David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a nut & bolt machine
Dec 17 1st impeachment trial against a US senator (William Blount, Tennessee) begins
Dec 24 Russia & Britain sign Second anti-French Coalition