Year by year · 18th century

1772

1772 in world history: 7 events, 9 births, 5 deaths, 3 states founded and 3 that came to an end. 1,295 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 9 June

    Rhode Island colonists burn the British schooner Gaspee

    The British revenue schooner HMS Gaspee, which enforced the Navigation Acts, ran aground off Warwick, Rhode Island, and that night men led by Abraham Whipple and John Brown boarded and burned her. The affair heightened tensions before the American Revolution.

    Gaspee affair

  2. 22 June

    Lord Mansfield rules in the Somerset case

    The judge held that James Somerset, an enslaved man brought to England, could not be forcibly removed abroad. The ruling was widely taken to mean slavery had no basis in English law.

    England

  3. Crisis

    First Partition of Poland

    The First Partition of Poland in 1772 was the annexation of large parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

ProfileState1114 states with a known seat in 1772Open the atlas at 1772 →

In the profiles

Wars and longer events

Born in 1772 9

Died in 1772 5

States founded 3

States that came to an end 3

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1772. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1772
MLA
“1772.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1772. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1772.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1772.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1772’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1772 (Accessed: ).