* 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Ships of the Continental Navy fail in their attempt to capture a Royal Navy dispatch boat.

* 1776 – American Revolution: With the Halifax Resolves, the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorizes its Congressional delegation to vote for independence from Britain.

* 1776 – The Battle of Long Island: in what is now Brooklyn, New York, British forces under General William Howe defeat Americans under General George Washington.

* 1776 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist ( d. 1856 )

* 1717 – Louis François, Prince of Conti ( d. 1776 )

* 1776 – The signing of the United States Declaration of Independence took place.

* 1734 – Duchess Maria Anna Josepha of Bavaria ( d. 1776 )

* 1776 – Thomas Bladen Capel English navy admiral ( d. 1853 )

* 1776 – American Revolutionary War: American forces are surprised in the Battle of Bound Brook, New Jersey.

In the years between 1776 – 78, Volta studied the chemistry of gases.

Maria's sister, Elizabeth Branwell ( 1776 – 1842 ), moved to the parsonage, initially to nurse her dying sister, but she spent the rest of her life there raising the children.

* 1776 – American Revolutionary War: word of the United States Declaration of Independence reaches London.

* Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first leader of free modern Greece ( 1776 – 1831 ), had a large building erected ; intended as a barracks, it was subsequently used as a museum, a library and a school.

* 1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer ( d. 1776 )

* 1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh ( d. 1857 )

* 1776 – Captain John Barry and the captures the Edward.

* Benjamin Franklin: First American Diplomat, 1776 – 1785 US State Department

* 1776 – Marquis de Lafayette arranges to enter the American military as a major general.

* 1776 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist ( d. 1810 )

* 1776 – At The College of William and Mary, Phi Beta Kappa is founded and becomes the first American college fraternity.

* 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The British are defeated in the Battle of Trenton.

* 1776 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general ( d. 1811 )

His first wife, Juliet Macpherson ( c. 1776 – 1850 ), was a daughter of James Macpherson ( 1736 – 1796 ), a probable translator of Ossian poems.

Edvard Munch was related to painter Jacob Munch ( 1776 – 1839 ) and historian Peter Andreas Munch ( 1810 – 1863 ).

Towards the end of 1776 George Washington realized the need for a mounted branch of the military.

( 1774 ), a satire about King George, The Prophecy ( 1776 ), and The Political Catechism ( 1777 ).

The couple had six children: James ( 1763 – 94 ), Nathaniel ( 1764 – 81 ), Elizabeth ( 1767 – 71 ), Joseph ( 1768 – 68 ), George ( 1772 – 72 ) and Hugh ( 1776 – 93 ).

* 1776 – George Birkbeck, British academic ( d. 1841 )

* 1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.

* 1776 – American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.

A few came in the form of jury instructions, such as the statement issued on April 23, 1776, by Chief Justice William Henry Drayton of South Carolina: " the law of the land authorizes me to declare ... that George the Third, King of Great Britain ... has no authority over us, and we owe no obedience to him.

On May 15, 1776, the Convention declared Virginia's independence from the British Empire and adopted George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was then included in a new constitution.

They revolted against the Kingdom of Great Britain under King George III with the onset of the American Revolution starting in 1775, and in 1776 declared their independence from the British Empire and formed a new nation, the United States of America.

The Virginia Declaration of Rights, by George Mason and James Madison, was adopted in 1776.

More energetic planning with surveys took place repeatedly in 1776 ( by George Washington ), 1791, 1803, 1818, 1824 – 1830, and 1860.

In July 1776, the New York convention appointed a committee, including John Jay, Robert Livingston, George Clinton and Robert Yates, to " devise and carry into execution " measures for " obstructing the channel of Hudson's river, or annoying the navigation of the said River.

After Bunker Hill, Putnam progressed to temporary command of the American forces in New York, while waiting for the arrival on April 13, 1776 of the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General George Washington.

In December 1776, General George Washington and his troops camped in Bucks County as they prepared to cross the Delaware River to take Trenton, New Jersey, by surprise on the morning of December 26.

On the night of December 25 – 26, 1776, General George Washington led American forces across the Delaware River to attack the Hessian barracks in Trenton on the morning of December 26.

However, pension records and other documents from the 19th Century indicate that numerous men joined various Continental and Militia units, particularly the 6th and 8th Militia Regiments, the latter of which joined Gen. George Washington ‘ s Army in the battle of New York and Long Island in the autumn of 1776.

* John McCurdy ( b. 1724 ), whose home was the resting place for George Washington on April 10, 1776 while traveling to New York City to take on the British Army and Navy ( source: Papers of George Washington, Connecticut State Library ); grandfather of Connecticut Supreme Court judge Charles McCurdy

On December 13, 1776, the newly established American revolutionary government incorporated the town as " Washington ", after George Washington — the first named in his honor.

Alpine Pavilion, an open-air stone picnic pavilion built in 1934 by the Civil Works Administration and available for rental is located here, as well as the historic Blackledge-Kearney House, said to be the site where Lord Cornwallis and his troops landed on November 20, 1776, in their pursuit of the Continental Army following the rout of George Washington's forces in the Battle of New York.

In November 1776, a farmer from Closter witnessed British troops landing at Closter Dock on the Hudson River and rode to Fort Lee to warn Continental Army General Nathaniel Greene, allowing the Americans the opportunity to retreat to Hackensack at New Bridge Landing ahead of the British along with the remnants of General George Washington's troops after the failed Battle of Fort Washington.

After the American defeat at the Battle of Fort Washington, George Washington and the troops of the Continental Army retreated across New Jersey from the British Army, traveling through Teaneck and crossing the Hackensack River at New Bridge Landing, which has since been turned into a state park and historic site commemorating the events of 1776 and of early colonial life.

During November 1776, General George Washington passed through Teaneck during the withdrawal of Colonial forces from nearby Fort Lee on the Hudson River.