* 1724 – John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-American pastor, planter, and statesman ( d. 1781 )

The movement was particularly dominated by François Quesnay ( 1694 – 1774 ) and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot ( 1727 – 1781 ).

* 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique.

His sister was Lucy Aikin ( 1781 – 1864 ), a historical writer.

* 1781 – Bhagwan Swaminarayan, Indian religious leader ( d. 1830 )

* 1781 – The Battle of Dogger Bank takes place.

* 1858 – Anton Diabelli, Austrian music publisher, editor, and composer ( b. 1781 )

In his 1781 book General History of Connecticut, the Reverend Samuel Peters ( 1735 – 1826 ) used it to describe various laws first enacted by Puritan colonies in the 17th century that prohibited various activities, recreational as well as commercial, on Sunday ( Saturday evening through Sunday night ).

By the charter renewal in 1781 it was also the bankers ' bank – keeping enough gold to pay its notes on demand until 26 February 1797 when war had so diminished gold reserves that the government prohibited the Bank from paying out in gold.

Le Plat, Monumentorum ad historicam Concilii Tridentini collectio ( 7 vols., Leuven, 1781 – 87 ).

* Salons, critique d ' art ( 1759 – 1781 )

* Histoire philosophique et politique des deux Indes, in collaboration with Raynal ( 1772 – 1781 )

* 1781 – Sir David Brewster, Scottish physicist ( d. 1868 )

Sir David Brewster ( 11 December 1781 – 10 February 1868 ) was a Scottish physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, writer and university principal.

* 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Second Battle of Ushant – A

* 1705 – Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, British naval officer ( d. 1781 )

* 1781 – John Keane, 1st Baron Keane, British noble and officer ( d. 1844 )

* 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British forces seize the Dutch-owned Caribbean island Sint Eustatius.

* 1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer ( b. 1737 )

* 1781 – Johann Baptist von Spix, German scientist ( d. 1826 )

* 1781 – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War: Captain Thomas Shirley opened his expedition against Dutch colonial outposts on the Gold Coast of Africa ( present-day Ghana ).

In 1775 – 77, and again in 1781 he led his men against the main British forces.

George Stephenson ( 9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848 ) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives.

( The First American Opera ) Printed by Benjamin Carr, 1781.

The Continental Army having been funded by $ 20, 000 in French gold, Washington delivered the final blow to the British in 1781, after a French naval victory allowed American and French forces to trap a British army in Virginia.

* John Young ( naval officer ) ( c. 1740 – 1781 ), American sailor

* 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse – Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1, 900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4, 400.

It ended with two pages of important dates in American history, beginning with Columbus's in 1492 and ending with the battle of Yorktown in 1781.

* 1781 – American Revolutionary War: British General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrenders at the Siege of Yorktown.

The celebrated march of 1781 to Yorktown, Virginia that ended with the defeat of the British at the Siege of Yorktown and the Battle of the Chesapeake began in Newport, Rhode Island under the joint command of General George Washington who led American troops and the Comte de Rochambeau who led French soldiers sent by King Louis XVI.

* 1781 – American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War.

* 1781 – Battle of the Chesapeake in the American Revolutionary War: the British Navy is repelled by the French Navy, contributing to the British surrender at Yorktown.

* 1781 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina, the war's last significant battle in the Southern theater, ends in a narrow British tactical victory.

At the beginning of the American Revolution, he served in the Continental Congress, representing Virginia and then served as a wartime Governor of Virginia ( 1779 – 1781 ).

After adopting the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was formed and convened in Philadelphia from March 1781 until June 1783, when a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall, demanding payment for their service during the American Revolutionary War.

* January 4 – Thomas Nelson, Jr., American signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Virginia ( 1781 ), ( b. 1738 )

* April 20 – Cornelius Harnett, American Continental Congressman ( d. 1781 )

The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American War of Independence that took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781, between a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear Admiral François Joseph Paul, comte de Grasse.

During the early months of 1781, British and American forces began concentrating in Virginia, a state that had previously not experienced more than naval raids.

Surrender of Cornwallis to French ( left ) and American ( right ) troops, at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, by John Trumbull.

The defeat of the British army during the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781, signaled the end of Britain's struggle to suppress the American Revolution.

Following the Franco-American alliance, Lapérouse fought against the Royal Navy off the American coast, and victoriously led the frigate Astree in the Naval battle of Louisbourg, 21 July 1781.