Events 
 January 2 – Russia and Prussia divide Poland
 January 9 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first to fly in a balloon in the United States.
 January 21 – After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, "Citizen Capet" i.e. Louis XVI of France is guillotined.
 February 1 – France declares war on Great Britain, the Netherlands (see French Revolutionary Wars)
 February 12 – The Congress of the United States passes a law legally requiring the return of slaves escaping from slave states into free territory or states, the Fugitive Slave Act
 February 25 – George Washington holds the first Cabinet meeting as President of the United States.
 February 27 – The Giles resolutions are introduced to the United States House of Representatives asking the House to condemn Alexander Hamilton's handling of loans.
 March 1 – John Langdon becomes President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate until March 3
 March 5 – French troops are defeated by Austrian forces and Liège is recaptured
 March 7 – France declares war on Spain
 April 1 – Unsen volcano erupts in Japan and causes an earthquake. About 53.000 dead
 April 6 – Committee of Public Safety established in France with Georges Danton as its head.
 April 22 – George Washington signs the Neutrality Proclamation.
 May 31 – Regular troops under Francois Hanriet demand that the Girondins must be expelled from the national convention
 June 2 – Girondins overthrown
 June 10 – The Jardin des Plantes museum opened in Paris (a year later it would become the first public zoo).
 July 9 – Act Against Slavery passed in Upper Canada
 July 13 – Charlotte Corday kills Jean-Paul Marat in his bath
 July 22 – Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing north of Mexico
 July 29 – John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there
 August 10 – Feast of Unity – Crowds in Paris burn monarchist emblems
 August 23 – Universal conscription in France
 September 5 – In France, the French National Convention votes to implement terror measures to repress French Revolutionary activities. The ensuing "Reign of Terror" will last until the spring of 1794 and causes death of 35,000-40,000 people.
 October 12 – The cornerstone of Old East, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on the campus of the University of North Carolina. The 12th of October is now celebrated at the University as University Day.
 November 8 – In Paris, the French Revolutionary government opens the Louvre to the public as a museum
 October 16 – Execution of Marie Antoinette
 October 28 – Eli Whitney applied for a patent for his cotton gin, (the patent was granted the following March).
 October 31 – Execution of arrested Girondist leaders in France in a guillotine
 November 24 – French Revolutionary Calendar begins
 December 8 – Execution of Madame du Barry
 December 9– New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster.
 December 17 – French forces under Napoleon capture Toulon from royalists and British troops
 The city of Butler, Pennsylvania founded

 Louis XVI of France b. 1754