Turncoat general Benedict Arnold led British troops in burning Richmond, Virginia, in a raid designed to destroy Patriot supplies and demoralize the fledgling state government.

William Herschel spotted a faint, slow-moving object through his homemade telescope in Bath, England, and identified it as a new planet — the first found since antiquity.

Spanish governor Felipe de Neve leads 44 settlers to found El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles on the banks of a small river.

American and French artillery began a relentless bombardment of British forces trapped at Yorktown, tightening the noose that would end the Revolutionary War.

American and French forces intensified artillery bombardment of British positions at Yorktown, Virginia, as General Cornwallis's army grew desperate under siege.

American and French troops stormed British Redoubts 9 and 10 at Yorktown in a night assault, tightening the siege that forced Cornwallis's surrender days later.

British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his 8,000-man army at Yorktown, effectively ending major fighting in the American Revolutionary War.

After days of siege at Yorktown, General Cornwallis agreed to surrender terms with Washington and Rochambeau, effectively ending major fighting in the American Revolution.