Britain signed preliminary peace agreements with France and Spain, moving the American Revolutionary War closer to its formal end later that year.

Spain formally acknowledged the independence of the United States, following France's earlier recognition during the Revolutionary War.

Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier launched an unmanned hot-air balloon over Annonay, France, rising roughly 6,000 feet before landing safely two kilometers away.

Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier launched an unmanned hot-air balloon over Annonay, France, the first public demonstration of sustained human flight technology.

Simón Bolívar was born in Caracas, the man who would lead the independence movements that freed much of South America from Spanish rule.

Britain and the United States sign the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the American Revolutionary War and recognizing American independence.

The Montgolfier brothers launch a hot air balloon carrying a sheep, a duck, and a rooster before King Louis XVI at Versailles, testing survivability of flight.

Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes became the first humans to fly freely, drifting over Paris in a Montgolfier hot air balloon for 25 minutes.

George Washington bade an emotional farewell to his Continental Army officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York City after the Revolutionary War's end.

Joseph Montgolfier and a companion made an early hot-air balloon ascent in Lyon, months after the historic Paris flights.