1700 – The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake took place off the coast of the American Northwest, as evidenced by Japanese records.
1736 – Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne.
1782 - American War of Independence: The Naval Battle of Saint Kitts between British and French forces ends in British victory under Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, though the French still manage to take over the island anyway.
1785 – Benjamin Franklin writes a letter to his daughter expressing disappointment over the selection of the eagle as the symbol of the United States; he wanted the turkey.