1797 Calendar

February 4, 1797 – The Riobamba earthquake strikes Ecuador, causing up to 40,000 casualties.

February 18, 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: Sir Ralph Abercromby and a fleet of 18 British warships invade Trinidad.

February 25, 1797 – Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000-1500 soldiers surrender after the Last Invasion of Britain.

March 2, 1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound banknotes.

April 17, 1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America.

April 18, 1797 – The Battle of Neuwied – French victory against the Austrians.

July 22, 1797 – Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Battle between Spanish and British naval forces during the French Revolutionary Wars. During the Battle, Rear-Admiral Nelson is wounded in the arm and the arm had to be partially amputated.

July 25, 1797 – Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain).

September 4, 1797 – Coup of 18 Fructidor in France.

October 22, 1797 – One thousand meters (3,200 feet) above Paris, André-Jacques Garnerin makes the first recorded parachute jump.

January 31, 1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (d. 1828)

February 6, 1797 – Joseph von Radowitz, Prussian statesman and general (d. 1853)

April 18, 1797 – Adolphe Thiers, French statesman (d. 1877)

May 6, 1797 – Joseph Brackett, American religious leader and composer (d. 1882)

May 18, 1797 – King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony (d. 1854)

July 20, 1797 – Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist (d. 1873)

August 9, 1797 – Charles Robert Malden, British naval officer (d. 1855)

September 12, 1797 – Samuel Joseph May, American abolitionist (d. 1871)

October 26, 1797 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (d. 1865)

November 14, 1797 – Charles Lyell, British geologist (d. 1875)