This year, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the final text of which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776.  The year 1776 has become synonymous with the United States of America, but there were in fact other things that happened that year, some of which also still affect the world today.  So now that the fireworks are over, what else is turning 250?

James Cook’s 3rd Voyage

James Cook is probably the most famous 18th century navigator. His 3rd voyage commenced in July 1776. This was the first western voyage to reach Hawaiʻi, and Cook’s last, as he was killed in Hawaiʻi itself. Cook’s voyages came at the tail end of Europeans charting the world oceans.

Soon, the 18th century image of an explorer landing on tropical shores in a captain’s hat (and dying of scurvy) gave way to the 19th century vision of an explorer cutting through jungles in a pith-helmet (and dying of malaria), then the 20th century image of an explorer trudging across glaciers in a parka (and dying of frostbite).

The Mission of San Francisco

The Spanish mission of San Francisco de Asís was founded in October 1776, after the area was scouted earlier that year. It was named for St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order, and served as a base for missionaries from New Spain to proselytize to the local Ohlone and Miwok people. The mission would serve as the nucleus of a settlement which would balloon during the California gold rush, and grow into the City of San Francisco that we know today.

St Leger Stakes

The St. Leger Stakes is the oldest of the five British Classics of thoroughbred racing. It’s the longest of the five races, at 2.9 kilometers, and the final race in the English Triple Crown. Unlike our previous entry, the St Leger stakes are not, in fact, named for a saint, but rather for Anthony St Leger, a British army officer and member of parliament for Great Grimsby – exactly the sort of person you’d expect would start a notable horse race. The first iteration of the race came on September 24th, 1776.

The Bolshoi Ballet

One of the foremost and oldest ballet companies in the world, the Bolshoi Ballet (literally “Grand Ballet”) dates its founding to 1776, originally as part of a theater company. Based in Moscow, it originally was upstaged by the Imperial Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, then the capital. It grew more prominent in the 20th century, both before the Russian Revolution under the last Tsars, and during the Soviet era as one of the USSR’s premier cultural institutions. Though Russia’s political history may be long and turbulent, everything is beautiful at the ballet.

Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations

Scottish philosopher Adam Smith published his seminal work on economics, The Wealth of Nations, on March 9th, 1776. It set off a true paradigm shift from the zero-sum economics of Mercantilism and Feudalism to a system where wealth could be generated through trade: a system we now call capitalism. The Wealth of Nations is one of the most influential books in history, and Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” has steered economic and political thought to the present day.

More to come later this week!