1780

1780 (MDCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (dominical letter BA) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter ED) of the Julian calendar, the 1780th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 780th year of the 2nd millennium, the 80th year of the 18th century, and the 1st year of the 1780s decade. Note that the Julian day for 1780 is 11 calendar days difference, which continued to be used from 1582 until the complete conversion of the Gregorian calendar was entirely done in 1929.

Events

January–June

Túpac Amaru

Túpac Amaru or Thupa Amaro (Quechua: Thupaq Amaru) (1545–1572) was the last indigenous monarch (Sapa Inca) of the Neo-Inca State, remnants of the Inca Empire in Vilcabamba, Peru. He was executed by the Spanish.

Accession

Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in the 1530s, a few members of the royal family established the small independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, which was located in the relatively inaccessible Upper Amazon to the northeast of Cusco. The founder of this state was Manco Inca Yupanqui (also known as Manco Cápac II), who had initially allied himself with the Spanish, then led an unsuccessful war against them before establishing himself in Vilcabamba in 1540. After a Spanish attack in 1544 in which Manco Inca Yupanqui was killed, his son Sayri Tupac assumed the title of Sapa Inca (emperor, literally "only Inca"), before accepting Spanish authority in 1558, moving to Cuzco, and dying (perhaps by poison) in 1561. He was succeeded in Vilcabamba by his brother Titu Cusi, who himself died in 1571. Túpac Amaru, another brother of the two preceding emperors, then succeeded to the title in Vilcabamba.

18th century

The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 to December 31, 1800 in the Gregorian calendar. During the 18th century, the Enlightenment culminated in the French and American revolutions. Philosophy and science increased in prominence. Philosophers dreamed of a brighter age. This dream turned into a reality with the French Revolution, although it was later compromised by the excesses of the Reign of Terror of Maximilien Robespierre. At first, the monarchies of Europe embraced Enlightenment ideals, but with the French Revolution they feared losing their power and formed broad coalitions for the counter-revolution. The Ottoman Empire underwent a protracted decline, as it failed to keep up with the technological advances in Europe. The Tulip period symbolized a period of peace and reorientation towards European society, after victory against a burgeoning Russian Empire in the Pruth River Campaign. Throughout the century various reforms were introduced with limited success.

The 18th century also marked the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as an independent state. The once-powerful and vast kingdom, which was able to conquer Moscow and defeat the great Ottoman armies, collapsed under numerous invasions. Its semi-democratic government system was not robust enough to rival the neighboring monarchies of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Russian Empire and the Archduchy of Austria which divided the Commonwealth territories among them, changing the landscape of Central European politics for the next hundred years.