Catherine ordered that in petitions the word “slave” be replaced with the word “faithful subject”.
July 4 — At the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence of the United States was unanimously approved. The British colonies in North America unilaterally declared their independence from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence became the first official document in which the British colonies were впервые referred to as the “United States of America”. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, five were captured by the British and executed as traitors. Nine were killed in the War of Independence, and two were later elected Presidents of the United States — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. July 4 is celebrated in the United States as a national holiday — Independence Day.
March 28 — Prince Pyotr Urusov received government permission to open a permanent acting troupe. On this basis the Bolshoi Theatre would be created. At first the actors did not have their own theater building, so they were forced to stage performances in an annex to Count Vorontsov’s house.
In London, Adam Smith’s book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was published. This book laid the foundation of political economy. For the first time, Smith treats the economy as a system in which certain regularities operate—ones that can be studied and systematized.