Timeline February 1779

Events in February 1779 3

• 1711 – 1779 William Boyce (1711-1779) Died 7 February 1779, aged 67 William Boyce was an English composer and Master of the King's Music. He composed the song Heart of Oak and a set of eight symphonies. He also compiled Cathedral Music, a major anthology of English church music.
• 1728 – 1779 James Cook (1728-1779) Died 14 February 1779, aged 50 James Cook was a British naval captain, explorer and cartographer whose three Pacific voyages charted New Zealand, the east coast of Australia and much of the Pacific. He was killed in a confrontation with Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay during his third voyage. His surveys transformed European knowledge of the Pacific.
• 1779 George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes British Fort Sackville surrenders after a winter march George Rogers Clark led a small force of Virginians across the flooded Illinois country in midwinter to besiege Fort Sackville at Vincennes. The British lieutenant governor Henry Hamilton surrendered the fort. The capture strengthened the American claim to the Northwest Territory.