Timeline August 1784

Events in August 1784 4

• 1713 – 1784 Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) Died 10 August 1784, aged 70 Allan Ramsay, Scottish portrait painter, died in Dover while returning from Italy. He served as Principal Painter in Ordinary to King George III and produced the state portrait used on British coinage and official documents for decades. His elegant, naturalistic style influenced the development of British portraiture.
• 1784 Grigory Shelikhov Founds First Permanent Russian Settlement in Alaska Three Saints Bay colony established on Kodiak Island Russian merchant Grigory Shelikhov founded a fur-trading settlement at Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island, the first permanent Russian colony in North America. The outpost became the foundation for Russian America, which would later expand along the Pacific coast. Shelikhov's venture laid groundwork for the Russian-American Company founded in 1799.
• 1784 Royal Commission Debunks Mesmer's Animal Magnetism Franklin and Lavoisier lead scientific investigation in Paris A French royal commission including Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier investigated Franz Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism and concluded its effects stemmed from imagination rather than any physical fluid. The commission's report is regarded as an early landmark in the use of controlled experiment to test medical claims. It effectively discredited mesmerism within mainstream science.
• 1784 Pitt's India Act Reforms British Rule in India Parliament establishes government oversight of the East India Company The British Parliament passed Pitt's India Act, creating a Board of Control to oversee the East India Company's political and military affairs while leaving commercial operations to the company. The act was a response to corruption and financial mismanagement exposed in prior decades. It set the pattern for British government involvement in Indian administration until 1858.