Events January–March January 9 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase of land for the seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro), for William Pitt the Younger. January 11 – William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus. January 19 – Mozart's Symphony No. 38 is premièred in Prague. February 2 – Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania is chosen as the new President of the Congress of the Confederation. February 4 – Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts fails. February 21 – The Confederation Congress sends word to the 13 states that a convention will be held in Philadelphia on May 14 to revise the Articles of Confederation. February 28 – A charter is granted, establishing the institution which will become the University of Pittsburgh. March 3 – By a vote of 33 to 29, Harrisburg is approved as the new capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. March 17 – The Bank of North America, the central bank of the United States government under the Articles of Confederation, is re-incorporated after its charter had expired in 1786.Congressional Record (December 8, 1913) p446 March 28 – In the British House of Commons, Henry Beaufoy files the first motion to repeal the Test Act 1673, which restricts the rights of non-members of the Church of England.; Beaufoy's motion is rejected, and the Act is not repealed until 1829. March 30 – Biblical theology becomes a separate discipline from biblical studies, as Johann Philipp Gabler delivers his speech "On the proper distinction between biblical and dogmatic theology and the specific objectives of each" upon his inauguration as the professor of theology at the University of Altdorf in Germany. April–June April 2 – A Charter of Justice is signed, providing the authority for the establishment of the first New South Wales (i.e. Australian) Courts of Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction. May 7 – The New Church is founded. May 13 – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England with the 11 ships of the First Fleet, carrying around 700 convicts and at least 300 crew and guards, to establish a penal colony in Australia. May 14 – In Philadelphia, delegates begin arriving for a Constitutional Convention. May 22 – In Britain, Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, with support from John Wesley, Josiah Wedgwood and others.