and Thomas Jefferson as ambassador to France. April 28 – Astronomer William Herschel begins his second series of surveys of the stars, published in 1789. May 10 – A hot air balloon crashes in Tullamore, Ireland, causing a fire that burns down about 100 houses, making it the world's first aviation disaster (by 36 days). May 20 – The Northwest Ordinance of 1785, setting the rules for dividing the U.S. Northwest Territory (later Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan) into townships of 36 square miles apiece, is passed by the Confederation Congress. Walter G. Robillard and Lane J. Bouman, Clark on Surveying and Boundaries (LexisNexis, 1997) The survey system will later be applied to the continent west of the Mississippi River. June 3 – The Continental Navy is disbanded. June 15 – After several attempts, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and his companion, Pierre Romain, set off in a balloon from Boulogne-sur-Mer, but the balloon suddenly deflates (without the envelope catching fire) and crashes near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais, killing both men, making it the first fatal aviation disaster. July–September July 2 – Don Diego de Gardoqui arrives in New York City as Spain's first minister to the United States. July 6 – The dollar (and a decimal currency system) is unanimously chosen as the money unit for the United States by the Congress of the Confederation. July 16 – The Piper-Heidsieck Champagne house is founded by Florens-Louis Heidsieck in Reims, France. August 1 – The fleet of French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse leaves Paris for the circumnavigation of the globe. August 15 – Cardinal de Rohan is arrested in Paris; the Necklace Affair comes into the open. September 10 – The United States and the Kingdom of Prussia sign a Treaty of Amity and Commerce. September 13 – The Bank of North America, central bank for the Confederation Congress government, loses its charter. Benjamin Franklin returns to Philadelphia after seven years as the U.S. Ambassador to France and prepares to take office as the new Governor of Pennsylvania. October–December October 5 – Vincenzo Lunardi of Italy becomes the first person to pilot a balloon over Scotland. October 13 – The first newspaper in British India, the English-language Madras Courier, is published. It continues publication as a weekly until 1794. October 13 – France mints new Louis d'or coins, with the image of King Louis XVI on the