An annotated time line of important events in the eighteenth century.
Expansion of the Atlantic Slave Trade:
Louisiana Becomes a French Province: Following numerous explorations, France officially established the area drained by the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers as a province.
Oman Captures Zanzibar:
Plumier Publishes L’Art de tourner
:
Tull Invents the Seed Drill:
Great Northern War:
Decline of Executions for Witchcraft: From a peak in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, executions for witchcraft declined dramatically throughout Europe after the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Bach Pioneers Modern Music:
Expansion of Asante Influence in West Africa: With the Battle of Feyiase in 1701, the Asante people began to displace their Denkyira overlords in the region of modern Ghana.
Revenge of the Forty-Seven Ronin:
War of the Spanish Succession:
Act of Settlement:
William Kidd Hanged in England: The notorious pirate had been in Boston in 1699, then sent to England for trial.
Marsh Builds Ireland’s First Public Library:
Founding of Ft. Louis: The first French settlement on North America’s Gulf Coast (later to become Mobile, Alabama) established a settled French presence throughout the Louisiana province.
New Jersey Established: After years of bickering between the proprietors of East and West Jersey, the two were combined to form a single colony.
First Arabic Printing Press:
Queen Anne’s War:
Camisard Risings in the Cévennes:
Hungarian Revolt Against Habsburg Rule:
Founding of St. Petersburg:
Chikamatsu Produces The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
:
Japanese Earthquake and Fire: A massive earthquake and fire destroy much of the capital city of Edo (later Tokyo), killing as many as 200,000 people.
Appearance of the News-Letter
: John Campbell begins publishing the weekly News-Letter, the first regular newspaper in the American colonies.
Death of Iṣtifān al-Duwayhī: This Maronite patriarch had emerged as the first important historian from the Arabic-speaking Christian community in Lebanon.
Hasan Paşha Appointed Governor of Baghdad: Hasan’s appointment established a quasi-hereditary dynasty that brought order to central Iraq and ruled the region throughout the eighteenth century.
Newton Publishes Optics
:
Publication of The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments
: This edition made the famous tales of Sinbad widely available to Europeans for the first time.
Swift Publishes A Tale of a Tub
: English author Jonathan Swift famously satirizes religious corruption.
Weekly Review Founded: This important thrice-weekly paper, founded in the midst of the Tory-Whig controversy, was sparked by the War of the Spanish Succession.
Astronomy Wars in England:
Javanese Wars of Succession:
Britain Captures Gibraltar: English forces seized this strategic fortress, which guarded the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, in one of the key early allied victories of the War of the Spanish Succession.
Battle of Blenheim:
Blenheim Palace Constructed: This great English palace was commissioned as a reward and commemoration of the duke of Marlborough’s victory at Blenheim, Bavaria, the year before.
Halley Predicts the Return of a Comet:
Newcomen Develops the Steam Engine:
Rømer Publishes Astronomical Observations
: The last major publication of the pioneering Danish astronomer Ole Rømer.
Act of Union Unites England and Scotland:
Battle of Ramillies: John Churchill, the first duke of Marlborough, defeats François de Neufville, the duc de Villeroi, in the War of the Spanish Succession. The Engllish and their allies gain Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Ostend, overrunning Spanish Netherlands.
Emigration from the Rhineland Palatinate to England: The first phase of the German immigration that would eventually bring tens of thousands of mainly Calvinists and Lutherans to the American colonies.
Fortnum and Mason’s Opens in London: Based upon a growing international trade, this new enterprise successfully catered the best of wines and specialty foods to wealthy English households.
Newton Publishes Arithmetica universalis
: Sir Isaac Newton presents his theory of equations and observations on algebra developed during the 1670’s and 1680’s.
“Pulse Watch” Invented: English doctor John Floyer develops the first effective precision diagnostic instrument.
Creation of the United East India Company: By combining two rival British trading companies, the British government established the strongest European presence on the Indian coast.
Governor of Damascus Becomes Commander of the Annual Damascus Pilgrimage to Mecca: This arrangement greatly enhanced the prestige and power of the governor’s position well into the twentieth century.
Defeat of the “Old Pretender”:
Battle of Oudenarde: England’s first duke of Marlborough John Churchill and Eugene of Savoy defeat Frence’s duke of Vendôme and the duke of Burgandy, leading to the surrender of Lille and abortive negotiations in the War of the Spanish Succession.
Black Death Ravages Prussia: An estimated 300,000 die in one of numerous recurrences of the plague.
Darby Invents Coke-Smelting:
Fahrenheit Invents the Alcohol Thermometer: Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit established his famous Fahrenheit scale, in which the freezing point at sea level is 32 degrees and the boiling point 212 degrees. This early Fahrenheit thermometer led the way to the mercury thermometer a few years later.
Invention of the Piano:
The Tatler Appears in London: Playwright Richard Steele begins publishing this famous journal of politics and social criticism, including essays written by Joseph Addison.
Persian-Afghan Wars:
Battle of Poltava:
Battle of Malplaquet:
Berkeley Publishes A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
: Irishman George Berkeley laid the groundwork for the empiricist school of philosophy.
Germans Settle at New Bern, North Carolina: This immigration of 650 Swiss and Germans from the Palatinate in North Carolina began a long process of German immigration that made them the largest European immigrant group of the eighteenth century other than the British.
Tory Party Defeats the Whigs in Britain: In the first clear transfer of power since the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the duke of Marlborough and the Whig ministry were voted out of power, in part because of their perceived association with the Jacobite cause.
Ottoman Wars with Russia, Venice, and Austria:
Ascot Races Established: Queen Anne of England approves support of formalized racing for cash prizes.
Civil War in Egypt: Mamlūk beys emerge as the most important political force, reducing Ottoman governors to figureheads.
Landed Property Qualification Act Passed: This English law prohibits the election to Parliament of British financiers, merchants, and industrialists.
Addison and Steele Establish The Spectator:
Rinaldo Opens at London’s Haymarket Theatre: Debut of the opera featuring music by George Frideric Handel and libretto by Giacomo Rossi.
Tuscarora War:
Occasional Conformity Bill:
Carolina Colony Divided: Founded in 1663, the Carolina colony was divided into North Carolina and South Carolina.
First Sperm Whale Harpooned in Modern Times: Christopher Hussey’s kill sparked a new international trade in sperm oil, spermaceti, whale ivory, and ambergris.
The History of John Bull Published: Literature and politics merged when Scottish physician John Arbuthnot satirized the duke of Marlborough and established “John Bull” as a symbol of England.
Philip V Founds the Royal Library of Spain:
Pope Publishes The Rape of the Lock
: Alexander Pope famously satirized the royal court in his mock-heroic poem.
Stamp Act:
New York City Slave Revolt:
Second Villmergen War:
Battle of Denain: the French under Claude-Louis-Hector, duc de Villars, defeated Eugene of Savoy and a British-Dutch force during the War of the Spanish Succession.
Maya Rebellion in Chiapas:
Construction of First Schooner: Built by Andrew Robinson of Gloucester, Massachusetts, this distinctive vessel soon became the model for fleets fishing off the Grand Banks.1713
Timoni Describes Immunization for Smallpox: Emmanuel Timoni, a Greek physician in Constantinople, described the method in a letter to London physician John Woodward, who in the following year published Timoni’s account in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
Treaty of Utrecht:
Foundation of the Spanish Academy:
Papal Bull Unigenitus:
Fahrenheit Develops the Mercury Thermometer:
Ottoman War with Venice and Austria: The Ottomans, although regaining Morea, could not regain Hungary and lost territory in the Balkans as military power increasingly passed to European states.
Quest for Longitude:
Burmese-Manipuri Wars: Manipur, an Indian state located on the western border with Burma, engaged in a series of conflicts with Burma during the eighteenth century and evenutally sought British assistance in protecting its homeland. British influence in the region increased as a result.
Mill Patents the Typewriter:
Treaties of Rastatt and Baden:
Fox Wars:
French Conquest of Mauritius: France seized the Indian Ocean island group from the Dutch, who had held it since the 1630’s.
Japan Increases Limits Foreign Trade: Alarmed at the trade imbalance with the west, the Japanese government sets export limits on copper and reduces to two the number of Dutch ships permitted to trade annually at Nagasaki.
Building of the Karlskirche:
James Edward Flees to France: After Jacobite troops were routed by the Royalist forces of John Campbell, duke of Argyll, James Edward, the Old Pretender, fled to France. The Jacobite cause would be revived by his son, Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender (b. 1720).
Death of Louis XIV: The great exemplar of European royal absolutism, Louis XIV dies at age seventy-six after seventy-two years on the throne.
Jacobite Rising in Scotland:
Battle of Sheriffmuir: Royalists under John Campbell, the duke of Argyll, forced the Jacobite army to retreat to Perth, Scotland, prior to the December arrival of James Edward, the Old Pretender.
China Outlaws Christian Teaching: After an earlier period of relative openness, the incompatibility between Chinese rites and Christian doctrine led the Chinese government to outlaw Christian missionary activity.
Virginians Settle in the Shenandoah Valley: Alexander Spotswood led a band of Virginia colonists across the Blue Ridge Mountains.
German Religious Dissenters Immigrate to America: German Dunkers, Mennonites, and Moravians began an extensive migration of religious dissenters that would last until the American Revolutionary War. Most settled in Pennsylvania.
John Law Secures a Monopoly on Trade and Government in Louisiana: Having been unsuccessful in attracting French settlers to Louisiana, the French government granted Scottish entrepreneur John Law a twenty-five-year monopoly on trade and government in exchange for establishing at least six thousand white settlers in the region.
Viceroyalty of New Granada Established: In order to govern its large New World empire more efficiently, the Spanish government created a new viceroyalty, carved from the viceroyalty of Peru and with its capital in Bogotá.
Battle of Belgrade: After a long siege by 180,000 Turkish troops, Prince Eugene of Savoy successfully drove them back with a force of 40,000.
War of the Quadruple Alliance: France and Britain forced Spain, Austria, and Savoy to accept, with minor revisions, settlements reached at Utrecht and Rastatt that ended the War of the Spanish Succession.
Bernoulli Publishes His Calculus of Variations:
Death of Blackbeard the Pirate: The pirate Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, was killed in a battle off the coast of North Carolina, marking the decline of the great age of piracy in North America.
First English Banknotes Issued: After reforms borrowed from the Dutch, including establishment of the Bank of England in 1694, the English issued official banknotes to foster more efficient trade and commerce.
Geoffroy Issues the Table of Reactivities:
Montagu Reports on Smallpox Vaccination: In “Inoculation Against Smallpox,” Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the English ambassador to Constantinople, reports on the practice of variolation, commonly used in the Middle East to prevent severe cases of smallpox.
New Orleans Founded: A new commercial city, founded at the mouth of the Mississippi River by Sieur de Bienville, attracts only a handful of French settlers but nevertheless lays the foundation for commercial development.
Tulip Age:
Czarevitch Alexius Petrovich Dies of Flogging: Fearing rebellion, Peter the Great has his son and heir beaten to death in St. Petersburg.
Creation of the Principality of Liechtenstein: Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI created a new sovereign territory following the purchase of Vaduz and Schellenberg by the Austrian count, Hans Adam von Liechtenstein.
Stukeley Studies Stonehenge and Avebury:
Defoe Publishes the First Novel:
Financial Collapse of the John Law System:
Handel Named Director of the Royal Academy of Music: George Frideric Handel was named director of the London academy and presented his oratorio Esther there.
Last Major Outbreak of Plague:
Collapse of the South Sea Bubble:
Japan Lifts Ban on Foreign Books:
Diamonds Discovered in Brazil: Once the diamond discovery near Tejuco, Brazil, was authenticated in Europe in 1729, a diamond rush began, greatly altering the character of the region.
Regular Postal Service Between England and America: In a display of British administration and mastery of the sea, regular postal service was established between London and the principal New England cities.
Smallpox Epidemic in Boston: Differences of opinion over the newly learned process of vaccination led to heated debate in the city. The survival rate for those vaccinated proved to be much better than that for those who were not vaccinated.
Development of Great Britain’s Office of Prime Minister:
Early Enlightenment in France:
Réaumur Discovers Carbon’s Role in Hardening Steel:
European Discovery of Easter Island:
Bach Appointed Cantor at the St. Thomas School, Leipzig: After the leading candidate, Georg Philipp Telemann, declined the position, Johann Sebastian Bach auditioned and was hired; the following year he directed the first performances of the St. John Passion.
Coffee First Planted in the New World: French naval officer Gabriel Mathieu de Cheu plants a coffee plant seedling on the Caribbean island of Martinique, laying the foundation for a new commercial cash crop.
Jewish Oaths Permitted in Britain: In a display of the gradual liberalization of British society, Jews were permitted to take oaths without employing the phrase “On the true faith of a Christian.”
Stahl Postulates the Phlogiston Theory:
Ottomans Occupy Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Shirvan: Taking advantage of Afghan attacks in eastern Iran, the Ottoman Empire and Russia partitioned the Caucasus region.
Foundation of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences:
Flamsteed’s Star Catalog Marks the Transition to Modern Astronomy:
Russian Academy of Sciences Established: On his deathbed, Peter the Great established the Russian Academy of Sciences, despite the fact that there were then few Russian scientists of note.
Persian Civil Wars:
Death of Peter the Great: By the time of his death after a forty-two-year reign, Peter had transformed Russia into a modern, and sometimes progressive, European power.
Louis XV Marries Marie: At the age of fifteen, Louis XV married Marie, daughter of Poland’s former king Stanisław I Leszczyński, a marriage that provided few diplomatic complications but to many seemed beneath the dignity of the French crown.
Vico Publishes The New Science:
Montevideo Founded: The future capital of Uruguay, Montevideo was established at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata by families from Buenos Aires and the Canary Islands who were given lands by the Spanish crown to stem the Portuguese influence in the area.
Swift Satirizes English Rule of Ireland in Gulliver’s Travels:
Voltaire Advances Enlightenment Thought in Europe:
Schulze Studies Silver Salts: Experiments by German J. H. Schulze established that light, rather than heat, darkens silver salts, laying a foundation for later work in photography.
Treaty of Kiakhta:
Jansenist “Convulsionnaires” Gather at Saint-Médard:
Gay Produces the First Ballad Opera:
Russian Voyages to Alaska:
Franklin Purchases The Pennsylvania Gazette
: After years of working for others, Benjamin Franklin purchased his own newspaper with the assistance of partner Hugh Meredith.
Gray Discovers Principles of Electric Conductivity:
Holy Club Established at Oxford University: John and Charles Wesley, James Hervey, and George Whitefield met each week to worship, pray, read the classics, and fast, establishing “Methodism” within the Episcopal Church at Oxford.
Treaty of Seville:
Indian Attacks in Louisiana: Following demands that the Natchez Indians relinquish their burial grounds, a war party attacked Louisiana settlers and soldiers, leaving more than two hundred dead and taking several hundred prisoner.
Patrona Hailil Revolt: In the wake of defeat at the hands of the Persians, Janissaries revolted, attacking many wealthy Turks before being captured and executed.
Townshend Introduces Scientific Farming in England: Learning from Dutch agriculturalists, Charles Townshend introduced the use of turnips as cattle feed, enabling farmers to provide fresh meat year-round.
Ottoman-Persian War: Laying siege to Baghdad in 1733, the Ṣafavids secured Ottoman renunciation of previous gains in the Caucasus region.
First Maroon War:
Anna Ivanovna’s Coup d’État: When the Russian czar Peter II died of smallpox on January 30, court intrigues led to the coup d’état of his cousin, who appointed Ernst Johann Biron as grand-chamberlain, initiating a brutal ten-year reign.
France Prohibits Barbers from Practicing Surgery: France forbade barbers from doubling as surgeons (which at this time was still a common practice in Europe), although the law usually allowed barbers to perform minor surgeries such as bloodletting and pulling teeth.
Hadley Invents the Reflecting Quadrant: Mathematician John Hadley’s precisely engineered quadrant enabled navigators to determine latitude day or night, proving so successful that it was adopted by Britain’s Royal Navy.
Franklin Establishes North America’s First Circulating Library: Benjamin Franklin encouraged members of his Philadelphia intellectual circle to subscribe to a book-purchasing scheme and pool their books for the common good.
Comte de Bonneval Begins Modernization of Ottoman Artillery: French convert to Islam Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, also known as Ahmed Pasha, opens a military engineering school in 1734, inviting opposition from the Janissaries.
Poor Richard’s Almanack Appears: Benjamin Franklin’s practical advice and agricultural observations made his almanac second only to the Bible as the most widely read book in the American colonies.
Society of Dilettanti Is Established:
Settlement of Georgia:
Covent Garden Theatre Opens in London:
British Parliament Passes the Molasses Act: This legislation was designed to raise revenue in the American colonies by heavily taxing molasses, sugar, and rum imported from non-British colonies leads to widespread smuggling.
De Moivre Describes the Bell-Shaped Curve:
Du Fay Discovers Two Kinds of Electric Charge:
Kay Invents the Flying Shuttle:
Voltaire Publishes Letters Concerning the English Nation
: Living under Bourbon absolutism, Voltaire praised English representative government.
Pope Publishes his Essay on Man
: Alexander Pope’s poem addresses the human ability to reason, one of the chief concerns of the Enlightenment.
War of the Polish Succession:
Slaves Capture St. John’s Island:
Schwenkenfelders Immigrate to America: The Schwenkenfelders, a religious group persecuted for their beliefs in Silesia, immigrated to America, settling first in Delaware.
British Parliament Passes the Copyright Act: In an age of increasing public debate in the press, Parliament moved to protect authors from pirated editions of their works. The act was one of the earliest modern laws concerning intellectual property.
Hadley Describes Atmospheric Circulation:
Linnaeus Creates the Binomial System of Classification:
French Scientists Explore the Amazon River:
Trial of John Peter Zenger:
Concordat Between the Vatican and the Maronite Church: The Maronite Church accepted the pope’s authority in return for the allowance to maintain a distinctive hierarchy, liturgy, canon law, and customs.
End of the Ṣafavid Dynasty in Persia: The death of ՙAbbās III at the age of six ended the Ṣafavid Dynasty, which had ruled Persia since 1502.
Gentleman’s Magazine Initiates Parliamentary Reporting:
Russo-Austrian War Against the Ottoman Empire:
British Parliament Passes the Licensing Act: The measure required that all plays be approved by the Lord Chamberlain and limited the number of theaters in London.
First City-Paid Police Force in America: Dissatisfied with the “city watch” in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin helped establish a city-paid police force, a precursor to other progressive urban reforms instituted by Franklin.
Last Medici Ruler in Tuscany: With the death of Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Austria gave the ducal throne to Franz Stefan, duke of Lorraine and husband of Maria Theresa, heir apparent to the imperial throne.
Revival of the Paris Salon:
Walking Purchase:
Bernoulli Proposes the Kinetic Theory of Gases:
Excavation of Herculaneum Begins: Buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79
Maupertuis Publishes Sur la figure de la terre
: French mathematician and biologist Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis popularized Newtonian mechanics in his report on an expedition to Lapland, confirming the view that Earth is a spheroid flattened at the poles.
Foundation of St. Petersburg’s Imperial Ballet School:
Treaty of Vienna:
Discovery of the Headwaters of the Arkansas River: Departing from St. Louis to locate a trade route between the Missouri and Santa Fe, French explorers Pierre and Paul Mallet discovered the headwaters of the Arkansas River in the Rocky Mountains.
Potato Crop Fails in Ireland: Cotters began to select potato varieties that provided the highest yields, thus breeding potatoes with little resistance to fungus but setting the stage for later, devastating crop failures.
Hume Publishes A Treatise of Human Nature:
War of Jenkins’s Ear:
First Great Awakening:
Highwayman Dick Turpin Hanged: Richard “Dick” Turpin had been a thief and gang member for more than a decade and was living under the alias John Palmer when he was captured and convicted of stealing horses; most of the legends concerning his career are probably fictional.
Stono Rebellion:
Treaty of Belgrade:
Maclaurin’s Gravitational Theory:
Moravian Immigrants Introduce German Christmas Customs: Moravians founded Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, introducing customs such as the visit of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) to the Christmas holiday tradition.
Richardson’s Pamela Establishes the Modern Novel:
Accession of Frederick the Great:
Maria Theresa Succeeds to the Austrian Throne:
War of the Austrian Succession:
Edwards Preaches “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”: In this sermon, perhaps the most famous of the eighteenth century, Jonathan Edwards of the Massachusetts colony preached Calvinist doctrines in the face of growing opposition from clergy who were increasingly embracing rationalism.1741
Celsius Proposes an International Fixed Temperature Scale:
Completion of Faneuil Hall: Boston merchant Peter Faneuil funded the construction of Faneuil Hall as a meeting house for the city of Boston. It became the site of many rousing speeches as the American Revolutionary War approached.
Fielding’s Joseph Andrews Satirizes English Society:
Franklin Invents the “Pennsylvania Fireplace”: America’s great scientist and inventor turned his attention to practical home heating, inventing a fire box, to be set inside a fireplace, that provided for the circulation of warmed air. The invention is now known as the Franklin stove.
Verendrye Explores the Dakotas: Obsessed with discovering the great “Western Sea,” Pierre Gaultier de Varennes de La Vérendrye explored southward from Canada, traversing the Dakotas as far as the Yellowstone River.
First Performance of Handel’s Messiah:
Battle of Pamphlets: Responding to the Jonathan Edwards sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Congregationalist minister Charles Chauncy wrote “Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England,” initiating a pamphlet war between orthodox Calvinists and more liberal rationalists in New England that would last until Edwards died in 1758.
D’Alembert Develops His Axioms of Motion:
Ottoman-Persian War: Nādir Shāh of Persia was unable to make gains in Kurdistan but did expand Persian influence in the Caucasus region.
Publication of “God Save the King” in London: Published in 1744 and first publicly performed the following year, this royal anthem had its roots in seventeenth century France and eventually was adopted as the tune for the American patriotic song “My Country, ’Tis of Thee.”
Sotheby’s Auction Houses Established: London bookseller Samuel Baker auctioned a local library, then turned the business over to his nephew, John Sotheby, in 1767.
King George’s War: The War of the Austrian Succession spilled over into America, with Anglo-French battles, most notably at sea, from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean.
Dagohoy Rebellion in the Philippines:
Lomonosov Issues the First Catalog of Minerals:
Battle of Fontenoy: French victory under Maurice, comte de Saxe, led to the capture of fortresses in the Austrian Netherlands during the War of the Austrian Succession.
Jacobite Rebellion:
Invention of the Leyden Jar:
Roebuck Develops the Lead-Chamber Process:
Zāhir al-ՙUmar Creates a Stronghold in Galilee:
Carnatic Wars:
Johnson Creates the First Modern English Dictionary:
Battle of Falkirk: The Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, led Scottish Highlanders to victory over the British, giving hope to the Jacobite cause, although those hopes were quickly dashed by the defeat at the Battle of Culloden three months later.
Battle of Culloden: The final defeat of the Jacobite rebels and the cause of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who fled to France in September.
Madras Falls to France: As the War of the Austrian Succession spread to India, France under Joseph-François Dupleix continued its asendancy in southern India by capturing the British fort at Madras.
Britain Extends Control in the Caribbean: As the War of the Austrian Succession expanded globally, Britain won a number of victories in the Caribbean under Admirals George Anson and Edward Hawke, threatening the French sugar trade from its Caribbean colonies.
Marggraf Extracts Sugar from Beets:
Wesley Spreads Methodism in Ireland: Seeking to model his holiness on the practices of the early Christian Church, Evangelical John Wesley began to spread his “Methodism” to Ireland, making the first of forty-two trips there in 1747.
Wars of Afghan Expansion: During prolonged conflict with the Ṣafavid Persians and the Indian Marathas, Afghanistan gained its independence and began to develop a sense of national identity.
Agnesi Publishes Analytical Institutions:
Bradley Discovers the Nutation of Earth’s Axis:
Euler Develops the Concept of Function:
Excavation of Pompeii:
Montesquieu Publishes The Spirit of the Laws:
De l’esprit des loix (1748; The Spirit of the Laws, 1750) set a standard for comparative political, cultural, and legal thought in Europe. It laid the foundation for the institution of the social sciences as disciplines more rigorous and distinct from those of the humanities.
Nollet Discovers Osmosis:
Settlers Cross the Allegheny Divide: American colonists traveled beyond the Allegheny divide into territories claimed by France, heightening tensions between France and England.
Construction of Istanbul’s Nur-u Osmaniye Complex:
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle:
College of Philadelphia Founded: Benjamin Franklin suggests the founding of the institution of higher learning in Philadelphia that would become the University of Pennsylvania.
Fielding Publishes The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
: English author and playwright Henry Fielding published one of the earliest and best-known English novels, set against the backdrop of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. Samuel Taylor Coleridge regarded the novel as having one of the three greates plots in all English literature.
First Comprehensive Examination of the Natural World:
Saՙīd Becomes Ruler of Oman:
Battle of Kathio: This legendary battle is based on oral traditions recounting the moment when the Ojibwe tribe drove the Dakota people from the Thousand Lakes region of northern Minnesota.
British Parliament Passes the Iron Act: Part of the mercantilistic Trade and Navigation Acts designed to impede the production of finished iron goods in the American colonies, this law encouraged the production of pig and bar iron, which might then be traded for English manufactures.
Maupertuis Publishes Essai de cosmologie
: French scientist Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis first suggests the biological concept of survival of the fittest, later made famous by Charles Darwin.
Treaty of Madrid:
Walker Finds Cumberland Gap: Thomas Walker, Virginia land agent and physician, discovered access across the Appalachian Mountains through a gap at 1,665 feet, named for the duke of Cumberland.
Westminster Bridge Opens for Traffic in London: The long-anticipated bridge across the Thames River at Westminster, discussed for almost two centuries and designed by the Swiss engineer Charles Labelye, finally opened for traffic after eleven years in construction.
China Consolidates Control over Tibet:
Johnson Issues the Rambler:
Maupertuis Provides Evidence of “Hereditary Particles”:
Diderot Publishes the Encyclopedia:
British Seize Arcot: British Troops under Robert Clive seized the French fortress at Arcot, then held off a besieging Indian-French force during September and October to shake French authority in the region.
Liberty Bell Cast in Philadelphia: John Pass and John Stow cast in bronze alloy the 2,080-pound bell that would be hung in the belfry of the Pennsylvania State House.
Sabah Ibn Jābir Becomes Ruler of Kuwait: Established the Sabah Dynasty, which ruled into the twentieth century.
Mayer’s Lunar Tables Enable Mariners to Determine Longitude at Sea:
Alaungpaya Unites Burma:
Franklin Demonstrates the Electrical Nature of Lightning:
England Adopts the Gregorian Calendar: First proposed in the sixteenth century to correct the length of the mean year in the Julian calendar, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar led to the “loss” of eleven days but became the standard for the Western world.
Lind Discovers a Cure for Scurvy:
Foundation of the British Museum: London physician Sir Hans Sloan left initial collections of books, coins, manuscripts, and pictures to the nation, which were enhanced by purchases as a royal foundation charter.
Büsching Publishes A New System of Geography:
Chippendale Publishes The Gentlemen and the Cabinet Maker’s Director
: After opening a London factory for the production of furniture in 1749, Thomas Chippendale produced the best-known eighteenth century guide to furniture design.1754
Winter Begun in St. Petersburg: The baroque Winter Palace, designed as the winter home of the Russian czars, began construction under the direction of Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
French Troops Halt Virginian Advance: A land-developing expedition of Virginians under George Washington was defeated while attempting to build a fort at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers.
French and Indian War:
Albany Congress:
Bakewell Develops Leicester Sheep: English agriculturalist Robert Bakewell developed the stocky Leicester sheep, one of the first breeds to designed for both wool and meat production.
Johnson Publishes A Dictionary of the English Language
: English author Samuel Johnson published the first edition of the most famous dictionary in the English language.
Black Identifies Carbon Dioxide:
Acadians Are Expelled from Canada:
Battle of Monongahela: British General Braddock, badly defeated by the French and their Indian allies, demonstrated the unsuitability of British military techniques to the American frontier.
Fire Ravages Istanbul: Fires in September, 1755, and July, 1756, destroyed much of old Istanbul (formerly Constantinople).
Great Lisbon Earthquake:
English Prisoners Die in the “Black Hole of Calcutta”: The British public was outraged upon learning that 123 British prisoners had died when forced into a small guardroom by Sūraj-ud-Dowlah as he attacked the city.
Seven Years’ War:
Campbell Develops the Sextant: Expanding Hadley’s quadrant by 30 degrees, Royal Naval Captain John Campbell developed an instrument that could measure both longitude and latitude.
Monro Distinguishes Between Lymphatic and Blood Systems:
Haller Publishes Elements of Human Physiology:
Battle of Plassey:
Bedouin Attack on Damascus Pilgrims: The worst of frequent attacks, thousands of pilgrims were killed or left to die in the desert.
Battle of Rossbach:
Siege of Louisbourg:
Battle of Ticonderoga: In a brave but futile frontal assault on Louis-Joseph de Montcalm’s French forces, British troops under Abercromby failed to take Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War.
Helvétius Publishes De l’esprit:
Battle of Hochkirk: Austrians under Count Leopold Joseph Daun surprised Frederick the Great and the Prussian army, seizing their artillery and forcing their retreat.
Aepinus Publishes Essay on the Theory of Electricity and Magnetism:
Charles III Gains the Spanish Throne:
Guinness Brewery Established: Arthur Guinness established a brewery in Dublin, Ireland, that would become the largest in the world.
Wedgwood Founds a Ceramics Firm:
Wolff Lays Foundation of Modern Embryology: Careful observations made by German biologist Kaspar Friedrich Wolff established a foundation for the discipline of embryology.
Construction of the Bridgewater Canal:
Voltaire Satirizes Optimism in Candide:
Suppression of the Jesuits:
Siege of Quebec: French troops were finally driven from their North American capital following a daring night attack and a battle on the Plains of Abraham (September 13) in which commanders on both sides were killed.
Battle of Minden: This battle resulted in a victory for combined British, Hanoverian, Hessian, and Prussian troops over the French army, ending the French threat to Hanover.
Cherokee War:
Battle of Quiberon Bay: The British fleet under Edward Hawke destroyed most the French fleet off the southern coast of Brittany, ending French plans to invade Scotland.
Beginning of Selective Livestock Breeding:
Caribbean Slave Rebellions:
Battle of Torgau: Frederick the Great drove a numerically superior Austrian army from a heavily fortified position near the Elbe River, suffering more than thirteen thousand casualties in the process.
Gainsborough Exhibits at the Society of Artists: One of the most famous portrait and landscape painters of his day, Thomas Gainsborough was among those who founded and exhibited at Britain’s first national arts academy, the Society of Artists, later renamed the Royal Academy of Arts.
Rousseau Publishes The New Héloïse
: Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s great epistolary novel Julie: Ou, La Nouvelle Héloïse (1761; Eloise: Or, A Series of Original Letters, 1761; better known as The New Héloïse) heralded the Romantic movement with its shift from pure reason toward a recognition of the vital role of passion and subjective feeling.
Successful Test of an Improved Chronometer: Based on John Harrison’s design of 1736, an improved chronometer is tested on board HMS Deptford on a voyage to Jamaica.
Battle of Panipat: Afghans under Aḥmad Shāh Durrānī crushed the Marathas north of Delhi, virtually destroying their military power and weakening the region as the British began to expand.
The Antiquities of Athens Prompts Architectural Neoclassicism:
France Expels Jesuits: Suspect both on political and commercial grounds, the Jesuits are expelled from France.
Widespread British Naval Victories: British admirals capture Martinique, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Havana, and Manila during the latter stages of the Seven Years’ War, confirming their naval superiority.
Mozart Tours Europe as a Child Prodigy:
First Performance of Gluck’s Orfeo and Euridice:
Bayes Advances Probability Theory:
Famine in Southern Italy:
Peace of Paris:
The North Briton Controversy:
Pontiac’s Resistance:
David Garrick’s European Tour:
Publication of the Freeman’s Journal:
Proclamation of 1763:
Paxton Boys’ Massacres:
Beccaria Publishes On Crimes and Punishment
: Italian economist Cesare Bonesana, marchese di Beccaria’s condemnation of torture and capital punishment becomes a touchstone for modern attitudes toward criminology.
Cao Xueqin (Ts’ao Chan) Dies: Principal author of the greatest Chinese novel of manners, Ts’ao Chan dies, leaving his masterwork, Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber), incomplete. It would be published twenty-nine years later.
Invention of the Spinning Jenny:
Rhode Island College Founded: Established in Warren as a Baptist college, this institution would move to Providence and become Brown University in 1804, all the while maintaining nonsectarian principles.
Royal Palace in Madrid Completed: After twenty-eight years of construction, the royal palace is completed for King Charles III.
British Parliament Passes the Currency Act: The measure forbade the American colonies to print paper money, strengthening royal control.
Voltaire Publishes A Philosophical Dictionary for the Pocket:
First American Medical School Established: The first formal medical school in the English American colonies is founded at the College and Academy of Philadelphia, later the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Mother Goose Melodies Published: Boston printer Thomas Fleet published songs sung by his mother-in-law, who put tunes to Charles Perrault’s verses, including “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” “Georgie Porgie,” “Hickory Dickory Dock,” “Jack and Jill,” and “Little Bo Peep.”
Walpole Publishes The Castle of Otranto
: Usually considered the first Gothic horror novel, Horace Walpole’s work marked an early stage in English Romanticism.
Watt Develops a More Effective Steam Engine:
Expansion of Saudi Rule: ՙAbd al-Azīz ruled as emir during these years, consolidating and expanding control of the peninsula begun under his father Muḥammad ibn Saՙud.
Stamp Act Crisis:
Construction Begins on the Grand Trunk Canal: English engineer James Brindley’s canal connected the Trent and Mersey Rivers, opening a clear route from the Irish Sea to the North Sea.
Haller Investigates the Human Nervous System: Swiss biologist Albrecht von Haller suggests that nerves cause muscles to contract, and that all nerves are connected to the spinal column and brain.
Lorraine Becomes Part of France:
First American Theater Opens in Philadelphia:
Bougainville Circumnavigates the Globe:
American Whalers Venture into the Antarctic: A fleet of fifty American whaling ships plied the Antarctic, foreshadowing widespread expansion of the whaling industry.
Cavendish Reports on Hydrogen: English scientist Henry Cavendish, examining the action of acids on metals, reported to the Royal Society of London on the inflammable properties of hydrogen.
Dickinson Publishes Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania: Having previously been part of the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, Philadelphia lawyer John Dickinson spoke out on the nonimportation agreements.
Mason-Dixon Line Surveyed: Surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon complete a four-year survey to settle a century-old land dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland colonies.
Spallanzani Disproves Spontaneous Generation:
Invention of the Water Frame:
Townshend Crisis:
Anglo-Mysore Wars:
Catherine the Great’s Instruction:
Carolina Regulator Movements:
Polish Civil War: The Confederation of the Bar, an organization of Catholic nobles, gained the support of both France and Turkey in seeking to resist Russian influence, though their failure led to the partition of Poland beginning in 1772.
France Purchases Corsica: This Mediterranean island dominated by Genoa from the thirteenth century is now transferred to France.
Voyages of Captain Cook:
Ottoman Wars with Russia:
Methodist Church Is Established in Colonial America:
Bruce Explores Ethiopia:
Britain’s Royal Academy of Arts Is Founded:
Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England Published: English jurist Sir William Blackstone published one of the most influential legal treatises of all time, influencing both Britain and America into the twentieth century.
Captain Cook Arrives in Tahiti: English Captain James Cook established an observatory in Tahiti and charted the coasts of New Zealand.
Discovery of San Francisco Bay: A scouting party under José Ortega claimed this natural harbor north of Monterey for Spain.
Garrick Plays England’s First Shakespeare Festival: David Garrick, England’s most famous actor, participated in the first annual revival of William Shakespeare’s plays, to be repeated widely throughout the world thereafter.
Great Famine of Bengal: An estimated 10 million Indians died in the world’s worst famine to date.
Pombal Reforms the Inquisition:
Russia Occupies Moldavia: In their campaign against the Ottoman Empire, Russians captured Bucharest.
Futa Toro Jihad: Muslim Fulbe and Tukolor peoples in what is now Senegal established a theocratic Muslim state, foreshadowing the larger jihadist movements of the nineteenth century.
Pontiac Murdered: The Ottawa chieftan Pontiac was murdered at Cahokia by another native American, though there was widespread suspicion that the British were involved.
Battle of Chesme: Russian Baltic fleet defeated the Ottoman fleet off the coast of Anatolia.
Rise of the California Missions:
Siamese-Vietnamese War:
Cugnot Demonstrates His Steam-Powered Road Carriage:
Cook Claims Australia for Britain: Captain James Cook explored the eastern coast of Australia, then known as New Holland, claiming it for the British crown.
Publication of Holbach’s The System of Nature:
Ramsden Invents the Screw-Cutting Lathe: English instrument maker Jesse Ramsden’s early lathe probably influenced Henry Maudslay’s work and had wide implications for the development of industrial machinery.
Cretan Rebellion: Encouraged by Russia, Cretan merchant Ioannis Daskalogiannis rebelled against the Ottoman Empire, which ruthlessly suppressed the rebellion, confirming its power over the mainly Christian population.
Boston Massacre:
Encyclopaedia Britannica First Published in Edinburgh: The first full edition of the work was completed three years after the first volume appeared; though full of inaccuracies, it served as the basis of an ongoing educational institution.
Serfdom Abolished in Savoy: Charles Emmanuel III abolished serfdom as he neared the end of his long reign as king of Sardinia- Piedmont.
West Paints Penn’s Treaty with the Indians
: American painter Benjamin West moved toward a new style of realism in art.
Woulfe Discovers Picric Acid:
Vietnamese Civil Wars:
Partitioning of Poland:
Committees of Correspondence Organized: Patriots Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren organized the first Committee of Correspondence, soon to be copied throughout the American colonies.
Boone Leads Settlers into Kentucky: Daniel Boone led a party of settlers into what would become Kentucky, though they were frightened away by Indian attacks.
Destruction of Antigua, Guatemala: The capital of the Spanish captain-generalcy of Guatemala is destroyed by a powerful earthquake, and a new capital established in Guatemala City.
Dissolution of the Society of Jesus: Pope Clement XIV dissolves the controversial Catholic order of the Jesuits after they were expelled from most European countries.
Goethe Inaugurates the Sturm und Drang Movement:
African American Baptist Church Is Founded:
Cook Crosses the Antarctic Circle: The first European explorer to cross the Antarctic Circle, Captain James Cook, demonstrates the legendary fallacy of a large southern continent.
Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer First Performed: English playwright Oliver Goldsmith’s play is first performed at London’s Theatre Royal in Covent Garden.
Pugachev’s Revolt:
Boston Tea Party:
Fort Harrod Established in Kentucky Territory: James Harrod established the first English settlement west of the Alleghenies after sailing down the Ohio River and up the Kentucky River.
Hansard Begins Reporting Parliamentary Debates:
Lee Introduces Shakerism in New York: An English mystic with a Quaker background, Ann Lee preached celibacy and intense spiritual piety in developing a new religious community northeast of Albany, New York.
Lord Dunmore’s War:
Quebec Act:
Priestley Discovers Oxygen:
Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji:
First Continental Congress:
First Maratha War:
Cook Rewarded for Conquering Scurvy: Though research into the treatment for scurvy had been conducted for decades, the Royal Society awarded English Captain James Cook its Copley Medal for the practical achievement of having sailed with 118 men for more than three years without losing a single man to the disease.
Spanish-Algerine War:
Joseph II’s Reforms:
Aleppo Revolts: Ongoing civil conflict and periodic revolts led by the Janissaries demonstrated the growing weakness of central Ottoman control.
Boone Establishes the Wilderness Road: Departing in the employ of the Transylvania Company, Daniel Boone and a party of thirty North Carolina woodsmen began to clear a road that would be used by tens of thousands of pioneers moving into western Tennessee and Kentucky.
Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery Is Founded:
Battle of Lexington and Concord:
American Revolutionary War:
Flour War:
Second Continental Congress:
Battle of Bunker Hill: In a battle with significant casualties, American troops were driven from Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill outside Boston in the early days of the American Revolutionary War.
Battle of Quebec: A small American force hoped to bring Canadian colonies into opposition against Britain in the American Revolutionary War, but failed.
Development of the Breech-Loading Rifle: British army officer Patrick Ferguson invented the first breech-loading rifle to be adopted by the British army.
Foundation of the Viceroyalty of La Plata:
Potemkin Builds the Russian Black Sea Fleet: Distinguished Russian admiral and court favorite Grigori Aleksandovich Potemkin built Russia’s first modern Black Sea fleet.
Verses to “Rock of Ages” Published: London editor Augustus Toplady published verses to the hymn “Rock of Ages” in The Gospel Magazine.
Paine Publishes Common Sense:
Adam Smith Publishes The Wealth of Nations:
The Wealth of Nations marked the culmination of Enlightenment political economy and the advent of modern economics. It became one of the most influential works on capitalism, being used variously as a practical guide, a theoretical description, a defense, and a critique of industrialization and the market.
Founding of Bolshoi Theatre Company:
France Supports the American Revolution:
Indian Delegation Meets with Congress:
New Jersey Women Gain the Vote:
Declaration of Independence:
Battle of Long Island: British troops under Howe captured southern Long Island, eventually forcing Washington to abandon New York during the early phase of the American Revolutionary War.
First Test of a Submarine in Warfare:
Battle of White Plains: After forcing Washington from Long Island, the British under Howe drive him to winter retreat in Pennsylvania, further demoralizing American troops during the American Revolutionary War.
Phi Beta Kappa Society Founded: The most distinguished honorary scholarly society in America was established at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Battle of Trenton: After a string of defeats in the summer and fall, George Washington recrossed the Delaware River and successfully attacked an outpost of Hessian troops in the pay of the British, lifting morale during the American Revolutionary War.
National Library Founded in Prague: A national library was established in Prague, incorporating the Old Carolinum Library, St. Clementinum College Library, the New Carolinum Library, and a number of private collections.
Coulomb’s Research in Torsion: French engineer Charles Coulomb invented the torsion balance and precisely measured electric forces of attraction and repulsion between charged bodies as he explored engineering challenges for the French government.
France’s First Daily Newspaper Appears:
Battle of Princeton: Following success at Trenton, New Jersey, George Washington attacked the British encampment at Princeton, leading to a general British withdrawal from New Jersey for the winter.
Northeast States Abolish Slavery:
Battle of Oriskany Creek:
Battle of Brandywine: American troops under Washington were unable to stop British forces from advancing on the American capital of Philadelphia, which was taken on September 26.
Battles of Saratoga:
Construction of the First Iron Bridge:
Cook Explores the North Pacific: English explorer Captain James Cook explored the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands and the northwest Pacific Coast in America, laying British claims to these regions.
Franco-American Treaties:
Battle of Monmouth: As British troops retreated in an effort to strengthen their position in the West Indies, George Washington was unable to win a decisive victory, thus enabling the British withdrawal to continue.
War of the Bavarian Succession begins: Prussia’s Frederick the Great invaded Bohemia in response to a potential augmentation of Austrian influence in the region.
Opening of Milan’s La Scala:
City of Louisville Established: Laid out by Virginia surveyor George Rogers Clark, the town that would become Lousville, Kentucky, named in honor of French king Louis XVI.
Crompton Invents the Spinning Mule:
Ingenhousz Discovers Photosynthesis:
Cook Killed in the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands: English explorer Captain James Cook is killed by natives on the island of Hawaii.
Siege of Gibraltar:
Siege of Savannah: A combined American and French force failed to retake Savannah, Georgia, from British and Loyalist forces during the American Revolutionary War.
Bonhomme Richard Captures Royal Navy’s Serapes: In the American revolutionary naval battle in which he uttered the famous phrase, “I have not yet begun to fight!” Captain John Paul Jones of the American navy captured the Serapes, transferring his men to it when their own ship sinks two days later.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Founded in Boston: Proposed by John Adams as a meeting place for the finest minds of each generation, the academy was chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature. It would hold its meeting in the Philosophy Chamber at Harvard College.
Education Reform in Spain: Spain’s education system was reorganized to allow teaching only by members of the teaching guild. The reforms demonstrated the government’s growing interest in education.
Rebellion of Tupac Amaru II:
Governorship of Süleyman Paşa: His rule marked the peak of Mamlūk power in Baghdad.
Siege of Charleston: Heartened by Loyalist support in the American South, British troops under Lieutenant General Henry Clinton force the surrender of Charleston, North Carolina, taking fifty-four hundred prisoners and four hundred guns.
Gordon Riots:
Battle of Camden: An American army seeking to reverse the damage following the loss of Charleston, North Carolina, in May, was routed, enhancing British strength in the southern colonies.
Battle of King’s Mountain: American troops killed or captured an entire column of Loyalist troops supporting Lord Cornwallis’s invasion of North Carolina, thus forcing its postponement.
Great Caribbean Hurricane:
Kant Publishes Critique of Pure Reason:
Los Angeles Established: The city was established by Spanish settlers and first called El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.
Muslim Revolt Suppressed in China: Gao Cong led imperial troops to put down a massive rebellion in Gansu Province.
Cavendish Discovers the Composition of Water:
Battle of Cowpens: An American victory resulted when British troops attempted to destroy an American force of about one thousand that had moved into South Carolina.
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation:
Herschel Discovers Uranus: English astronomer William Herschel identified the first planet to be discovered in more than three thousand years.
Joseph II Issues the Edict of Tolerance: After closing more than seven hundred monasteries, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II prescribes new forms of worship and reorganizes the administration of monasteries, with fewer ties to Rome.
Cornwallis Surrenders at Yorktown:
Aḥmad ibn Khalīfa Establishes al-Khalīfa Dynasty in Bahrain: Aḥmad ibn Khalīfa of the Banū ՙUtūb Arabs established a dynasty that ruled into the twentieth century.
Newgate Prison Opens in London: Replacing a prison destroyed in the Gordon Riots of 1780, Newgate would become synonymous with prison austerity.
Publication of Rousseau’s Confessions:
Wars of Hawaiian Unification:
Chakri Dynasty Founded in Siam: Rama I became the first ruler of a dynasty that would rule Siam (Thailand) and parts of Burma and Cambodia for almost two hundred years. He ruled until 1809.
Battle of the Saints: British forces under Rodney defeat French fleet under de Grasse in the strait between Guadeloupe and Dominica, restoring British control in the Windward and Leeward Islands.
Loyalists Migrate to Nova Scotia:
Russia Annexes the Crimean Peninsula: Russia’s conquest marked the first loss of Muslim territory by the Ottoman Empire.
Skaptur Volcano Erupts in Iceland: In the eruption, 20 percent of the population was killed and the Sun could be seen only when 12 degrees above the horizon.
Cort Improves Iron Processing:
Treaty of Paris:
First Manned Balloon Flight:
First American Ship Docks at Canton: Trading ginseng for tea and silks, American investors were richly rewarded and anticipated further development of the China trade.
Franklin Suggests Daylight Savings Time: American scientist, inventor, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin urged France to move clocks ahead one hour in spring in order to maximize hours of daylight, though French farmers resisted.
Legendre Introduces Polynomials:
Herder Publishes His Philosophy of History:
First Performance of The Marriage of Figaro:
British Parliament Passes the India Act: Bringing the East India Company under tighter government control, the British government prohibited interference in local politics and made company directors responsible to a Crown board.
Hall’s Masonic Lodge Is Chartered:
Fort Stanwix Treaty:
Construction of El Prado Museum Begins:
First State Universities Are Established:
Rites Controversy:
Hutton Proposes the Geological Theory of Uniformitarianism:
First Cross-Channel Flight:
Cartwright Patents the Steam-Powered Loom:
Ordinance of 1785:
Discovery of the Mayan Ruins at Palenque:
Discovery of the Pribilof Islands: Russian captain Gerasim Pribilof discovered islands in the Bering Sea, home to an estimate 5 million fur seals.
Ottoman Empire Regains Control of Egypt: After a long period of Mamlūk control in Egypt, the Ottoman government drove the Mamlūks into upper Egypt but lost authority again by 1791.
Lavoisier Devises the Modern System of Chemical Nomenclature:
Tenmei Famine:
Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty:
Jones Postulates a Proto-Indo-European Language:
David Paints The Death of Socrates:
Herschel Begins Building His Reflecting Telescope:
Ottoman War with Russia and Austria: Hoping the regain the Crimea, the Ottomans failed, lost territory in Georgia, and were forced to accept the Dniester River as the boundary between the Ottomans and the Russian Empire.
Free African Society Is Founded:
Northwest Ordinance:
U.S. Constitution Is Adopted:
Publication of The Federalist:
Russo-Swedish Wars:
The Times Begins Publication in London: Merchant John Walter established England’s journal of record.
Britain Establishes Penal Colony in Australia:
Meikle Demonstrates His Drum Thresher:
Leblanc Develops Soda Production:
Proust Heads Spanish Royal Laboratory: French chemist Joseph-Louis Proust moved to Madrid to head the Royal Laboratory of Charles IV.
Washington’s Inauguration:
Louis XVI Calls the Estates-General:
French Revolution: The calling together of the Estates-General on May 5, 1789, set in motion an expanding chain of radical reforms that shattered the ancien régime in France. Many reforms were kept, but the new constitution of 1795 was decidedly reactionary, ending the most radical phase of the upheaval.
Oath of the Tennis Court:
Fall of the Bastille:
Episcopal Church Is Established:
Judiciary Act:
France Adopts the Guillotine:
First U.S. Political Parties:
Second Great Awakening:
Burke Lays the Foundations of Modern Conservatism:
First Steam Rolling Mill:
Hamilton’s Report on Public Credit:
Nootka Sound Convention:
Little Turtle’s War:
Ball Bearings Patented: English inventor Philip Vaughan, working on carriage axles, obtained the first patent on modern ball bearings.
Brandenburg Gate Completed in Berlin: Prussian architect Carl Gotthard Langhaus designed the entrance gate to stand for peace, constructing it nearly a mile from the emperor’s palace.
Canada’s Constitutional Act:
Thomas Paine Publishes Rights of Man:
Haitian Independence:
U.S. Bill of Rights Is Ratified:
U.S. Mint Begins Decimal Coinage: The United States begins regular decimal coinage of gold, silver, and copper at a mint in Philadelphia.
Wollstonecraft Publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman:
Fichte Advocates Free Speech:
The Northern Star Calls for Irish Independence:
Denmark Abolishes the Slave Trade:
Early Wars of the French Revolution:
Battle of Valmy:
Christian Missionary Societies Are Founded:
Battle of Jemappes: In the early days of the French Revolutionary Wars, forty thousand French recruits drive Austrian forces from strong positions, reinforcing nationalist morale.
Whitney Invents the Cotton Gin:
Macartney Mission to China:
Execution of Louis XVI:
First Fugitive Slave Law:
War in the Vendée:
Mackenzie Reaches the Arctic Ocean:
Siege of Toulon: French military under Jacques Dugommier, with Napoleon Bonaparte serving as artillery adviser, forced British, Spanish, and Royalist troops to evacuate, recapturing half of the French fleet that had been taken earlier.
Proust Establishes the Law of Definite Proportions:
Allgemeines Landrecht Recodifies Prussian Law:
Whiskey Rebellion:
Fall of Robespierre:
Battle of Fallen Timbers:
Jay’s Treaty:
Invention of the Flax Spinner:
Murray Develops a Modern English Grammar Book:
Wahabis Conquer Al-Hasa on the Persian Gulf: Continuing their conquest of central and eastern Arabia, the Wahabis positioned themselves to challenge ruling dynasties for control of the peninsula.
Paganini’s Early Violin Performances:
Speenhamland System:
Second Maroon War:
Pinckney’s Treaty:
Laplace Articulates His Nebular Hypothesis:
Jenner Develops Smallpox Vaccination:
Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns:
Battle of Lodi: In pursuit of Austrian troops, Napoleon forced the Austrian rear guard to give up control of a bridge across the Adda River, thus paving the way for the conquest of Milan five days later.
Washington’s Farewell Address:
Catherine II’s Art Collection Is Installed at the Hermitage:
Wollaston Begins His Work on Metallurgy:
Battle of Rivoli: Austrian armies attempting to recover their losses in northern Italy were defeated by Napoleon. leading to the invasion of Austria in March.
XYZ Affair:
Battle of Camperdown: An English fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan intercepted a Dutch fleet seeking to join the French in an attack on Ireland, capturing eight ships and ending hopes of a major Irish landing.
Invention of Lithography:
Malthus Arouses Controversy with His Population Theory:
Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign:
Irish Rebellion:
Alien and Sedition Acts:
Battle of the Pyramids: Napoleon’s defeat of the Mamlūk army enabled him to occupy Cairo, but his plans for strategic control were upset by British control of the sea, secured in the Battle of the Nile on August 1-2.
Battle of the Nile:
Code of Handsome Lake:
Discovery of the Earliest Anesthetics:
Founding of the Royal Institution of London: Scientist Benjamin Thompson, who first proposed that heat was a form of motion, drew up a proposal for the founding of a new scientific institution and helped run it in its early years.
Park Publishes Travels in the Interior of Africa: Following nineteen months of travel, Scottish explorer Mungo Park published his account to great acclaim before embarking on a second expedition in 1805.
Humboldt and Bonpland’s Expedition:
Discovery of the Rosetta Stone:
Battle of Aboukir: Napoleon routed a Turkish army brought from Rhodes by the British, enabling him to return to France to gain direct political power.
Napoleon Rises to Power in France:
Volta Invents the Battery:
Convention of El Arish: After returning to France, Napoleon concluded the Egyptian campaigns by seeking to withdraw French troops.
Battle of Marengo: French troops under General Louis-Charles-Antoine Desaix de Veygoux and Napoleon routed an Austrian force under General Michael Friedrich von Melas, thus ending the Italian campaign.
Act of Union Forms the United Kingdom:
Battle of Hohenlinden: Following victory in Italy, French forces under General Jean Victor Moreau marched into Germany, decisively defeating the Austrians, who soon leave the war.