18th century: c. 1700 - 1800 - Oxford Reference

Sign in Get help with access Username Password Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution Sign in with your library card Browse Other Timelines • WORLD HISTORY ◦ First 10 billion years ◦ Evolution ◦ Prehistory ◦ Neolithic ◦ 3100-1000 BCE ◦ 1000-600 BCE ◦ 6th century BCE ◦ 5th century BCE ◦ 4th century BCE ◦ 3rd century BCE ◦ 2nd century BCE ◦ 1st century BCE ◦ 1st century CE ◦ 2nd century ◦ 3rd century ◦ 4th century ◦ 5th century ◦ 6th century ◦ 7th century ◦ 8th century ◦ 9th century ◦ 10th century ◦ 11th century ◦ 12th century ◦ 13th century ◦ 14th century ◦ 15th century ◦ 16th century ◦ 17th century ◦ 18th century ◦ 19th century ◦ 20th century ▪ 1900s ▪ 1910s ▪ 1920s ▪ 1930s ▪ 1940s ▪ 1950s ▪ 1960s ▪ 1970s ▪ 1980s ▪ 1990s ◦ 21st century • AREAS ◦ Africa ▪ Central Africa ▪ East Africa • Ethiopia ▪ North Africa • Egypt ◦ Alexandria ▪ South Africa • South Africa (republic) • Zimbabwe ▪ West Africa ◦ Asia ▪ Central Asia • Afghanistan • Iran (Persia) ▪ East Asia • China • Japan • Korea ▪ South Asia • India (the subcontinent) • India (republic) • Pakistan • Sri Lanka ▪ Southeast Asia • Vietnam ▪ West Asia • Iraq ◦ Mesopotamia ◦ Assyria and Babylon • Lebanon and Syria ◦ The Phoenicians • Palestine and Israel ◦ Jerusalem • Turkey ◦ Turks ◦ Australia and Oceania ▪ Australia ▪ New Zealand ▪ Pacific Islands ◦ Europe ▪ Austria ▪ Belgium ▪ Britain • British architecture • British art • British painting • Roman Britain • Britain 1066-1500 • Britain 1500-1750 • Britain 1750-1900 • Great Britain - from 1707 • United Kingdom - from 1801 • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales • British Isles ▪ Czech Republic • Bohemia ▪ Denmark ▪ Finland ▪ Norway ▪ France • French architecture • French art • French literature • French painting ▪ Germany • German literature ▪ Greece • Ancient Athens • Greek literature • Greek science ▪ Hungary ▪ Ireland ▪ Italy • Italian architecture • Italian art • Italian literature • Italian painting • Italian Renaissance • Florence • Rome • Sicily • Venice ▪ Netherlands ▪ Poland ▪ Portugal ▪ Russia ▪ Spain ▪ Sweden ▪ Switzerland ◦ Latin America ▪ Argentina ▪ Brazil ▪ Caribbean ▪ Central America • Mesoamerican civilization ▪ Chile ▪ Cuba ▪ Mexico ▪ Peru • Civilizations of Peru • Incas ▪ South America • Andean Civilizations ◦ North America ▪ American Indians ▪ Canada ▪ United States • American architecture • American art • American literature • American painting • British colonial America • THEMES ◦ Arts ▪ Architecture • American architecture • British architecture • French architecture • Italian architecture ▪ Decorative arts ▪ Painting • American painting • British painting • Flemish and Dutch painting • French painting • Italian painting ▪ Photography ▪ Prints ▪ Sculpture ◦ Performing arts ▪ Dance ▪ Film ▪ Music ▪ Opera ▪ Theatre ◦ Literature ▪ American literature ▪ English literature ▪ Literature in English ▪ French literature ▪ German literature ▪ Greek literature ▪ Italian literature ▪ Latin literature ▪ Drama ▪ Fiction ▪ Philosophy ▪ Poetry ◦ Politics ▪ Communism ▪ Conquest and colonization ▪ Democracy and dissent ▪ Dynasties and royalty ▪ Persecution and repression ▪ Protest and rebellion ▪ Terrorism and assassination ◦ Religion ▪ Christianity • Catholic and orthodox • Monasticism • Papacy • Reformation ▪ Islam • Caliphs ▪ Judaism ◦ Science ▪ Astronomy and space ▪ Chemistry ▪ Life sciences ▪ Medicine ▪ Physics ◦ Society ▪ Commerce and industry ▪ Exploration ▪ Migration • Celts ▪ Slavery ▪ Social and domestic ▪ Sports and games ▪ Travel and transport • Canals ◦ Technology ▪ Communication ▪ Engineering ▪ Inventions and Discoveries • Printing • Steam ◦ Empires ▪ Austrian Empire • Habsburgs ▪ British empire ▪ Byzantine empire ▪ Dutch empire ▪ European empires from 1415 ▪ European empires in Africa ▪ French empire ▪ German empire ▪ Holy Roman empire ▪ Mughal empire ▪ Muslim empires ▪ Ottoman empire ▪ Portuguese empire ▪ Roman empire ▪ Spanish empire ◦ Rulers and politicians ▪ British monarchs - from 1066 ▪ British prime ministers - from 1830 ▪ US presidents ◦ Wars and Revolutions ▪ American civil war ▪ American Revolution ▪ American Revolutionary War ▪ Crimean War ▪ Crusades ▪ English Civil War ▪ French and Indian War ▪ French Revolution ▪ French Revolutionary Wars ▪ Greco-Persian Wars ▪ Hundred Years' War ▪ Napoleonic Wars ▪ Peloponnesian Wars ▪ Punic Wars ◦ Wars since 1900 ▪ First World War ▪ Second World War ▪ Cold war ◦ War ▪ Battles ▪ Weapons ◦ Baroque ◦ Edwardian era ◦ Falkland Islands ◦ Gothic ◦ Napoleonic era ◦ Renaissance ◦ Seven Wonders of the World ◦ Victorian era

WORLD HISTORY

◦ First 10 billion years
◦ Evolution
◦ Prehistory
◦ Neolithic
◦ 3100-1000 BCE
◦ 1000-600 BCE
◦ 6th century BCE
◦ 5th century BCE
◦ 4th century BCE
◦ 3rd century BCE
◦ 2nd century BCE
◦ 1st century BCE
◦ 1st century CE
◦ 2nd century
◦ 3rd century
◦ 4th century
◦ 5th century
◦ 6th century
◦ 7th century
◦ 8th century
◦ 9th century
◦ 10th century
◦ 11th century
◦ 12th century
◦ 13th century
◦ 14th century
◦ 15th century
◦ 16th century
◦ 17th century
◦ 18th century
◦ 19th century
◦ 20th century

▪ 1900s
▪ 1910s
▪ 1920s
▪ 1930s
▪ 1940s
▪ 1950s
▪ 1960s
▪ 1970s
▪ 1980s
▪ 1990s

◦ 21st century

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AREAS

◦ Africa

▪ Central Africa
▪ East Africa

• Ethiopia

▪ North Africa

• Egypt

◦ Alexandria

▪ South Africa

• South Africa (republic)
• Zimbabwe

▪ West Africa

◦ Asia

▪ Central Asia

• Afghanistan
• Iran (Persia)

▪ East Asia

• China
• Japan
• Korea

▪ South Asia

• India (the subcontinent)
• India (republic)
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka

▪ Southeast Asia

• Vietnam

▪ West Asia

• Iraq

◦ Mesopotamia
◦ Assyria and Babylon

• Lebanon and Syria

◦ The Phoenicians

• Palestine and Israel

◦ Jerusalem

• Turkey

◦ Turks

◦ Australia and Oceania

▪ Australia
▪ New Zealand
▪ Pacific Islands

◦ Europe

▪ Austria
▪ Belgium
▪ Britain

• British architecture
• British art
• British painting
• Roman Britain
• Britain 1066-1500
• Britain 1500-1750
• Britain 1750-1900
• Great Britain - from 1707
• United Kingdom - from 1801
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales
• British Isles

▪ Czech Republic

• Bohemia

▪ Denmark
▪ Finland
▪ Norway
▪ France

• French architecture
• French art
• French literature
• French painting

▪ Germany

• German literature

▪ Greece

• Ancient Athens
• Greek literature
• Greek science

▪ Hungary
▪ Ireland
▪ Italy

• Italian architecture
• Italian art
• Italian literature
• Italian painting
• Italian Renaissance
• Florence
• Rome
• Sicily
• Venice

▪ Netherlands
▪ Poland
▪ Portugal
▪ Russia
▪ Spain
▪ Sweden
▪ Switzerland

◦ Latin America

▪ Argentina
▪ Brazil
▪ Caribbean
▪ Central America

• Mesoamerican civilization

▪ Chile
▪ Cuba
▪ Mexico
▪ Peru

• Civilizations of Peru
• Incas

▪ South America

• Andean Civilizations

◦ North America

▪ American Indians
▪ Canada
▪ United States

• American architecture
• American art
• American literature
• American painting
• British colonial America

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THEMES

◦ Arts

▪ Architecture

• American architecture
• British architecture
• French architecture
• Italian architecture

▪ Decorative arts
▪ Painting

• American painting
• British painting
• Flemish and Dutch painting
• French painting
• Italian painting

▪ Photography
▪ Prints
▪ Sculpture

◦ Performing arts

▪ Dance
▪ Film
▪ Music
▪ Opera
▪ Theatre

◦ Literature

▪ American literature
▪ English literature
▪ Literature in English
▪ French literature
▪ German literature
▪ Greek literature
▪ Italian literature
▪ Latin literature
▪ Drama
▪ Fiction
▪ Philosophy
▪ Poetry

◦ Politics

▪ Communism
▪ Conquest and colonization
▪ Democracy and dissent
▪ Dynasties and royalty
▪ Persecution and repression
▪ Protest and rebellion
▪ Terrorism and assassination

◦ Religion

▪ Christianity

• Catholic and orthodox
• Monasticism
• Papacy
• Reformation

▪ Islam

• Caliphs

▪ Judaism

◦ Science

▪ Astronomy and space
▪ Chemistry
▪ Life sciences
▪ Medicine
▪ Physics

◦ Society

▪ Commerce and industry
▪ Exploration
▪ Migration

• Celts

▪ Slavery
▪ Social and domestic
▪ Sports and games
▪ Travel and transport

• Canals

◦ Technology

▪ Communication
▪ Engineering
▪ Inventions and Discoveries

• Printing
• Steam

◦ Empires

▪ Austrian Empire

• Habsburgs

▪ British empire
▪ Byzantine empire
▪ Dutch empire
▪ European empires from 1415
▪ European empires in Africa
▪ French empire
▪ German empire
▪ Holy Roman empire
▪ Mughal empire
▪ Muslim empires
▪ Ottoman empire
▪ Portuguese empire
▪ Roman empire
▪ Spanish empire

◦ Rulers and politicians

▪ British monarchs - from 1066
▪ British prime ministers - from 1830
▪ US presidents

◦ Wars and Revolutions

▪ American civil war
▪ American Revolution
▪ American Revolutionary War
▪ Crimean War
▪ Crusades
▪ English Civil War
▪ French and Indian War
▪ French Revolution
▪ French Revolutionary Wars
▪ Greco-Persian Wars
▪ Hundred Years' War
▪ Napoleonic Wars
▪ Peloponnesian Wars
▪ Punic Wars

◦ Wars since 1900

▪ First World War
▪ Second World War
▪ Cold war

◦ War

▪ Battles
▪ Weapons

◦ Baroque
◦ Edwardian era
◦ Falkland Islands
◦ Gothic
◦ Napoleonic era
◦ Renaissance
◦ Seven Wonders of the World
◦ Victorian era

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18th century$

Years: c. 1700 - 1800	Subject: History, Early Modern History (1500 to 1700)
Publisher: HistoryWorld	Online Publication Date: 2012
Current online version: 2012	eISBN: 9780191735615

Jump to a year: BCE CE

Year	Event
c. 1700	Holland and England are now producing the magnificent ocean-going merchant vessels known as East Indiamen Charles II, the childless king of Spain. leaves all his territories to Philip of Anjou, a grandson of the French king, Louis XIV Poland, Russia and Denmark attack Sweden, beginning the 21-year Northern War Peter the Great sets up numerous schools and commercial enterprises to enable Russia to compete in Europe Boston merchant Samuel Sewall publishes The Selling of Joseph, a very early anti-slavery tract In the years after the battle of the Boyne, Catholic ownership of land in Ireland is reduced to just 14% of the total
1701	The Act of Settlement declares that no Catholic may inherit the English crown The War of the Spanish Succession breaks out between French and Austrian claimants to the Spanish throne
1702	The Augustan Age begins in English literature, claiming comparison with the equivalent flowering under Augustus Caesar On the death of her brother-in-law, William III, Anne becomes queen of England and Scotland German chemist Georg Stahl coins the name phlogiston for the substance believed to be released in the process of burning
1703	Peter the Great falls for a Lithuanian serf, Catherine, who becomes his life-long companion Peter the Great founds the port and city of St Petersburg, giving Russia access to the Baltic
1704	The tenth Sikh guru, Gobind Rai, names as his successor the sacred book known as the Granth The duke of Marlborough wins a major victory over the French at Blenheim, capturing twenty-four battalions and four regiments
1707	The death of Aurangzeb introduces the long period of decline of the Mughal empire The Act of Union merges England and Scotland as 'one kingdom by the name of Great Britain', a century after the union of the crowns
1708	The secret of true porcelain is at last discovered in the west, at Dresden, by Johann Friedrich Böttger
1709	The Swedish king Charles XII suffers his first major defeat in a brilliant career, when he faces the Russians at Poltava The Tatler launches a new style of journalism in Britain's coffee houses, followed two years later by the Spectator Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, is discovered on a Pacific island where he has survived alone for nearly five years Abraham Darby at Coalbrookdale discovers the use of coke in the smelting of pig iron In a friendly keyboard contest in Rome between Handel and Domenico Scarlatti, the result is a draw – Handel being the winner on the organ and Scarlatti on the harpsichord
c. 1710	Thomas Newcomen creates a piston steam engine, with the steam condensed in the cylinder by a jet of cold water Christopher Wren's new domed St Paul's cathedral is completed in London Machines are thrown out of the window of a Spitalfields factory, in an early protest against industrialization The Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian, ancestors of all thoroughbred racehorses, are imported into England 25-year-old George Berkeley attacks Locke in his Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
1711	Handel's success in London with his opera Rinaldo prompts him to settle in Britain
1712	Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock introduces a delicate vein of mock-heroic in English poetry The tsar formally marries Catherine, his mistress for nearly ten years (though they may have married secretly five years earlier) The violinist Archangelo Corelli composes his Christmas Concerto, the best known of his influential group of twelve Concerti Grossi
1713	The emperor Charles VI issues a Pragmatic Sanction, declaring that the remaining Habsburg empire can be inherited through the female line The treaties signed in Utrecht bring to an end the War of the Spanish Succession
1714	In the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish Netherlands are transferred to Austria Strasbourg and Alsace are ceded to Louis XIV and become part of France Cosmas Damian Asam begins work on a highly theatrical creation, the Benedictine Abbey of Weltenburg (1714-1735), joined by his younger brother Egid Quirin from 1721 Fahrenheit perfects the mercury thermometer and decides on a 180-degree interval between the freezing and boiling points of water On the death of Queen Anne, the Act of Settlement delivers the British crown to the elector of Hanover, as George I The British government offers a massive £20,000 prize for a chronometer capable of keeping accurate time at sea In his Monadology Leibniz describes a universe consisting of forceful interactive parts that he calls 'monads'
1715	Louis XIV dies after seventy-two years on the throne A Jacobite uprising in Scotland on behalf of the Old Pretender ends in fiasco Colen Campbell creates interest in the Palladian style in Britain with the publication of his Vitruvius Britannicus
1716	The Habsburg emperor Charles VI has a son, but the child dies within the year
1717	Scottish entrepreneur John Law establishes the Louisiana Company to develop the Mississippi valley for France The earl of Burlington employs Colen Campbell to remodel his Piccadilly house in the Palladian style Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, observing the Turkish practice of inoculation against smallpox, submits her infant son to the treatment
1718	The tsarevitch Alexis, heir to Peter the Great, dies from violence inflicted on him in prison
1719	Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, with its detailed realism, can be seen as the first English novel
c. 1720	The lighter rococo style, beginning in France, becomes an extension of the baroque The symphony begins to develop as a musical form, deriving from the overtures of operas The postchaise, introduced in France, provides the first chance of reasonably comfortable travel by land Like the symphony, the string quartet develops during the eighteenth century, moving from simple beginnings to great complexity Johann Sebastian Bach compiles the Little Keyboard Book a set of pieces to teach his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Shares in the South Sea Company rise rapidly and collapse within the year, in the so-called South Sea Bubble Two political parties emerge in Sweden's parliament and become known as the Hats and the Caps Shares in John Law's Louisiana Company rise spectacularly and then collapse, in what becomes known as the Mississippi Bubble The Dalai Lama in Lhasa accepts Chinese imperial protection, which lasts until 1911 Young noblemen, particularly from Britain, visit Italy on the Grand Tour Canaletto begins to specialize in views of the Venetian canals, finding his main customers among the British
1721	In the treaty of Nystad Sweden cedes Estonia to Russia together with most of Latvia (the rest of which soon follows) Robert Walpole becomes Britain's chief minister and holds the post for an unrivalled span of twenty-one years With the transfer of Swedish territory on the Baltic coast, Russia becomes the dominant power in the region In a ceremony in St Petersburg's cathedral Peter the Great has himself proclaimed 'emperor of all Russia' Jean-Antoine Watteau paints the most splendid shop sign in history, for his friend Gersaint Johann Sebastian Bach writes the six Brandenburg Concertos for his employer at the court of Köthen
1722	The Iroquois League becomes known as the Six Nations, after the Tuscarora join the group Easter Island is reached by the Dutch, beginning a spate of European discovery in the islands of the Pacific J.S. Bach publishes The Well-Tempered Clavier, a collection of 24 Preludes and Fugues 16-year-old Benjamin Franklin contributes the 'Dogood Papers', essays on moral topics, to a Boston journal, The New England Courant
1723	The Austrian emperor, Charles VI, agrees that Hungary shall be ruled as a separate kingdom within his empire
1724	General Wade, commander-in-chief of North Britain, begins an impressive programme of road construction in the Scottish Highlands
1725	The Russian tsar Peter the Great dies and is succeeded by his wife as the empress Catherine I Vivaldi publishes the set of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons
1726	Jonathan Swift sends his hero on a series of bitterly satirical travels in Gulliver's Travels
c. 1727	J.S. Bach conducts the first performance of his St Matthew Passion in the St Thomas's church in Leipzig On the death of his father, George I, George II becomes king of Great Britain Handel composes Zadok the Priest for the crowning of George II, and it has been sung at every subsequent British coronation
1728	The Danish explorer Vitus Bering sails into Arctic seas through the strait between Asia and America known now by his name
1729	Benjamin Franklin prints, publishes and largely writes the weekly Pennsylvania Gazette
1730	The Italian poet Metastasio produces, in Vienna, opera libretti which are used by almost every composer of the day John and Charles Wesley form a Holy Club at Oxford which becomes the cradle of Methodism
1731	The Flemish-born sculptor Michael Rysbrack creates a monument to Newton in Westminster Abbey English maker of telescopes John Hadley designs the instrument which evolves into the standard sextant used at sea Benjamin Franklin sets up a subscription library, the Library Company of Philadelphia
1732	Georgia is granted to a group of British philanthropists, to give a new start in life to debtors With the performance of Esther Handel taps a rich new vein, the English oratorio
1733	An alliance between the French and Spanish Bourbons is the first of what become known as the Family Compacts Voltaire publishes a series of Philosophical Letters comparing the French unfavourably with England John Kay, working in the Lancashire woollen industry, patents the flying shuttle to speed up weaving Benjamin Franklin establishes the most successful of America's almanacs, publishing it annually until 1758
c. 1735	A revivalist movement in America, led by Jonathan Edwards, becomes known as the Great Awakening The Asam brothers build at their own expense the tiny and brilliant baroque church of St John Nepomuk, attached to their own house in Munich Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus publishes a 'system of nature', capable of classifying all living things John Peter Zenger, editor of the Weekly Journal, is acquitted of libelling the governor of New York on the grounds that what he published was true Swedish chemist Georg Brandt discovers a new metallic element, which he names cobalt
1736	The leader of a gang of tribal brigands seizes the Persian throne and takes the name Nadir Shah
1737	Florence loses her independence when the last Medici duke of Tuscany dies
1738	In the Treaty of Vienna, France accepts the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI – the last of the European powers to do so
1739	Britain declares war on Spain, partly in a mood of indignation over Captain Jenkins' ear The Persian ruler Nadir Shah enters Delhi and removes much of the accumulated treasure of the Mughal empire David Hume publishes his Treatise of Human Nature, in which he applies to the human mind the principles of experimental science
1740	Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador become the Spanish viceroyalty of New Granada, with Bogota as the capital Frederick II, inheriting the throne in Prussia, establishes a cultured and musical court A charismatic leader, Baal Shem Tov, develops Hasidism in Poland as an influential revivalist movement within Judaism Italian dramatist Carlo Goldoni makes a success of plays in the ancient commedia dell'arte tradition Jack Broughton, champion of England, opens an academy to teach 'the mystery of boxing, that wholly British art' The Habsburg emperor Charles VI dies and is succeeded by his elder daughter, the 23-year-old Maria Theresa Frederick II, the king of Prussia, invades the neighbouring Habsburg province of Silesia, launching the War of the Austrian Succession
1741	The American Magazine and the General Magazine both begin a short-lived existence J.S. Bach publishes his set of Goldberg Variations, supposedly written for performance by the young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg Frederick's Prussian army defeats the Austrians at Mollwitz, securing his hold on most of Silesia American revivalism is inflamed by Jonathan Edwards' vivid sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God Venice's new theatre, the Teatro Novissimo, has machinery which can change the scenes in the blink of an eye French and Bavarian armies join the war against Austria, marching through upper Austria into Bohemia Spain, now an ally of France, joins in the war against Austria Britain, already fighting Spain (in the War of Jenkin's Ear), is drawn into the wider conflict as an ally of Austria French and Bavarian forces enter Prague, one of the most important cities in the Austrian empire
1742	An Austrian army captures the Bavarian capital city, Munich Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius proposes 100 degrees between the freezing and boiling points of water Edmond Hoyle publishes the definitive rules of whist
1743	George II leads a British army to victory over the French at Dettingen Benjamin Franklin drafts in Philadelphia the founding document for the American Philosophical Society
1744	Muhammad ibn Saud begins the expansion of power that will lead eventually to the establishment of Saudi Arabia France formally declares war on Britain half way through the War of the Austrian Succession The Muslim reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab makes an alliance with Muhammad ibn Saud, of significance to the later Saudi dynasty J.S. Bach publishes another set of 24 Preludes and Fugues, as an addition to his previous Well-Tempered Clavier Franklin publishes his design for an improved stove in Account of the New Invented Pennsylvania Fire Place Bad weather causes the French to abandon a plan to invade Britain with the Scottish pretender Charles Edward Stuart
1745	New England militiamen achieve an unexpected success in capturing the fortress of Louisbourg from the French Maurice de Saxe, with a French army including an Irish brigade, defeats British, Austrian and Dutch forces at Fontenoy The principle of the Leyden jar is discovered by an amateur German physicist, Ewald Georg von Kleist, dean of the cathedral in Kamin Charles Edward Stuart lands at Eriskay in the Hebrides, launching the Forty-Five Rebellion Charles Edward Stuart gathers support for the Forty-Five Rebellion on his way south from the Hebrides and reaches Edinburgh Charles Edward Stuart marches as far south as Derby, but then turns back Frederick the Great's Prussian soldiers, advancing in shallow disciplined formation, outclass other armies of the time Frederick II's three victories in 1745 cause him to be known by his contemporaries as Frederick the Great
1746	Frederick the Great begins to build the summer palace of Sans Souci at Potsdam Charles Edward Stuart and his 5000 Scots are routed at Culloden, bringing the Forty-Five Rebellion to an abrupt end Tartan and Highland dress are banned by the British government, in a prohibition not lifted until 1782 An earthquake destroys much of Lima, and an ensuing tidal wave engulfs its port at Callao Monsieur Passemont constructs in Paris a millennium clock which can record the date in any year up to AD 9999 French forces capture the British East India Company's fort of Madras The French commander Maurice de Saxe succeeds in occupying the entire Austrian Netherlands
1747	A tribal leader, Ahmad Shah Abdali, is elected king of the Afghans in an event seen as the foundation of the Afghan nation Samuel Richardson's Clarissa begins the correspondence that grows into the longest novel in the English language
1748	Systematic digging begins near Vesuvius, in an area where ancient fragments are often unearthed - soon discovered to be Pompeii The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession, but only postpones the continuation of hostilities (in the Seven Years' War) The peace treaty returns all captured territories to their owners – with the exception of Silesia, which becomes part of Prussia
1749	A French official travels down the Ohio valley, placing markers to claim it for France Henry Fielding introduces a character of lasting appeal in the lusty but good-hearted Tom Jones Shortly before his death (in 1750) J.S. Bach completes his Mass in B Minor, worked on over many years
c. 1750	Naval engagements are now fought in lines of battle, with only the most heavily armed vessels rated as 'ships of the line' Horace Walpole begins to create his own Strawberry Hill, a neo-Gothic fantasy, on the banks of the Thames west of London
1751	Robert Clive prevails over the French after holding out during the seven-week siege of Arcot in southern India Giovanni Battista Tiepolo begins a series of frescoes to decorate the prince bishop's residence in Würzburg A great French undertaking by Denis Diderot, his 28-volume Encyclopédie, begins publication The Swedish chemist Alex Cronstedt identifies an impurity in copper ore as a separate metallic element, which he names nickel By the time of his death the prolific output of Domenico Scarlatti includes 555 sonatas, all but a few for his own instrument, the harpsichord English poet Thomas Gray publishes his Elegy written in a Country Church Yard French painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin returns to the subject matter that first took his interest, still life English gardener Lancelot Brown sets up in business as a freelance 'improver of grounds', and soon acquires the nickname Capability Brown
1752	Britain is one of the last nations to adjust to the more accurate Gregorian calendar, causing a suspicious public to fear they have been robbed of eleven days English obstetrician William Smellie introduces scientific midwifery as a result of his researches into childbirth The French seize or evict every English-speaking trader in the region of the upper Ohio Benjamin Franklin flies a kite into a thunder cloud to demonstrate the nature of electricity French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard wins the cherished Prix de Rome at the age of 20
1753	George Washington undertakes a difficult and ineffectual journey to persuade the French to withdraw from the Ohio valley
1754	In Freedom of Will American evangelist Jonathan Edwards makes an uncompromising defence of orthodox against liberal Calvinism Benjamin Franklin's chopped-up snake, urging union of the colonies with the caption 'Join or Die', is the first American political cartoon Quaker minister John Woolman publishes the first part of Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes, an essay denouncing slavery Scottish chemist Joseph Black identifies the existence of a gas, carbon dioxide, which he calls 'fixed air' George Washington kills ten French troops at Fort Duquesne, in the first violent clash of the French and Indian war Benjamin Franklin proposes to the Albany Congress that the colonies should unite to form a colonial government The British colonies negotiate with the Iroquois at the Albany Congress, in the face of the French threat in the Ohio valley Francesco Guardi, previously a painter of figures, begins to specialize in view of Venice, his native city
1755	A British force under Edward Braddock lands in America to provide support against the French in the Ohio valley Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial Dictionary of the English Language The first Conestoga wagons are acquired by George Washington for an expedition through the Alleghenies Johann Joachim Winckelmann publishes a book on Greek painting and sculpture which introduces a new strand of neoclassicism The army led by Edward Braddock and George Washington is ambushed at Fort Duquesne and Braddock is killed
1756	122 people die after being locked overnight in a small room in Calcutta, in an incident that becomes known as the Black Hole of Calcutta The French in America, under the marquis of Montcalm, begin two highly successful years of campaigning against the British In what becomes known as the Diplomatic Revolution, two of Europe's long-standing rivals - France and Austria - sign a treaty of alliance Frederick the Great again precipitates a European conflict, marching without warning into Saxony and launching the Seven Years' War
1757	Admiral John Byng is shot on the deck of a ship in Portsmouth harbour for 'neglect of duty' in failing to relieve Minorca Robert Clive defeats the nawab of Bengal at the battle of Plassey, and places his own man on the throne Robert Adam returns to Britain after two years in Rome with a repertoire of classical themes which he mingles to form a new British neoclassicism William Pitt the Elder becomes secretary of state and transforms the British war effort against France in America English painter Joseph Wright sets up a studio in his home town, Derby
c. 1758	Joshua Reynolds is by now the most fashionable portrait painter in London, copies with as many as 150 sitters in a year A comet returns exactly at the time predicted by English astronomer Edmond Halley, and is subsequently known by his name James Woodforde, an English country parson with a love of food and wine, begins a detailed diary of everyday life Liverpool-born artist George Stubbs sets up in London as a painter, above all, of people and horses
c. 1759	Portrait-painter Thomas Gainsborough moves from Suffolk to set up a studio in fashionable Bath Voltaire publishes Candide, a satire on optimism prompted by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 British general James Wolfe sails up the St Lawrence river with 15,000 men to besiege Quebec The Portuguese expel the Jesuits from Brazil, beginning a widespread reaction against the order in Catholic Europe Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood sets up a factory of his own in his home town of Burslem Frederick the Great suffers his first major defeat, by a Russian and Austrian army at Kunersdorf Laurence Sterne publishes the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy, beginning with the scene at the hero's conception Wolfe defeats Montcalm and captures Quebec, but both commanders die in the engagement A British defeat of the French in Quiberon Bay prompts David Garrick to write Heart of Oak A succession of victories cause 1759 to be known in Britain as annus mirabilis, the wonderful year
c. 1760	German painter Johann Zoffany moves to England to find work as a painter of conversation pieces and portraits On the death of his grandfather, George II, George III becomes king of Great Britain
1761	Joseph Haydn enters the service of the Esterházy family, and stays with them for twenty-nine years Scottish chemist and physicist Joseph Black observes the latent heat in melting ice Austrian physician Joseph Leopold Auenbrugger describes his new diagnostic technique – percussion, or listening to a patient's chest and tapping John Harrison's fourth chronometer is only five seconds out at the end of a test journey from England to Jamaica Italian anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni publishes De Sedibus, the work that introduces scientific pathology George Washington, the future president, inherits Mount Vernon from his half-brother Lawrence
1762	Johann Sebastian Bach's youngest son, Johann Christian, moves to London and becomes known as the English Bach Two books in this year, émile and Du Contrat Social, prompt orders for the arrest of Jean-Jacques Rousseau The intensely dramatic music of Gluck's Orfeo ed Eurydice introduces a much needed reform in the conventions of opera Fingal, supposedly by the medieval poet Ossian, is a forgery in the spirit of the times by James MacPherson 6-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart plays for the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa
1763	The capital of the Portuguese colony of Brazil is moved from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro A treaty signed in Paris ends the Seven Years' War between Britain, France and Spain In the treaty of Paris France cedes to Britain all its territory north of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi river, except the district of New Orleans In the treaty of Paris, Spain cedes Florida to Britain, completing British possession of the entire east coast of north America The Treaty of Hubertusburg, between Prussia and Austria, increases the power of Prussia among the many separate states of Germany English journalist John Wilkes is arrested for publishing seditious libel in issue no 45 of his weekly magazine The North Briton James Boswell meets Samuel Johnson for the first time, in the London bookshop of Thomas Davies Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, leads an uprising of the Indian tribes in an attempt to drive the British east of the Appalachians 7-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart begins a three-year concert tour of Europe American artist Benjamin West settles in London, where he becomes famous for his large-scale history scenes
1764	A French expedition from St Malo, founding a colony on East Falkland, name the islands Les îsles Malouines The Russian empress Catherine the Great secures the throne of Poland for one of her lovers, as Stanislaw II James Watt ponders on the inefficiency of contemporary steam engines and invents the condenser Catherine the Great founds the Hermitage as a court museum attached to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg Britain passes the Sugar Act, levying duty on sugar, wine and textiles imported into America Joseph Haydn's first published work is six string quartets, a form which he subsequently makes very much his own Lancashire spinner James Hargreaves conceives the idea of the spinning jenny, with multiple spindles worked from a single wheel English historian Edward Gibbon, sitting among ruins in Rome, conceives the idea of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire English author Horace Walpole provides an early taste of Gothic thrills in his novel Castle of Otranto
1765	Britain passes the Stamp Act, taxing legal documents and newspapers in the American colonies American campaigners against the Stamp Act organize themselves as the Sons of Liberty in Massachusetts and New York
1766	Britain repeals the Stamp Act, in a major reversal of policy achieved by resistance in the American colonies English chemist Henry Cavendish isolates hydrogen but believes that it is phlogiston Irish novelist Oliver Goldsmith publishes The Vicar of Wakefield, with a hero who has much to complain about but keeps calm Pierre le Roy's chronometer, as accurate as Harrison's and cheaper to construct, is set to become the standard model
1767	Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon complete a four-year survey to establish the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland Work begins on Edinburgh's New Town, to the design of the 23-year-old architect James Craig The British Chancellor, Charles Townshend, passes a series of acts taxing all glass, lead, paint, paper and tea imported into the American colonies
1768	Captain James Cook sails from Plymouth, in England, heading for Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus A French artist, Jean Baptiste le Prince, discovers the aquatint technique in printmaking A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland begins publication of the immensely successful Encyclopaedia Britannica Corsica is sold to France by the republic of Genoa A border incident at Balta, in the southern Ukraine, sparks a war between Russia and Turkey that will last six years The Royal Academy is established in London, with Joshua Reynolds as its first president
1769	Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra begins work at San Diego de Cala, the first of his nine California missions Captain Cook observes in Tahiti the transit of Venus, the primary purpose of his voyage to the Pacific Captain Cook reaches New Zealand and sets off to chart its entire coastline French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully tests a steam wagon, probably the first working mechanical vehicle
c. 1770	The triangular trade, controlled from Liverpool, ships millions of Africans across the Atlantic as slaves British troops fire into an unruly crowd in Boston, Massachusetts, killing five 17-year-old Thomas Chatterton, later hailed as a significant poet, commits suicide in a London garret Captain Cook reaches the mainland of Australia, at a place which he names Botany Bay, and continues up the eastern coast In response to American protests, the British government removes the Townshend duties on all commodities with the exception of tea 27-year-old Thomas Jefferson begins constructing a mansion on a hilltop in Charlottesville, calling it Monticello ('little mountain')
1771	English entrepreneur Richard Arkwright adds water power to spinning by means of the water frame Richard Arkwright pioneers the factory environment with his cotton mill at Cromford in Derbyshire
1772	Russia, Prussia and Austria agree a treaty enabling them to divide the spoils in the first partition of Poland The first partition of Poland begins the process of Lithuania being progressively absorbed into Russia Gustavus III achieves a coup d'état which brings executive power in Sweden back into royal hands Captain Cook sets off, in HMS Resolution, on his second voyage to the southern hemisphere Haydn's Farewell Symphony gives a subtle hint to his employer at Esterházy that it is time for the musicians to return home
1773	English prison reformer John Howard is shocked into action by the conditions he sees in Bedford gaol The London brokers who meet to do business in Jonathan's coffee house decide to call themselves the Stock Exchange Oliver Goldsmith's play She Stoops to Conquer is produced in London's Covent Garden theatre Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele isolates oxygen but does not immediately publish his achievement Samuel Johnson and James Boswell undertake a journey together to the western islands of Scotland Some fifty colonists, disguised as Indians, tip a valuable cargo of tea into Boston harbour as a protest against British tax Responding to pressure from the Catholic monarchs of Europe, Clement XIV abolishes the Jesuit Order
1774	As a retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, the British parliament closes Boston's port with the first of its Coercive Acts Goethe's romantic novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, brings him an immediate European reputation Goethe's play Götz von Berlichingen, a definitive work of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), has its premiere in Berlin Britain's new Coercive (or Intolerable) Acts include the requirement that Massachusetts citizens give board and lodging to British troops The Spanish, now in sole occupation of the Falkland Islands, call them Las Islas Malvinas Encouraged by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine emigrates to America and settles in Philadelphia In the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, ending the recent Russo-Turkish war, the Ottoman empire cedes the Crimea to Russia The treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji grants Russia special rights in relation to the Christian Holy Places under Ottoman control Illiterate visionary Ann Lee, leader of an English sect, the 'Shaking Quakers', crosses the Atlantic to spread the word English chemist Joseph Priestley isolates oxygen, but he believes it to be 'dephlogisticated air' Delegates from twelve American colonies meet in Philadelphia and agree not to import any goods from Britain Thomas Gainsborough moves from Bath to set up a studio in London
c. 1775	Dutch nomads, pressing far north from Cape Town, become known as the Trekboers Pioneer Daniel Boone and other backwoodsmen cut the road west that will bring settlers to Kentucky Patrick Henry makes a stirring declaration – 'Give me liberty or give me death' – to the Virginia Assembly John Singleton Copley, already established as America's greatest portrait painter, moves to London General Gage sends a detachment of British troops to seize weapons held by American Patriots at Concord Paul Revere is one of the US riders taking an urgent warning to Concord, but he is captured on the journey The first shot of the American Revolution is fired in a skirmish between redcoats and militiamen at Lexington, on the road to Concord Delegates from the states reassemble in Philadelphia, with hostilities against the British already under way in Massachusetts Delegates in Philadelphia select George Washington as commander-in-chief of the colonial army At Bunker Hill, overlooking Boston from the north, the American militiamen prove their worth against British professional soldiers Delegates to the Continental Congress make a final bid for peace, sending the Olive Branch Petition to George III Britain declares the colonies to be in a state of rebellion, and sets up a naval blockade of the American coastline Yankee Doodle is the most popular song with the patriot troops in the American Revolution Figaro makes his first appearance on stage in Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville Talleyrand begins an extremely varied career by becoming an abbot at the age of twenty-one Captain Cook publishes his discovery of a preventive cure against scurvy, in the form of a regular ration of lemon juice Francisco de Goya begins a series of designs for tapestries to be made in Spain's Royal Tapestry Factory
1776	George Washington raises on Prospect Hill a new American flag, the British red ensign on a ground of thirteen stripes – one for each colony In Common Sense, an anonymous pamphlet, English immigrant Thomas Paine is the first to argue that the American colonies should be independent Two Boulton and Watt engines are installed, the first of many in the mines and mills of England's developing industrial revolution George Washington drives the British garrison from Boston, and moves south to protect New York The revolutionary convention of Virginia votes for independence from Britain, and instructs its delegates in Philadelphia to propose this motion Virginia's motion for independence from Britain is passed at the Continental Congress of the colonies with no opposing vote Thomas Jefferson's text for the Declaration of Independence is accepted by the Congress in Philadelphia English historian Edward Gibbon publishes the first volume of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire John Hancock is the first delegate to sign the Declaration of Independence, formally written out on a large sheet of parchment George Washington, driven from New York by the British, retreats towards Philadelphia Spanish America is now administered as four viceroyalties - New Spain, New Granada, New Peru and La Plata Buenos Aires rather than Asunción is chosen to be capital of the new Spanish viceroyalty of La Plata Scottish economist Adam Smith analyzes the nature and causes of the Wealth of Nations George Washington defeats the British at Trenton at a psychologically important moment in the course of the war
1777	Congress adopts a new flag for independent America – the stars and stripes George Washington, heavily defeated in a battle at Brandywine, is forced to relinquish Philadelphia to the British Richard Brinsley Sheridan's second play, The School for Scandal, is an immediate success in London's Drury Lane theatre The American general Horatio Gates captures the army of General Burgoyne near Saratoga The US Congress agrees the final version of the Articles of Confederation, defining the terms on which states join the Union
1778	Benjamin Franklin persuades the French to sign a Treaty of Alliance, committing France to the US cause France, joining the American colonies in their fight against Britain, sends a large fleet across the Atlantic The American naval hero John Paul Jones makes successful raids around the coasts of Britain In Brook Watson and the Shark John Singleton Copley creates the most intensely dramatic of his modern history paintings The British rapidly abandon Philadelphia on news of the expected arrival of a French fleet The British adopt a new policy in the south, landing in Georgia and capturing much of South Carolina Francis Hopkinson's popular ballad The Battle of the Kegs describes an ingenious American threat to the British navy 15-year-old Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun earns enough from painting portraits to support the rest of her family
1779	British explorer Captain James Cook is killed in a skirmish with natives in Hawaii over a stolen boat Joseph Banks tells a committee of the House of Commons that the east coast of Australia is suitable for the transportation of convicted felons The world's first iron bridge is assembled in a few months across the Severn at Coalbrookdale Samuel Crompton perfects the mule, a machine for spinning that combines the merits of Hargreave's jenny and Arkwright's water frame The 10-year-old Napoleon is admitted as a student in a military college at Brienne, near Troyes U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, fights H.M.S. Serapis near England's Flamborough Head
1780	An Indian uprising in Spanish Peru is led by a descendant of the Incas, Tupac Amaru II In developing the Haskalah, the German philosopher Moses Mendelssohn reconciles Judaism and the Enlightenment Six days of riot in London are triggered by Lord George Gordon leading a march to oppose any degree of Catholic emancipation The capture of British go-between John André yields proof that US general Benedict Arnold is in the pay of the British British army officer John André is executed in New York as a spy Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro is a master of colour woodcuts, often depicting the courtesan district of Edo
1781	Maryland, ratifies the Articles of Confederation (the last state to do so), completing 'the Confederation of the United States' William Herschel discovers Uranus, the first planet to be found by means of a telescope, and names it the Georgian star Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, now 25, leaves Salzburg to settle in Vienna Joseph II passes an Edict of Toleration, for the first time allowing Protestant worship in Habsburg territories The Bank of North America is established by the Continental Congress to lend money to the fledgling Revolutionary government US poet Philip Freneau describes in The British Prison Ship the horrors of his experiences as a prisoner German philosopher Immanuel Kant publishes the first of his three 'critiques', The Critique of Pure Reason Ann Lee leads her Shaker colleagues in a missionary tour of New England lasting two years The reforming emperor Joseph II emancipates the serfs in the Habsburg territories The British general Charles Cornwallis, isolated at Yorktown, is forced to surrender in the final engagement of the Revolutionary War
1782	Italian sculptor Antonio Canova sets up his studio in Rome and begins producing finely modelled nudes in the Greek style Friedrich von Schiller's youthful and anarchic play The Robbers causes a sensation when performed in Mannheim The English actress Sarah Siddons, already well known in the province, causes a sensation when she appears in London at Drury Lane 12-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven publishes his first composition, Piano Variations on a March by Dressler French paper manufacturer Joseph Montgolfier sends a hot-air balloon 3000 feet (1000m) into the air, in front of a crowd in Annonay
c. 1783	Some 40,000 Loyalists flee from British America to the previously French colonies, in particular Nova Scotia US lexicographer Noah Webster publishes a Spelling Book for American children that eventually will sell more than 60 million copies The empress Catherine the Great annexes the Crimean peninsula, giving Russia a presence in the Black Sea 20-year-old John Jacob Astor emigrates from Germany to America and sets up in the fur trade Ten days after the first human ascent in a hot-air balloon the feat is repeated, again in Paris, in a version lifted by hydrogen In the Treaty of Paris, negotiated by Adams, Franklin and Jay, the British government recognizes US independence Louis XVI watches through his telescope the first balloon flight with living passengers – a sheep, a cock and a duck A hot-air balloon rises from a Paris garden, carrying the first human aeronauts – Pilàtre de Rozier and the marquis d'Arlandes Jacques-Louis David, establishing a reputation with his severe classical paintings, is elected to the French academy
1784	Benjamin Franklin, irritated at needing two pairs of spectacles, commissions from a lens-grinder the first bifocals A 24-year-old, William Pitt the Younger, is appointed Britain's prime minister by George III English ironmaster Henry Cort patents a process for puddling iron which produces a pure and malleable metal The first mail coach leaves Bristol for London, introducing a new era of faster transport
1785	Mozart and his friends perform for Haydn the Mozart quartets inspired by Haydn's 'Russian' quartets (op.33), which on publication are dedicated to him The French queen Marie Antoinette is wrongly implicated in a scandal involving a diamond necklace French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb begins publishing his discoveries in the field of electricity and magnetism James Hutton describes to the Royal Society of Edinburgh his studies of local rocks , launching the era of scientific geology William Withering's Account of the Foxglove describes the use of digitalis for dropsy, and its possible application to heart disease Napoleon graduates from his military college and is commissioned in an artillery regiment French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon crosses the Atlantic to sculpt a statue of George Washington from the life at Mount Vernon
1786	Mozart's Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna and then has a huge success in Prague The emperor Joseph II is reported to have told Mozart that his opera The Marriage of Figaro has 'too many notes' US author Philip Freneau publishes his first collection of poems, dating back to 1771 Daniel Shays is the most prominent figure in a violent protest movement by farmers against the government of Massachusetts Francisco de Goya is appointed painter to the king of Spain, Charles III
1787	French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier publishes a system for classifying and naming chemical substances The Continental Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance, a plan for the establishment of new states north and west of the Ohio river The French finance minister, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, is dismissed when his proposed reforms meet aristocratic opposition The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade is founded in London, with a strong Quaker influence The First Fleet (eleven ships carrying about 750 convicts) leaves Portsmouth for Australia A British ship lands a party of freed slaves as the first modern settlers in Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa Scottish engineer James Watt devises the governor, the first example of industrial automation Delegates meeting in Philadelphia agree a final draft for a US constitution, to be submitted to the states for ratification The Federalist Papers, in support of the Constitution and mainly written by Alexander Hamilton, begin appearing in New York Mozart's opera Don Giovanni has its premiere in Prague
1788	After a journey of eight months from England the First Fleet reaches Australia, anchoring in Botany Bay Arthur Phillip, selecting a suitable coastal site for the first penal colony in Australia, names the place Sydney Cove The constitution of the United States is ratified by the states, but it is immediately agreed that amendments will be desirable Tiradentes (the 'puller of teeth') leads the first rebellion against Portuguese rule in Brazil The ministers of Louis XVI reluctantly announce that the estates general will meet in 1789, for the first time since 1614 Spain's affairs are controlled by Manuel de Godoy, lover of the queen, Maria Luisa
1789	England's champion pugilist, the Jewish prize-fighter Daniel Mendoza, publishes The Art of Boxing George Washington, unanimously elected first president of the United States, is inaugurated on Wall Street in New York Alexander Hamilton becomes secretary of the treasury in the administration of George Washington, whose federalist views he shares A pamphlet published in France by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès asks a challenging question, What is the Third Estate? William Blake publishes Songs of Innocence, a volume of his poems with every page etched and illustrated by himself In his Principles Jeremy Bentham defines 'utility' as that which enhances pleasure and reduces pain A left-wing political club begins to meet in a Jacobin convent in Paris, thus becoming known as the Jacobins The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, a slave captured as a child in Africa, becomes a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic Alexander Mackenzie explores by canoe from central Canada through the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean Delegates of the Third Estate swear an oath in a tennis court at Versailles, pledging themselves not to disperse until France has a constitution The painter Jacques-Louis David sketches the events in the Versailles tennis court An excited Paris mob liberates the seven prisoners held in the forbidding fortress of the Bastille US painter and author William Dunlap has great success with his comedy The Father; or, American Shandyism Parisians force their way into the palace at Versailles and insist on Louis XVI and his royal family accompanying them back to Paris French doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposes a decapitation machine as a more humane form of capital punishment Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on HMS Bounty against the captain, William Bligh Francisco de Goya is appointed court painter to the new Spanish king, Charles IV
1790	Mozart's opera Così fan Tutte has its premiere in Vienna, in the court theatre of Joseph II A second great revivalist movement sweeps northeast America, inspired by the earlier example of Jonathan Edwards Joseph Haydn sets off for England, where impresario Johann Peter Salomon presents his London symphonies A second fleet arrives in Sydney, bringing more convicts and a regiment, the New South Wales Corps, to keep order The Potomac is chosen as the navigable river on which the new US capital city will be sited The USA becomes the first nation to establish a regular census as a systematic check on the size of the population Anglo-Irish politician Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France, a blistering attack on recent events across the Channel English painter J.M.W. Turner is only 15 when a painting of his, a watercolour, is first exhibited at the Royal Academy
1791	Under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton the First Bank of the United States is established in Philadelphia The Canadian Constitution Act divides Quebec into Upper Canada (today's Ontario) and Lower Canada (today's Quebec) Scottish poet Robert Burns publishes Tam o' Shanter, in which a drunken farmer has an alarming encounter with witches French inventor Claude Chappe develops a hilltop signalling system, for which he coins the words telegraph and semaphore A stranger arrives in Vienna with a mysterious commission for Mozart to write a requiem mass, just months before the composer's death Louis XVI and his family attempt to flee from Paris to the border but are captured at Varennes Stationed at Valence, Napoleon becomes president of the local Jacobin club and makes radical speeches against the nobility and clergy An Indian raid on an American military camp beside the Maumee river leaves more than 600 US soldiers dead The Ordnance Survey is founded in Britain, to make detailed maps of the country for military purposes Naval officer George Vancouver sails from Britain on the voyage which will bring him to the northwest coast of America Mozart's opera The Magic Flute has its premiere in Vienna in a popular theatre run by the librettist, Emanuel Shikaneder Wolfe Tone is one of the founders in Belfast of the Society of United Irishmen Mozart dies, at the age of just 35, leaving his Requiem unfinished The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified by the states Thomas Paine publishes the first part of The Rights of Man, his reply to Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France
1792	The Swedish king Gustavus III is assassinated at a midnight masquerade in Stockholm – an event later dramatized by Verdi France declares war on the Austrian emperor, an event that plunges Europe into more than 20 years of conflict In a first demonstration of the guillotine, a highwayman is beheaded in a Paris square A French officer, Rouget de Lisle, writes a stirring anthem for France, soon to be known as the Marseillaise Scottish painter Henry Raeburn depicts the Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch George Washington is unanimously elected for a second term as president of the USA The Brazilian rebel Tiradentes is beheaded in public in Rio de Janeiro as a warning to would-be revolutionaries Charlotte Square in Edinburgh begins to be built to the design of Robert Adam English author Mary Wollstonecraft publishes a passionately feminist work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Thomas Paine moves hurriedly to France, to escape a charge of treason in England for opinions expressed in his Rights of Man A French revolutionary army defeats the Austrians and Prussians at Valmy, and thus saves Paris from attack After their success at Valmy, French republican armies overrun much of the Austrian Netherlands During four September days, thugs are encouraged to massacre some 1400 aristocrats and priests held in Paris prisons Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific coast of Canada, becoming the first known person to cross the north American continent The National Convention abolishes royalty in France and establishes the first republic The first political parties, Hamilton's Federalists and Jefferson's Republicans, emerge in the USA George III sends Lord Macartney on an embassy to the Chinese emperor Qianlong Beethoven leaves Bonn and goes to Vienna to study composition with Haydn
1793	Louis XVI is guillotined after a majority of just one in the national Convention has voted for death without delay Britain joins other European nations in war against France, mainly in naval engagements in the West Indies and Atlantic Russia and Prussia agree on a second partition of Poland Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, enormously speeding up the process of separating cotton fibres from the seeds Rebellion breaks out in the Vendée and a peasant army marches against republican Paris George Washington lays the cornerstone for the Congress building on Capitol Hill 25-year-old Charlotte Corday gains access to prominent republican Jean-Paul Marat and stabs him in his bath France becomes the first nation to attempt national conscription, calling up bachelors between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five The US Congress passes Fugitive Slave Laws, enabling southern slave owners to reclaim escaped slaves in northern states Horatio Nelson, with his ship docked in Naples, meets Lady Hamilton, wife of the British envoy The French Convention adopts imaginative names for the months in their new republican calendar Toussaint L'Ouverture, a former slave, joins a Spanish force invading the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) The Terror begins in republican France, with executions rising to more than 3000 in December English revolutionary Thomas Paine spends nearly a year in a French prison after opposing the execution of Louis XVI Napoleon's soldiers capture Toulon and his artillery fire forces the Anglo-Spanish fleet to withdraw from the harbour
1794	Robespierre and St Just succeed in sending Danton and his faction to the guillotine in April French chemist Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is guillotined for having been involved with tax collection in the ancien régime The treaty agreed by US envoy John Jay restores some degree of friendship between the USA and Britain Goethe and Schiller become friends, and together create the movement known as Weimar classicism In his Science of Knowledge Johann Gottlieb Fichte contrasts the I, or Ego, and its opposing non-I, or non-Ego Robespierre and his faction go to the guillotine in July, in the final bloodletting of the Terror George Washington uses military force to assert government authority on rebels in Pennsylvania refusing to pay a federal tax on whisky Virtuoso violinist Nicolo Paganini gives his first public performances, in churches in his native Genoa William Blake's volume Songs of Innocence and Experience includes his poem 'Tyger! Tyger! burning bright'
c. 1795	Dutch Boers begin calling themselves Afrikaners, to emphasize that Africa is their native land Beethoven makes his first public appearance in Vienna as a pianist, playing either his first or second piano concerto Mungo Park sets off on his first expedition to explore the Niger on behalf of the African Association Two extra stars are added to the American flag for Vermont and Kentucky, two new states that have joined since the original union of thirteen The Netherlands, forced by invasion into the French camp, is transformed into the Batavian republic Indian tribes, at peace talks in Fort Greenville, cede much of Ohio to the USA Thomas Paine publishes his completed Age of Reason, an attack on conventional Christianity After the Fort Greenville concessions, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh emerges as a champion of Indian territorial rights A secret Protestant group, the Orange Society, is formed in Co. Armagh to resist Irish nationalism The 26-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte comes to public attention for his part in saving the Convention in Paris from an assault by rebels With the Dutch entering the war on the side of the French, Britain seizes their valuable Cape colony in South Africa Poland's neighbours – Russia, Prussia and Austria – are all on hand for the final partition of the kingdom A treaty negotiated by US minister Thomas Pinckney provides a temporary resolution of disputes between Spain and the USA
1796	Napoleon marries Josephine de Beauharnais, widow of Alexandre de Beauharnais, guillotined in 1794 After two rapid victories in north Italy, Napoleon marches on Turin and the king of Sardinia asks for an armistice In Berkeley, Gloucestershire, Edward Jenner inoculates a boy with cowpox in the pioneering case of vaccination In the armistice of Cherasco the king of Sardinia cedes to France his territories of Savoy and Nice Napoleon Bonaparte takes command of the French army of Italy, with astonishingly successful results French astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace publishes his nebular hypothesis, arguing that the planets formed from a mass of incandescent gas US author Joel Barlow publishes his mock-heroic poem The Hasty Pudding, inspired by a dish eaten in 1793 in France George Washington selects the Cherokee Indians for an experiment in adaptation to 'civilization' George Washington, resisting pressure for him to accept a third presidential term, delivers a farewell address to guide the nation's future Napoleon creates in northern Italy the Cisalpine Republic, formed from occupied territores including the papal states of Bologna and Ferrara The election in the USA brings in a Federalist president (John Adams) and a Republican vice-president (Thomas Jefferson) Irish nationalist Wolfe Tone sails from France to invade Ireland with a force of 14,000 French soldiers German physician Samuel Hahnemann coins the term 'homeopathy' and describes this new approach to medicine
1797	Napoleon marches against Vienna and is only two days from the city when the emperor requests an armistice In Venice Napoleon deposes the last of the doges and sets up a provisional democracy Pope Pius VI is seized by a French army in Rome and is taken off to captivity in France On 18 Fructidor (September 4) Napoleon organizes, from a distance, a coup d'étât in Paris on behalf of three of the Directors Samuel Taylor Coleridge says that while writing Kubla Khan he is interrupted by 'a person on business from Porlock' Napoleon achieves the peace of Campo Formio, by which Austria cedes the Austrian Netherlands and northern Italy to France By the Treaty of Campo Formio the free republic of Venice, created by Napoleon, is handed over to Austrian rule
1798	After four years in Copenhagen, German artist Caspar David Friedrich makes his life-long home in Dresden Napoleon, with distinguished scientists in his fleet, sails to invade Egypt British explorer George Bass sails round Tasmania in an open whaleboat, discovering the strait which now bears his name Austrian author Alois Senefelder, experimenting with grease and water on stone, discovers the principles of lithography Napoleon's campaign in Egypt begins well with the Battle of the Pyramids, a victory over an Egyptian army The US public is outraged by news of the XYZ Affair, in which the French ask for bribes before being willing to negotiate a treaty Irish nationalist Wolfe Tone, convicted of treason for his failed invasion, cuts his throat to cheat the British gallows US author Charles Brockden Brown publishes Wieland, the first of four novels setting Gothic romance in an American context The British acquire a foothold in the Persian Gulf by making Oman a protectorate Disaster strikes the French in Egypt when Nelson finds their fleet in Aboukir Bay and destroys it in the Battle of the Nile Controversial Alien and Sedition Acts are passed by the US Congress as emergency measures in response to the perceived threat of war with France English poets Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly publish Lyrical Ballads, a milestone in the Romantic movement Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is published in Lyrical Ballads
1799	Napoleon's soldiers discover a black basalt slab, the Rosetta Stone, near the village of Rashid in Egypt Napoleon leads a costly, unsuccessful and plague-ridden expedition against the Turkish garrisons in Syria The tsar, Paul I, establishes the Russian-American Company with the express purpose of developing Alaska Haydn's oratorio The Creation has its first public performance in Vienna, in the Burgtheater Napoleon, in Syria, orders 3000 captured defenders of Jaffa to be killed by bayonet or drowning to save ammunition In a famous moment of calculated courage Napoleon visits and touches the sick in a plague hospital in Jaffa A Sikh maharajah, Ranjit Singh, captures Lahore and makes it his capital in his campaign to unify the Punjab English surveyor William Smith compiles a manuscript, Order of the Strata, revealing chronology through fossils in rocks British prime minister William Pitt introduces income tax at 10% to pay for the war against France The British parliament passes a Combination Act, classing any association of labourers as a criminal conspiracy A Portuguese prince regent, the future John VI, rules on behalf of his deranged mother, Queen Maria Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, is killed fighting the British at Seringapatam Napoleon abandons his army in Egypt and returns hastily to Paris at a time of great political opportunity Napoleon contrives a military coup that ends the Directory and gives him sweeping powers as First Consul
1800	Napoleon appoints a commission to prepare a code of civil law, which becomes known as the Code Napoléon Italian physicist Alessandro Volta describes to the Royal Society in London how his 'pile' of discs can produce electric current Toussaint L'Ouverture emerges as the leader of Saint-Domingue, ruling without French colonial control The Library of Congress, the US national library in all but name, is founded in Washington US president John Adams moves into the newly completed White House, named for its light grey limestone Welsh industrialist Robert Owen takes charge of a mill at New Lanark and develops it as an experiment in paternalistic socialism Beethoven seeks medical advice for a very alarming condition, an increasing deafness Napoleon takes a French army through the Alps before the snows have cleared, and defeats the Austrians at Marengo Republican Thomas Jefferson and Federalist Aaron Burr have an identical number of Electoral College votes in the US presidential election Nelson and the Hamiltons visit Haydn, who composes a cantata on the Battle of the Nile for Emma Hamilton to sing