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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1685 | |
| 2 | 1686 | |
| 3 | 1687 | |
| 4 | 1688 | |
| 5 | 1689 | |
| 6 | 1690 | |
| 7 | 1691 | - 3 Oct 1691: Limerick, Ireland - The Treaty of Limerick allows Catholics in Ireland to exercise their religion freely, but severe penal laws soon follow. The French War begins
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| 8 | 1692 | |
| 9 | 1693 | - 1693: England - Richest counties: Middlesex (with London), Surrey, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire; Poorest Counties: Cheshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland
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| 10 | 1694 | |
| 11 | 1695 | |
| 12 | 1697 | |
| 13 | 1698 | - 1698: England - Thomas Savery patented an engine which produced a vacuum by condensing steam. It was employed for raising water from a mine and supplying water to several country houses.
- 1698: Russia - Tsar Peter the Great begins taxing men with beards
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| 14 | 1699 | - 23 May 1699: America - John Bartram was born. A naturalist and explorer, considered 'father of American botany'; established a world renowned botanical garden in Philadelphia in 1728.
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| 15 | 1700 | |
| 16 | 1701 | |
| 17 | 1702 | |
| 18 | 1703 | - 1703: Epworth, Lincolnshire, England - Birth of John Wesley. By 1784, 356 Methodist chapels built in places lacking church
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| 19 | 1704 | |
| 20 | 1706 | - 1706: London, England - The Evening Post, first evening newspaper issued
- 23 May 1706: Netherlands - British, Bavarian and Austrian troops under Marlborough defeat the French at the Battle of Ramillies, and expel the French from the Netherlands
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| 21 | 1707 | - 1707: Great Britain - The Act of Union unites the kingdoms of England and Scotland and transfers the seat of Scottish Government to London
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| 22 | 1708 | - 11 Jul 1708: England - The Duke of Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of Oudenarde. The French incur heavy losses. Queen Anne vetoes a parliamentary bill to recognise the Scottish militia. This is the last time a bill is vetoed by the sovereign
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| 23 | 1709 | |
| 24 | 1710 | - 1710: Great Britain - A Tory ministry is formed, under Harley, with the impeachment of Dr. Sacheverell and the fall of the Whig government
- 1710: Great Britain - Wooden panelling replaces tapestry as wall covering
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| 25 | 1711 | |
| 26 | 1712 | |
| 27 | 1713 | |
| 28 | 1714 | - 1714: Great Britain - Death of Queen Anne at Kensington Palace. A new parliament is elected with a strong Whig majority, led by Charles Townshend and Robert Walpole
- 1714: Great Britain - Quaker John Belles urges founding of hospitals as training grounds for medical students; Board of Longitude created, £20,000 competition for accurate maritime charts and maps
- 1714: Great Britain - George I,ruler of England to 1727. House of Hanover: Son of Elector of Hanover, by Sophia, grand-daughter of James I. Proclaimed King under Act of Settlement.
- 1714: Great Britain - Rioting by Tory and Jacobite mobs commonplace in London (unemployed soldiers, craftsmen), passage of Riot Act, giving increased power to Justices of the Peace through to 1715
- 1714: Great Britain - During period to 1742 there are no big increases from population of about 5.5 million but the distribution changes: East Anglia loses; West Country, South and East Midlands, East Riding and North (except Tyneside) fairly static; West Riding and South Lancashire increase; West Midlands, Surrey and Middlesex grow rapidly with London (London 500,000, Bristol 50,000; Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Halifax, Birmingham and Coventry, no longer sprawling villages, but still under 50,000); cause is immigration from cities and (in NW) from Ireland
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| 29 | 1715 | |
| 30 | 1716 | - 1716: Italy - John Lombe steals plans for silk manufacture, returning to England he and brother Thomas build vast factory on island at Derby
- 1716: Scotland - James Lind was born. Lind was a Scottish physician who recommended that fresh citrus fruit and lemon juice be included in the seamen's diet to eliminate scurvy. The Dutch had been doing this for almost two hundred years.
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| 31 | 1717 | - 1717: Great Britain - Townshend is dismissed from government by George I, causing Walpole to resign. The Whig party is split. Convocation is suspended
- 1717: Europe - England allies with French and Dutch against Spanish, Spanish brought to heel in 1718
- 1717: Great Britain - Edmond Halley invents the diving bell.
- 1717: Great Britain - John Lombe in England invents a machine for 'throwing' silk which produces a strong twisted thread
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| 32 | 1719 | |
| 33 | 1720 | - 1720: Great Britain - Dr. Richard Mead publishes Short Discourse Concerning Pestilential Contagion, advocates quarantine, proposes establishment of government Council of Health; inoculation against smallpox introduced from Constantinople by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
- 1720: Great Britain - Hospitals founded in London: Guy's, St. George's, London & Middlesex in period to 1745
- 1720: Meiringen, Switzerland - Invention of meringue is attributed to an Italian pastry chef named Gasparini.
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| 34 | 1721 | |
| 35 | 1722 | |
| 36 | 1723 | - 1723: Great Britain - Legislation allowing parishes to create 'unions' or workhouses, to prevent escape of children they could be manacled
- 1723: Great Britain - Excise Act, restrictions removed on exports, duty removed on imports of raw materials; London builds bonded warhouse for tea, coffee and chocolate
- 1723: New England, USA - Dummer's War 1723-1726.
- 16 Jul 1723: Devon, Great Britain - Birth of Sir Joshua Reynolds (died 1792), arguably finest English landscape and portrait painter, career 1750-1780
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| 37 | 1724 | |
| 38 | 1725 | - 30 Apr 1725: Great Britain - Treaty of Vienna: Austria and Spain resolve differences
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| 39 | 1726 | |
| 40 | 1727 | |
| 41 | 1728 | - 1728: France - Pierre Fauchard, in The Surgeon Dentist, described preventive measures to keep teeth healthy as well as inventing the word dentist.
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| 42 | 1729 | |
| 43 | 1730 | - 1730: Great Britain - A split occurs between Walpole and Townshend
- 1730: Ireland - Famine strikes
- 1730: Great Britain - In early part of 1700s, death rate had surpassed birth rate; begins to reverse; after 1780 death-rate plummets - due to replacement of gin-drinking with beer-drinking after taxes increased and retail sales curtailed on former in 1750; medical care improves, as does agriculture, more food available
- 1730: Great Britain - Georg Brandt, a Swedish chemist, discovered the element cobalt. Cobalt is used in steel making, and is an essential part of vitamin B12.
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| 44 | 1731 | |
| 45 | 1732 | - 1732: British North America - A royal charter is granted for the founding of Georgia in America
- 1732: Great Britain - The English banned American made hats to protect domestic haberdashers.
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| 46 | 1733 | - 1733: Great Britain - The Excise Crisis occurs and Walpole is forced to abandon his plans to reorganise the customs and excise
- 1733: Europe - Further cementing of relations between Austria and Spain
- 1733: Great Britain - John Kay invents the flying shuttle.
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| 47 | 1734 | - 1734: Great Britain - Walpole returned to power with smaller majority, power weakened
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| 48 | 1736 | |
| 49 | 1737 | |
| 50 | 1738 | |
| 51 | 1739 | |
| 52 | 1740 | |
| 53 | 1741 | - 1741: Ireland - Further famine, population about 4 million
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| 54 | 1742 | |
| 55 | 1743 | |
| 56 | 1744 | |
| 57 | 1745 | |
| 58 | 1746 | |
| 59 | 1747 | |
| 60 | 1748 | |
| 61 | 1749 | - 1749: Great Britain - Deaths among women 1 in 41, children 1 in 15 during period to 1758
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| 62 | 1750 | - 1750: Great Britain - The grapefruit was first described by Griffith Hughes as the 'forbidden fruit' of Barbados
- 1750: Scotland - Royal Infirmaries are founded in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen
- 1750: Great Britain - Tea-drinking begins to rival alcohol-drinking
- 1750: Great Britain - Population of England and Wales estimated at 6.5 million
- 1750: Great Britain - During period to 1780 English countryside takes on today's familiar apearance as accelerated enclosure produces small fields surrounded by hedges, fences and walls
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| 63 | 1751 | - 1751: British North America - Benjamin Franklin published Experiments and Observations on Electricity after several years of experiments done with several friends. In this book Franklin suggested an experiment to prove that lightning is a large-scale electrical discharge, a task which later he took upon himself, using a kite. This led to the invention of the lightning rod.
- 1751: Great Britain - Death of Frederick, Prince of Wales. His son, Prince George, becomes heir to the throne
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| 64 | 1752 | |
| 65 | 1753 | - 1753: Great Britain - Parliament passes the Naturalization of Jews Act
- 1753: Great Britain - James Lind (1716-1794) Scottish Navy physician, publishes Treatise on Scurvy; Sir Gilbert Blane, Scottish Naval surgeon, enforces strict rules regarding cleanliness, improves health, lifespan of sailors
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| 66 | 1754 | - 1754: Great Britain - First royal troops disembark in India; Takes 4.5 days to travel London to Manchester
- 1754: France - Antoine Beauvilliers was born. He was a French chef who founded the first luxury restaurant, La Grande Taverne de Londres.
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| 67 | 1755 | |
| 68 | 1756 | |
| 69 | 1757 | |
| 70 | 1758 | |
| 71 | 1759 | |
| 72 | 1760 | |
| 73 | 1761 | - 1761: Great Britain - Laurence Sterne publishes the enigmatic Tristram Shandy
- 1761: Great Britain - Jonas Hanway and David Porter begin campaign on behalf of child chimney sweeps, achieve protective legislation in 1788
- 1761: Pondicherry, India - Pondicherry captured, French power destroyed
- 1761: Great Britain - William Pitt the elder resigns over King and advisors not permitting further conflict with France and ally Spain
- 1761: Great Britain - River power reaches saturation point, Duke of Bridgewater cuts Worsley Canal, thereby halving price of coal in Manchester
- 1761: Great Britain - Englishman John Harrison invents the navigational clock or marine chronometer for measuring longitude.
- 1761: Great Britain - Various municipalities secure Private Acts by which money can be raised ('rates') to pay for public improvements, such as paving and lighting in period to 1765
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| 74 | 1762 | - 1762: Great Britain - John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, 'created' the Sandwich. This Englishman was said to have been fond of gambling and, during a 24 hour gambling streak, he instructed a cook to prepare his food in such a way that it would not interfere with his game. The cook presented him with sliced meat between two pieces of toast. Perfect! This meal required no utensils and could be eaten with one hand, leaving the other free to continue the game.
- 1762: Great Britain - The Earl of Bute is appointed Prime Minister. He becomes very unpopular and employs a bodyguard
- 1762: France - Académie Francaise recognises term millionaire
- 1762: Great Britain - Spain declares war on Britain; Britain gains West Indian islands from French, Cuba and Manila from Spanish
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1685 - 1762 (77 years)