JOHN RUDD, LL.D.
Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numerals following give volume and page.
Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers of famous persons, will be found in the Index Volume, with volume and page references showing where the several events are fully treated.
A.D.
1716. Establishment of Law's bank in Paris in connection with the Mississippi Scheme. See "John Law Promotes the Mississippi Scheme," [xiii], [1].
Parliament passes the Septennial Act limiting the duration of a parliament to seven years.
Unsuccessful invasion of Norway by Charles XII.
War on Turkey by Austria; Battle of Peterwardein; victory of Prince Eugene.
1717. Occupation of Sardinia by Philip V of Spain.
Walpole resigns the English ministry.
A triple alliance formed between Britain, Holland, and France.
Battle of Belgrad; defeat of the Turks by Prince Eugene. See "Prince Eugene Vanquishes the Turks," [xiii], [16].
1718. Foundation of New Orleans, Louisiana, by the French.
Invasion of Sicily by the Spaniards; Austria joins the Triple Alliance; the Spanish fleet defeated off Cape Passaro.
Another attempt on Norway by Charles XII; he is killed while besieging Frederikshald.
St. Petersburg becomes the capital of Russia.
1719. Philip V submits to the alliance; the Spaniards evacuate Sicily and Sardinia.
Ravaging of the coast of Sweden by the Russian fleet.
Great speculative craze in England.
1720. "Bursting of the South Sea Bubble." See [xiii], [22].
Disastrous end of Law's financial schemes in France.
Sweden and Prussia arrange the Treaty of Stockholm; Prussia acquires a large portion of Hither Pomerania.
Sardinia becomes a kingdom, raised out of the Savoy dominions.
1721. Walpole again First Lord of the Treasury (prime minister) of England.
France becomes financially bankrupt.
1722. A patent granted Wood for the coinage of copper coin for Ireland; this led Swift to write of the "wooden halfpence."
Persia conquered by the Afghans.
A Jacobite plot against George I of England discovered.
Founding of a Moravian brotherhood at Herrnhut, Saxony.
War on Persia by Peter the Great.
1723. Majority of Louis XV of France.
Large territories secured from Persia by Peter the Great.
"Bach Lays the Foundation of Modern Music." See [xiii], [31].
1724. A professorship of modern history founded by George I at Oxford and at Cambridge university.
Resignation of the Spanish crown by Philip V in favor of his son, Louis; the latter dies after a short reign, and his father reassumes the government.
1725. Treaty of Vienna between Austria and Spain, assenting to the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI.
Treaty of Hanover between Great Britain, France, and Prussia.
Death of Peter the Great; his widow, Catharine I, succeeds to the throne of Russia.
1726. Russia joins in the Treaty of Vienna.
1727. Spain makes an unsuccessful attempt to blockade and fails in her siege of Gibraltar.
Death of George I; George II succeeds to the throne of England.
Persia freed from the Afghans by Nadir Kuli, Shah of Persia.
For having published the proceedings in the British House of Commons Edward Cane is taken into custody by the sergeant-at-arms.
1728. Assembling at Soissons of a congress of the great powers.
Discovery of the strait bearing his name by Bering.
1729. Great Britain, France, and Spain arrange the Treaty of Seville.
Purchase of Carolina by the crown; two royal provinces instituted, North and South Carolina; plot of the negroes in the latter to murder their masters.
Revolt of Corsica against the Genoese.
1730. Introduction by Réaumur of his thermometer.
Baltimore, Maryland, founded.
Opening of the first railway, between Manchester and Liverpool, England.
1731. An earthquake convulses Chile for twenty-seven days; Santiago nearly engulfed.
Origin of Methodism by the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield.
1732. Oglethorpe founds a settlement in Georgia. See "Settlement of Georgia," [xiii], [44].
Franklin establishes the first subscription library in the United Colonies.
Expulsion of the Protestants from Salzburg.
1733. Death of Augustus II of Poland; War of the Polish Succession between Austria and France.
Invention in England of the fly-shuttle for weaving, by John Kay, aided by Arkwright.
1734. Austrian campaign against France and Sardinia in Northern Italy; Philip V enters Naples and proclaims himself king. Battle of Bitonto; defeat of the Austrians, May 25; Capua falls in November.
Siege of Philippsburg by the French under Berwick; the fortress taken, Berwick slain.
Trial of Zenger in New York, establishing the principle of freedom of the English colonial press.
1735. First settlement of the Moravians in America, made at Georgia.
Don Carlos conquers Sicily; is crowned king as Charles III.
1736. Issue of a papal bull against freemasonry.
Glass lamps used in the streets of London.
War of Russia against Turkey; capture of Azov by the former.
Nadir Shah (Kuli Khan) succeeds to the Persian throne.
1737. War on Turkey by Charles VI.
End of the Medici line in Tuscany; Francis Stephen becomes grand duke.
English theatres are placed under control of the lord chamberlain.
Birth of Edward Gibbon, historian.
1738. Conquest of Afghanistan by Nadir (Kuli) Shah.
At Vienna is signed the definitive treaty between Charles VI of Germany and Louis XV of France.
Forming of the first Methodist Society in England, by John Wesley. See "Rise of Methodism," [xiii], [57].
1739. War of Jenkins's Ear between England and Spain; in 1731 an English merchant-vessel was boarded by a Spanish guardship, and the captain, Robert Jenkins, cruelly used, an ear being torn off.
Nadir Shah captures Delhi; he sacks the city and massacres the people. See "Conquests of Nadir Shah," [xiii], [72].
Recovery of Belgrad and Servian territory by the Turks, arranged by treaty between Austria and Turkey.
1740. Death of Frederick William I; accession of Frederick the Great to the Prussian throne. Treachery of the powers which had guaranteed the succession of the Austrian throne to Maria Theresa. See "Frederick the Great Seizes Silesia," [xiii], [108].
A Moravian settlement formed at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
"First Modern Novel." See [xiii], 100.
1741. A revolution places Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, on the throne of Russia; Ivan, an infant, and his parents are imprisoned.
Alliance between England and Austria.
War between Sweden and Russia.
Unsuccessful attack of Admiral Vernon on Cartagena, New Granada.
Final separation of New Hampshire from Massachusetts.
Pretended negro plot in New York.
1742. Election and coronation of the Elector of Bavaria as Emperor Charles VII of Germany.
Silesia and Glatz ceded to Frederick the Great.
The French are expelled Bohemia.
1743. Second Bourbon Family Compact between the kings of France and Spain.
Great Britain supports the cause of Maria Theresa. Battle of Dettingen; victory of the English and Hanoverian army.
1744. War renewed with Austria by Frederick the Great; he invades Bohemia, captures Prague, but is forced to retreat.
Beginning of King George's War in America.
1745. Last Jacobite rebellion in Britain; Scotland rises for the Young Pretender, Charles Edward; Battle of Prestonpans; he is victorious and advances into England, but is compelled to retreat.
Capture of Louisburg by British-American colonists.
Death of Emperor Charles VII; Maximilian Joseph, his successor in Bavaria, makes peace with Maria Theresa. Battle of Fontenoy; victory of the French, under Marshal Saxe, over the allies under the Duke of Cumberland. Victories of the Prussians at Hohenfriedberg, Sohr, Hennersdorf, and Kesseldorf. Francis I, husband of Maria Theresa, elected to the imperial throne. Peace between Austria and Prussia.
Invention of the Leyden jar, named from the city where first used.
1746. Battle of Falkirk; victory of the Young Pretender; he is overthrown at the Battle of Culloden. See "Defeat of the Young Pretender at Culloden," [xiii], [117].
Conquest of the Austrian Netherlands by the French.
Madras, India, surrenders to the French.
Genoa surrenders to the Austrians; they are expelled by a popular rising.
1747. Naval victory of the English, off Cape Finisterre, under Anson and Warren, over the French. They suffer another defeat at the hand of Admiral Hawke at Belle-Isle. Battle of Rocourt; Marshal Saxe defeats the allies under the Duke of Cumberland, at Lawfeld. Russia supports the cause of Maria Theresa.
"Franklin Experiments with Electricity." See [xiii], [130].
1748. Marshal Saxe captures Maestricht; Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ending the War of the Austrian Succession.
Excavations begin at Pompeii.
Pompadour's ascendency over the French King.
Pondicherry successfully defended by Dupleix against the English under Boscawen and Lawrence.
1749. George II grants a charter to the Ohio Company.
1750. Bounties granted and a company formed in England to encourage the herring and cod fisheries.
1751. Clive begins his successful career in India.
1752. Change from the Old to the New (or Gregorian) style of calendar in England.
1753. Founding of the British Museum, due to the legacy of Sir Hans Sloane, who bequeaths his library, antiquities, and collection of natural curiosities for that purpose.
1754. Encroachments of the French in North America; Washington, colonel of a provincial regiment, sent from Virginia to drive them from the Ohio, is defeated and made prisoner.
King's College, now Columbia, founded at New York.
A congress of the American colonies at Albany; union discussed.
1755. Braddock defeated and slain near Fort Duquesne. See "Braddock's Defeat," [xiii], [163].
Great earthquake at Lisbon, Portugal, November 1st.
"Voltaire Directs European Thought." See [xiii], [144].
Dispersion of the French colonists of Acadia. See "Exile of the Acadian Neutrals," [xiii], 181.
1756. Treaty of Defence between England and Prussia. Treaty of alliance between France and Austria against Prussia. Beginning of the Seven Years' War. See "Seven Years' War," [xiii], [204].
Calcutta captured by Surajah Dowlah; he throws the English prisoners into the Black Hole. See "Clive Establishes British Supremacy in India," [xiii], [185].
Conquest of Minorca by the French from the English.
Fort Oswego, New York, captured by Montcalm's troops.
1757. Calcutta retaken by Watson and Clive. Capture by the English of the French fort Charlemagne, on the Ganges.
An army levied by the German Diet against Frederick the Great.[60] France and Sweden declare war against Prussia. Battle of Prague; the Austrians defeated by Frederick. His army beaten by the Austrians under Daun, at Kolin; a Russian army overruns East Prussia. The Duke of Cumberland defeated by the French at Hastenbeck. Defeat of the Prussian general Lehwald by the Russians. The French and Imperialists, under Soubise, defeated by Frederick at Rossbach. After occupying Silesia the Austrians are defeated at Leuthen.
Capture of Fort William Henry, at the south end of Lake George, by Montcalm.
Mission by Franklin to England in behalf of the Pennsylvanians.
1758. Expulsion of the French from Hanover, by Ferdinand of Brunswick. Frederick defeats the Russians at Zorndorf; Daun defeats him at Hochkirchen.
Arcot, India, taken by the French, who then besiege Madras.
Battle of Ticonderoga; victory of Montcalm over Abercrombie, July 8. Louisburg reduced and occupied by Amherst and Boscawen; loss to the French of forts Frontenac and Duquesne.
The French fleet is driven out of the Indian seas by the English admiral, Peacocke.
1759. Battle of Minden; defeat of the French by Ferdinand of Brunswick. Kunersdorf: overwhelming defeat of Frederick the Great by the Austrians and Russians. Boscawen, the English Admiral, defeats the French off Lagos; Admiral Hawke gains a naval victory over them, under Conflans, in Quiberon Bay. Fink, the Prussian General, surrenders at Maxen. Havre de Grace bombarded by Rodney, the British Admiral.
Quebec captured by the British under Wolfe. See "Conquest of Canada," [xiii], [229].
Opening of the British Museum.
Expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal by King John.
Guadelupe taken from the French by the English.
1760. George III succeeds to the English throne on the death of his grandfather, George II.
Montreal captured by the English; completion of the conquest of Canada.
Battles of Liegnitz, Torgau, and Warburg; Berlin occupied by Austrians and Russians.
Destructive eruption of Vesuvius, February 21st.
Battle of Wandiwash, India; the English defeat the French.
1761. Pitt resigns from the British ministry.
Third Family Compact of the Bourbons of France, Spain, Naples, and Parma.
Belle-Isle captured from the French by the English.
Pondicherry surrendered to the English by the French.
Otis, at Boston, speaks against the Writs of Assistance.
1762. Declaration of war against Spain by England; Havana conquered.
Martinique captured from the French by the English: restored the year following.
Death of Elizabeth, Empress of Russia; deposition and murder of her successor, Peter III; Catharine II usurps the throne. See "Usurpation of Catharine II in Russia," [xiii], [250].
1763. Peace of Paris, ending of the Seven Years' War: Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton ceded to England by France, and Florida by Spain; Louisiana to France by Spain.
Peace of Hubertsburg: Silesia confirmed to Frederick the Great.
Indians unsuccessfully besiege the English at Fort Detroit. See "Conspiracy of Pontiac," [xiii], [267].
1764. Catharine II secures the election of Stanislas Poniatowski as king of Poland.
Mason and Dixon begin the survey of the line determining the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
1765. Parliament passes the Stamp Act; formation of the Sons of Liberty; convening of the Stamp Act Congress. See "American Colonies Oppose the Stamp Act," [xiii], [289].
Formal ceding of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa by the Mogul Emperor to the English.
1766. Repeal of the Stamp Act by the British Parliament.
Hydrogen discovered by Henry Cavendish.
Protestants refused concessions by the Diet of Poland; Russia and Prussia intervene; first step toward the partition of Poland.
1767. Parliament imposes duties on imports into the American colonies.
Beginning of the war between the English and the rajah of Mysore, Hyder Ali.
Hargreaves invents the spinning-jenny for cotton-weaving.
1768. Elections in England; repeated expulsion and reëlection of Wilkes.
A military force stationed at Boston by the British; a circular-letter of Massachusetts to the other American colonies.
Corsica, in revolt, is ceded by Genoa to France.
Cook sails on his first voyage around the world.
James Bruce sets out on his expedition to discover the sources of the Nile.
Foundation of the Royal Academy, London; Sir Joshua Reynolds first president.
1769. "Watt Improves the Steam-engine." See [xiii], [302].
The Letters of Junius begin to appear.
Patent issued in England to Richard Arkwright for his roller-spinning "water-frame."
Daniel Boone migrates from North Carolina into Kentucky.
1770. Lord North's ministry succeeds that of Grafton in England; Burke introduces resolutions condemning the course adopted in America.
Boston Massacre, March 5.
Military and naval successes of the Russians against Turkey.
1771. Parliament concedes the freedom of reporting its proceedings.
Battle of the Alamance; insurrection of the North Carolina Regulators.
Russia conquers the Crimea.
1772. "First Partition of Poland." See [xiii], [313].
Appointment of Warren Hastings as president of the Supreme Council of Bengal.
A revenue cutter burned by the populace of Rhode Island while it was attempting to suppress smuggling.
Lord Mansfield, in the case of the negro Somerset, decides that a slave cannot be held in England.
The Watauga Association, from which grew the State of Tennessee, founded.
1773. "The Boston Tea Party." See [xiii], [333].
A pseudo Peter III, Pugatcheff, raises a rebellion against Catharine II of Russia.
1774. Passing by the British Parliament of the Boston Port Bill, closing the port; meeting of the first Continental Congress at Philadelphia, September 5th.
John Howard, the philanthropist, receives the thanks of Parliament for his attention to the condition of prisons.
"Cotton Manufacture Developed." See [xiii], [341].
Oxygen discovered by Joseph Priestley, England.
1775. "Intellectual Revolt of Germany." See [xiii], [347].
Outrages of the Whiteboys in Ireland.
Execution in Russia of Pugatcheff, pseudo Peter III.
Stereotype printing first attempted at Philadelphia by Benjamin Mecon, Franklin's nephew.