istoryworld
All Events
American artist Benjamin West settles in London, where he becomes famous for his large-scale history scenes
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
Britain passes the Stamp Act, taxing legal documents and newspapers in the American colonies
The first mention of brewing in Mortlake describes two small adjacent breweries, in separate ownership, occupying between them about two acres
American campaigners against the Stamp Act organize themselves as the Sons of Liberty in Massachusetts and New York
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
George Gostling buys Whitton Park, converts the greenhouse to a mansion and divides the estate, selling or leasing Whitton Place.
Lady Suffolk dies and the Marble Hill estate passes to her nephew the Earl of Buckinghamshire. He lives occasionally in the house but also rents it out.
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
Corsica is sold to France by the republic of Genoa
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
