istoryworld
Events relating to europe
The tsarevitch Alexis, heir to Peter the Great, dies from violence inflicted on him in prison
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, with its detailed realism, can be seen as the first English novel
The lighter rococo style, beginning in France, becomes an extension of the baroque
The postchaise, introduced in France, provides the first chance of reasonably comfortable travel by land
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
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
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
Easter Island is reached by the Dutch, beginning a spate of European discovery in the islands of the Pacific
The Austrian emperor, Charles VI, agrees that Hungary shall be ruled as a separate kingdom within his empire
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
Jonathan Swift launches his hero on a series of bitterly satirical adventures in Gulliver's Travels
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
John and Charles Wesley form a Holy Club at Oxford which becomes the cradle of Methodism
English maker of telescopes John Hadley designs the instrument which evolves into the standard sextant used at sea
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
