istoryworld
Events relating to europe
Tartan and Highland dress are banned by the British government, in a prohibition not lifted until 1782
Monsieur Passemont constructs in Paris a millennium clock which can record the date in any year up to AD 9999
The French commander Maurice de Saxe succeeds in occupying the entire Austrian Netherlands
Samuel Richardson's Clarissa begins the correspondence which grows into the longest novel in the English language
Systematic digging begins near Vesuvius, in an area where ancient fragments are often unearthed - soon discovered to be Pompeii
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
Horace Walpole begins to create his own Strawberry Hill, a neo-Gothic fantasy, on the banks of the Thames west of London
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
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 Capablity Brown
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
French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard wins the cherished Prix de Rome at the age of 20
Scottish chemist Joseph Black identifies the existence of a gas, carbon dioxide, which he calls 'fixed air'
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
Samuel Johnson publishes his magisterial Dictionary of the English Language
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
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
