istoryworld
Events relating to europe
By the time of his death the prolific output of Domenico Scarlatti includes 555 sonatas, all but a few for his own instrument, the harpsichord
Robert Clive defeats the nawab of Bengal at the battle of Plassey, and places his own man on the throne
William Pitt the Elder becomes secretary of state and transforms the British war effort against France in America
English painter Joseph Wright sets up a studio in his home town, Derby
Joshua Reynolds, by now the most fashionable portrait painter in London, copes with as many as 150 sitters in a year
A comet returns exactly at the time predicted by English astronomer Edmond Halley, and is subsequently known by his name
Liverpool-born artist George Stubbs sets up in London as a painter, above all, of people and horses
Portrait-painter Thomas Gainsborough moves from Suffolk to set up a studio in fashionable Bath
Voltaire publishes Candide, a satire on optimism prompted by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755
The Portuguese expel the Jesuits from Brazil, beginning a widespread reaction against the order in Catholic Europe
Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood sets up a factory of his own in his home town of Burslem
Laurence Sterne publishes the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy, beginning with the scene at the hero's conception
A succession of victories cause 1759 to be known in Britain as annus mirabilis, the wonderful year
German painter Johann Zoffany moves to England to find work as a painter of conversation pieces and portraits
On the death of his grandfather, George II, George III becomes king of Great Britain
Scottish chemist and physicist Joseph Black observes the latent heat in melting ice
John Harrison's fourth chronometer is only five seconds out at the end of a test journey from England to Jamaica
Italian anatomist Giovanni Battista Morgagni publishes De Sedibus, the work that introduces scientific pathology
Johann Sebastian Bach's youngest son, Johann Christian, moves to London and becomes known as the English Bach
Two books in this year, Émile and Du Contrat Social, prompt orders for the arrest of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Fingal, supposedly by the medieval Celtic poet Ossian, has a huge and fashionable success but is revealed to be a forgery by James Macpherson
A treaty signed in Paris ends the Seven Years' War between Britain, France and Spain
In the treaty of Paris France cedes to Britain all its territory north of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi river, except the district of New Orleans
In the treaty of Paris, Spain cedes Florida to Britain, completing British possession of the entire east coast of north America
English journalist John Wilkes is arrested for publishing seditious libel in issue no 45 of his weekly magazine The North Briton
