1756

1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760

political events

French forces under the duc de Richelieu lay siege in May to the British fort of Mahón on the Balearic island of Minorca. The island falls in June.

The newly arrived commandant general of French forces in Canada takes Fort Oswego from the British August 14 (see 1755). Louis Joseph de Montcalm, 55, marquis de Saint-Véran, moves on to besiege Fort William Henry on Lake George (see 1757). Former commandant general of New France Roland-Michel Barrin, marquis de La Galissonnière, returned home in 1749 and dies at Montereau October 26 at age 62, having been made a rear admiral in 1750 and given command 2 years ago of a naval squadron charged with protecting French shipping from Barbary pirates. The British last year recruited Massachusetts-born farmer Robert Rogers, then 23, to help them fight the French and their Native American allies; Rogers organizes a force (Rogers' Rangers) whose members wear green outfits and observe a "plan of discipline" that requires each man to appear at roll-call every evening equipped with a firelock, 60 rounds of powder and ball, and a hatchet; to march in single file if the group's numbers are small, keeping at a distance to prevent one enemy shot from killing two men, but to march abreast over marshes or soft ground to keep from being tracked; to hold their fire when attacked until the enemy is very close, and so forth. Such tactics will enable the Rangers to score a notable success against the Abenaki St. Francis Indians who live midway between Montreal and Québec.

A Seven Years' War begins in Europe and will have repercussions worldwide, with land battles in North America and sea battles in the Mediterranean and off the coasts of Africa, India, and the Americas. Against the advice of his British allies, Prussia's Friedrich II (the Great) invades Saxony August 29, launching a pre-emptive strike after hearing that the Saxons have formed a coalition with Austria, France, Russia, and Sweden to destroy or cripple Prussian power. The Austrians have signed a treaty of alliance with France May 1, and French widows will blame the king's mistress, the marquise de Pompadour, now 34, for having allied France with Austria, but she has merely encouraged the alliance. Neither the Saxon or Austrian army is prepared for war, but hostilities begin October 1 with the Battle of Lobositz (Lovosice), pitting about 29,000 Prussians against an Austrian army of 34,500 under the command of Field Marshal George von Browne. The 30-year-old St. Petersburg-born Austrian officer Franz Moritz, Count Lacy, distinguishes himself in the battle and wins promotion to major general, but each side loses 2,900 men, both Friedrich and von Browne believe the other side has prevailed, and since the onset of cold weather makes it difficult to keep their horses fed both withdraw to winter quarters (see 1757).

The nabob of Bengal Alivardi Khan dies after a 16-year reign in which he has maintained relations with the European powers but has not permitted them to increase their military power. He is succeeded by his favorite grandson, who ascends the throne as Siraj-ud-Doula and immediately takes issue with the East India Company, which has begun fortifying Calcutta without permission. The city has come to rival Madras as a trading center, the nabob arrives June 16 after taking the British outpost at Cossimbazar May 24. the governor and most of his staff flee Fort William, they take refuge aboard ships in the harbor, the fort surrenders June 20 after only token resistance, and the nabob then sacks Calcutta, forcing 146 Britons who have not fled into the guard room of Fort William. The chamber measures only 18 feet by 14 feet 10 inches and has but two small windows for ventilation, and when the survivors are released the next morning (June 21) only 23 of the 146 remain alive. News of Calcutta's fall reaches Madras in August, reports of the "Black Hole of Calcutta" enrage British sentiment, the nabob moves on to Bihar, where his cousin Shaukat Jang has mounted a rebellion at Purnea, but it is not until October 16 that a relief expedition of 900 Europeans and 1,500 Indians sets out under the command of Robert Clive (see 1757; Clive, 1751).

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st duke of Newcastle, resigns as prime minister in late October following British setbacks in the early months of the war with France; he has served for 2½ years and is succeeded in November by William Cavendish, 36, 4th duke of Devonshire, but William Pitt, 49, is appointed secretary of state with most of the responsibilities of prime minister, including that of managing the war effort (see 1757).

science

Chemist Joseph Black shows that fixed air (carbon dioxide) is consistently distinguishable from normal air.

Dresden physician-geologist Johann Gottlob Lehmann, 37, publishes the first geologic profile, giving an explanation of the origin of mineral deposits in specific rock strata (see Steno, 1669; Strachey, 1727; Haüy, 1774; Smith, 1793; Hutton, 1795).

Astronomer Jacques Cassini dies at Thury April 18 at age 79.

education

Nassau Hall is completed at Princeton for the 10-year-old College of New Jersey, whose administrators move it from Newark to Princeton. The plain stone building rises four stories in height (see 1777).

literature

Nonfiction: A Vindication of Natural Society . . . by Dublin-born London political thinker Edmund Burke, 27, is published anonymously. Written in a satirical imitation of the style used by Viscount Bolingbroke, it mocks the destructive criticism of revealed religion and the "return to nature" vogue; History of England by novelist Tobias Smollett. "My dear Smollett . . . disgraces his talent by writing those stupid romances commonly called history," Lady Mary Wortley Montagu will write October 8, 1758, in a letter to the Countess of Bute.

art

Painting: The Ascension by William Hogarth.

theater, film

Theater: Alexander and the Rival Queens by Nathaniel Lee 1/15 at London's Covent Garden with Peg Woffington and actress George Anne Bellamy, now 28, as the queen of Babylon and the daughter of Darius, respectively. The two leading ladies squabble in the Green-room; Douglas by Scottish clergyman-playwright John Home, 34, opens at Edinburgh. The Church sends him a summons, he ignores it, and his play will be produced at London next year to great acclaim.

music

Dancer-choreographer Marie Sallé dies at Paris July 27 at age 49, having retired from the Opéra in 1740 and from performing altogether in 1752.

architecture, real estate

Philadelphia's Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) is completed to designs by Edmond Wolley and Andrew Hamilton (see Liberty Bell, 1752).

agriculture

Ireland's potato crop fails as it did in the early 1740s and will do again next year—and again in 1765, 1766, and 1769—causing widespread distress each time (see 1784).

food and drink

The Manufacture de Vincennes porcelain works moves to Sèvres, halfway between Paris and Versailles, on property donated by Louis XV's mistress, the marquise de Pompadour, and is renamed (see 1753). But Sèvres porcelain is soft-paste (Pa Tendere) porcelain of the kind produced by the Medicis in Florence since the end of the 16th century.

Mayonnaise is invented according to some accounts by the duc de Richelieu, whose invention, originally called Mahonnaise, takes its name from the fort that falls to the French in June. A bon vivant who sometimes invites his guests to dine in the nude, the duke has allegedly taken the yolks of two eggs, 200 grams of olive oil, half a lemon, and a little salt and pepper. (By other accounts, the word mayonnaise will be derived from the word moyeu, sometimes used for the yolk of an egg, and will not appear until the 19th century.)

population

The Virginia colony's population reaches 250,000; more than 40 percent are slaves, up from 24 percent in 1715.

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