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Britain's "Old Pretender" James Edward Stuart dies at Rome January 1 at age 77, having long since failed in his efforts to inherit the thrones of his late father, England's James II (Scotland's James VII).
Britain's prime minister Charles Watson-Wentworth, marquis of Rockingham, resigns in August. A new ministry headed by "The Great Commoner" William Pitt, earl of Chatham, will rule until December 1767.
Denmark's Frederik V dies at his native Copenhagen January 14 at age 42 after a 20-year reign. He is succeeded by his 16-year-old son, who marries Caroline Matilda, 15-year-old daughter of the Prince of Wales, and sinks into debauchery. Somewhat retarded, the new king will reign at least nominally until 1808 as Kristian VII, but Prussian-born physician Johann Friedrich Struensee, now 28, will gain power over the young king in 1768, make himself virtual dictator in the early 1770s, and implement reforms before being ousted and killed in 1772.
Field Marshal Leopold Jozef, graf von Daun, dies at his native Vienna February 5 at age 60, having reorganized the Austrian army and increased its troop strength.
Lorraine reverts to France upon the death of former Polish king Stanislaw Leszczynski at Lunéville February 23 at age 89.
Parliament repeals the Stamp Act passed last year to tax the American colonists, acting partly at the persuasion of Benjamin Franklin, who has been called before the House of Commons in February and given clear, precise answers to 174 questions with regard to relations between the crown and its colonies, but the Declaratory Act passed March 18 declares that the king—by and with the consent of Parliament—has authority to make laws and to bind the British colonies in all respects (see Townshend Acts, 1767).
Former French general Thomas-Arthur, comte de Lally, is beheaded at Paris May 9 at age 64 for having surrendered Pondicherry to the British 5 years ago.
Bengal's puppet nabob Najam-ud-Doula comes down with fever at a party given in his honor at Murshidabad as he prepares to leave for Lucknow (see 1765); he dies in May at age 16 and is succeeded by his brother, who will reign until his death in 1770 as Saif-ud-Din.
The Treaty of Oswego July 24 ends the Pontiac rebellion that began in 1763 (see 1764). Chief Pontiac attends the peace talks with General Sir William Johnson, now 51, and signs the treaty.
Virginia planter-miller George Washington ships an unruly slave off to the West Indies to be exchanged for a hogshead of rum and other commodities.
Massachusetts-born British Army captain Jonathan Carver, 56, travels westward from Mackinac on orders from Major Robert Rogers to explore Sioux territory up the Mississippi at the Falls of St. Anthony. Rogers has acted without authorization, and Carver will not be paid for his services (see 1767).
France abolishes internal free trade in grain (see 1774).
Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth by economist Jacques Turgot expresses his belief in free trade (see Adam Smith, 1776).
English engineer James Brindley, 50, begins construction of a Grand Trunk Canal to connect the Trent and Mersey rivers. He works without drawings or written calculations, but his canal will open a water route between the Irish Sea and North Sea.
Spinning machine builder John Wyatt dies at Birmingham, Warwickshire, November 29 at age 69, having worked in his later years at Matthew Boulton's foundry in Soho.
English chemist Henry Cavendish, 35, duplicates the process by which lightning in a thunderstorm produces nitrogen from the atmosphere to enrich soil. Cavendish passes electric sparks through a nitrogen-oxygen mixture, he produces nitrogen dioxide, and the NO2 yields nitric acid when dissolved in water (see technology [Glauber], 1648; Rutherford, 1772). The element nitrogen remains unknown, but the Cavendish experiment stimulates speculation on practical ways to enrich soils (see Wöhler, 1828; agriculture [Humboldt], 1802; technology [Haber], 1908).
British Zoology by Welsh naturalist and traveler Thomas Pennant, 40, establishes its author's reputation but loses money because it has been printed on paper that is too large (his future works will appear mostly in octavos or quartos).
The Theory of Parallel Lines (Die Theorie der Parallelinien) by mathematician-astronomer-physician-philosopher Johann H. Lambert is published at Berlin.
Physiologist Albrecht von Haller demonstrates that nerves rather than tissues are the channels of sensation and muscular stimulation (see Golgi, 1873).
Russia's Catherine II (the Great) grants freedom of worship (see 1783).
Rutgers University has its beginnings at New Brunswick in the New Jersey colony, where members of the Dutch Reformed Church found Queen's College (see 1825).
Nonfiction: Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau paraphrases Machiavelli with the line, "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed are kings"; "It is not hard to confess our criminal acts, but our ridiculous and shameful acts," writes Rousseau.
Fiction: The Vicar of Wakefield by poet-playwright Oliver Goldsmith (his only novel).
Painting: The Orrery by Joseph Wright; Queen Charlotte and the Two Eldest Princes by Johann Zoffany.
Christie's art auction house opens in London's Pall Mall to compete with the Sotheby firm founded in 1744 and makes its first sale December 5. Former naval officer James Christie, 36, sets up shop in the same premises that have been used by the Royal Academy of Arts to start a business that will continue for centuries. His son James will move the auction rooms to 8 King Street, St. James's Square, in 1823 and carry on the business until his death in 1831, becoming an expert on Etruscan and Greek vases. The firm will become Christie, Manson & Woods in 1859.
Theater: The Clandestine Marriage by actor-playwright David Garrick, now 48, and playwright George Colman, 34, 2/20 at London's Drury Lane Theatre, co-managed by Garrick since 1747.
Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 10, returns to his native Salzburg after having toured Paris and London with his father and sister. Young Wolfgang has performed on the harpsichord and composed violin sonatas and improvisations, beginning a career that he continues by studying counterpoint under the direction of his father, Leopold, 47, who is a violinist and composer in his own right.
London auctioneer Richard Tattersall, 42, orders a special pattern for his horse blankets. He has founded the Tattersall Horse Market, and the check-pattern design will be called the tattersall check.
Vienna's Prater Park opens with a 1,328-acre expanse of meadowland donated to the people by the young emperor Josef II, who serves as co-regent of Austria with his mother, Maria Theresa. The word prater comes from the Spanish prado, meaning "meadowland." Located on the island formed by the main stream of the Danube and its canal, the new park has bridle paths, a rowing lake, and other amenities.
Rust ruins the Italian wheat crop, food prices rise, and widespread hunger ensues.
"Let them eat cake" [if there is no bread], writes Jean Jacques Rousseau in his Confessions. Rousseau attributes the remark to "a great princess," but it will be widely ascribed in the 1780s and 1790s to the Viennese princess Marie Antoinette, now 11, who will become queen of France in 1774.
An English writer complains that "as much superfluous money is expended on tea and sugar as would maintain four million more subjects on bread."
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