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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1754 | |
| 2 | 1759 | - 1759—1759: Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels
- 15 Jan 1759—15 Jan 1759: British Museum opens to the public in London
- 16 Oct 1759—16 Oct 1759: Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
|
| 3 | 1760 | - 1760—1760: Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland
- 5 May 1760—5 May 1760: First use of hangman's drop
- 25 Oct 1760—25 Oct 1760: George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king. The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called first Industrial Revolution'
|
| 4 | 1761 | - 16 Jan 1761—16 Jan 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
|
| 5 | 1762 | - 1762—1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
|
| 6 | 1763 | - 1763—1763: Treaty of Paris - gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain - (Newfoundland
[fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum]) - but English displaces French
as the international language
|
| 7 | 1764 | - 1764—1764: Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared
- 1764—1764: Practice of numbering houses introduced to London
- 1764—1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768)
- 1764—1764: Mozart produces his first symphony at age eight
|
| 8 | 1765 | - 1765—1765: The potato becomes the most popular food in Europe
- 22 Mar 1765—22 Mar 1765: Stamp Act passed - imposed a tax on publications and legal documents in the
American colonies (repealed the following year)
|
| 9 | 1766 | - 1766—1766: Start of 'composite' national records on rainfall in the UK
- 5 Dec 1766—5 Dec 1766: Christie's auction house founded in London by James Christie
|
| 10 | 1767 | - 1767—1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
|
| 11 | 1768 | - 9 Jan 1768—9 Jan 1768: Philip Astley starts his circus in London
- 6 Dec 1768—6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by
William Smellie
|
| 12 | 1769 | - 1769—1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
- 1769—1769: Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand
- 6 Sep 1769—6 Sep 1769: David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
|
| 13 | 1770 | - 1770—1770: Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major
thoroughfare for maritime communications
- 28 Apr 1770—28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims
Australia for Britain
|
| 14 | 1771 | - 1771—1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
|
| 15 | 1772 | - 1772—1772: First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company
- 1772—1772: Morning Post' first published (until 1937)
- 14 May 1772—14 May 1772: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
|
| 16 | 1774 | - 13 Sep 1774—13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
|
| 17 | 1775 | - 19 Apr 1775—19 Apr 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775- 1783)
- 19 Apr 1775—3 Sep 1783:
 American Revolutionary War
|
| 18 | 1776 | - 1776—1776: Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population
- 1776—1776: Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine
- 4 Jul 1776—4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence
- 7 Sep 1776—7 Sep 1776: First attack on a warship by a submarine - David Bushnell's ?Turtle' attacked
HMS Eagle in New York harbour. The attack was perhaps spectacular (a charge did
detonate beneath the ship) but was nevertheless unsuccessful. 'Turtle' was a one man
Affair man-powered [Les Moore]
|
| 19 | 1777 | - 1777—1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
|
| 20 | 1779 | - 1779—1779: Marc Isambard Brunel opens the first steamdriven sawmill at Chatham Dockyard in Kent
- 1779—1779: First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
- 1779—1779: First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland
- 14 Feb 1779—14 Feb 1779: Capt James Cook killed on Hawaii
- 23 Sep 1779—23 Sep 1779: Naval engagement between Britain and USA off Flamborough Head
|
| 21 | 1780 | - 1780—1780: Male Servants Tax
- 1780—1780: The English Reform Movement - until now, only landowners and tenants (freeholders
with 40 shillings per year or more) allowed to vote, and in open poll books
- 1780—1780: Fountain pen invented
- 1780—1780: About this time the word 'Quiz' entered the language, said to have been invented as a
wager by Mr Daly, a Dublin theatre manager
- 4 May 1780—4 May 1780: First Derby run at Epsom (some say 2nd June)
- 2 Jun 1780—2 Jun 1780: Jun 2- 8: The Gordon Riots - Parliament passes a Roman Catholic relief measure - for
days, London is at the mercy of a mob and destruction is widespread
|
1759 - 1780 (21 years) 
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The French and Indian War