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Maurice Quentin de la Tour
(1704 - 1788)

1704

DL : Earliest subscription library in Berlin
ST : Isaac Newton: Optics, defence of the theory of light
ST : John Harris : Lexicon technicum, encyclopaedia of the sciences
ED : Dictionnaire de Trévoux, of terms used in arts and sciences, published by the Jesuits at Trévoux
PH : Augustus II of Poland deposed, Stanislas Leszczynski elected King Stanislas I
M : Marc-Antoine Charpentier dies 24 February
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour born 5 September

1705

PH : Turkish Authority overthrown in Tunis
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, for organ
ST : Royal Observatory, Berlin, founded
LT : His Majesty's Theatre opens in London
ST : Edmund Halley correctly predicts the return in 1758 of the comet seen in 1682
PH : The Emperor Leopold I dies; succeeded by his eldest son, Joseph I
VA : Charles-André van Loo born 15 February

1706

M : Tomaso Albinoni : Opera, Griselda
ST : Olous Römer's catalogue of astronomical observations
RP : Mathew Tindal: Rights of the Christian Church
PH : Peace of Altrandstadt: Augustus renouces Polish throne, recognises King Stanislas I
M : Johann Pachelbel dies 7 March

1707

PH : Act of Union, Scotland and England become one country
PH : Death of Aurangzeb leads to the disintegration of the Mughal Empire
M : Great German organ builder Gottfried Silbermann builds first organ at Frauenstein, Saxony
ED : Edward Lhuyd: Archeologica Britannica, on Celtic language
RP : Isaac Watts: Hymns and Spiritual Songs
PH : Aurangzeb, Mogul Emperor of Hindustan dies; succeeded by Bahadur Shah
PH : "Perpetual Alliance" signed between Prussia and Sweden
PH : King Peter II of Portugal dies; succeeded by John V
M : Dietrich Buxtehude dies 9 May

1708

M : Tomaso Albinoni : Opera, Vespetta e Pimpione
ED : Professorship of poetry founded at Oxford University
RP : Jeremy Collier: The Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain
ED : Bernard de Montfaucon: Paleographia Graeca
LT : First German theatre opens in Vienna
DL : British East India Company and New East India Company merged
PH : Peter the Great divides Russia into eight government districts to ease administration
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni born 25 January

1709

LT : Alexander Pope: Pastorals
M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Agrippina
DL : First Russian prisoners sent to Siberia
DL : First Copyright Act in Britain
M : Invention of the pianoforte
RP : John Strype: Annals of the Reformation
PH : Ienobe becomes Shogun in Japan
PH : 14,000 inhabitants of the Palatinate emigrate to North America
PH : Peace negotiations at The Hague

1710

RP : George Berkeley: A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
LT : The Examiner, literary periodical, issued for first time
VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes : Still Life with Dog and Game
VA : Sir James Thornhill : The Apotheosis of Romulus
RP : William King: An Historical Account of the Heathen Gods and Heroes
RP : Leibniz: Théodicée (God Created the best of all possible worlds)
RP : Cotton Mather: Essays to Do Good
DL : English South Sea Company founded
VA : Jakob Christoph Le Blon invents three-colour printing
DL : Porcelain factory at Meissen, Saxony, founded

1711

LT : Alexander Pope: An Essay on Criticism
VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes : Still Life with Dead Hare and Fruit
VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes : Still Life (Summer)
PH : War between Russia and Turkey
PH : Joseph I dies is ultimately succeeded by his brother Charles VI, father of Maria Theresa
RP : Francis Atterbury: Representation of the State of Religion
ED : Berlin Academy started
RP : Anthony Ashley Cooper: Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times
ED : Thomas Maddox: The History of Antiquities of the Exchequer
RP : William Whiston: Primitive Christianity Revived
VA : London Academy of Arts established under Geoffrey Kneller
M : Clarinet for first time in an orchestra (in J.A.Hasse's opera Croesus)
M : Tuning fork invented (supposedly by John Shore)

1712

ST : The First Industrial Revolution begins when Newcomen's Steam Engine is installed at the Dudley Castle Coal Mine
LT : Alexander Pope: early version of The Rape of the Lock
PH : Peace congress opens at Utrecht
PH : Treaty of Aarau ends Swiss war
PH : War of Succession between Shah Bahadur's four sons in India
ED : Jonathan Swift: A Proposal for Correcting the English Language
ED : Académie des sciences, belles lettres et arts, Bordeaux, founded
ED : Biblioteca nacional, Madrid, founded
ST : Cotton Mather begins his Curiosa Americana
RP : Last execution for witchraft in England
DL : Slave revolts in New York
VA : Francesco Guardi born 5 October

1713

PH : The Pragmactic Sanction by Charles VI, allowing Maria Theresa to become the Monarch of Austria
DL : Asentio Treaty signed by Britain and Spain. This treaty begins the most active period of the British slave trade
DL : King Friedrich I dies and his son Friedrich Wilhelm becomes King of Prussia
LT : Alexander Pope: Windsor Forest
M : François Couperin : Pièces de Clavecin Book I
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Canata No.208 ('Where Sheep May Safely Graze)
PH : King Frederick I of Prussia dies; succeeded by Frederick William I
PH : Peace of Adrianople between Turkey and Russia
PH : Pragmatic Sanction issued by the Emperor Charles VI states female right of succession in Hapsburg domains
PH : An infant, Ietsugu, becomes Shogun of Japan
LT : Scriblerus Club founded in London by Swift, Pope, Congreve, and others
RP : Arthur Collier: Clavis Universalis, or A New Inquiry After Truth
RP : Fénelon: Traité de l'existence et des attributs de Dieu
RP : Abbé Saint Pierre: Projet pour la paix perpétuelle
ED : Spanish Royal Academy, Madrid, founded
M : School of Dance established at Paris Opéra
ST : Board of Longitude in England
ST : Roger Cotes revises Newton's Principia
DL : Pigtails introduced in Prussian Army
PH : 11 April - The Treaty of Utrecht ends Queen Anne's War
VA : Allan Ramsay born 13 October

1714

PH : George I of Hanover became King of England
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Little Organ Book
PH : Peace of Rastatt between France and the Holy Roman Empire
PH : Queen Anne of England dies; succeeded by George Louis, elector of Hanover, as King George I
PH : Peace of Baden: France keeps Strasbourg and Alsace
RP : Gottfried Arnold: Unpartheyische Kirchen-und Ketzer-Historie
ED : Worcester College, Oxford, founded
ST : D.G. Fahrenheit constructs mercury thermometer with temperature scale
RP : Witch trials abolished in Prussia
M : C.P.E. Bach born 8 March
VA : Richard Wilson born 1 August
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet born 14 August

1715

PH : The First Jacobite uprising
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau born
M : François Couperin : Concerts Royaux
M : François Couperin : Trois Leçons de ténèbres pour le Mercredi Saint for voice and basso continuo motets for voice and instruments, "dans le style de Charpentier"
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : Jupiter & Antiope
PH : First Parliament of George I opens
PH : Louis XIV of France dies; succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV (age 5)
PH : Jacobite rebellion in Scotland
PH : Mir Abdullah becomes ruler in Kandahar
RP : Isaac Watts: Divine Songs for Children
VA : Early beginnings of rococo
LT : Vaudevilles, popular musical comedies, appear in Paris
ST : British mathematician Brook Taylor invents the calculus of finite differences
VA : English painter and architect William Kent "frees the English garden from formality"

1716

VA : Joseph Marie Vien born
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : Portrait of Pater
PH : The Emperor Charles VI declares war on Turkey
PH : Treaty of Westminster between England and the Emperor
PH : Yoshimune becomes Shogun of Japan
RP : Christian religious teaching prohibited in China
M : Couperin: L'Art de toucher le clavecin
DL : Scot. economist John Law establishes the Banque générale in France
DL : Royal Regiment of Artillary founded

1717

LT : Alexander Pope: Collected works
M : François Couperin : Pièces de Clavecin Book II
M : George Frideric Handel : Chandos Anthems
M : George Frideric Handel : Instrumental, Water Music
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : L'Assemblée dans un parc
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of Peter I
PH : Mongols occupy Lhasa
RP : Cardinal de Retz: Mémoires (posth.)
ST : Inoculation against smallpox introduced in England
DL : Mother Grand Lodge of Freemasons established in London
DL : School attendance in Prussia made compulsory
M : Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz born 19 June

1718

VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : Mezzetin
M : Alessandro Scarlatti : Opera, Il trionfo dell'onore ovvero Il dissoluto pentito
M : George Frideric Handel : Pastoral Opera, Acis and Galatea
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : Pilgrims Leaving
the Isle of Cythera
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : Gilles as Pierrot
VA : Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini : Apollo
PH : Peter the Great has his son and heir, Alexis, murdered
PH : Peace of Passarowitz ends war between the Empire and Turkey
PH : Quadruple Alliance signed by France, the Empire, England, and Holland
PH : England declares war on Spain
ED : Accademia dei Scienze, Lettere, ed Arti founded at Palermo
ED : Philibert-Joseph Le Roux: Dictionnaire comique, satryique, critque, burlesque, libre, et proverbial
ED : London Society of Antiquaries founded
ST : English inventor Sir Thomas Lombe patents machine which makes thrown silk
ED : Collegiate School of America transfers to new site in New Haven, and is renamed Yale University
DL : First bank notes in England

1719

PH : France declares war on Spain
PH : Liechtenstein becomes independent principalilty
PH : Peace of Stockholm between Sweden and Hanover
PH : Ireland declared inseparable from England
PH : Mohammed Shah, grandson of Bahadur Shah, becomes the Great Mogul
RP : Jesuits expelled from Russia
M : Dimitrie Cantemir writes first book on Turkish music, Tratat de musica Turcéasea
DL : The Boston Gazette founded
DL : Oriental Company founded in Vienna to trade in the East
DL : Westminster Hospital, London, founded
DL : First cricket match: "Londoners" vs. "Kentish Men"

1720

VA : Nicolas Lancret : Fete in a Wood
M : George Frideric Handel : Harpsichord Suite No.5
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : A Halt During the Chase
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : Italian Comedians
PH : Treaty of Stockholm between Sweden and Prussia
PH : Ulrica, Queen of Sweden, abdicates; succeeded by her husband Frederick, Prince of Hesse-Cassel
PH : Treaty of Fredericksborg between Sweden and Denmark
DL : "South Sea Bubble", English speculation craze, bursts
PH : Pragmatic Sanction recognised by estates of Upper and Lower Austria
PH : Tibet becomes a Chinese protectorate
LT : Old Haymarket theatre opens in London
LT : First serialisation of novels in newspapers
ED : Bernard de Montfaucon: L'Antiquité expliquée
DL : Palatinate court moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim
DL : Wallpapers becomes fashionable in England
DL : First yacht club established at Cork Harbour, Ireland
VA : Bernardo Bellotto born 30 January
VA : Giovanni Battista Piranesi born 4 October

1721

PH : Treaty of Nystad signed by Russia and Sweden, ends the Great Northern War
ST : Dutch Navigator Jacob Roggeveen discovers Samoa and Easter Island
M : Alessandro Scarlatti : Opera, La Griselda
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Brandenburg Concertos
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau : L'Enseigne de Gersaint
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Still life with Fruit
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Dead Wolf
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Dead Roe
PH : Peter I proclaimed Emperor of All the Russians
PH : China suppresses Formosa revolt
ED : Nathaniel Bailey: An Universal Etymologycal English dictionary
RP : Michele Angelo Conti elected Pope Innocent XIII in succession to Pope Clement XI
ED : Johann Theodor Jablonski of Danzig publishes his Allgemeines Lexikon, first short encyclopaedia
DL : Swiss immigrants introduced rifles into America
VA : Jean-Antoine Watteau dies 18 July

1722

M : François Couperin : Pièces de Clavecin Book III
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Well-Tempered Clavier, first book
M : Tomaso Albinoni : 12 Concertos
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Allegory of Europe
PH : Mir Mahmud conquers Afghanistan and becomes Shah
DL : Austrian East India Company founded
PH : With Shih Tsung the Yung Cheng dynasty accedes in China
PH : Hernhut founded as Moravian settlement in Saxony by Count Zinzendorf
VA : James Gibbs builds St. Martin-in-the-fields, London
M : Hohann Metheson: Critica Musica, on musical criticism
M : Rameau: Traité de l'harmonie
DL : British Parliament forbids journalists to report debates
DL : Workhouse Test Act for care of poor
VA : Antoine Coypel dies 7 January

1723

VA : Gavin Hamilton born
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Cantata No.147 (including 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring')
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : St. John Passion
VA : François Le Moyne : Perseus and Andromeda
VA : François Le Moyne : Hunting Picnic
VA : Jean-François de Troy : The Alarm
PH : Louis XV attains majority
PH : Treaty of Charlottenburg between England and Prussia
PH : Prussia establishes a ministry of war, finance, and domains
ED : T'u Shu Chi Ch'eng, Chinese encyclopaedia
ED : Lodovico Antonio Muratori: Rerum italicarum scriptores, collection of medieval historical material
VA : Sir Joshua Reynolds born 16 July

1724

M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Giulio Cesare in Egitto ('Julius Caesar in Egypt')
VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes : Dog Guarding Game near a Rosebush
VA : Nicolas Lancret : The Seat of Justice in
the Parliament of Paris
VA : François Le Moyne : Hercules and Omphale
VA : François Le Moyne : Bather
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Still Life with a Monkey, Fruit and Flowers
PH : Philip V of Spain abdicates; his successor Luis I dies, Philip King again
PH : Czar Peter the Great crowns his wife, Catherine, Czarina
LT : Longman's the oldest English publishing house still extant, founded
ED : John Oldmixon: A Critical History of England
ED : Professorships of modern history and languages founded at Oxford and Cambridge
M : Three Choirs Festival founded for Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester
ED : Daniel Defoe: A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain
DL : Gin drinking becomes popular in Great Britain
DL : Paris Bourse opens
VA : George Stubbs born 24 August

1725

PH : Peter the Great, King of Russia dies
PH : Peter the Great of Russia dies; succeeded by his wife Catherine
PH : Treaty of Vienna guarantees the Pragmatic Sanction
PH : Louis XV of France marries Maria Leszczynska of Poland
PH : Ashraf, Shah of Afghanistan, succeeds Mahmud in Persia
RP : Frances Hutcheson: An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue
M : J.J.Fux: Gradus ad Parnassum, treatise on counterpoint
M : First public concert given in Paris
M : Prague opera house (Standetheater) founded
ST : Guillaume Delisle "Map of Europe"
ED : St. Petersburg Academy of Science founded by Catherine I
DL : George I revives Military Order of the Bath
DL : The New York Gazette issued
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze born 21 August
M : Alessandro Scarlatti dies 22 October

1726

M : François Couperin : Les Nations 4 grand Sonatas
VA : François Le Moyne : The Continence of Scipio
VA : Jean-François de Troy : Diana at Rest
PH : Alliances between Empire and Russia against Turkey
RP : St. John of the Cross canonised
RP : Johann Lorenz von Mosheim: Institutiones historiae ecclesiasticae
DL : First circulating library established by Allan Ramsay in Edinburgh

1727

M : George Frideric Handel : Coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : St. Mathew Passion
PH : Catherine, Russian Czarina, dies; Peter II becomes Czar
RP : American Philosophical Society founded in Philadelphia
RP : John Balguy: The Foundation of Moral Goodness
ST : Stephen Hales: Vegetable Staticks
ST : Coffee first planted in Brazil
DL : Miscellanies, satirical periodical issued by Pope, Swift, and Dr. Arbuthnot
DL : Quakers demand abolition of slavery
VA : Thomas Gainsborough born 14 May

1728

ST : Danish Navigator Vitus Bering explores the Bering Straits
LT : Alexander Pope: The Dunciad
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin : The Ray
PH : Treaty of Berlin between the Emperor Charles VI and Frederick William of Prussia
ED : Ephraim Chambers: Cyclopaedia, or An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences
RP : William Law: A Serious Call to Devout and Holy Life
RP : Jonathan Swift: A Short View of the State of Ireland
ST : Dutch explorer Vitus Behring discovers Behring Strait
ST : James Bradley discovers aberration of light of fixed stars
DL : Madrid Lodge of Freemasons founded; soon suppressed by Inquisition
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs born 22 March

1729

PH : Cathrine II is born
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Suite No.3 in D (including 'Air on the G String')
VA : Charles-André van Loo : Aeneas Carrying Anchises
VA : François Le Moyne : Pygmalion Seeing His Statue Come to Life
PH : Treaty of Seville between France, Spain, and England
RP : Thomas Sherlock: A Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus
ED : Academia de buenas letras, Barcelona, founded
DL : The Emperor Yung Cheng prohibits opium smoking in China

1730

PH : Maratha government in India
M : François Couperin : Pièces de Clavecin Book IV
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Louis XV Hunting Stag in the Forest of Saint-Germain
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater : Young Girls Bathing
VA : Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini : Allegory of Sculpture
VA : Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini : Allegory of Painting
PH : Czar Peter of Russia dies; succeeded by Anne, daughter of Czar Ivan V
PH : Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia imprisoned by his father
PH : Sultan Ahmad XII of Turkey deposed; succeeded by Mahmoud I
PH : Frederick IV of Denmark dies; succeeded by Christian VI
PH : Ashraf, Shah of Persia, murdered
RP : Pope Benedict XIII dies; Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini becomes Pope Clement XII
RP : Mathew Tindal: Christianity as Old as the Creation
RP : John and Charles Wesley found Methodist sect at Oxford
ED : Martin Wright: Introduction to the Law of Tenures, on English land law
DL : Edinburgh Royal Infirmary founded
DL : Reduction of slavery in China under the Emperor Yung Cheng

1731

PH : The infamous Rebecca Incident near Havanna Cuba sets the stage for the War of Jenkin's Ear
LT : Alexander Pope: Moral Essays
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Magnificat in D Major
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin : A "Lean Diet" with Cooking Utensils
PH : Treaty of Vienna between England, Holland, Spain, and the Holy Roman Emperor
PH : Russia, Prussia, and the emperor agree to oppose Stanislas I in Poland
RP : Ralph Cudworth: Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality
RP : Mass expulsion of Protestants from Salzburg
ED : Voltaire: Histoire de Charles XII
ST : Dr John Arbuthnot: An Essay Concerning the Nature of Ailments, advocates dieting
DL : 10 Downing Street, Westminster, London residence of British prime ministers, built

1732

LT : Poor Richards Almanac first appears in print
VA : Giambattista Tiepolo : The Education
of the Virgin Mary
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : The Basin of San Marco
RP : Conrad Beissel founds Seventh Day Baptists (Ephrata Community) in Germantown, Pa
RP : George Berkeley: The Minute Philosopher
RP : The Moravian Brethren start missionary work
ED : J.J.Moser: Foundations of International Law
M : Academie of Ancient Music founded in London
M : Covent Garden Opera House, London, opened
M : J.G. Walther: Musik-Lexikon, first of its kind
ST : Hermann Boerhaave: Elements of Chemistry
DL : Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard's Almanack issued
M : Joseph Haydn born 1 April
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard born 5 April

1733

VA : Giambattista Tiepolo : The Banquet of Cleopatra
PH : The War of the Polish Succession
LT : Alexander Pope: Imitations of Horace
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater : The Fair at Bezons
VA : Jean-François de Troy : Allegory of Music
PH : War of Polish Succession begins
PH : France declares war against Emperor Charles VI
RP : Alexander Pope: Essay on Man
DL : Latin language abolished in English courts
DL : The Serpentine, Hyde Park, laid out
VA : Hubert Robert born 22 May
M : François Couperin dies 12 September

1734

VA : Giambattista Tiepolo : The Triumph of
Zephyr and Flora
LT : Alexander Pope: Essay on Man
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Coffeehouse Canatas
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Christmas Oratorio
PH : War breaks out between Turkey and Persia
PH : Anglo-Russian trade agreement
RP : Mme de Lambert, in her Avis d'une Mère à sa Fille, recommends university education for women
ED : University of Göttingen founded by King George I
RP : The Koran translated into English by George Sale
VA : Sir James Thornhill dies 13 May
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby born 3 September
VA : George Romney born 15 December

1735

VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : Piazza San Marco
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Italian Concerto
VA : Jean-François de Troy : The Lunch of Oysters
PH : End of the Turko-Persian war
M : Imperial ballet school at St. Petersburg
ST : Linnaeus: Systema naturae
ST : French scientist Benoît de Maillet: Telliamed, evolutionary hypothesis
DL : The Boston Evening Post issued
DL : Royal Burgess Golfing Society, Edinburgh, founded

1736

PH : Russia and Austria at war with Turkey (ends 1739)
PH : Chi'en Lung becomes Emperor of China
VA : William Hogarth : The Pool of Bethesda
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater : The Chinese Hunt
PH : Stanislas I abdicates as King of Poland
PH : Theodor von Neuhof elected King of Corsica
PH : Chi-en Lung becomes Emperor of China
PH : War between Russia and Turkey
RP : Joseph Butler: Analogy of Religion
RP : English statutes against witchcraft repealed
RP : Pope Clement XII condemns Freemasonry
RP : William Warburton: The Alliance between Church and State
DL : Manufacture of glass begins in Venice at Murano
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater dies 25 July

1737

M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Berenice including famous 'Minuet'
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : The Triumph of Venice
VA : Charles-André van Loo : The Grand Turk Giving a
Concert to his Mistress
VA : Charles-André van Loo : Halt During the Hunt
VA : François Le Moyne : Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy
VA : Jean-François de Troy : A Hunting Meal
PH : Last of the Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, dies; Francis, Duke of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa, receives Tuscany; Stanislas of Poland acquires Lorraine
LT : Licensing Act restricts number of London theatres, and all plays before public performance to be subjected to censorship of Lord Chamberlain
LT : Ignacio de Luzán Claramunt de Suelves y Gurrea: Poética, laying down classic rules in Spanish literary composition
RP : Alexander Cruden: Concordance of the Holy Scripture
RP : Vincent de Paul canonised by Pope Clement XII
RP : Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: The Nonsense of Common Sense
ED : William Oldys: The British Librarian
RP : John Wesley: Psalms and Hymns, published in Charleston
ST : René de Réaumur: History of the Insects
VA : François Le Moyne dies 4 June

1738

VA : William Hogarth : Lord Hervey and his friends
PH : Treaty of Vienna Closes the War of Polish Succession between France and Austria. Lorraine guaranteed to France
M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Serse (Xerxes), including 'Largo'
VA : Nicolas Lancret : The Marriage Contract
VA : Nicolas Lancret : Summer
VA : Nicolas Lancret : Winter
DL : Papal bull "In eminenti" against Freemasonry
ED : Lodovico Antonnio Muratori: Antiquites Italicae
ST : Daniel Bernoilli: Hydrodynamica, pressure and velocity of fluids
DL : First cuckoo clocks in Black Forest district
VA : Benjamin West born 10 October

1739

RP : The Methodist Church founded by John Wesley
PH : War of Jenkins Ear begins
PH : Nadir Shah sacks Delhi
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Saul including 'Dead March'
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Israel in Egypt
VA : François Boucher : Morning Coffee
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Louis, Grand Dauphin of France
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of Louis Tocque
PH : Sack of Delhi by Persians under Nadir Shah
RP : Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia: Anti-Machiavell, against Machiavelli's philosophy of monarchy
RP : David Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature
RP : Moravian Church founded in America by Spengenberg
ST : American astronomer John Winthrop published his Notes on Sunspots
DL : Foundling Hospital established in London

1740

VA : William Hogarth : The Shrimp Girl
PH : War of the Austrian Succession
VA : François Boucher : The Toilet of Venus
M : George Frideric Handel : 12 Concerti Grossi
M : Tomaso Albinoni : 6 Violin Sonatas
VA : William Hogarth : Captain Coram
VA : Giovanni Batista Piazetta : A Boy Holding a Pear
VA : Giovanni Batista Piazetta : The Soothsayer
VA : Louis Tocqué : Marie Leczinska, Queen of France
PH : Frederick William I of Prussia dies; succeeded by his son Frederick II, the Great
PH : Charles VI dies; succeeded by his daughter Maria Theresa
PH : Anne, daughter of Peter the Great dies; succeeded by Czar Ivan VI
RP : Pope Clement XII dies; succeeded by Cardinal Prospero Lambertini as Pope Benedict XIV
ST : Louis Castel: Optique des colours
ED : University of Pennsylvania founded
ED : Berlin Academy of Science founded by Frederick the Great
DL : Frederick the Great introduces freedom of press and freedom of worship in Prussia
DL : Smallpox epidemic in Berlin
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Portrait of a Boy with a Book
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : Bacchanal
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : The Rape of Europa

1741

VA : Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini dies
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Messiah
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Goldberg Variations
VA : François Boucher : Leda & the Swan
PH : Maria Theresa accepts crown of Hungary
PH : Czar Ivan VI deposed and imprisoned; Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, becomes Czarina
LT : Thomas Betterton: A History of the English Stage
LT : Founding of Burgtheater, Vienna
RP : Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, sermon delivered at Enfield, Mass.
RP : David Hume: Essays, Moral and Political
ST : Botanical Garden, Upsala, founded by Linnaeus
DL : Highway Act in England to improve roads
ED : Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England, opened
VA : Henry Fuseli born 7 February
M : Antonio Vivaldi dies 28 July

1742

PH : Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, elected and crowned emperor as Charles VII
PH : Peace of Berlin ends First Silesian War
RP : Etienne Fourmont: Grammatica Sinaica
ED : Charles Viner: Legal Encyclopaedia
ST : Swiss astronomer Anders Celsius invents centigrade thermometer
M : C.P.E. Bach : Prussian Sonatas
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Well-Tempered Clavier, second book
VA : William Hogarth : The Graham Children
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Marie Adelaide of France as Flora

1743

VA : William Hogarth : Characters and Caricaturas
PH : Maria Theresa crowned at Prague
PH : Alliance between Austria and Saxony
RP : Pogroms in Russia
ST : French geographer Jean d'Anville "Map of Italy"
ED : University of Erlangen, Germany, founded
M : Luigi Boccherini born 19 February
VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes dies 20 April
LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld born 20 June
VA : Nicolas Lancret dies 14 September

1744

PH : King George's War (ends 1748) American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession    GO !
M : C.P.E. Bach : Württemberg Sonatas
M : George Frideric Handel : Opera, Semele
VA : Pietro Longhi : The Display of the Elephant
PH : France declares war on England and on Maria Theresa
PH : Second Silesian War begins
RP : George Berkeley: A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries
RP : Ruling Arab family Sa-Udi adopts teachings of Abd-al-Wahhab, becomes Wahhabi
M : Madrigal Society, London, founded
ST : Jean d'Alembert: Traité de l'équilibre et du mouvement des fluides
LT : Alexander Pope dies 21 May

1745

PH : Jacobite Rebellion
VA : François Boucher : Diana's
Return from the Hunt
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : Achilles at the
Court of Lycomedes
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of Louis XV of France
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Marie Adelaide of France as Diana
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Swan Attacked by a Dog
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : A Girl with a Kitten
PH : Emperor Charles VII dies; Francis, husband of Maria Theresa, elected Holy Roman Emperor, first of the Lorraine-Tuscany line
PH : Peace of Dresden: Prussia recognises Pragmatic Sanction but retains Silesia
PH : Ishege becomes Shogun of Japan
RP : Philip Doddridge: The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul
ST : Charles Bonnet: Traité d'insectologie
ST : Ewald Jurgen von Kleist invents the capacitor (Leydon Jar), a fundamental electrical circuit element
DL : Earliest Oddfellows Lodge in England
M : The quadrille becomes a fashionable dance in France

1746

PH : Alliance between Russia and Austria against Prussia
PH : Philip V of Spain dies; succeeded by Ferdinand VI
PH : Christian VI of Denmark dies; succeeded by Frederick V
RP : Denis Diderot: Pensées philosophiques
RP : Jonathan Edwards: A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections
ST : Jean-Etienne Guettard draws first geological map of France
ED : College of New Jersey founded; becomes Princeton University, 1896
DL : Wearing of tartans prohibited in Great Britain
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Cornard Wood
VA : Pietro Longhi : The Tooth Puller
VA : Francisco José de Goya Y Lucientes born 30 March

1747

VA : Bernardo Bellotto : View of Verona and the River Adige from the Ponte Nuovo
PH : Nadir Shah is assasinated
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Musical Offering
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : Westminster Bridge, London,
VA : Charles-André van Loo : Drunken Silenus
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Portrait of Gabriel Huquier, engraver
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of a Man
PH : William IV of Orange-Nassau becomes hereditary stadholder of the seven provinces of the Netherlands
PH : Prusso-Swedish alliance for mutual defence
PH : Nadir Shah murdered; Ahmed Shah becomes King of Afghanistan
ED : Biblioteca Nazionale founded in Florence, Italy
ED : Biographia Britannica
LT : Benjamin Franklin: Plain Truth
ST : Sugar discovered in beetroot
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck born 2 July

1748

VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : Warwick Castle
VA : William Hogarth : The Gate of Calais
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of Madame
Maria Leszczynska
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Maurice, Comte de Saxe, Marshal of France
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : View of Naples
PH : Shah Rukh, grandson of Nadir Shah, ruler of Persia
LT : Marie-Thérese Geoffin opens salon as meeting place for Parisian men of letters
RP : Archibald Bower: History of the Popes
RP : David Hume: Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding
M : Holywell Music room, Oxford, opened
ST : Leonhard Euler: Analysis Infinitorum, on pure analytical mathematics
ST : English physician John Fothergill describes diphtheria
ST : Thomas Lowndes founds chair of astronomy at Cambridge
DL : Abolition of hereditary jurisdiction in Scotland
VA : Jacques-Louis David born 30 August
PH : 18 October - Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends King George's War, restoring the status quo ante in the colonies; general recognition of Pragmatic Sanction and of Francis I as Holy Roman Emperor

1749

M : C.P.E. Bach : Magnificat
M : George Frideric Handel : Instrumental, Music for the Royal Fireworks
M : George Frideric Handel : Oratorio, Solomon including 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : The Art of the Fugue (unfinished)
M : Johann Sebastian Bach : Mass in B Minor
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal : London- Westminster Abbey
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Madame de Sorquainville
PH : Consolidation Act of British navy
RP : Denis Diderot: Lettre sur les aveugles à l'usage de ceux qui voient
RP : David Hartley: Observations on Man
DL : François Philidor: Analyse des échecs, a study of chess, written by the famous composer
ED : Philadelphia Academy founded, becomes University of Pennsylvania, 1791
VA : Alessandro Magnasco dies
LT : Johann Wolfgang von Goethe born 28 August

1750

RP : The Jewish sect of Hasidism is founded by Baal Shem Tov
PH : The Capital of the Maratha confederacy in India becomes Poona
VA : The neoclassical art movement begins in Europe
M : The Waltz becomes a popular dance form in Europe
M : C.P.E. Bach : Concerto in Bb for flute
VA : François Boucher : The Interrupted Sleep
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Mr. and Mrs. Andrews
VA : William Hogarth : The Artist's Servants
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : The Duchess of Parma
and her daughter Isabelle
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Farmhouse
ED : Portuguese Giacobbo Rodriguez Pereire invents sign language for deaf-mutes
PH : John V of Portugal dies; succeeded by José I
LT : First playhouse opens in New York
ED : Dictionnaire de l'art de vérifier les dates des faits historiques ed. by the Benedictine monks of St.Maur
RP : King Frederick the Great: Oeuvres du Philosophe de Sanssouci
RP : Baal Shem founds Jewish sect of Chassidim in Carpathian mountain region
VA : Neoclassicism, as reaction against baroque and rococo, spreading over Europe
M : Johann Breitkopf, Leipzig music publisher, uses movable type for printing music
ST : French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille leads expedition to Cape of Good Hope to determine solar and lunar parallax
ST : Johann Tobias Mayer: "Map of the Moon"
DL : First Westminster Bridge, London, finished
M : Johann Sebastian Bach dies 28 July
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Mademoiselle de Coislin

1751

LT : Diderots' first volume of the Encyclopeie is published
ST : The Lightening conductor is invented by Benjamin Franklin
VA : Pietro Longhi : The Rhinoceros
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Self-Portrait, 1751
VA : Richard Wilson : Portrait of Francesco Zuccarelli
PH : Frederick II of Sweden dies; succeeded by his brother-in-law, Adolphus Frederick
PH : William IV of Holland dies; his widow, Anne, daughter of George II of England, becomes regent
PH : China invades Tibet
ED : French Encyclopédie published
RP : David Hume: Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
RP : Powers of Portuguese Inquisition curtailed by government
ST : Linnaeus: Philosophia Botanica
M : Francesco Geminiani: The Art of Playing on the Violin
M : The minuet becomes Europe's fashionable dance
M : "War of the Operas" divides Paris into pro-Italian and pro-French music lovers
ED : Ecole supérieure de guerre, Paris, founded
ED : Göttinger wissenschaftliche Akademie founded
DL : British calendar altered by Act of Parliament: 1 January henceforth to be beginning of New Year
DL : First mental asylums in London
M : Tomaso Albinoni dies 17 January

1752

PH : Treaty of Aranjuez between Spain and the Holy Roman Empire
DL : Great Britain adopts Gregorian calendar on Sept 14
RP : Jonathan Edwards: Misrepresentations Corrected and Truth Vindicated
RP : David Hume: Political Discourses
RP : William Law: The Way to Divine Knowledge
M : Charles Avison : Essay on Musical Expression
PH : Chinese invade and conquer Tibet
VA : Charles-Antoine Coypel dies
VA : Pietro Longhi : Theatrical Scene
VA : Jean-François de Troy dies 26 January
M : Johann Friedrich Reichardt born 25 December

1753

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : John Plampin
ST : Swedish biologist Carolus Linnaeus publishes his system of plant classification
VA : The founding of the British Museum
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Mlle Ferrand Meditating on Newton
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau : Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Oudry
RP : Robert Lowth: De sacra poesi Hebraeorum
RP : English Act of Parliament permits naturalisation of Jews
ED : British Museum, London, granted royal foundation charter
ST : Linnaeus: Species Plantorum
DL : British Marriage Act forbids weddings by unauthorised persons
DL : Vienna Stock Exchange founded

1754

PH : The Seven Years (French and Indian) War unofficially begins
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : Storm with a Shipwreck
RP : Jonathan Edwards: Inquiry into Freedom of the Will
ED : David Hume: History of Great Britain
RP : Rousseau: L'Inégalité par les hommes: discours
RP : John Woolman: Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes
DL : Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures founded in England
ED : King's College, New York, founded; becomes Columbia University, 1784
ED : First female M.D. (University of Halle, Germany)
VA : Giovanni Batista Piazetta dies 28 April

1755

PH : The French and Indian War officially begins in America    GO !
LT : The Dictionary of the English Language is published by Samuel Johnson
VA : Corrado Giaquinto : Saints in Glory
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs : Semiramis Receives the
Message of the Babylonion Revolt
VA : Allan Ramsay : Portrait of the Artist's Wife
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour : Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour
PH : Landgrave of Hesse sells mercenaries to England for defence of Hanover
PH : End of Anglo-Aust. alliance
ED : Samuel Johnson : Dictionary of the English Language
RP : Benjamin Franklin: Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of countries
RP : Francis Hutchson: A System of Moral Philosophy
RP : Immanuel Kant's doctoral thesis: The True Measure of Forces
RP : J.J. Winckelmann: Gedanken über die Nachahmung der griechischen Werke
ED : University of Moscow founded
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry dies 30 April

1756

VA : Bernardo Bellotto : Courtyard of the Castle
at Köningstein from the South
PH : The Black Hole of Calcutta, 123 British soldiers are alledged to have died there
PH : Treaty of Westminster; alliance between Britain and Prussia
PH : Treaty of Versailles; alliance between France and Austria
PH : British Rule India
VA : François Boucher : The Marquise
de Pompadour
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : Die Vermählung
Amors mit Psyche
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : The Town and Harbour of Toulon
PH : Anglo-Prussian Treaty of Westminster
PH : Britain declares war on France - Seven Year's War
PH : 120 British soldiers imprisoned and die in India ("Black Hole of Calcutta")
LT : Russian royal Court Theatre founded at St. Petersburg
ED : Thomas Birch: History of the Royal Society of London
RP : Edmund Burke: Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
RP : Alban Butler: Lives of the Saints, vol.1
RP : Arthur Collins: The Peerage of England finished
RP : Mirabeau: Ami des hommes ou traité de la population
ED : Voltaire finished his Siècle de Louis XIV
DL : First chocolate factory in Germany
DL : Porcelain factory founded at Sèvres
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born 27 January
VA : Sir Henry Raeburn born 4 March

1757

VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Ekaterina Golovkina
RP : Denis Diderot: Entretiens sur le fils natural
RP : Richard Price: Review of the Principal Questions in Morals
ED : Royal Library, London, transferred to British Museum
DL : The London Chronicle appears
M : Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz dies 27 March
M : Domenico Scarlatti dies 23 July
VA : William Blake born 28 November

1758

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : The Painter's Daughters
VA : Giovanni Battista Pittoni : Annunciation
VA : Louis Tocqué : Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
DL : Samuel Johnson: The Idler, weekly periodical
RP : Pope Benedict XIV dies; succeeded by Carlo della Torre Rezzonico as Pope Clement XIII
RP : Emerich de Vattel: Le Droit des gens
RP : Claude Adrien Helvétius: De l'esprit
ED : Serjeant's Inn (London Court) formed
M : First English manual on guitar playing published
VA : Pierre-Paul Prud'hon born 4 April

1759

VA : Corrado Giaquinto : Justice and Peace
VA : Bernardo Bellotto : View of Vienna from the Belvedere
LT : Candide written by Voltaire
DL : The Botanical Gardens founded at Kew in London
PH : Cherokee War against the English begins
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier : Portrait of a Lady as a Vestal Virgin
PH : King Ferdinand VI of Spain dies; succeeded by Charles II
RP : Alexander Gerard: An Essay on Taste
ED : Oliver Goldshmith: An Enquiry Into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe
RP : Expulsion of Jesuits from Portugal
RP : Adam Smith: Theory of Moral Sentiments
VA : William Chambers: Treatise on Civil Architecture
ST : Franz Aepinus: Testamen theoriae electricitatis et magnetesmi
ED : Bavarian Academy of Science founded
ED : British Museum opened (at Montagu House)
DL : The Publish Ledger, London daily paper, appears
M : George Frideric Handel dies 14 April

1760

PH : George III becomes King of England
PH : Catherine II, The Great becomes ruler of Russia
PH : King George II of England dies; succeeded by his grandson George III
LT : James Macpherson: Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands, famous literary fraud
VA : First exhibition of contemporary art at Royal Society of Arts, London
M : Noverre, ballet master at Stuttgart, publishes his Letter on Dancing and Ballets
ED : First British school for deaf and dumb opened by Thomas Braidwood, Edinburgh
DL : Josiah Wedgewood founds pottery works at Etrurua, Staffordshire
ST : Botanical Gardens in Kew, London, opened
DL : Rules of whist laid down by Edmund Hoyle
M : C.P.E. Bach : Sonatas with Varied Repeats
VA : George Stubbs : Mares and Foals in a Landscape
VA : Richard Wilson : Solitude
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : Mountain Landscape with Washerwomen and Fisherman

1761

M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Ballet, Don Juan
M : Joseph Haydn : Symphonies No.6, No.7 and No.8 ('Morning', 'Midday' and 'Evening')
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Laundress
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Village Betrothal
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni : Diana & Cupid
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs : Parnassus
VA : Allan Ramsay : Mrs. Martin
PH : Ieharu, the new Shogun of Japan
LT : Benjamin Victor: History of the Theatres of London and Dublin
RP : Henry Home: An Introduction to the Art of Thinking
ST : Russian scientist and poet Mikhail V. Lomonosov discovers the atmosphere of Venus
ST : B.G. Morgagni: On the Causes of Diseases, beginning of pathological anatomy
ST : Johann Peter Süssmilch initiates study of statistics
ED : First French veterinary school founded at Lyons
ST : Society of Arts, London, opens first exhibition of agricultural machines

1762

VA : Allan Ramsay : Queen Charlotte
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Orfeo ed Euridice
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : William Pointz
VA : George Stubbs : Whistlejacket
VA : Richard Wilson : Lake Albano
PH : Czarina Elizabeth of Russia dies; succeeded by Peter III, who dies by assassination; succeeded by Catherine II
PH : Treaty of Hamburg between Sweden and Prussia
PH : Russo-Prussian alliance against Austria signed
PH : Truce between Prussia, Saxony, and the Holy Roman Empire
ED : Robert Lowth: Introduction to English Grammar
RP : George Campbell: Dissertation on Miracles
ED : John Parkhurst: Hebrew and English Lexicon
RP : Rousseau: Du Contrat social, ou principes du droit politique
ED : Sorbonne Library, Paris, opened
VA : Stuart and Revett: Classical Antiquities of Athens, Vol I
M : Benjamin Franklin improves the harmonica, turning it into a practical musical instrument
ST : At Carron ironworks in Stirlingshire, Scotland, cast iron converted for the first time into malleable iron

1763

PH : The Seven Years war ends with the Treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg    GO !
PH : Augustus III dies; he is succeeded (1764) by Stanislaw II, the last king of Poland
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : Filial Piety
VA : Jean-Baptiste Oudry : Still-life with Pheasant
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : The Cupid Seller
RP : Voltaire: Treatise on Tolerance
ED : Frederick the Great establishes village schools in Prussia

1764

VA : German historian Johann Winckelmann publishes his History of the Art of Antiquity
M : Joseph Haydn : Symphony No.22, 'The Philosopher'
PH : Pontiac's Rebellion in Ohio valley
PH : Stanislas Poniatowski elected King of Poland
PH : Hyder Ali usurps throne of Mysore
RP : Confiscation of Church lands in Russia
PH : Deposed Czar Ivan VI murdered in prison
RP : Jesuits suppressed in France
LT : The Literary Club founded in London by Dr. Johnson, with Burke, Gibbon, Goldsmith, Reynolds, etc.
LT : Literary salons founded in Paris by Mme. Necker and Mlle. de Lespinasse
RP : Cesare Beccaria-Conesana: On Crimes and Punishments
RP : Charles Bonnet: Contemplation de la nature
ED : Brown University, Providence, R.I. founded
RP : Voltaire: Philosophical Dictionary
VA : J.J. Winckelmann: History of Ancient Art
ST : James Watt invents condenser, first step toward steam engine
DL : London introduces practice of numbering houses
PH : April - Sugar Act passed by Parliament to offset expenses of the French and Indian War
M : Johann Mattheson dies 17 April
PH : July - James Otis publishes The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved
VA : William Hogarth dies 26 October

1765

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Studies of a Cat
PH : Joseph II becomes the Holy Roman Emperor
VA : Corrado Giaquinto dies
VA : Sir Joshua Reynolds : Lady Sarah Bunbury
Sacrificing to the Graces
VA : Bernardo Bellotto : The Ruins of the Old
Kreuzkirche in Dresden
PH : British Parliament passes Stamp Act for taxing American colonies    GO !
PH : Emperor Francis I, Maria Theresa's husband dies; their son Joseph II succeeds as Holy Roman Emperor, becomes co-regent with his mother
RP : A.R.J. Turgot: Refléxions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses
ST : Spallanzani suggests preserving by means of hermetic sealing
DL : Bank of Prussia founded by Frederick the Great
VA : Charles-André van Loo dies 15 July

1766

ST : The Nautical Almanac provides the first practical method for determining longitude
M : C.P.E. Bach : Six Easy Keyboard Sonatas
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : The Swing
VA : Allan Ramsay : Portrait of David Hume
PH : Repeal of Stamp Act, but Declaratory Act states Britain's right to tax American colonies    GO !
PH : Frederick V of Denmark dies; succeeded by the mad Christian VII
LT : Theatre Royal, Bristol, opens, oldest British theatre still in use
RP : Czarina Catherine the Great grants freedom of worship in Russia
ED : Adam Ferguson: Essay on the History of Civil Society
VA : Lessing: Laokoon, against Winckelmann's theories
ST : Louis de Bougainville sets out on voyage to Pacific on which he discovers Tahiti, the Soloman Islands, and New Guinea
DL : First paved sidewalk laid in Westminster, London
VA : Jean-Marc Nattier dies 7 November

1767

PH : Russian-Turkish War
VA : Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson born
VA : Giovanni Battista Pittoni dies
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Alceste
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : Academie
PH : Townshend Duties: taxes on imports of tea, glass, paper, and dyestuffs in American colonies; non-importation agreement at public protest meeting in Boston    GO !
PH : First Mysore War
RP : Jesuits expelled from Spain, Parma, and the Two Sicilies
RP : Moses Mendelssohn: Phaedon, or the Immortality of Soul
VA : J.J. Winckelmann: Monumenti antichi inediti
M : Rousseau: Dictionnaire de musique
ST : Astronomer Royal, Nevill Maskelyne issues Nautical Almanac
ED : Maria Theresa and Joseph II introduce educational reforms in Austria
ST : Joseph Priestley: The History and Present State of Electricity
DL : Electrical machine with glass pane becomes a fashionable toy

1768

DL : The first modern Circus is formed in England by Philip Astley
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : Experiment with the Air-Pump
PH : Ali Bey, leader of the Mamelukes, Sultan of Egypt
PH : Gurkhas conquer Nepal
RP : Abraham Booth: Reign of Grace
RP : Joseph Priestley: Essay on the First Principles of Government
RP : Swedenborg: Delititiae sapientiae
VA : Founding of the Royal Academy, London, with Joshua Reynolds as president
ST : James Cook sails on first circumnavigation
DL : New criminal code, on humanist principles, introduced in Austria
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal dies 20 April
VA : John Crome born 22 December

1769

M : Joseph Haydn : Symphony No.48, 'Maria Theresa'
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : Inspiration
DL : Privy council in London decides to retain tea duty in American colonies
RP : Charles Bonnet: Palingénésie philosophique
RP : Pope Clement XIII dies; Lorenzo Ganganelli becomes Pope Clement XIV
RP : Johann Gottfried von Herder: Kritische Wälder
ST : N.J. Cugnot constructs first steam road carriage
DL : The Morning Chronicle issued in London
DL : Johann Friedrich Oberlin opens first crêche at Steintal, Alsace

1770

DL : Louis, the future king of France, marries Marie Antoinette
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Paride ed Elena
VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Portrait of Jonathan Buttall
VA : George Stubbs : A Horse Frightened by a Lion
VA : Benjamin West : Self Portrait
VA : Benjamin West : The Death of General Wolfe
RP : Edmund Burke: Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents
RP : Kant: De mundi sensibilie et intelligibilis forma et principiis
ST : James cook discovers Botany Bay, Australia
ED : Elementary school education reformed in Austria
ST : English "Quack" John Hill introduces method of obtaining specimens for microscopic study
ST : Leonhard Euler: Introduction to Algebra
DL : First public restaurant opens in Paris
DL : Visiting cards introduced in England
VA : Giambattista Tiepolo dies 27 March
LT : William Wordsworth born 7 April
VA : Baron François Gérard born 4 May
VA : François Boucher dies 30 May
M : Ludwig van Beethoven born 17 December
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : The Love Letter
VA : Hubert Robert : The Burning of the Hötel-Dieu during the Night of 29-30 December 1772

1771

VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : The Meeting
PH : Gustav III succeeds his father as king of Sweden
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin : Self Portrait at the Easel
VA : Claude-Joseph Vernet : Clair de lune
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : The Alchemist in Search of the Philosophers Stone
PH : Adolphus Frederick of Sweden dies; succeeded by Gustavus III
ED : Encyclopaedia Britannica, first edition
RP : John William Fletcher: Five Checks to Antinomianism
ED : William Robertson: History of America
VA : Horace Walpole: Anecdotes of Painting
ST : Luigi Galvani discovers electrical nature of nervous impulse
ST : The Smeatonian Club for engineers founded in London
DL : The Assembly room, Bath, England, opened
DL : New York Hospital founded
VA : Baron Antoine-Jean Gros born 16 March
LT : Sir Walter Scott born 15 August

1772

VA : Louis Tocqué dies
LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld: Poems
M : Joseph Haydn : Symphony No.45, 'Farewell'
PH : Boston Assembly demands rights of colonies, threatens secession
DL : Royal Marriage Act in Britain to prevent undesirable royal marriages
PH : First Partition of Poland
LT : The Göttinger Hainbund, society of young patriotic German poets, formed
ED : Herder: On the Origin of Speech, on comparative philology
RP : Inquisition abolished in France
RP : Mirabeau: Essai sur le despotisme
RP : F.S. Sullivan, Irish jurist: Lectures on the Feudal Law and the Constitution and Laws of England
M : Flight and Kelly, London firm of organ builders, produces first barrel organs
ST : Leonhard Eurler: Lettres à une princesse d'Allemagne, on mechanics, optics, acoustics, and astronomy
ST : Daniel Rutherford and Joseph Priestley independently discover nitrogen
DL : Judge William Murray decides in the Somerset case that a slave is free on landing in England
LT : Samuel Taylor Coleridge born 21 October

1773

LT : Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Götz von Berlichingen
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Exsultate, Jubilate ('Exult, Rejoice') for soprano and orchestra.
VA : Sir Joshua Reynolds : Ladies Adorning
a Term of Hymen
VA : Hubert Robert : Landscape with an Arch and The Dome of St Peter's in Rome
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : Young Greek Maidens Deck Sleeping Cupid With Flowers
VA : Joseph Marie Vien : Lover Crowning His Mistress
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : The Iron Forge Viewed from Without
LT : Swedish national theatre established in Stockholm
RP : Pope Clement XIV dissolves Jesuit Order
RP : John Eerskine: Institutes of the Law in Scotland
RP : Joseph II expels Jesuits from the Empire
M : Charles Burney: The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Provinces
M : The waltz becomes fashionable in Vienna
ED : Philadelphia Museum founded
DL : 10 May - British East India Company Regulating Act
DL : 29-30 November - Boston Tea Party: protest against tea duty

1774

PH : Louis XVI becomes King of France
LT : Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sorrows of Werther
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Iphigénie en Aulide
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphony No.29
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli : Landscape with the Education of Bacchus
PH : Quebec Act, to secure Canada's loyalty to Great Britain, established Roman Catholicism in Canada
PH : Louis XV, King of France, dies; succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI
PH : First Continental Congress meets    GO !
PH : Accession of Abdul Hamid I as Sultan of Turkey
LT : Lord Chesterfield: Letters to His Son, on how a gentleman should behave
RP : John Campbell: A Political Survey of Great Britain
RP : John Cartwright: American Independence, the Glory and Interest of great Britain
RP : Jesuits expelled from Poland
RP : Anne Lee of Massachusetts settles in New York to begin a spiritualist revival
ST : Aust. physician F.A. Mesmer uses hypnosis for health purposes
ED : Swiss educator Johan Heinrich Pestalozzi founds school for orphaned and neglected children in Zurich to enable them to lead productive lives
VA : Caspar David Friedrich born 5 September

1775

LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld: Devotional Pieces
VA : Gavin Hamilton : Priam Pleading with Achilles
for the Body of Hector
PH : Peasant's revolts in Bohemia against servitude
PH : American Revolution begins    GO !
RP : Cardinal Gianangelo Braschi elected in Feb as Pope Pius VI after a long conclave
RP : Justus Moser: Patriotische Phantasien, plea for one organic Germany
ST : Digitalis used for first time as a diuretic in dropsy
ST : J.C. Fabricius: Systema entomolgiae, classification of insects
ST : Pierre-Simon Girard invents water turbine
ST : James Watt perfects his invention of the Steam engine
DL : First British banks' clearinghouse established in Lombard Street, London
DL : First Thames Regatta
VA : Joseph Mallord William Turner born 23 April

1776

VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : A Young Girl Reading
PH : Treaty of Copenhagen between Russia and Denmark
RP : John Cartwright: Take your Choice, on parliamentary reform
ED : Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
RP : Richard Price:Observations on Civil Liberty and the Justice and Policy of the War with America
RP : Adam Smith: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
M : Charles Burney: History of Music
M : Concerts of Ancient Music, London
DL : U.S. Congress institutes a national lottery
DL : Military ski competitions in Norway
VA : Corrado Giaquinto dies
M : Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann born 24 January
VA : John Constable born 11 June
PH : 4 July - Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence    GO !

1777

RP : Christianity introduced in Korea
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Armide
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Paternal Curse
LT : Court and National Theatre, Mannheim, founded
RP : Joseph Priestley: Disquisition Relating to Matter and Spirit
ST : American engineer David Bushnell invents torpedo
ST : Lavoisier proves that air consists mainly of oxygen and nitrogen
DL : Stars and Stripes adopted as Continental Congress flag
M : Heinrich Heine born 13 December

1778

PH : War of Bavarian Succession
LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld: Lessons for Children of Two to Three Years Old and Lessons for Children of Three Years Old
M : Christoph Willibald Gluck : Opera, Iphigénie en Tauride
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : Portrait of Count
Stroganov as a Child
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : The Wicked
Son Punished
VA : Benjamin West : Romeo and Juliet
PH : American colonies sign treaties with France and Holland    GO !
RP : G.L.L. Buffon: Epoques de la Nature
RP : J.A. Deluc: Lettres physiques et morals sur les montagnes
M : La Scala, Milan, opened
ST : James cook discovers Hawaii
DL : Act of Congress prohibits import of slaves into the U.S.
VA : Giovanni Battista Piranesi dies 9 November

1779

M : C.P.E. Bach : Heilig for two choruses
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Sinfonia Concertante
VA : Joseph Wright of Derby : Firework Display at the Castel Sant' Angelo in Rome
PH : Spain declares war on Britian
PH : British war against Mahrattas in India
LT : Samuel Johnson: Lives of the Poets
RP : David Hume: Dialogues of Natural Religion (posth.)
ST : James Rennel: "Bengal Atlas"
DL : First children's clinic, London
DL : The Derby established at Epson racetrack, Surrey, England
DL : Pope Pius VI begins draining Pontine Marshes
DL : First 'velocipedes' appear in Paris
VA : Anton Raphael Mengs dies 29 June
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin dies 6 December

1780

VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : Education is Everything
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : Fête at Rambouillet
VA : Jean-Baptiste Greuze : Young Woman
in a White Hat
PH : Henry Grattan demands Home Rule for Ireland
PH : Gordon riots in London ("No Popery")
DL : Serfdom abolished in Bohemia and Hungary
PH : Empress Maria Theresa dies; succeeded by her son Joseph II
PH : Outbreak of Second Mysore War
PH : Rebellion in Peru against Spanish rule
RP : Gaetano Filangieri: Science of Legislation
M : Spanish dance 'bolero' invented
M : Sébastien Erard makes first modern pianoforte
ST : Circular saw invented by Gervinus
ST : American Academy of Sciences founded at Boston
DL : Scheller constructs first fountain pen
DL : The British Gazette and Sunday Monitor, first Sunday newspapers, appear in London
VA : Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres born 29 August
VA : Bernardo Bellotto dies 17 October
VA : Jean Honoré Fragonard : The Stolen Kiss

1781

VA : Henry Fuseli : Nightmare
ST : William Herschel discovers the Planet Uranus
LT : Anna Lætitia Barbauld: Hymns in Prose for Children
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Piano Sonata No.11 in A
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Horn Concerto No.4
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Serenade No.10
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Opera, Idomeneo
PH : Warren Hastings deposes Rajah of Benares, plunders treasure of the Nabob of Oudh
ED : Clarendon Press, Oxford, established
RP : Franciscan monks settle at Los Angeles
DL : Joseph II grants patent of religious tolerance and freedom of press in Austria
RP : Kant: Critique of Pure Reason, fundamental work of modern philosophy
RP : Moses Mendelssohn: On the Civil Amelioration of the Condition of the Jews
M : Johann Adam Hiller establishes the Gewandhaus concerts at Leipzig
ST : Herschel discovers the planet Uranus
ST : Composition of mineral tungsten discovered
DL : Serfdom abolished in Aust. dominions

1782

VA : Henry Fuseli : The Three Witches
LT : William Blake: Poetical Sketches
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio
M : Joseph Haydn : Six string quartets published as Opus 33
VA : Francesco Guardi : Concert
VA : George Romney : Lady Hamilton as 'Nature'
PH : Tippoo Sahib succeeds Hyder Ali in Mysore
PH : Rama I founds new dynasty in Siam, makes Bangkok his capital
PH : Pope Pius VI in Vienna fails to persuade Joseph II to rescind program of tolerance
RP : Joseph Priestley: A History of the Corruptions of Christianity
ED : Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, founded
RP : Dugald Stewart: Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind
ST : Montgolfier brothers construct air balloon
ST : James Watt invents double-acting rotary steam engine
PH : Bank of North America established in Philadelphia
VA : Richard Wilson dies 15 May
M : Nicolò Paganini born 27 October

1783

ST : First successful hot-air ballon flight
VA : Jean-Baptiste Perronneau dies
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphony No.36, 'Linz'
PH : Great Britain recognises American independence
DL : Joseph II enforces Germ. language in Bohemia
DL : Famine in Japan
ST : William Herschel: Motion of the Solar System in Space
RP : Kant: Prolegomen to Any Possible Metaphysics
RP : Moses Mendelssohn: Jerusalem, plea for freedom of conscience
RP : Charles Simeon begins evangelical movement at Cambridge
DL : Bank of Ireland founded
DL : Civil marriage and divorce in Aust. dominions

1784

VA : Sir Joshua Reynolds : Portrait of Mrs. Siddons
as the Tragic Muse
VA : Jacques-Louis David : The Oath of the Horatii
VA : Henry Fuseli : Lady Macbeth
PH : Treaty of Constantinople: Turkey agrees to Russian annexation of the Crimea
PH : Joseph II abrogates constitution in Hungary, suppressing feudal rights
RP : First Anglican bishop for the colonies
ED : Bengal Asiatic Society (study of Sanskrit) founded by William Jones
RP : Bernardin de Saint-Pierre: Etudes de la nature
RP : Herder: Ideas Toward a Philosophy of History
RP : Kant: Notion of a Universal History in a Cosmopolitan Sense
RP : John Wesley's Deed of Declaration, the charter of Wesleyan Methodism
ST : Swiss inventor Aimé Argant designs oil burner
ST : Eng. mathematician George Atwood accurately determines acceleration of a free-falling body
ST : Joseph Bramah constructs first patent lock
ST : Goethe discovers human intermaxillary bone
ST : Scot. millwright Andrew Meikle invents threshing machine
ED : First school for the blind in Paris
DL : Serfdom abolished in Denmark
VA : Allan Ramsay dies 10 August

1785

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Piano Concerto No.20
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Piano Concerto No.21
VA : George Stubbs : Haymaking
PH : Der Fürstenbund (League of German Princes) formed by Frederick the Great against Joseph II
PH : Commercial Treaty signed between Prussia and the U.S.
LT : The Reverend James Wilmot of Warwickshire identifies Francis Bacon, as author of Shakespeare's plays
ED : Educational reforms in Germany
RP : Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Ethics
PH : James Madison's Religious Freedom Act abolishes religious tests in Virginia
RP : William Paley: Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy
ST : Salsano: seismograph for measuring earthquakes
VA : Pietro Longhi dies 8 May

1786

M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphony No.38, 'Prague'
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Piano Concerto No.23
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Opera, The Marriage of Figaro
M : Joseph Haydn : 'Paris' symphonies (including No.82 and No.83, 'The Bear' and 'The Hen')
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Piano Concerto No.24
VA : Henry Fuseli : Oedipus Cursing His Son, Polynices
PH : Frederick the Great dies; succeeded by his nephew Frederick William II
LT : Berlin Court Theatre opens
RP : Mennonites from Central Europe settle in Canada
ST : William Herschel: Catalogue of Nebulae
ST : M.H.Klaproth, Ger. chemist, discovers uranium
ST : American inventor H.James Rumsey designs first mechanically driven boat
ST : Earliest attempts at internal gas lighting in Germany and England
M : Carl Maria von Weber born 18 November

1787

VA : Thomas Gainsborough : The Woodsman
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Serenade, Eine kleine Nachtmusik
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Opera, Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il Don Giovanni ('The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni')
VA : Sir Joshua Reynolds : Heads of Angels
VA : Jacques-Louis David : The Death of Socrates
VA : Hubert Robert : The Pont du Gard
VA : George Romney : Miss Constable
PH : Aust. Netherlands declared province of Hapsburg monarchy
PH : Parliament of Paris demands summoning of States-General
PH : Turkey declares war on Russia
RP : John Adams: A Defence of the Constitution of Government of the U.S.A.
RP : Jeremy Bentham: Defence of usury
ED : Imperial Russian Dictionary with 285 words in 200 languages
RP : James Madison: The Vices of the Political System of the United States
ST : Lavoisier: Méthode de nomenclature chimique
DL : Dollar currency introduced in the US
DL : English settlement founded for freed slaves in Sierra Leone
VA : Pompeo Girolamo Batoni dies 4 February

1788

DL : London's Daily Universal Register becomes the Times
LT : William Blake: Natural Religion
M : C.P.E. Bach : Double Concerto for Harpsichord, Piano and Orchestra in Eb
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphony No.39
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphony No.40
M : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Symphony No.41 ('Jupiter')
PH : Austria declares war on Turkey
DL : Brit. parliamentary motion for abolition of slave trade
PH : George III's first attack of mental illness; regency crisis in England
RP : Kant Critique of Practical Reason
ED : John Lemprière: Classical Dictionary
RP : Hannah More: Thoughts on the Importance of the Manners of the Great to General Society
ST : James Hutton: New Theory of the Earth
ST : Marquis Pierre Simon de Laplace: Laws of the Planetary System
DL : Bread riots in France
DL : First German cigar factory opens
LT : George Gordon, Lord Byron born 22 January
VA : Maurice Quentin de La Tour dies 17 February
VA : Thomas Gainsborough dies 2 August
M : C.P.E. Bach dies 14 December
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli dies 30 December
Personae

Terms Defined

Referenced Works