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Alexander Pope
(1688 - 1744)

1688

VA : François Le Moyne born
M : Henry Purcell : Song 'Evening Hymn'
PH : Frederick William, the "Great Elector" dies; succeeded by his son Frederick III
PH : Transylvania becomes province under King of Hungary
PH : Seven Eng. lords invite William of Orange to England (the "Glorious Revolution")
PH : War between France and the Empire
RP : Jacques- Bénigne Boussuet: Histoires des variations des églises protestantes
DL : Joseph de la Vega: Confusion de confusiones, description of transactions on Amsterdam Exchange
DL : London underwriters begin meeting regularly at Lloyd's Coffee House
ST : Plate glass being cast for first time
DL : Smyrna destroyed by earthquake
LT : Alexander Pope born 21 May

1689

M : Henry Purcell : Musik's Handmaid for harpsichord (including a version of 'Lilliburlero')
M : Henry Purcell : Opera, Dido and Aeneas
PH : Parliament confirms abdication of James II
PH : Declaration of Rights in England, William and Mary proclaimed King and Queen for life (also in Scotland)
PH : Louis XIV declares war on Great Britain
PH : Peter the Great becomes Czar of Russia
PH : Ger. diet declares war on France
RP : Pope Innocent XI dies; Pietro Ottoboni becomes Pope Alexander VIII
ED : John, Lord Somers: A Brief History of the Succession to the Crown of England
RP : William Sherlock: A Practical Discourse Concerning Death
DL : William III establishes Devonport Naval Dockyards
DL : First modern trade fair held in Leiden, Holland

1690

LT : John Dryden: Don Sebastian and Amphitryon
M : François Couperin : Pièces d'orgue consistantes en deux messes, l'une à l'usage ordinaire des paroisses, l'autre propre pour les couvents de religieux et religieuses
M : Marc-Antoine Charpentier : Setting of the Te Deum
PH : Joseph I elected King of the Romans
PH : Act of Grace passed in England
PH : Spain joins Great Alliance against France
RP : John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
RP : Sir William Petty: Political Arithmetics
DL : Calcutta founded by Eng. colonial administrator Job Charnock
ST : Huyghens publishes his theory of the undulation of light
ST : Fr. engineer Denis Papin devises pump with piston, raised by steam
ED : Academia dell' arcadia founded in Rome
DL : Calico printing introduced to Great Britain from France
VA : Nicolas Lancret born 22 January

1691

LT : John Dryden: King Arthur
M : Johann Pachelbel : Six Suites for two violins
M : Henry Purcell : Incidental music to King Arthur, play by John Dryden
PH : Hapsburgs recognised as rulers of Transylvania
DL : New East India Company formed in London
PH : Sultan Suleiman III of Turkey dies; succeeded by Ahmad II
PH : Treaty of Limerick ends Irish rebellion
RP : Pope Alexander VIII dies; Antonio Pignatelli becomes Pope Innocent XII
RP : Christian Faith Society for West Indies founded in London
RP : Claude Fleury: Histoire ecclésiastique begun (20 vols, completed in 1720)
RP : Kaspar Stieler: Teutsche Sprachschatz
RP : Henry Wharton: Anglia sacra
ED : Anthony à Wood: Athenae Oxonienses
ST : Leibniz: Protagaea, on geology
DL : First directory of addresses published in Paris
VA : Aelbert Cuyp dies

1692

LT : John Dryden: Cleomenes
M : Henry Purcell : Songs 'Music for a While' and 'Nymphs and Shepherds'
M : Henry Purcell : Masque or 'semi opera', The Fairy Queen
VA : Antoine Coypel : Democritus
PH : Massacre of Clan Macdonald at Glencoe
PH : Duke Ernst August of Hanover becomes 9th Elector of the Holy Roman Empire
LT : Nahum Tate made poet laureate
RP : Edict of Toleration for Christians in China
ED : William and Mary College founded in Virginia
ED : Johann Konrad Amman: Der redende Stumme, manual of language for deaf-mutes
DL : The Bank, later becomes banking house of Coutts and Co., opened in Strand, London
DL : Earthquake in Jamaica
DL : Queen Mary II founds Greenwich Hospital for wounded sailors and pensioners

1693

LT : John Dryden: A Discourse concerning the Original and Progress of Satire
M : Johann Pachelbel : Chorale Preludes for organ
M : Marc-Antoine Charpentier : Opera, Médée
PH : Louis XIV begins his peace policy, reconciliation with the Vatican
DL : National Debt begins in England
RP : Edmund Halley: The Degrees of Mortality of Mankind
RP : Secret society, Knights of the Apocalypse, founded in Italy to defend the church against the antichrist
ED : Leibniz: Codex Juris gentium diplomaticus
ED : John Locke: Thoughts Concerning Education, on learning foreign languages
RP : Cotton Mather: Wonders of the Invisible World
RP : William Penn: An Essay on the Present and Future Peace of Europe
DL : Kingston, Jamaica, founded

1694

VA : Corrado Giaquinto born
VA : Charles-Antoine Coypel born
LT : John Dryden: Love Triumphant
M : Alessandro Scarlatti : Opera, Il Pirro e Demetrio
M : Henry Purcell : Ode 'Come Ye Sons of Art' (including aria, 'Sound the Trumpet')
M : Tomaso Albinoni : Opera, Zenobia
M : Tomaso Albinoni : 12 Trio Sonatas
DL : Founding of the Bank of England
PH : Triennial Bill providing for new Parliamentary election every third year
PH : Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony
PH : Hussain becomes Shah of Persia
ED : Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, first edition, 2 vols.
ST : Rudolf Camerarius: De sexu plantarum epistola
ED : University of Halle founded
DL : Salt tax doubled in England

1695

M : Johann Pachelbel : Magnificat Fugues for organ
M : Henry Purcell : Semi opera, The Indian Queen
M : Henry Purcell : 'The Golden Sonata' for 2 violins, viola de gamba, and keyboard
M : Henry Purcell : Queen Mary's Funeral Music
PH : Ahmad II, Sultan of Turkey, dies; succeeded by Mustafa II
DL : End of government press censorship in England
RP : John Locke: The Reasonableness of Christianity
ST : Pendant barometer invented
ED : University of Berlin founded
ST : Magnesium sulfate isolated (epsom salts)
ST : John Woodward: Essay Toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies
DL : Royal Bank of Scotland founded
DL : Window tax in England
LT : Henry Vaughan dies 23 April
M : Henry Purcell dies 21 November
VA : Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater born 29 December

1696

VA : Louis Tocqué born
DL : New coinage in England carried out by John Locke and Isaac Newton
PH : Eng. Habeas Corpus Act suspended
ED : Nicolas Antonio: Bibliotheca Hispana vetus, Span. bibliography
ED : William Nicolson: The English Historical Library, 3 vols.
VA : Kunstakademie, Berlin, founded
ED : John Bellers: Proposals for Raising a College of Industry, on the education of children
DL : Board of Trade and Plantations founded in England
DL : First Eng. property insurance company founded
VA : Giambattista Tiepolo born 5 March

1697

M : Alessandro Scarlatti : Opera, and La caduta dei Decemviri
PH : Peter the Great, calling himself Peter Michailoff, sets out on a year-and-a-half journey to Prussia, Holland, England and Vienna to study European ways of life
PH : Charles XI, King of Sweden, dies; succeeded by Charles XII
PH : Augustus, Elector of Saxony, converted to Roman Catholicism, elected King of Poland in succession to Jan III
PH : In Treaty of Ryswick: France recognises William III as King of England
PH : China conquers western Mongolia
ED : Pierre Bayle: Dictionnaire historique et critique, 2 vols
ED : William Wotton: Reflections on Ancient and Modern Learning
DL : Last remains of Maya civilisation destroyed by Spanish in Yucatan
RP : Daniel Defoe: An Essay Upon Projects, recommending income tax
DL : Sedan chair a popular means of transportation
DL : Court of Versailles becomes model for European courts
DL : Whitehall Palace, London, burns down
VA : Giovanni Antonio Canal born 18 October
VA : William Hogarth born 10 November

1698

PH : Rebellion of Czar Peter's praetorian guard in Moscow; leaders executed
PH : Elector Ernest August of Hanover dies; his eldest son George Louis, future King George I of England, becomes electoral prince
DL : Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau introduces goose-stepping and iron ramrods in Prussian army
RP : Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) founded
ED : Bibliotheca Casanatense founded in Rome
RP : Algernon Sidney: Discourses Concerning Government (posth.)
DL : The General Society (New East India Trading Company) founded in London
DL : Paper manufacturing begins in N. America
DL : Tax on beards in Russia
DL : Mrs. White's Chocolate House opens in London, soon to become headquarters of Tory Party

1699

LT : John Dryden: Fables
M : Johann Pachelbel : Hexachordum Apollinis six arias with variations for organ or harpsichord
VA : Alexandre Francois Desportes : Self-Portrait as a Huntsman
PH : Peace of Karlowitz signed by Austria, Russia, Poland and Venice with Turkey
PH : Denmark and Russia sign mutual defence pact
PH : Treaty of Preobrazhenskoe signed by Denmark, Russia, Poland, and Saxony for partition of Swed. empire
PH : Christian V, King of Denmark, dies; succeeded by Frederick IV
RP : Richard Bentley: Dissertation Upon the Epistles of Phalaris
RP : Gilbert Burnet: Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles
ST : William Dampier explores northwest coast of Australia
ST : Pierre Lemoyne founds first European settlement in Louisianna, at Fort Maurepas
DL : Billingsgate, London, becomes a market
DL : Peter the Great decrees that New Year in Russia will begin on January 1 instead of September 1
VA : Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin born 2 November

1700

PH : The Great Northern War
PH : King Charles II of Spain dies, setting the stage for the War of the Spanish Succession
M : Alessandro Scarlatti : Opera, Lesbina e Adolfo
LT : Development of the Kabuki Theatre in Japan
RP : Pope Innocent XII dies; Gian Francesco Albani becomes Pope Clement XI
DL : Unmarried women taxed in Berlin
ED : Berlin Academy of Science founded
M : Joseph Saveur measures and explains vibrations of musical tones
LT : John Dryden dies 30 April

1701

PH : Act of Settlement in Britain. This settlement establishes the Hanoverian Monarchy
PH : War of Spanish Succession
PH : Prince Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg crowns himself Frederick I "King of Prussia"
ED : University of Venice founded
ED : Yale College founded
M : Music publisher Henry Playford establishes a series of weekly concerts at Oxford
RP : Father Francisco Ximénes translates sacred national book of the Quiché Indians of Guatemala, Popul Vah
RP : Benjamin Whichcote: Several Discourses; Moral and Religious Aphorisms
ED : Jeremy Collier: The Great historical, Geographical, Genealogical, and Political Dictionary 2 vols.
PH : James II of England dies; Louis XIV recognises James Edward as King James III

1702

VA : Pietro Longhi born
M : Marc-Antoine Charpentier : Motet, Judicium Salomonis ('Solomon's Judgement')
M : Marc-Antoine Charpentier : Mass, Assumpta est Maria ('The Assumption of Mary')
VA : Antoine Coypel : Venus Imploring Jupiter in Favour of Aeneas
DL : Serfdom abolished in Denmark
DL : The Daily Courant, first daily newspaper issued in London
ED : Jesuit college founded in Breslau
DL : Asiento Guinea Company founded for slave trade between Africa and America
VA : Japanese painter Ogata Korin unites the two imperial schools of Japanese painting - Kano and Yamato
RP : Armenian Priest Mekhitar of Sebaste founds in Constantinople Order of the Mekhitarists, Roman Catholic Armenian monks
RP : Cotton Mather: Magnalia Christi Americana, ecclesiastical history of New England
RP : Daniel Defoe: The Shortest Way with Dissenters
LT : Edward Busshe: The Art of English Poetry
PH : Rebellion of Protestant peasants, "Camisards", in Cévennes
LT : Earliest form of English pantomime given at Drury Lane, London
PH : William III dies, succeeded by Queen Anne    GO !
VA : Francesco Zuccarelli born 15 August

1703

PH : Treaty of Methuen signed by Britain and Portugal
DL : Peter the Great lays foundations of St. Petersburg
ST : Isaac Newton elected President of the Royal Society
PH : Archduke Charles proclaimed King of Spain in Madrid
ED : Universal, Historical, Geographical, Chronological and Classical Dictionary
VA : Corrado Giaquinto born
VA : François Boucher born 29 September

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
Personae

Terms Defined

Referenced Works