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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1748 | - 1748: The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle brings the War of Austrian Succession to a close
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| 2 | 1750 | - 1750: The grapefruit was first described by Griffith Hughes as the "forbidden fruit" of Barbados
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| 3 | 1751 | - 1751: Benjamin Franklin published 'Experiments and Observations on Electricity' after several years of experiments done with several friends. In this book Franklin suggested an experiment to prove that lightning is a large-scale electrical discharge, a task which later he took upon himself, using a kite. This led to the invention of the lightning rod.
- 1751: Death of Frederick, Prince of Wales. His son, Prince George, becomes heir to the throne
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| 4 | 1752 | - 1752: James Lind called attention to the value of fresh fruit in the prevention of scurvy
- 1752: Ren? Antoine Ferchault de R?aumur showed by experiment that gastric juice liquifies meat.
- 1752: Adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in Britain
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| 5 | 1753 | - 1753: Parliament passes the Jewish Naturalization Bill
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| 6 | 1754 | - 1754: The ministry of Newcastle
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| 7 | 1755 | - 1755: Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language published
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| 8 | 1756 | - 1756: Mayonnaise invented to commemorate a victory at the start of the Seven Years War, the successful seige of English-held St. Philip's Castle
- 1756: Britain, allied with Prussia, declares war against France and her allies, Austria and Russia. The Seven Years' War begins
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| 9 | 1757 | - 1757: The Pitt-Newcastle ministry. Robert Clive wins the Battle of Plassey and secures the Indian province of Bengal for Britain. William Pitt becomes Prime Minister
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| 10 | 1759 | - 1759: Wolfe captures Quebec and expels the French from Canada
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| 11 | 1760 | - 1760: Death of King George II. He is succeeded by his grandson as George III
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| 12 | 1761 | - 1761: Laurence Sterne publishes his 'Tristram Shandy'
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| 13 | 1762 | - 1762: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, 'created' the Sandwich. This Englishman was said to have been fond of gambling and, during a 24 hour gambling streak, he instructed a cook to prepare his food in such a way that it would not interfere with his game. The cook presented him with sliced meat between two pieces of toast. Perfect! This meal required no utensils and could be eaten with one hand, leaving the other free to continue the game.
- 1762: The Earl of Bute is appointed Prime Minister. He becomes very unpopular and employs a bodyguard
- 1762: Acad?mie Francaise recognises term 'millionaire'
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| 14 | 1763 | - 1763: Peace of Paris ends the Seven Years' War. Grenville ministry.
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| 15 | 1764 | - 1764: James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny
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| 16 | 1765 | - 1765: Rockingham ministry. The American Stamp Act raises taxes in the colonies in an attempt to make their defence self-financing
- 1765: Earliest known children's pop-up book
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| 17 | 1766 | - 1766: Chatham ministry. Repeal of the American Stamp Act
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| 18 | 1768 | - 1768: Grafton ministry. The Middlesex Election Crisis occurs
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| 19 | 1769 | - 1769: James Watt patented a new type of steam engine with a separate condensing chamber and an air pump to bring steam into the chamber and equipped it with a simple 'governor' for safety: if the engine started to go too fast, the power would be automatically cut back. He coined the term 'horsepower' and later loaned his name to the unit of power, or work, done per unit of time
- 1769: Captain James Cook's first voyage to explore the Pacific begins
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| 20 | 1770 | - 1770: Lord North begins service as Prime Minister. The Falkland Island Crisis occurs. Edmund Burke publishes his 'Thoughts on the Present Discontents'
- 1770: James Cook documents the location of Australia
- 1770: Gum pencil eraser invented
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| 21 | 1771 | - 1771: The Encyclopedia Britannica is first published
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| 22 | 1773 | - 1773: American colonists protest at the East India Company's monopoly over tea exports to the colonies, at the so-called 'Boston Tea Party'. The World's first cast-iron bridge is constructed over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale
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| 23 | 1774 | - 1774: Franz Anton Mesmer began the psychotherapeutic practive of hypnotism, which he called 'animal magnetism' and conceived it to be an actual fluid. Apparently he had some success with psychosomatic illnesses. Part of his technique seems to have been used earlier by exorcists.
- 1774: Parliament passes the Coercive Acts in retaliation for the 'Boston Tea Party'
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| 24 | 1775 | - 1775: American War of Independence begins when colonists fight British troops at Lexington.
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| 25 | 1776 | - 1776: Adam Smith, in 'The Wealth of Nations', advanced the idea that businesses survive through successful trading in pursuit of their self-interest, and that the resulting equilibrium was not by design.
- 1776: On 4 JUL, the American Congress passes their Declaration of Independence from Britain. Edward Gibbons' publishes his 'Decline and Fall'
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| 26 | 1778 | - 1778: Cook explores Hawaiian Islands. He fails to locate Northwest Passage from Alaskan side and is killed in Hawaii the following year
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| 27 | 1779 | - 1779: The rise of Wyvill's Association Movement
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| 28 | 1780 | - 1780: The Gordon Riots develop from a procession to petition parliament against the Catholic Relief Act
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| 29 | 1781 | - 1781: Frederick William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus by its movement, although at the time he supposed it to be a comet
- 1781: The Americans obtain a great victory of British troops at the surrender of Yorktown
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1748 - Aft 1780 (> 33 years)