| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1700 | - 1700—1799:
SA - VOC slave trading in Mozambique; Zanzibar and Madagascar
|
| 2 | 1720 | - 1720—1749:
SA - Western Cape Khoekhoe reduced to labouring class
|
| 3 | 1733 | - 1733—1733:
Excise crisis: Sir Robert Walpole wanted to add excise tax to tobacco and wine -
Pulteney and Bolingbroke oppose the excise tax
- 1733—1733:
Law forbidding the use of Latin in parish registers generally obeyed - some continued in
Latin for a few years
- 1733—1733:
John Kay invents the flying shuttle, revolutionised the weaving industry
|
| 4 | 1734 | - 1734—1734:
SA - Great Brak River proclaimed eastern boundary of Cape.
- 1734—1734:
Kent's Directory published
|
| 5 | 1737 | - 1737—1743:
SA - Short-lived Moravian mission to Khoekhoe
- 1737—1737:
Licensing Act restricts the number of London theatres and subects plays to censorship
of the Lord Chamberlain (till 1950s)
|
| 6 | 1738 | - 24 May 1738—24 May 1738:
John Wesley has his conversion experience
|
| 7 | 1739 | - 1739—1739:
Wesley and Whitefield commence great Methodist revival
- 7 Apr 1739—7 Apr 1739:
Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York
- 23 Oct 1739—23 Oct 1739:
War of Jenkins' Ear starts: Robert Walpole reluctantly declares war on Spain
|
| 8 | 1741 | - 1741—1741:
Benjamin Ingham founded the Moravian Methodists or Inghamites - Earliest Moravian
registers
|
| 9 | 1742 | - 1742—1742:
England goes to war with Spain - incited by William Pitt the Elder (Earl of Chatham)
for the sake of trade
|
| 10 | 1743 | - 1743—1743:
SA - First recorded Trekboer loan farms in Roggeveld
- 1743—1743:
SA - Dutch Reformed Church congregations founded in Roodezand and Tulbagh.
- 16 Jun 1743—16 Jun 1743:
(June 27 in Gregorian calendar): Battle of Dettingen - last time a British
sovereign (George II) led troops in battle
|
| 11 | 1744 | - 1744—1744:
Tune 'God Save the King' makes its appearance
|
| 12 | 1745 | - 1745—1745:
SA - Dutch Reformed Church congregations founded in Swartland (Malmesbury).
- 1745—1745:
Jacobite rebellion in Scotland ('The Forty-five')
- 19 Aug 1745—19 Aug 1745:
Bonnie Prince Charlie (The Young Pretender) lands in the western Highlands -
raises support among Episcopalian and Catholic clans - The Pretender's army invades Perth,
Edinburgh, and England as far as Derby
|
| 13 | 1746 | - 1746—1746:
SA - Swellendam is founded.
- 16 Apr 1746—16 Apr 1746:
Battle of Culloden - last battle fought in Britain - 5,000 Highlanders routed by
the Duke of Cumberland and 9,000 loyalists Scots - Young Pretender Charles flees to
Continent, ending Jacobite hopes forever - the wearing of the kilt prohibited
|
| 14 | 1747 | - 1747—1747:
Act for Pacification of the Highlands
- 1747—1747:
Abolition of Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland
|
| 15 | 1749 | - 27 Apr 1749—27 Apr 1749:
First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks (in Green Park,
London)
|
| 16 | 1750 | - Feb 1750—Feb 1750:
Series of earthquakes in London and the Home Counties cause panic with
predictions of an apocalypse (Feb/Mar)
- 16 Nov 1750—16 Nov 1750:
Original Westminster Bridge opened (replaced in 1862 due to subsidence)
|
| 17 | 1751 | - Mar 1751—Mar 1751:
Chesterfield's Calendar Act passed - royal assent to the bill was given on 22
May 1751 - decision to adopt Gregorian Calendar in 1752: In and throughout all his
|
| 18 | 1752 | - 1752—1752:
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning conductor
- 1 Jan 1752—1 Jan 1752:
Beginning of the year 1752 [Scotland had adopted January as the start of the year
in 1600, and some other countries in Europe had adopted the Gregorian calendar as early as
1582]
- 3 Sep 1752—3 Sep 1752:
Julian Calendar dropped and Gregorian Calendar adopted in England and
Scotland, making this Sep 14
|
| 19 | 1753 | - 1753—1753:
Private collection of Sir Hans Sloane forms the basis of the British Museum
- 1 May 1753—1 May 1753:
Publication of ?Species Plantarum' by Linnaeus and the formal start date of plant
taxonomy
|
| 20 | 1754 | - 1754—1754:
Hardwicke Act (1753): Banns to be called, and Printed Marriage Register forms to be
used - Quakers & Jews exempt
- 1754—1754:
In the General Election, the Cow Inn at Haslemere, Surrey caused a national scandal by
subdividing the freehold to create eight votes instead of one
- 1754—1754:
First British troops not belonging to the East India Company despatched to India
- 1754—1754:
SA - First recorded Xam San resistance to Roggeveld Trekboers
|
| 21 | 1755 | - 1755—1755:
Publication of Dictionary of the English Language' by Dr Samuel Johnson
- 1755—1755:
Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827)
- 1755—1755:
SA - Smallpox epidemic in the Cape. Foundation stone of Old Town House in Cape Town is laid.
- 2 Dec 1755—2 Dec 1755:
Second Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed by fire
|
| 22 | 1756 | - 15 May 1756—15 May 1756:
The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins
- Jun 1756—Jun 1756:
Black Hole of Calcutta - 146 Britons imprisoned, most die according to British
sources
|
| 23 | 1757 | - 1757—1757:
The foundation laid for the Empire of India
- 14 Mar 1757—14 Mar 1757:
Admiral Byng shot at Portsmouth for failing to relieve Minorca
- 23 Jun 1757—23 Jun 1757:
The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of
Plassey (Palashi, June 23) - the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
|
| 24 | 1758 | - 1758—1758:
India stops being merely a commercial venture - England begins dominating it
politically - The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
|
| 25 | 1759 | - 1759—1759:
Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels
- 15 Jan 1759—15 Jan 1759:
British Museum opens to the public in London
- 16 Oct 1759—16 Oct 1759:
Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
|
| 26 | 1760 | - 1760—1760:
Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland
- 1760—1760:
SA - Jansz; Coetse with Klaas Barends and others cross Gariep River
- 5 May 1760—5 May 1760:
First use of hangman's drop
- 25 Oct 1760—25 Oct 1760:
George II dies - George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king. The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called first Industrial Revolution'
|
| 27 | 1761 | - 1761—1762:
SA - Hendrik Hop travels to Gariep River
- 16 Jan 1761—16 Jan 1761:
British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
|
| 28 | 1762 | - 1762—1762:
Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
|
| 29 | 1763 | - 1763—1763:
Treaty of Paris - gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain - (Newfoundland
[fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum]) - but English displaces French
as the international language
|
| 30 | 1764 | - 1764—1764:
Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared
- 1764—1764:
Practice of numbering houses introduced to London
- 1764—1764:
James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768)
- 1764—1764:
Mozart produces his first symphony at age eight
|
| 31 | 1765 | - 1765—1765:
The potato becomes the most popular food in Europe
- 22 Mar 1765—22 Mar 1765:
Stamp Act passed - imposed a tax on publications and legal documents in the
American colonies (repealed the following year)
|
| 32 | 1766 | - 1766—1766:
Start of 'composite' national records on rainfall in the UK
- 5 Dec 1766—5 Dec 1766:
Christie's auction house founded in London by James Christie
|
| 33 | 1767 | - 1767—1767:
Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
|
| 34 | 1768 | - 9 Jan 1768—9 Jan 1768:
Philip Astley starts his circus in London
- 6 Dec 1768—6 Dec 1768:
The first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica' published in Edinburgh by
William Smellie
|
| 35 | 1769 | - 1769—1769:
Arkwright invents water frame (textile production)
- 1769—1769:
Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand
- 6 Sep 1769—6 Sep 1769:
David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
|
| 36 | 1770 | - 1770—1770:
Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major
thoroughfare for maritime communications
- 1770—1799:
SA - Intensive Khoisan resistance to Trekboer occupation
- 28 Apr 1770—28 Apr 1770:
Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) ? Aug 21: formally claims
Australia for Britain
|
| 37 | 1771 | - 1771—1771:
Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
- 1771—1771:
SA - Clashes between Trekboers and Xhosa begin as trekkers cross the Gamtoos River in the east
|
| 38 | 1772 | - 1772—1772:
First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company
- 1772—1772:
Morning Post' first published (until 1937)
- 14 May 1772—14 May 1772:
Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
|
| 39 | 1774 | - 1774—1774:
SA - General Commando mounted against San: 503 killed; 241 captured
- 13 Sep 1774—13 Sep 1774:
Cook arrives on Easter Island
|
| 40 | 1775 | - 19 Apr 1775—19 Apr 1775:
Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775- 1783)
|
| 41 | 1776 | - 1776—1776:
Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population
- 1776—1776:
Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine
- 4 Jul 1776—4 Jul 1776:
American Declaration of Independence
- 7 Sep 1776—7 Sep 1776:
First attack on a warship by a submarine - David Bushnell's ?Turtle' attacked
HMS Eagle in New York harbour. The attack was perhaps spectacular (a charge did
detonate beneath the ship) but was nevertheless unsuccessful. 'Turtle' was a one man
Affair man-powered [Les Moore]
|
| 42 | 1777 | - 1777—1777:
Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.
|
| 43 | 1778 | - 1778—1778:
SA - Colonial boundary extended to Buffels; Zak; and Fish Rivers
- 1778—1779:
SA - Hendrik Jacob Wikar and Robert Jacob Gordon meet Khoekhoe; Geisiqua and Tswana groups along lower and middle Gariep which Gordon names Orange River in honour of the Netherlands Stadtholder
|
| 44 | 1779 | - 1779—1779:
Marc Isambard Brunel opens the first steamdriven sawmill at Chatham Dockyard in Kent
- 1779—1779:
First iron bridge built, over the Severn by John Wilkinson
- 1779—1779:
First Spinning Mills operational in Scotland
- 14 Feb 1779—14 Feb 1779:
Capt James Cook killed on Hawaii
- 23 Sep 1779—23 Sep 1779:
Naval engagement between Britain and USA off Flamborough Head
|
| 45 | 1780 | - 1780—1780:
Male Servants Tax
- 1780—1780:
The English Reform Movement - until now, only landowners and tenants (freeholders
with 40 shillings per year or more) allowed to vote, and in open poll books
- 1780—1780:
Fountain pen invented
- 1780—1780:
About this time the word 'Quiz' entered the language, said to have been invented as a
wager by Mr Daly, a Dublin theatre manager
- 1780—1780:
SA - First Frontier War between Xhosa and whites.
- 4 May 1780—4 May 1780:
First Derby run at Epsom (some say 2nd June)
- 2 Jun 1780—2 Jun 1780:
Jun 2- 8: The Gordon Riots - Parliament passes a Roman Catholic relief measure - for
days, London is at the mercy of a mob and destruction is widespread
|
| 46 | 1782 | - 1782—1782:
Gilbert's Act establishes outdoor poor relief - the way of life of the poor beginning to
alter due to industrialisation - New factories in rapidly expanding towns required a workforce
that would adjust to new work patterns
- 1782—1782:
James Watt patents his steam engine
- 1782—1782:
SA - First issue of paper rix dollars.
|
| 47 | 1783 | - 1783—1783:
Duty payable on Parish Register entries (3d per entry - repealed 1794) - led to a fall in
entries!
- 1783—1792:
SA - Le Vaillant and Van Reenen travel in Namaqualand and north of Orange River
- 3 Sep 1783—3 Sep 1783:
Treaty of Versailles (Britain/US)
- 3 Nov 1783—3 Nov 1783:
Last public execution at Tyburn in London (John Austin, a highwayman)
|
| 48 | 1784 | - 1784—1784:
Pitt's India Act - the Crown (as opposed to officers of the East India Company) has
power to guide Indian politics
- 1784—1784:
Wesley breaks with the Church of England
- 1784—1784:
First golf club founded at St Andrews
- 1784—1784:
Invention of threshing machine by Andrew Meikle
- 2 Aug 1784—2 Aug 1784:
First mail coaches in England (4pm Bristol / 8am London)
|
| 49 | 1785 | - 1785—1785:
Sunday School Society founded to educate poor children (by 1851, enrols more than 2
million)
- 1 Jan 1785—1 Jan 1785:
John Walter publishes first edition of The Times (called The Daily Universal
Register for 3 years)
|
| 50 | 1786 | - 1786—1786:
SA - Graaff-Reinet founded
|
| 51 | 1787 | - 1787—1787:
MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) established at Thomas Lord's ground in London
|
| 52 | 1788 | - 1788—1788:
First steamboat demonstrated in Scotland
- 1788—1788:
Law passed requiring that chimney sweepers be a minimum of 8 years old (not
enforced)
- 1788—1788:
First slave carrying act, the Dolben Act of 1788, regulates the slave trade - stipulates
more humane conditions on slave ships
- 1788—1788:
King George III's mental illness occasions the Regency Crisis - Edmund Burke and
Charles James Fox attack ministry of William Pitt - trying to obtain full regal powers for the
Prince of Wales
- 1788—1788:
Gibbon completes Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
- 26 Jan 1788—26 Jan 1788:
First convicts (and free settlers) arrive in New South Wales (left Portsmouth 13
May 1787) ? the 'First Fleet'; eleven ships commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip
|
| 53 | 1789 | - 1789—1789:
SA - Merino (wool-producing) sheep brought from Holland
- 1789—1793:
SA - Second Frontier War between Xhosa and whites.
- 28 Apr 1789—28 Apr 1789:
Mutiny on HMS Bounty - Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift
and the rebel crew ends up on Pitcairn Island
|
| 54 | 1790 | - 1790—1790:
Forth and Clyde Canal opened in Scotland
- 1790—1799:
SA - In documented raids on "Bosjesmen" 2000 - 3000 Khoisan are killed
|
| 55 | 1791 | - 1791—1791:
John Bell, printer, abandons the long s' (the 's' that looks like an 'f')
- 1791—1791:
Establishment of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
- 4 Dec 1791—4 Dec 1791:
First publication of The Observer - world's oldest Sunday newspaper
|
| 56 | 1792 | - 1792—1792:
Repression in Britain (restrictions on freedom of the press) - Fox gets Libel Act through
Parliament, requiring a jury and not a judge to determine libel
- 1792—1792:
Boyle's Street Directory published
- 1792—1792:
Coal-gas lighting invented by William Murdock, an Ayrshire Scot
- 1792—1792:
SA - Dutch Reformed Church congregation founded in Graaff-Reinet.
- 1792—1792:
SA - Morovian Mission founded at Genadendal.
- 1 Oct 1792—1 Oct 1792:
Introduction of Money Orders in Britain
- 1 Dec 1792—1 Dec 1792:
King's Proclamation drawing out the British militia
|
| 57 | 1793 | - 11 Feb 1793—11 Feb 1793:
Britain declares war on France (1793-1802)
- 15 Apr 1793—15 Apr 1793:
?5 notes first issued by the Bank of England
|
| 58 | 1794 | - 1794—1794:
Abolition of Parish Register duties
- 6 Oct 1794—6 Oct 1794:
The prosecutor for Britain, Lord Justice Eyre, charges reformers with High
Treason - he argued that, since reform of parliament would lead to revolution and revolution
to executing the King, the desire for reform endangered the King's life and was therefore
treasonous
|
| 59 | 1795 | - 1795—1795:
The Famine Year
- 1795—1795:
Foundation of the Orange Order
- 1795—1795:
Speenhamland Act proclaims that the Parish is responsible for bringing up the labourer's
wage to subsistence level - towards the end of the eighteenth century, the number of poor and
unemployed increased dramatically - price increases during the Napoleonic Wars
(1793-1815) far outstripped wage rises - many small farmers were bankrupted by the move
towards enclosures and became landless labourers - their wages were often pitifully low
- 1795—1795:
Pitt and Grenville introduce The Gagging Acts' or 'Two Bills' (the Seditious Meetings and Treasonable Practices Bills) - outlawed the mass meeting and the political lecture.
- 1795—1795:
Consumption of lime juice made compulsory in Royal Navy
- 1795—1795:
SA - Xhosa at Prieska
- 1795—1802:
SA - British occupy Cape on behalf of William of Orange. Slaves outnumber European settlers at this time
- 1795—1795:
SA - Revolt in Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet.
|
| 60 | 1796 | - 1796—1796:
Pitt's Reign of Terror': More treason trials - leading radicals emigrate
- 1796—1796:
Legacy Tax on sums over ?20 excluding those to wives, children, parents and
grandparents
- 1796—1796:
SA - Pieter Pienaar murdered by Jager Afrikaner at Hantam. Afrikaner becomes frontier leader
- 14 May 1796—14 May 1796:
Dr Edward Jenner gave first vaccination for smallpox in England
|
| 61 | 1797 | - 1797—1797:
England in Crisis, Bank of England suspends cash payments
- 1797—1797:
Mutinies in the British Navy at Spithead and Nore
- 1797—1797:
Tax on newspapers (including cheap, topical journals) increased to repress radical
publications
- 1797—1797:
The first copper pennies were produced ('cartwheels') by application of steam power to
the coining press
- 22 Feb 1797—22 Feb 1797:
French invade Fishguard, Wales; last time UK invaded; all captured 2 days later
- 26 Feb 1797—26 Feb 1797:
First ?1 (and ?2) notes issued by Bank of England
|
| 62 | 1798 | - 1798—1798:
First planned human experiment with vaccination, to test theories of Edward Jenner
- 1798—1798:
SA - First Post Office. Liquidation of Dutch East India Company. First mosque in southern Africa established in Dorp Street by Tuan Guru. Dutch Reformed Church congregation founded at Swellendam.
- Feb 1798—Feb 1798:
The Irish Rebellion; 100,000 peasants revolt; approximately 25,000 die - Irish
Parliament abolished (Feb-Oct)
- 1 Aug 1798—1 Aug 1798:
Battle of the Nile (won by Nelson)
|
| 63 | 1799 | - 1799—1799:
Foundation of Royal Military College Sandhurst by the Duke of York
- 1799—1799:
Foundation of the Royal Institution of Great Britain
- 1799—1802:
SA - Eastern Cape Khoekhoe revolt
- 1799—1799:
SA - First London Missionary Society (LMS) station - to |Xam - on Zak River.
- 1799—1799:
SA - Fort Frederick built in Algoa Bay by British soldiers. Third Frontier War between the Xhosa and whites. Beginning of London Missionary Society work in South Africa.
- 9 Jan 1799—9 Jan 1799:
Pitt brings in 10% income tax, as a wartime financial measure
- 12 Jul 1799—12 Jul 1799:
'Combination Laws' in Britain against political associations and combinations
- 15 Jul 1799—15 Jul 1799:
?Rosetta Stone' discovered in Egypt made possible the deciphering (in 1822) of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
|
| 64 | 1800 | - 1800—1800:
Electric light first produced by Sir Humphrey Davy
- 1800—1800:
Use of high pressure steam pioneered by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833)
- 1800—1800:
Royal College of Surgeons founded
- 1800—1800:
Herschel discovers infra-red light
- 1800—1800:
Volta makes first electrical battery
- 1800—1800:
SA - First printing press in Cape Town. Government Gazette started.
- 2 Jul 1800—2 Jul 1800:
Parliamentary union of Great Britain and Ireland
|
| 65 | 1801 | - 1801—1801:
Grand Union Canal opens in England
- 1801—1801:
Elgin Marbles brought from Athens to London
- 1801—1801:
SA - Official expedition of Truter; Somerville; Barrow and Daniell; with missionaries Jan Matthys Kok and William Edwards; reaches Dithakong
- 1801—1801:
SA - William Anderson established mission at Aakaap and then Klaarwater (later Griquatown). Khoisan spelling book printed by LMS
- 1 Jan 1801—1 Jan 1801:
Union Jack becomes the official British flag
- 10 Mar 1801—10 Mar 1801:
First census puts the population of England and Wales at 9,168,000. Population of Britain nearly 11 million (75% rural)
- 24 Dec 1801—24 Dec 1801:
Richard Trevithick built the first self-propelled passenger carrying road loco
|
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