| 1701 |
|
Grand Alliance of England, Netherlands and Austria against Louis XIV of France |
| 1701 |
|
Frederick crowned King of Prussia |
| 1702 |
|
Anne comes to English throne |
| 1703 |
|
St Petersburg made capital of Russia |
| 1703 |
|
Death of Samuel Pepys (diarist) |
| 1704 |
|
English under Duke of Marlborough defeat French at Blenheim |
| 1704 |
|
Death of John Locke (philosopher) |
| 1707 |
|
Death of Aurangzeb, Emperor of Mughal India at its height |
| 1707 |
|
England and Scotland become United Kingdom of Great Britain |
| 1709 |
|
Russians rout Swedes at Battle of Poltava - end of Swedish dominance |
| 1713 |
|
Spain grants monopoly of American slave trade to Britain |
| 1713 |
|
Treaty of Utrecht - England gain favourable peace with France |
| 1713 |
|
Frederick William becomes next King of Prussia |
| 1714 |
|
Queen Anne, last of the Stuarts, dies |
| 1714 |
|
British Hannoverian line begins with coronation of George I |
| 1715 |
|
Louis XIV dies and Louis XV succedes |
| 1716 |
|
First Freemason Grand Lodge established |
| 1716 |
|
Death of Gottfried Wilhelm Liebnitz (mathematician and philosopher) |
| 1719 |
|
Daniel Defoe writes "Robinson Crusoe" (first "real" novel) |
| 1720 |
|
Collapse of "South Sea Bubble" trading empire |
| 1720 |
|
Sir Edmund Halley becomes Astronomer Royal |
| 1721 |
|
Sir Robert Walpole becomes first British Prime Minister |
| 1721 |
|
Russia takes Livonia and Estonia from Swedes at end of Great Northern War |
| 1721 |
|
Peter the Great made Emperor of Russia |
| 1723 |
|
Death of Sir Christopher Wren (architect) |
| 1725 |
|
Death of Peter the Great of Russia |
| 1727 |
|
Death of Sir Isaac Newton (scientist) |
| 1729 |
|
Voltaire starts to preach ideas of political freedom |
| 1732 |
|
Georgia, last of original American colonies, settled by British |
| 1733 |
|
Jethro Tull advances new agricultural practices |
| 1734 |
|
Death of Rob Roy (Scottish hero) |
| 1737 |
|
Death of Antonio Stadivari (violin-maker) |
| 1738 |
|
Lorraine ceded to France |
| 1739 |
|
Persian army sacks Delhi and all but ends Mughal power |
| 1740 |
|
Maria Teresa succedes to Austrian throne |
| 1740 |
|
Frederick II (The Great) succedes to Prussian throne |
| 1741 |
|
Death of Antonio Vivaldi (composer) |
| 1744 |
|
Death of Alexander Pope (poet) |
| 1746 |
|
Jacobite Rebellion crushed at Culloden |
| 1750 |
|
Death of Johann Sebastian Bach (composer) |
| 1751 |
|
Chinese conquer Tibet |
| 1755 |
|
Samuel Johnson publishes his "Dictionary" |
| 1756 |
|
Atrocities of the Black Hole of Calcutta |
| 1756 |
|
Seven Years' War - Prussia proves itself a major power |
| 1757 |
|
Robert Clive ("Clive of India") conquers Bengal for British |
| 1759 |
|
Halley's Comet - Sir Edmund Halley proves periodic return of comets |
| 1759 |
|
Death of George Friderich Handel (composer) |
| 1759 |
|
General James Wolfe takes French Quebec for Britain |
| 1762 |
|
Catherine II (the Great) becomes ruler of Russia |
| 1763 |
|
British Empire at its height after Treaty of Paris |
| 1763 |
|
Josiah Wedgewood patents Wedgewood pottery |
| 1763 |
|
Austria defeated in Seven year' War and loses Silesia |
| 1763 |
|
Treaty of Paris confirms British dominance in Canada |
| 1764 |
|
Death of William Hogarth (caricaturist) |
| 1765 |
|
Mughals recognize British control over Bengal and Bihar |
| 1769 |
|
Watt's steam engine and Arkright's spinning mill invented |
| 1770 |
|
Captain James Cook claims New Zealand and Eastern Australia for Britain |
| 1770 |
|
Death of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (artist) |
| 1772 |
|
Poland split between Russia and Prussia |
| 1773 |
|
Short-lived revolt in Russia led by cossack Pugachov |
| 1773 |
|
Boston Tea Party signals start of American Revolution |
| 1774 |
|
Goethe's "Werther" heralds Romantic Era |
| 1774 |
|
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette succede to French throne |
| 1774 |
|
Warren Hastings appointed Governor General of India |
| 1776 |
|
America declares independence from Britain |
| 1776 |
|
Adam Smith publishes "Weath of Nations" (economic treatise) |
| 1778 |
|
Deaths of Voltaire and Rousseau (Enlightenment philosophers) |
| 1778 |
|
Swede Linnaeus publishes treatise on biological labelling |
| 1779 |
|
Death of David Garrick (actor and theatrical manager) |
| 1779 |
|
First cast iron bridge built at Coalbrookdale, England |
| 1780 |
|
Joseph II assumes sole power over Austrian empire |
| 1781 |
|
British finally surrender to Americans at Yorktown |
| 1781 |
|
Immanuel Kant publishes "Critique of Pure Reason" |
| 1783 |
|
Pitt the Younger becomes Prime Minister |
| 1783 |
|
Montgolfier brother becomes first men to fly (in hot-air balloon) |
| 1787 |
|
American Constitution drafted |
| 1788 |
|
Food riots in France after poor harvest |
| 1788 |
|
First British convicts deported to settle Australia |
| 1789 |
|
George Washington becomes first American President |
| 1789 |
|
Storming of the Bastille - start of French Revolution |
| 1791 |
|
Death of John Wesley (founder of Methodist Church) |
| 1791 |
|
Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer) |
| 1792 |
|
French Republic declared |
| 1793 |
|
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette beheaded |
| 1793 |
|
Jean-Paul Marat beheaded after "Reign of Terror" |
| 1794 |
|
Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre beheaded |
| 1795 |
|
Remainder of Poland divided between Prussia, Russia and Austria |
| 1796 |
|
Death of Robbie Burns (Scottish poet) |
| 1796 |
|
Napoleon Bonaparte begins conquests in Italy |
| 1797 |
|
Napoleon compels Austria to make peace |
| 1798 |
|
Edward Jenner discovers vaccination for smallpox |
| 1798 |
|
Death of Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (adventurer and fabled lover) |
| 1799 |
|
Napoleon leads coup d'etat in France and sets up Consulate |
| 1800 |
|
Parliamentary union of Britain and Ireland |
| 1800 |
|
Haiti becomes first independent state in Latin America |
