Daniel Defoe standing in the pillory in London. Photo credit Wellcome Library, London In the year 1703, Saint Petersburg is founded, following Peter the Great’s reconquest of Ingria from Sweden (May 27), Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for publishing his satirical political pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters (Jul 29), the first complete census in the world is completed in Iceland (Jun), the Man in the Iron Mask dies in the Bastille, France (Nov 19) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1747, the first venereal diseases clinic opens in London (Jan 31), a combined French and Indian force attacks and defeats British troops at Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia (Feb 11), the Knowles Riot breaks out in Boston, protesting impressment into the British Royal Navy (Nov 17), James Lind’s experiment begins to prove that citrus fruits prevent scurvy, remains of the Temple of Apollo are discovered in Malta - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1760, the Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings (Mar 20), George III ascends to the English throne, to rule the next 60 years (Oct 25), the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) is raging on in Europe and the Americas, and eventually ends France’s position as a major colonial power in the Americas, Abu Dhabi is founded - and all these fine people were born: 1760-0119 Patrick Cotter O’Brien* gigantic showman - Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland (1806/46) 1760-0203 John Storm* American Revolutionary soldier - Latimore Township, Pennsylvania (1835/75) 1760-0310 Leandro Fernández de Moratín* dramatist/poet/translator - Madrid, Spain (1828/68) 1760-0501 1760-0503 William Scoresby* arctic navigator - Cropton, Yorkshire, England (1829/69) 1760-0510 Johann Peter Hebel* teacher/poet - Basel, German Empire (1826/66) 1760-0529 Charlotte Slottberg* ballerina-dancer - Stockholm, Sweden (1800/40) 1760-0605 Johan Gadolin* chemist/physicist/ mineralogist - Turku, Sweden-Finland (1852/92) 1760-0904 Knut von Troil* Finnish officer/civil servant/senator - Uppsala, Sweden (1825/65) 1760-1031 Katsushika Hokusai* painter of the famous The Great Wave off Kanagawa - Edo, Japan (1849/88) 1760-1121 Joseph Plumb Martin* American Revolutionary soldier/ narrative author - Becket, Province of Massachusetts Bay (1850/89) 1760-1214 Pehr von Afzelius* physician/professor - Larv, Västergötland, Sweden (1843/82) 1760-1217Deborah Sampson* first American female soldier - Plympton, Massachusetts, British America (1827/66) 1760-0 1760-0 1760-0 Updated 2024-1231 Helsinki Search for another year here

In the year 1764, the Sugar Act is passed in Great Britain, instrumental in the events leading to the American Revolution (Apr 5), eight-year-old child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performs a private concert before King George III and Queen Charlotte in Great Britain (Apr 27), Baden becomes the first member state of the Confederation of Switzerland to declare a policy of remaining neutral in future conflicts, setting the basis for Swiss neutrality from 1815 onward (May 3), the oldest surviving newspaper in North America, the English-language Quebec Gazette, is established (Jun 21), the last British troops depart Havana as agreed in the treaty between Spain and Great Britain; Spain cedes West Florida to Great Britain for Cuba (Jul 6) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The rebuilt Boston Light from 1783 In the year 1716, the town of Crieff in Scotland is burned to the ground by Jacobites returning from a battle (Jan), the seventh Ottoman–Venetian War begins, but the Ottoman Empire unsuccessfully lays siege to Corfu (Jul 8), America’s first lighthouse, Boston Light, is built (destroyed in the American Revolution but later rebuilt), the pirate Blackbeard is given command of a Bermuda sloop in the Bahamas - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1737, French scientists publish the first study of correlating past weather conditions with an examination of tree rings (Feb 27), the oldest existing English language newspaper in the world, The News Letter, is founded in Belfast, Ireland (Sep 1), Benjamin Franklin creates the first city-paid force, the Philadelphia Police Force, the direct male line of the Medici family becomes extinct, Richmond, Virginia is founded - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_1627” align=“alignright” width=“438”]Australia discoveries by Europeans before 1813[/caption] In the year 1770, the Boston Massacre takes place - an event that helps start the American Revolution five years later (Mar 3), James Cook and his crew complete the circumnavigation of New Zealand (Mar 26) and later become the first recorded Europeans to encounter the eastern coastline of the Australian continent (Apr 18), 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries Louis-Auguste, the future King Louis XVI, in Paris (May 7), James Cook claims the whole of eastern coast of Australia for Great Britain, later naming it New South Wales (Aug 22) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

King Gustav III of Sweden In the year 1772, a group of white settlers in today’s Tennessee create the first non-colonial government body in British North America (May 8), the credit crisis of 1772 triggers financial panic and threatens the East India Company with bankruptcy (Jun 10), the second voyage of James Cook departs from Plymouth (Jul 13), a coup d’état by King Gustav III ends half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden (Aug 21), Scottish scientist Daniel Rutherford discovers nitrogen, isolating it from air - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Demonstrators disguised as native Americans destroy tea shipment in Boston (designed by Wannapik) In the year 1773, the hymn that becomes known as Amazing Grace is first performed in Olney, England (Jan 1), the Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade (Apr 27), America’s first insane asylum opens in Williamsburg, Virginia (Oct 12), Sons of Liberty steal aboard ships of the East India Company and dump their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor in protest against British tax policies - this becomes known as the** Boston Tea Party** (Dec 16) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1707, the new sovereign state of Great Britain comes into being as Scotland and England become one (May 12), the last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji begins in Japan (Dec 16), Charles XII of Sweden launches his campaign to conquer Russia, marching to the east from Leipzig with 60,000 men (Dec), Shaw’s Bridge in Belfast in constructed - and all these fine people were born: 1707-0102 Johann Adam Lehmus* German poet of numerous spiritual songs - Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (1788/81) Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_4180” align=“alignright” width=“410”]Battle of Springfield, New Jersey in 1780[/caption] In the year of 1780, the legislature of Pennsylvania votes to approve the Act for the Gradual Emancipation of Slaves (Mar 1), Charleston in South Carolina is taken by British forces (May 12), the Continental Army defeats the British in New Jersey (Jun 23), French soldiers arrive in Newport, Rhode Island to reinforce the colonists in the American Revolutionary War (Jul 11), the French King Louis XVI abolishes the use of torture in extracting confessions (Aug 24), the American War of Independence (1775–1783) goes on - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Stockholm Palace In the year 1754, the French and Indian War begins when the 22-year old George Washington leads a company of militia from the Colony of Virginia, in an ambush on a force of 35 French Canadians (May 28), the British North American Province of Georgia is created (Aug 6), Denmark establishes an office to oversee its colonial affairs of the Danish West Indies, later to become the U.S. Virgin Islands (Nov 28), the Swedish royal family moves in the new Stockholm Palace (Dec 7) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1784, the Congress of the United States ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain to end the American Revolutionary War (Jan 14), the composition of water is revealed (Jan 15), the Emerald Buddha is installed at the Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok (Mar 22), Russia establishes a colony at Kodiak, Alaska (Sep 22), the phenomenon of black holes is first posited in a paper by John Michell in London (Nov 27), - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1782, the first American commercial bank opens (Jan 7), the bald eagle is chosen as the emblem of the United States of America (Jun 20), a fire in Constantinople destroys one-half of the city (Aug 21), the first franking privilege is granted for official correspondence in the United States (Oct 18), London creates the Foot Patrol for public security, the largest literary compilation in China’s history, Siku Quanshu, is completed, the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm is opened - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1785, the first issue of the Daily Universal Register, later known as The Times, is published in London (Jan 1), the English Channel is crossed by air for the first time (Jan 7), a hot air balloon crashing in Ireland becomes the world’s first aviation disaster (May 10), the dollar is chosen as the money unit for the United States (Jul 6), the Treaty of Hopewell is signed between the United States of America and the Cherokee Nation (Nov 28) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The colorful city of Nuuk, Greenland in 2018 - 290 years after it was founded In the year 1728, Peter II becomes the Tsar of the Russian Empire (Jan 9), Vitus Bering embarks on his first Kamchatka Expedition (Jul 14), confirming the presence of a strait - now known as Bering Strait (Aug 16), the City of Nuuk is founded in Greenland, as Fort Godt-Haab (Aug 29), English astronomer James Bradley uses stellar aberration to calculate the speed of light, and observes nutation of the Earth’s axis - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The Great Music Hal in Fishamble Street, Dublin, where Messiah was first performed In the year 1742, Handel’s oratorio The Messiah is first performed in Dublin, Ireland in aid of local charities (Apr 13), mathematician Christian Goldbach first describes his conjecture “Every even number is the sum of two primes” - one of the oldest unsolved problems in mathematics (Jun 7), author Jonathan Swift is confined to home treatment for the remainder of his life (Aug 17), Swedish troops surrender to Russians in Helsinki (Aug 20) resulting in all of Finland falling for a while under Russian occupation (Sep), Spain completes the construction of Fort Matanzas to the south of St. Continue reading

Replica of the figurehead of HMS Bounty In the year 1787, William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus (Jan 11), Captain Arthur Phillip leaves England with 11 ships carrying around 700 convicts plus crew and guards to establish a penal colony in Australia (May 13), the United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia (Sep 17), Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni premieres in Prague (Oct 29), Delaware becomes the first U. Continue reading

Sámi with reindeer in the 1890’s In the year 1751, the Governor of French Louisiana issues the first police regulations for New Orleans in an attempt to combat crime in that city (Feb 18), cricket is first played in the American colonies in Greenwich Village (Apr 29), fire destroys 1000 houses in Stockholm, Sweden (Jul 31), 19-year old George Washington becomes seriously ill with smallpox in Barbados (Nov 17), the Cherokee nation signs a treaty with British colonial authorities (Nov 29), the Lapp Codicil of 1751 - still considered of importance - secures the right of the Sami to continue their nomadic lifestyle between borders - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1746, the three Scottish leaders of the Jacobite uprising are imprisoned for treason in the Tower of London (May 27), the wearing of the kilt is banned in Scotland as a means to bring the warrior clans under the British government control (Aug 1), the College of New Jersey - future Princeton - is founded in Princetown, New Jersey (Oct 22), Eva Ekeblad reports her discovery of making flour and alcohol from potatoes to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading