| Country | Leader | From | To | |
| England | William III (1650-1702) and Mary II (1662-94) | Feb. 13, 1689 | Mar. 8, 1702 |  |
| France | Louis XIV (1638-1715) | May 14, 1643 | Sept. 1, 1715 |  |
| Austria | HRE Leopold I (1640-1705) | July 18, 1658 | May 5, 1705 |  |
| Russia | Tsar Peter I the Great (1672-1725) | Nov. 2, 682 | Feb. 8, 1725 | |
| India | Emperor Aurangzeb (1618-1707) | July 31, 1658 | Mar. 3, 1707 |  |
| Papacy | Pope Innocent XII (1615-1700) | July 12, 1691 | Sept. 27, 1700 |  |
1700 Jan. 1, 1700 falls on Friday, so this is a Venus (Frigg) Century - yah right, they do a lot of frigging? Pop.: England-Scotland: 7.5M (8.5M in 1760), France: 19M (25M in 1789), Hapsburg dominions: 7.5M, Spain: 6M, India: 150M (up 50M in 2 cents.); Anglo pop. of the English colonies in America: 250K, with Boston (7K) the largest city, followed by New York City (5K); the ratio of the pop. in England to the pop. of the English colonies is 20 to 1; native Am. Indian pop.: 1M; pop. of Stockholm: 60K; well-fed Americans are the tallest people in the world from colonial times until the middle of the 20th cent. Muslim control of Turkey has grown from 0% in 1300 to over 50%, reaching 80% in 1900, and 99% by 2000. Early in this cent. the term "redcoat" is coined for a British soldier, whose coat is colored with madder red, with scarlet for oficers, expanding to all ranks in 1873; the Parliamentarian New Model Army of 1645 wrote coats of Venetian red. In this cent. the Industrial Rev. begins in Europe, starting slow and picking up steam about 1760; at the beginning of the cent. living conditions in Europe stink, with corpses piled into empty graves until full. In this cent. the open-field system in Britain along with communal mgt. of large tracts of farmland begins to be ended by enclosures by Parliament, with over 300K acres enclosed by 1760, and 3M more by 1801, allowing modern farming techniques to be used to increase output, causing the urban pop. to zoom from 20% to as much as 50% by 1770. In this cent. the Grand Tour flourishes for the British aristocracy, until the Napoleonic Wars make it too dangerous. On Jan. 26 a megathrust earthquake occurs in the Pacific Ocean. On Feb. 22 after Russia, Poland, and Denmark-Norway decide to take on the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in C, N, and E Europe, Augustus II the Strong of Poland invades Livonia (modern-day Estonia and Latvia) with his Saxon troops, starting the Great Northern War (ends Sept. 10, 1721), and sieges Riga (until Nov.), but is defeated by an army led by Swedish Wittelsbach king #4 (1697-1718) Karl (Charles) (Carolus Rex) XII (1682-1718); in July the Battle of Jungfernhof (Jumprava, Jumpravmuiza) near Riga is a V for field marshal (since Aug. 27, 1699) Count (since 1699) Adam Heinrich von Steinau (-1712), (who commanded imperial troops in Hungary against the Turks in 1695-6) over Swedish gen. (later count in 1706) Otto Ottoson Vellingk (1649-1708). On Mar. 1 in Denmark, Norway, and the Protestant states of Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, the date switches from Feb. 18 as the 1582 Gregorian Calendar is finally adopted. On Mar. 25 (Mar. 13 Old Style) the Treaty of London (Second Treaty of Partition) (first in 1698) between France, Britain, and the Dutch Repub. revamps the Spanish succession, giving Spain and the Indies to Archduke Charles (later HRE Charles VI) (2nd son of HRE Leopold I), Naples, Sicily, and the Duchy of Lorraine to the French dauphin, and Milan to the duke of Lorraine, with the two branches of the House of Hapsburg stipulated to forever remain separate; Charles II of Spain signs a new will making Louis XIV's grandson Philip V, duke of Anjou his heir. On Mar. 19 Friedrich I approves the establishment of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, headed by big brain Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz. On Apr. 18 after being caught plotting with France to fight the Hapsburgs for Hungarian independence, Transylvanian prince (leader of the Kurucs) Francis II Rakoczy (1676-1735) is arrested and imprisoned in Wiener Neustadt fortress, but flees to Poland and plots to make a comeback. In June Mass. passes a law expelling all Roman Catholic priests; N.Y. follows suit. Nords 1, Slavs 0? On May 30-July 18 the new 40-ship Azov fleet of Russian tsar (since 1682) Peter I the Great (1672-1725) takes Azov from the Turks, followed by Kouban, ending the Second Russo-Turkish War (begun 1686); after Charles (Karl) XII of Sweden occupies Iceland, Peter I the Great begins a 21-year war with Sweden, but proves no match, as on Nov. 30 Charles XII uses a snowstorm as cover to defeat his 37K-man army under field marshal Charles Eugene de Croy (1651-1702) with only 12.3K troops at the Battle of Narva, with 10K-16K Russians KIA and 17K-30K captured vs. 667 Swedes KIA and 1.2K wounded, uniting Sweden and beginning Nordic settlement of the New World; the weakness of the Asiatic hordes against the N European Nordics is exposed, and Sweden becomes the leading power in N Europe; too bad, in Sept. Russia makes Courland a vassal, and after Russia declares war on Poland in 1702, Sweden wastes several years campaigning in Poland, giving Peter the great, er, the Great the opportunity to reorganize his army and construct a Baltic fleet. On July 10 the first advertisement is placed for Hockley-in-the-Hole in London, England, which stages prize fights, incl. with swords, and also has a lovely Bear Garden for bull and bear baiting; in 1774 the name is changed to Ray St. England is set to be ruled by Germans and nobody can stop it? On July 30 Prince Anne's popular son and heir apparent Duke William of Gloucester (b. 1689) dies of smallpox, and succession to the English throne passes through James VI's daughter Elizabeth to Electress Sophia of Hanover (1630-1714), mother of Elector Prince George (later George I); morbidly obese Princess Anne has by now had 18 pregnancies, of which only five ended in live births, and they all died, some incl. Lady Mary and Lady Anne of smallpox, and by now she is worn-out and a semi-invalid. On Aug. 3 the French ship Amphitrie returns to China with a cargo of silk, porcelain, and tea, causing a boom that increases ships to China 10x. On Sept. 6 the town of Mount Kisco, N.Y. on the Kisco River in modern-day Westchester County (Munsee "asiskuw" = mud") (modern-day pop. 10.8K) is first mentioned, becoming the home of New York Times pub. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner, TV personalities Bennett Cerf and Arlene Francis, and composer Samuel Barber. On Sept. 27 Pope (since July 12, 1691) Innocent XII (b. 1615) dies after advising retarded king Charles II of Spain to make his grandnephew (Louis XIV's blonde 2nd-eldest grandson) (great-grandson of Philip IV of Spain) Philip (Felipe) V, Duke of Anjou (1683-1746) his testamentary successor, and on Nov. 1 Charles II (b. 1661) dies childless, ending the line of the Spanish Hapsburgs, and Louis XIV of France accepts the Spanish throne for Philip V, founding the Spanish House of Bourbon, but the Austrians want Spain to remain Hapsburg to keep Louis XIV from getting too much power, and back Hapsburg Archduke Charles (later HRE Charles VI), which leads on May 15, 1702 to the 12-year War of the Spanish Succession (ends Sept. 7, 1714). On Nov. 23 Giovanni (Gian) Francesco Albani (from a noble family in Urbino that orginally came from N Albania) is elected Pope (#243) Clement XI (1649-1721), going on to commission the 5K-page 8-vol. Illyricum Sacrum in 1702 (pub. in Venice in 1751-1819), and refrain from nepotism, other than his nephew Annibale Albani (1682-1751), who is elected cardinal, but on his own merits; the new pope starts out by trying to remain neutral in the succession dispute, while the Austrians invade Italy and take Milan, and the HRE forms a coalition with England, Holland, and Prussia against France and Savoy; Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy is placed in command of the combined French-Spanish armies, while his cousin Prince Eugene of Savoy commands the opposing armies. On Dec. 9 moderate Tory Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (1645-1712) becomes head minister of the British cabinet (don't say prime minister, actually first lord of the treasury) (until Dec. 30, 1701). Sir Robert Walpole (b. 1676), heir to a rich Norfolk estate is elected to Parliament for Castle Rising, and is reelected next year for King's Lynn. The elective office (since 1516) of prince-bishop of Montenegro becomes hereditary, from uncle to nephew, starting with Danilo I Petrovic-Njegos (1670-1735), founder of the Petrovic-Njegos Dynasty, going on to cultivate friendly relations with Russia. Capt. Kidd goes to Boston to prove his innocence of piracy, is arrested along with several of his crew, and sent to London, where they are imprisoned on Newgate on three counts of piracy, plus murder of a crew member during the Madagascar mutiny. In this cent. the Kingdom of Chikulamayembe is founded in Malawi (ends in the 1870s). With financing by German-born Jewish banker ("the Judenkaiser") Samuel Oppenheimer (1630-1703), Judah the Pious (Judah he-Hasid Segal ha-Levi) (1600-1700) settles in Jerusalem with 1K Ashkenazi followers, joining 200 Ashkenazi and 1K Sephardic Jews already there, resulting in the Ashkenazi building a synagogue on credit and getting it taken back in 1720 by the Arab creditors, who set it on fire, after which the Turks decided to ban all Ashkenazis, causing most to move to other cities, while some pretended to be Sephardics; in 1864 the Ashkenazi Hurvat Yehudah he-Hasid (Destroyed Place of Judah the Pious) is rebuilt, then destroyed in 1948 by the Arab Legion. Sing Sing on the Hudson River 30 mi. N of New York City, named after the Sin Sincks Indians is settled on the Philipse Manor; the name is changed to Ossining in 1901 in a vain attempt to separate it from Sing Sing Prison. By this time the Dutch have overtaken the Portuguese as masters of the world sea trade. About this time Rococo (Roccoco) (Late Baroque) Architecture (Fr. "rocaille" + "coquilles" = stone + shell) (It. "barocco" + Fr. "rocaille" = imperfect pearl + interior decoration using shells and pebbles) arises in Roman Catholic S Germany, Bohemia, and Austria, reacting to the strict rules of Baroque Architecture with a jocular, florid, graceful approach, with asymmetrical ornate designs with light colors, curves, and gold, and playful-witty themes, reaching its height in 1730s France, esp. during the reign (Sept. 1, 1715-May 10, 1774) of Louis XV (1710-74); by the late 1700s it is replaced by the Neoclassical style. In this cent. the Muslim Arab Slave Trade in E Africa sees 500-1K slaves taken at a time from villages in E Africa, held in Zanzibar in the Shimoni Caves for up to three weeks, then shipped to Yemen and America; it continues until the 19th cent.; the port city of Bordeaux, France becomes a major player in the Trianglular Trade of slave ships trading weapons, cloth, and trinkets for African slaves, who are then shipped to the Indies and traded for sugar, coffee, chocolate, and cotton, creating wealthy families who plow their money into wine estates, making Bordeaux wine #1, with names like Mouton, Lafite and Margaux; in 1700-1800 500+ slave ships sail from Bordeaux; meanwhile in the still lily-white Va. Colony racial attitudes harden to the point that all blacks are considered slaves, and manumission requires them to leave so they don't have to deal with a mixed society; meanwhile the white elite fosters racism to keep the downtrodden white lower classes from uniting with the blacks against them and instead prefer racial solidarity, leading to the tragic Pickett's Charge for Ole Virginny in 1863?; in this decade Lagos, Nigeria becomes a major center of the African slave trade (until 1851), ruled by the Yoruba Oba kings. Between this year and 1850 more than 70% of the 12M total slave exports across the Atlantic occur, with a mortality rate of 25% (9.5M surviving). Between this year and 1810 ships bring nearly 1M African slaves to work in sugar planations in Jamaica and Barbados; British sugar consumption grows from 4 lbs. per capita in 1700, 18 in 1800, 36 in 1850, to 100+ by 1900. About this time the commode becomes a popular household appliance. Early in this cent. April Fools' Day migrates from France to England. In this cent. the phrase "o'clock" begins to be used instead of "of the clock" or "a clock". Berlin institutes a tax on unmarried women - the original play or pay? Britain prohibits the printing or weaving of calico, regulates vending of alcoholic spirits, and finally allows commoners to own greyhounds. In this decade many German towns become lit by oil. At the beginning of the cent. British industry is limited to the "domestic system" (cottage industry), mainly woolworking; the Norwich region, centered around the town of Worstead becomes famous for "worsted" woolens. The demise of Puritanism allows Christmas carols to become popular again in this cent. Early in this cent. the word "barbarian" comes to mean somebody who is wild or rude. In this decade Congregational minister (since 1680 John Wise (1652-1725) of Ipswich, Mass. successfully campaigns against a plan by Increase Mather and Cotton Mather to organize Mass. clergymen into associations, claiming that it would reduce local church autonomy. Early in this cent. the Established Church of Scotland is so concerned with the spread of Bourignianism, a belief in direct mystical supernatural revelation originated by Flemish nun Antoinette Bourignon (1616-80) and spread by Calvinist minister Pierre Poiret (1646-1719) that it requires entrants to the ministry to solemnly renounce it. By this year there are 50-60 regular newspapers in Germany reaching several hundred thousand readers. New York Province gov. #12 (1698-1701) Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont (1636-1701) establishes a reading room that in 1754 becomes the New York Society Library. The Academie des Sciences et Belles Lettres is founded in Lyon, followed by an Academie des Beaux-Arts in 1713. The Late Baroque Period of European Art begins (ends 1715), characterized by freedom of form, motion, and feeling along with ornamentation such as only absolute monarchs can love? About this time the Mdewakantonwan (pr. bde-wak-hath-ung-wang) subtribe of the Dakota nation moves into the area around Lake Minnetonka in Minn. W of modern-day Minneapolis-St. Paul. Early in this cent. Opera Buffa (comic opera) arises in Naples, and spreads N. The P'ansori (1-man opera) is developed in Korea in this cent., but doesn't flourish until the 19th cent., taking librettos from vernacular Korean novels. About this time the rules and vocabulary of Danse d'Ecole (Ballet) are codified in France. In the first half of this cent. European secular painting hits rock bottom because of all the religious pressure. In this cent. Santo religious icon art is developed by Am. Catholic Hispanics in Colo. and New Mexico. Sports: Francisco Romero of Andalusia becomes the first famous Spanish bullfighter. Architecture: The Palace of Forty Pillars in Isfahan, Persia is redesigned. Eddystone Lighthouse (begun 1698) off Plymouth, England is finished. The Isaac Winslow House in Marshfield, Mass. is built. The domed mansion Castle Howard near Malton, Yorkshire, England is built, featuring fine art collections open to the public. Rich English lawyer John Kyrle (1637-1724), who turns philanthropist and lives a frugal lifestyle so he can use his wealth for the community founds The Prospect in Ross-on-Wye, a hilltop park with a fountain and walkways. Inventions: In this cent. Cordials (Lat. "cor" = heart) AKA surfeit waters, used for medicinal purposes begin to incl. alcohol, spawning griottes, long-stalked sour griotte cherries in kirsch wrapped in chocolate, invented in Franche-Comte, which travel to the U.S., evolving into chocolate-covered cherry cordials, which become popular for Valentines Day gifts. The pianoforte (piano) is invented by Italian harpsichord maker Bartolommeo Cristofori (1655-1731) of Padua, who in 1709 makes four "gravicembali col piano e forte" (harpsichord with soft and loud) for Tuscan grand prince Ferdinando de' Medici; family friend Sebastian LeBlanc suggests black and white keys. In this half-cent. the Serinette (Fr. "serin" = canary) hand-cranked barrel organ appears in E France to teach songs to canaries, evolving into the organ-grinder profession. By this time the Four-Masted Galleon is being produced in Europe. Side arms for eyeglasses are developed in this cent. The modern spoon with the spatulate handle is invented in this cent. A Swiss inventor mounts a windmill on a wagon, using it to wind up a huge spring. Science: English mathematician John Machin (1686-1751) (prof. of astronomy at Gresham College, London) invents a convergent series for pi based on the series expansion of the arctangent function, and uses it to compute pi to 100 decimal places - well snaggle my fran? About this time Sir Isaac Newton predicts the deflection of light around the Sun by 0.875 arc sec.; Albert Einstein later plagiarizes him for his 1913 prediction, which isn't experimentally verified because of WWI, but changes his prediction to 1.75 arc sec. before an expedition to a solar eclipse measures it in 1919?; Newton claimed that the gravitational attraction of the Sun makes light travel faster close to it so that the deflected light arrives before the undeflected light, whereas Einstein claimed that light will be delayed when passing close to the Sun. Dutch botanist-anatomist Frederik Ruysch (1638-1731) describes the ocular circulatory system, proving the existence of the arteria centralis oculi (central artery of the eye); he goes on to prove the existence of valves in the lymphatic system, along with the vomeronasal organ in snakes, and invents the art of injection and embalming techniques, becoming the first to embalm by injecting a chemical solution into the blood vessels made of clotted pig's blood, Berlin blue, and mercury oxide, creating dioramas incorporating human parts esp. infant and fetal bodies, leaving 2K+ preserved specimens in his private museum, also preserved butterflies and lizards, selling a load of it in 1717 to Peter the Great. Joseph Sauveur begins writing on musical acoustics. French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708) discovers ammonium chloride. Nonfiction: Mary Astell (1666-1731), Some Reflections Upon Marriage (London); "If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?" Guillaume Delisle (1675-1726), The Map of the World; The Map of the Continents; unsurpassed accuracy, making him a star in France. Johannes Andreas Eisenmenger (1654-1704), Entdecktes Judenthum (Judaism Unmasked) (2 vols.) (Frankfurt); cites 193 Jewish books and rabbinical tracts with extensive and accurate erudition to expose the Jewish religion as barbarous, superstitious, and promotious, er, promoting murder of non-Jews, recommending that they lose their "freedom in trade" that is threatening to make them "lords" over the Germans, and that synagogues, public worship, and rabbis be banned, claiming that the Germans descended from the Canaanites, whom the Jews were commanded by Jehovah to destroy in Deut. 7:16., causing Jewish banker Samuel Oppenheimer to pay big bucks to get his patron Hapsburg HRE Leopold I to ban the book, helped by the Jesuits, who claim it slanders Roman Catholicism, which only makes it more popular, becoming a sourcebook for all future anti-Talmudic lit.; Eisenmenger dies of grief? Raoul Anger Feuillet (1653-1709), Choregraphie, ou l'Art de D'Ecrire la Danse; describes the Beauchamp-Feuillet Notation. Thomas Hyde (16361-1703), Historia Religionis Veterum Persarum; first attempt to correct ancient Greek and Roman historians on Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism; coins the term "dualism". Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714), De Mortis Artificum Diatriba; first comprehensive work on occupational diseases, covering 52 occupations, even the overtaxed minds of scholars; recommends that Hippocrates' list of questions for patients be extended with "What is your occupation?"; rev. ed. pub. in 1713. Samuel Sewall (1652-1730), The Selling of Joseph; the first Am. polemic against slavery? James Thornhill (1675-1734), Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton as an Old Fart (1709-12). Music: Jeremiah Clarke (1674-1707), Prince of Denmark's March (Trumpet Voluntary); mistakenly attributed to Henry Purcell until the 1940s. William Croft (1678-1727), Incidental Music to "Courtship a la Mode". Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), La Forza della Virtu oder Die Macht der Tugend (opera) (Hamburg). Art: Charles-Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720), Mercury (statue) (1700-2). Luca Giordano (1634-1705), The Massacre of the Innocents. Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), Portrait of Matthew Prior. Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746), The Massacre of the Innocents (1700-10). Plays: Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Perjured Husband; or, The Adventures of Venice (tragedy) (first play) (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London); the prologue boasts that the author is a woman, and it becomes a hit. William Congreve (1670-1729), The Way of the World (comedy) (Lincoln's Inn Fields, London) (Mar.); lovers Mirabell (John Verbruggen) and Millamant (Anne Bracegirdle) can't marry until they get past her aunt Lady Wishfort, who hates him and wants her nephew Sir Wilfull to marry her instead; a flop, causing him to go into retirement, but is later considered his masterpiece; he really quits after writing only five plays after Jeremy_Collier pub. A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage in Mar. 1698, ruining his market and scaring him off? George Farquhar (1677-1707), The Constant Couple, or A Trip to the Jubilee (comedy) (Drury Lane, London); stars Robert Wilks as Sir Henry Wildair; a big hit; followed by "Sir Harry Wildair" (1701). Nicholas Rowe (1674-1715), Tamerlane; Tamerlane is really William III, and Bajazet is really Louis XIV; performed for many years on the anniv. of William III's Nov. 5, 1688 landing in Torbay; provokes a riot in Dublin in 1712. Births: German writer-critic Johann Christoph Gottsched (d. 1766) on Feb. 2 in Juditten (near Konigsberg), Brandenburg-Prussia; Lutheran clergyman father; educated at the U. of Konigsberg. Swiss Bernoulli's Principle mathematician-physicist (hydrodynamics founder) Daniel Bernoulli (d. 1782) on Feb. 8 in Groningen, Netherlands; son of Jean (Johann) Bernoulli (1667-1748); nephew of Jacob Bernoulli (1655-1705); brother of Nicolaus II Bernoulli (1695-1726) and Jean (Johann) II Bernoulli (1710-90) educated at the U. of Basel, U. of Heidelberg, and U. of Strasbourg; friend of Leonhard Euler; "by far the ablest of the younger Bernoullis" (W.W. Rouse Ball). Italian architect-engineer Luigi Vanvitelli (Lodewijk van Witel) on May 12 in Naples; Dutch father Caspar van Wittel (1652-1736), Italian mother. German Moravian (Herrnhuter) leader Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (d. 1760) on May 26 in Dresden, Saxony; raised by a Pietist grandmother; educated at the U. of Wittenberg. German jurist-physicist and Lutheran cleric Ewald Georg von Kleist (d. 1748) on June 10. French-Canadian explorer Francois-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes (d. 1736) on June 17 in Montreal, Canada; son of Jean Baptist Bissot (1668-1719). Polish-Saxon statesman Count Heinrich von Bruhl (Brühl) (d. 1763) on Aug. 13 in Gangloffsommern; paternal grandfather of Marie von Bruhl (1779-1836). Scottish "The Seasons", "Rule, Britannia" poet-dramatist James Thomson (d. 1748) on Sept. 11 in Ednam, Roxburghshire; educated at Edinburgh U. French Baroque-Rococo sculptor Lambert-Sigisbert Adam the Elder (l'Aine) (d. 1759) on Oct. 10 in Nancy; eldest son of Jacob-Sigisbert Adam; brother of Nicolas-Sebastian Adam the Younger (le Jeune) (1705-78), Francois Gaspard Balthazar Adam (1710-61), and Anne Adam, who becomes the mother of sculptor Claude Michel AKA Clodion, who apprentices in his studio. Russian statesman and Seven Years' War gen. Count Pyotr Semyonovich Saltykov (d. 1772) (b. 1697-8?) on Dec. 11 in Saltykovo; son of Semyon Saltykov; sent by Peter I the Great to France to study naviation in 1714, staying there 20 years. French physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet (d. 1770) on Nov. 19 in Pimpre, Oise. German Prussian gen. Leopold II Maximilian, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1751) on Dec. 25 in Dessau; 2nd son of Leopold I (1676-1747) and Anna Louise Fose. Italian organist-composer Giovanni Battista Sammartini (d. 1755) in Milan; teacher fof Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-87). Italian Late Baroque Winter Palace architect (in Russia) Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (d. 1771) in Paris, France; son of Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1654-1744). Italian Oceanus in the Trevi Fountain sculptor Pietro Bracci (d. 1773) in Rome. English librettist (for Handel) Charles Jennens (d. 1773) in Leicestershire; educated at Balliol College, Oxford U.; turns Handel onto Biblical themes for his oratorios. Deaths: French landscape architect Andre Le Notre (b. 1613) on Sept. 15. Indian saint Bahinabai (b. 1628) in Sirur, Maharashtra: "A woman's body is a body controlled by somebody else. Therefore the path of renunciation is not open to her." English poet laureate and Puritan-turned-Catholic John Dryden (b. 1631) on May 12 (May 1 Old Style); buried at Chaucer's side in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey; an elegiac poetry collection titled The Nine Muses; Or, Poems Written by Nine Severall Ladies is left on his grave, with contributors incl. Susanna Centlivre. Am. New York City mayor Stephanus van Cortlandt (b. 1643) on Nov. 25. French actress Armande Bejart (b. 1645). Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet (b. 1645) on May 22. Vietnamese gen. Nguyen Huu Canh (b. 1650) in Rach Gam, My Tho. Italian pope (1691-71) Innocent XII (b. 1652) on Sept. 27 in Rome. Spanish king Charles II (b. 1661) on Nov. 1 in Madrid; last Hapsburg king of Spain and perennial trivia question. English royal heir Duke William of Gloucester (b. 1689) on July 30 (smallpox).
1701 On Jan. 18 Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg-Prussia, son of Frederick William the Great Elector crowns himself king Frederick (Friedrich) I (1657-1713) of Prussia after HRE Leopold I okays it, and proclaims the kingdom of Prussia, with Brandenburg as a province (until 1946), and now Prussia is on the fast track to power in Spain-is-yesterday's-news brand-spanking-new 18th cent. Europe; the Hohenzollerns control Prussia until 1918. In Feb. HMS Roebuck captained by William Dampier sinks in Clarence Bay on Ascension Island, and he and his 60 men survive 2 mo. until being rescued, returning to England in Aug., where he is court-martialed for cruelty, beging convicted on one of three charges. On June 16 English Anglican abolitionist clergyman Thomas Bray (1656-1730) founds the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) in London, England; with the charter issued by William III calling it "an organisation able to send priests and schoolteachers to America to help provide the Church's ministry to the colonists", with the goals of ministering to British people overseas and evangelization of non-Christians around the world; in 1965 it is renamed the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPC); on Aug. 25, 2016 it is renamed to the United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG). On July 8 after their big V at Narva last year, 7K Swedes under Charles II push into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and win the Battle of the Crossing of the Daugava (Duna) (Düna) River (Battle of Riga) against a 10K-man Polish and 9K-man Saxon army under Saxon field marshal Adam Heinrich von Steinau, with 2K Polish-Saxon casualties vs. only 100-400 Swedish casualties, after which they get in an endgame (ends 1703). Detroit really is the original home of Cadillac? On July 24 French king Louis XIV gives permission for the settlement of Detroit (Fr. "le Detroit" = the Straits) (modern-day pop. 3.7M/5.3MM), originally Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit (Détroit) to ever-broke Gascony, France-born explorer and scoundrel Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac (1658-1730) on a peninsula joining Lake Huron and Lake Erie to control Illinois trade; the settlement is begun in July; Cadillac arrived from France at Point Royal in 1683, added "de La Mothe Cadillac" to his name after Cadillac in SW France,, and spent four years exploring the New World down to the Carolinas, getting a promotion to cmdr. of Fort de Buade (Michilimackinac) (near modern-day St. Ignace, Mich.) in 1694, exploring the Great Lakes in 1695 until he got into trouble for selling alcohol to the Indians and returned to Montreal in 1696, traveling back to France in 1697 to talk them into building Fort Pontchartrait on the straits; too bad, it burns down in 1703, and he returns to Quebec, getting charged with trafficking in alcohol and furs, taking until 1708 to clear his name, after which in 1710 he is appointed gov. of Louisiana, founding Mine La Motte in modern-day Madison County, Mo., the first lead mine in Missouri, worked by the first African slaves in Mo.; in 1716 he is fired, and returns to France in 1717, gaining an undeserved rep as a hero until the 1950s; Detroit is incorporated on Sept. 13, 1806. On Sept. 16 (Sept. 5 Old Style) deposed English/Scottish king (1685-88) James II (b. 1633) dies of syphilis while in exile in France at Versailles; his son James Francis Edward Stuart (James III) (the Old Pretender) (1688-1766) is proclaimed King James III of England and Scotland by the French and Spanish courts and the Jacobites, causing the English Parliament on June 12 to pass the Act of Settlement establishing its own supremacy, settling the crown on Princess of Sophia of Hanover (granddaughter of James I), and declaring that only an Anglican can inherit the throne, cannot leave the kingdom without Parliament's consent, and cannot involve the country in war for the defense of his foreign possessions; in Dec. a new English Parliament is elected, and next May 4 it votes to declare war against the Frogs to the max, authorizing an army of 40K men, just in time to support William III, who on Sept. 7 forms and heads the Second Grand Alliance of England, the Netherlands, and Austria against France and Spain, with the goal of securing the Spanish possessions in the Netherlands and Italy for the Austrian house; Prussia and many German states later join the Grand Alliance, while Portugal, Savoy, Mantua, Bavaria and Cologne ally with France and Spain; Prince Eugene of Savoy heads the armies of the Grand Alliance against the French alliance, headed by Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, scoring Vs at the Battle of Carpi on July 9, and the Battle of Chiara - savoy vs. savoy, you savvy? On Oct. 9 Yale College (the Collegiate School of Connecticut) is chartered in Saybrook, Conn. by a group of 10 Congregational ministers, nine of them Harvard grads, who met the previous year in Killingworth (Clinton); in 1716 Yale Collegiate School moves to New Haven, Conn., teaching only theology and sacred languages; in 1861 it awards the first Ph.D. in the U.S., becoming a univ. in 1887. In Oct. Penn. adopts its Fourth Frame of Government, AKA the Charter of Privileges, written by William Penn (1644-1718), who grants Delaware (Del.) a charter giving it the right to choose its own assembly, while the gov. of Penn. continues to preside over it; late in the year Penn returns to England, leaving an agent named Ford to run things, who is so crooked that he eventually almost ruins him. Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1669-1738) succeeds Sidney Godolphin as head minister of the British cabinet (first lord of the treasury) (until 1702). The Ashanti (Assante) Empire in Ghana (ends 1957) is founded by king (since 1675) Osei Kofi Tutu I (1660-1717), who sits on the Golden Stool, becoming known for early adoption of firearms and going on to expand to modern-day Ivory Coast, becoming a favorite with historians for its military prowess, wealth, culture, architecture et al. Chettha IV becomes king of Cambodia for the 2nd time (until 1702). Charles XII of Sweden invades Poland and takes Courland. Britain obtains a questionable deed to W North Am. lands from the Iroquois. Rama Varma dies, and Rama Varma (-1721) becomes king of Dutch-controlled Cochin in S India. Philadelphia, Penn. at the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers (modern-day pop. 2M/5M) is first chartered as a city (rechartered in 1789). Weavers in Axminster and Wilton, England are given royal charters to make carpets. William Whiston resigns as vicar of Lowestoft (since 1698) to become fellow Trinity-denying Arian Isaac Newton's asst., and in 1703 succeeds him as Lucasian prof. of math. (until 1710). The Inquisition in S France forbids dowsing as a means of tracking down criminals and heretics. The U. of Venice in Italy is founded. Henry Playford (1657-1709) establishes a series of weekly concerts at Oxford. Architecture: The Amber Room (Yantarnaya Komnata) is designed by Hamburg-born German Baroque sculptor-architect Andreas Schlueter (Schlüter) (1660-1714) and Danish amber craftsman Gottfried Wolfram (finished in 1709); in 1706 it is given by Prussian King Frederick William I to Russian Tsar Peter I the Great; too bad, in WWII Nazi Army Group Nord steals it and takes it to Konigsberg, and it disappears; in 1979-2003 it is reconstructed in the Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg. The Royal (Collins) Barracks in Dublin, Ireland is built, becoming its first public bldg. other than the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham; in 1994 it becomes the Nat. Museum of Ireland. Inventions: English farmer Jethro Tull (1674-1741) invents the horse-drawn machine seed drill, which neatly sows seeds in rows (see China in -85). Nonfiction: Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), The Image of the Sacred, Unpredictable Science (Istanbul). Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), A Paraphrase upon the Gospel of St. Matthew; follows by Mark and Luke in 1702, and John in 1703. Jeremy Collier (1650-1726), The Great Historical, Geographical, Genealogical, and Political Dictionary (2 vols.). Charles Davenant (1656-1714), Essays upon the Balance of Power; Essays upon the Right of Making War, Peace, and Alliances; Essays upon Universal Monarchy; "a highly partisan attack on William III's foreign policy"; A Discourse on Grants and Resumptions and Essays on the Balance of Power; The True Picture of a Modern Whig (Aug.); defends the Tories against the Whigs; Tom Double Returned Out of the Country; claims that the pesky Whigs want to start another war with France to bankrupt landowners. John Dennis (1657-1734), The Advancement and Reformation of Modern Poetry; his best work? Rene Descartes (1596-1650), Regulae ad Directionem Ingenii (1619-28) (posth.); explains his basic methods. William Fleetwood (1656-1723), An Essay on Miracles. Arai Hakusetki (1675-1725), Hankampu; history of the Daimyo of Japan. Edmond Halley (1656-1742), A General Chart of the Compass; magnetic compass variations based on his 1698-1700 Atlantic Ocean voyage. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716), Essay on a New Science of Numbers; his 1679 discovery of binary numbers, sent to the Paris Academy to celebrate his induction. Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729), The Christian Hero (first work); preaches a high moral code that he fails to follow personally, drawing ridicule. Benjamin Whichcote (1609-83), Several Discourses: Moral and Religious Aphorisms (posth.). Father Francisco Ximenes (Sp. var. of Simon) (tr.), Popul Vah (Book of the Mat or Community Council) (1701-21); sacred book of the Quiche Indians of Guatemala. Music: Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Stortebeker und Jodge Michels (opera) (Hamburg). Art: Giuseppe Maria Crespi (1665-1747), The Ecstasy of St. Margaret. Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), William III on Horseback. Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709), St. Francis Xavier. Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743), Portrait of Louis XIV; his biggest and best of many. Plays: George Farquhar (1677-1707), Sir Harry Wildair (comedy). Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718), Acis and Galatea; music by John Eccles. Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729), The Funeral, or Grief a la Mode (comedy) (first play) (Drury Lane, London); big hit, making him a celeb with the king and the Whigs. Poetry: Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710), The Ladies' Defense; Or, The Bride Woman's Counsellor Answer'd: A Poem in a Dialogue Between Sir John Bute, Sir William Loveall, Melissa, and a Parson (London); a response to the wedding sermon "The Bride-Woman's Counselor" by John Spring (1700), urging women to avoid marriage so that man can't keep them down, and develop themselves through education. Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718), A Poem in Praise of Tea. Novels: Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718) (tr.), Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote (4 vols.); becomes popular even though it turns Don Quixote and Sancho Panza into buffoons and changes the mock-serious style into a frivolous one. Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The True-born Englishman (satire). Births: French scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine ("cultivable land") (d. 1774) on Jan. 28 in Paris; educated at the College Louis-le-Grand. Swedish merchant-philanthropist Niclas (Nicolaus) Sahlgren (d. 1776) on Mar. 18 in Gothenburg. Canadian Roman Catholic nun (founder of the Grey Nuns) (St.) Marguerite d'Youville (Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais) (d. 1771) on Oct. 15 in Varennes (near Montreal), Quebec; first native-born Canadian saint; canonized in 1990; feast day: Oct. 16. Italian Venetian Rococo genre painter Pietro Longhi (d. 1785) on Nov. 5 in Venice; apprentice of Giuseppe Maria Crespi - what a gay life the aristocracy has, let me show you? Swedish Celsius Scale astronomer Anders Celsius (d. 1744) on Nov. 27 in Uppsala; grandson of astronomer Magnus Celsius (1621-79). Chinese novelist Wu Jingzi (d. 1754). English Bayes Law mathematician and Presbyterian minister Thomas Bayes (d. 1761) in London; educated at the U. of Edinburgh. French gen. Ludwig August von Dieskau (Jean Erdman or Jean-Armand Dieskau, Baron de Dieskau) (d. 1767) in Saxony. Italian composer Giovanni Battista Sammartini (d. 1775). Deaths: French novelist Madeleine de Scudery (b. 1607) on June 2. English ex-king James II (b. 1633) on Sept. 5 in Versailles, France (syphilis) - I really like your look, you got the look I like? Am. "to hell with 'em all" Salem Witchcraft Trials judge Willaim Stoughton (b. 1631) on July 7 in London, England. British colonial gov. Richar Coote, 1st earl of Bellomont (b. 1636) on Mar. 5 in N.Y. Italian composer Pietro Sammartini (b. 1636). Austrian gen. Count Ernst Rudger von Starhemberg (b. 1638) on Jan. 4 in Vosendorf (near Modling). English dramatist-politician (House of Commons Speaker) Sir Charles Sedley (b. 1639) on Aug. 20. French duke Philippe of Orleans (b. 1640) on June 9 in Saint Cloud. Arrgh? English pirate Captain Kidd (b. 1645) on May 23 in London; hanged for murder and piracy at London's Execution Dock after his sponsor Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont deems him to have turned pirate and gets him arrested and returned to England; the executioner is so drunk that the rope breaks and he has to hang the drunken bum a 2nd time; his body is tarred and placed in an iron cage chained to a stake on the Thames River to gross-out seafarers for years; after a small amount of treasure is recovered from Gardiner's Island off Long Island, the legend of Capt. Kidd's buried treasure is born. English clergyman Henry Maundrell (b. 1665) in Aleppo, Syria; leaves Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter A.D. 1697, which becomes a minor travel classic. French war sec. Louis Francois Marie le Tellier (b. 1668) on Jan. 5.
1702
On Jan. 9 (Dec. 29 Old Style) the
Battle of Erastfer (Errestfer) (Erastvere)
in modern-day Estnia is a V for 18K Russians under Boris Sheremetev over 2.5K Swedish troops under Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbachm,
becoming the first significant Russian V in the Great Northern War, after which Peter I the Great promises Augustus II of Poland
20K troops, 100K lbs. of gunpowder, and 100K rubles/year for three years to guarantee Poland's continued participation in the war as he invades Ingria.
On Mar. 7 William III attaints the 14-y.-o. prince of Wales James III (James Francis Edward Stuart) (1688-1766)
of high treason under the new "King Ralph" Treason Act of 1702 (preventing interference with the royal succession), causing him
to grow into the Old Pretender; too bad, on Mar. 8 king (since 1689) William III (b. 1650) dies at Kensington Palace after being thrown from his horse, and is succeeded by his lace-loving
sister-in-law and cousin (2nd daughter of James II and his 1st wife Anne Hyde) (devout Anglican)
Anne Stuart (Stewart) (1665-1714) (the 49th British monarch), becoming the last Stuart (Stewart) monarch
(until Aug. 1, 1714), as well as the last English sovereign to veto an act of Parliament (in 1708) (after that the remedy for failed legislation is to seat a new cabinet); she takes the throne
childless and without a direct heir; William III's untimely death nullifies the Settlement Act, but she abides by it; she has the family disease of porphyria; she rules through ministers,
and Sidney Godolphin returns as chief minister of the British cabinet (until 1710); she never visits Scotland during her reign; like James Stuart, she begins her reign a few years after the
beginning of a cent. when the MF alert goes from red to yellow or green (1603, 1702)?; the Scottish parliament refuses to recognize her, claiming the right to pick their own successor to the
Scottish crown as long as he is Protestant, and answers English calls for parliamentary union with rejection of English interference in their internal affairs, pissing-off the English and
causing them to pass punitive laws against Scottish goods; meanwhile on May 4 Queen Anne's War
(Am. side of the War of the Spanish Succession) (ends 1713), the 2nd of the French and Indian wars (first 1690) begins as England declares war on France; early Vs in the
Second War of the Grand Alliance cause Queen Anne to create up-and-coming John Churchill (1650-1722)
as the 1st Duke of Marlborough in Dec., and place him at the head of the English army as capt.-gen. with a free hand (along with
Eugene of Savoy in the service of Austria); the French are out-generaled, and Marlborough takes Venlo, Ruremonde, and Liege, and capture and burn Spanish-held St. Augustine in Fla.;
the Tories gain power in England, and seek to get revenge against the Whigs, while Godolphin and Marlborough attempt to stifle them;
Churchill's wife Lady Sarah Churchill (nee Jennings) (1660-1744),
a lady of the queen's bedchamber who has been her best friend since her 1683 marriage begins to exert enough control over her to make English politicians uncomfortable,
and she ends up dumping her for a new favorite, her cousin Lady Abigail Masham (1670-1734).
On Mar. 11 England's first successful daily newspaper The Daily Courant
begins pub. in London, run by Elizabeth Mallet of King's Arms Tavern in
Fleet Bridge, London, who prints editorial-fee foreign news only on one side of the page, and advertisements on the other; it is soon acquired by
Samuel Buckley at the Sign of the Dolphin in Little Britain, London; in 1735 it merges with the "Daily Gazetteer".
On June 11 Queen Anne appoints Joseph Dudley (1647-1720)
as British gov. of Mass. (until Nov. 9, 1715), who becomes unpopular but foils attempts to have him removed.
On July 19 (July 8 Old Style) the Battle of Kliszow (Klissow) (Klezow)
is a V for Charles II of Sweden against Saxon field marshal Adam Heinrich von Steinau (-1712),
sparking the popular romantic Camisard Rebellion (ends 1704)
against Louis XIV by anti-papal Huguenot peasants in Languedoc pissed-off by the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes, led by able military leader
Jean Cavalier (1681-1740)
in the mountainous Cevennes (Cévennes) region of S France (home of the descendants of the Visigoths), wearing black
camisards (Fr. "chemise") smocks over their armor that give them their name, engaging in guerrilla (mainly night)
warfare against royal troops, burning Roman Catholic churches and killing priests, causing the Catholics to fight back a little too eagerly, razing over 450 villages
and exterminating the pop., while Pope Clement XI eggs them on with a papal bull,
calling them the "execrable race of the ancient Albigenses", and promising remission of sins to the newly-formed Roman Catholic
Cadets of the Cross (White Camisards) (Florentines).
On Aug. 15 the Battle of Luzzara
on the right bank of the Po River in Italy between the Austrians under Prince Eugene of Savoy and the French under the duc de Vendome is a push,
but gives France the advantage in Italy (until 1706).
On Oct. 14 after receiving orders from Louis XIV to attack Swabia, the French under
Claude Louis Hector, Duc de Villars (1653-1734)
cross the Rhine River at Weil am Rhein (N of Basle), then fight the imperial forces under
Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden at the
Battle of Friedlingen;
France wins, but loses 1,703 KIA and 2,601 wounded vs. 355 KIA and 742 wounded on the imperal side, and are unable to join the Bavarians;
Villars begins his rise to immortality in France, being promoted to marshal and becoming Louis XIV's military go-to man, later capping his career with
a promotion to marshal-gen. of France in 1734 (one of only six to make it).
On Oct. 23 after unsuccessfully attempting to capture the Spanish port of Cadiz in the hopes of securing a naval base for operations against the French
at Toulon, the Battle of Vigo Bay (Rande) in N Spain
sees the richest fleet in history, the 3-galleon Spanish Silver Squad quartered in Vigo Bay in San Simon's inlet under Spanish adm.
Manuel de Velasco y Tejada and
French adm. Francois Louis de Rousselet, Marquis de Chateaurenault (1637-1716)
defeated by the Grand Alliance of the English under Adm. Sir George Rooke (1650-1709)
and the Dutch under Adm. Philips van Almonde (1644-1711),
losing all its ships along with 2K sailors, only to find that most of the silver treasure had been unloaded before the attack.
On Nov. 27 anti-Hapsburg pro-Bourbon
Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva (Cuervo) Enriquez, Marques de Cuellar, 10th Duke of Alburquerque (1666-1724)
becomes Spanish viceroy of New Spain (until Jan. 14, 1711) (the first r is later dropped for the benefit of los estupidos Anglos?);
his first act is to okay a 10-year French concession for a trading post dealing in black slaves; on Jan. 6, 1703 his palace guards appear in
French uniforms, incl. 3-cornered hats, and he becomes known for the luxury and magnificence of his court, then extorts all the money he can to
send to support the Bourbons in the Spanish War of Succession, causing govt. employees to go without pay, leading to the streets being infested
with brigands; meanwhile he rebuilds the coast guard to fight pirates and works to kick the English and Dutch out.
On Dec. 16 after an edict by Peter I the Great, the Moscow Gazette (Moskovskaya Vedomosti)
newspaper begins pub. in Moscow, Russia, becoming Russia's first newspaper, pub. whenever he wants to blow his horn, moving to St. Petersburg in 1711 and reaching 4K circ.,
changing to the name "Sankt-Petersburgskie Vedomosti" in 1727 by the Russian Academy of Sciences after Big Peter's 1725 death, going biweekly; in 1914 it is renamed
"Petrogradskie Vedomosti"; it ceases pub. in 1917.
On Dec. 25 the first missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG)
arrives in S.C., and is followed by hundreds more, who work to make Anglican converts in the mainly dissenter English colonies, even though no Anglican bishop is ever assigned to them?
Prussia gains control of Krefeld on the Rhine River 19 mi. WSW of Essen.
Charles XII of Sweden takes Warsaw, Lublin (100 mi. SE of Warsaw), and Krakow (Cracow).
Srei Thoamareachea (Thommo Reachea) II (-1747) becomes king of Cambodia (until 1703).
Serfdom is abolished in Denmark.
East and West New Jersey are united as the Royal Colony of New Jersey (N.J.).
The Inquisition begins persecuting Marranos (converted Jews) in
Rio de Janeiro.
Dr. Thomas Bray gets a revised provincial Church Act passed by the Provincial Assembly.
Alabama (Ala.) (Muskogee "town") (named after the Alabama or Alibamon tribe of the Creek confederacy) is
founded at Ft. Louis de la Louisiane on the Mobile River by French Canadian brothers
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (1661-1706)
and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville (1680-1767),
becoming the site of the city of Mobile, Ala. (modern-day pop. 195K/619K), which is incorporated as a
town on Jan. 20, 1814 and as a city on Dec. 17, 1819.
The Asiento Guinea Co.
is founded for the America-Africa slave trade.
The Anglican Church is officially established in Md., supported by taxes.
Abbot Mekhitar of Sebaste (1676-1749)
founds the Order of the Mekhitarists
of Roman Catholic Armenian monks in Constantinople.
Alessandro Scarlatti moves to Florence under the patronage of Prince Ferdinand III of Tuscany (until 1703).
Jesuit College in Breslau is founded.
Artist Jean Antoine Watteau arrives in Paris.
Japanese painter Ogota Korin (1661-1716) unites the Kano and Yamato imperial schools of painting.
The first English pantomime is given at Drury Lane in London.
Sports:
Queen Anne gives royal approval to horseracing in England, and originates the sweepstakes idea (racing for cash awards).
Architecture:
Buckingham House (Palace)
is built by the Duke of Buckingham on the site of a notorious brothel in London (finished 1703); it is remodeled in 1825, a ballroom added
in 1856, and a new front built in 1913.
Prussian king Frederick I rebuilds the City Palace (Berliner Stadtschloss)
in Berlin in Protestant Baroque Style, designed in the shape of a cube enclosing a magnificently ornamented courtyard by
architect Andreas Schlueter (Schlüter) (1660-1714),
who is replaced in 1706-13 by Johann Friedrich Eosander von Goethe (Göthe); in 1845 Frederick William IV has a dome built by
Friedrich August Stueler (Stüler) (1800-65)
based on a design by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841);
further interior work is done by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, Carl von Gontard et al.; too bad, the Communist regime of East Berlin
demolishes it in late 1950.
Fischer von Erlach finishes the
Church of the Holy Trinity
in Salzburg (begun 1694).
The Palladian Octagon Orleans House
near the Thames River in Twickenham, London, England, designed by architect
John James (1673-1746)
is begun (finished 1737); the Octagon Room
is designed by James Gibbs (1682-1754),
and is preserved when the property is demolished in 1926.
Inventions:
George Sorocold
(1668-1739) of Derby, England invents the
Tidal Pump - the
Oral B Pulsar, changing the way you brush forever is only 3 centuries away?
Science:
Dutch natural philosopher
Guillaume (Wilhelm) Homberg
(1652-1715) discovers
Boron and
Borax - no mule team needed?
Leipzig, Germany-born philosopher
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
(1646-1716) pub. the
Law of Continuity,
which he applies to human psychology, becoming the first to postulate
an unconscious mind; he also introduces the concept of
threshold.
Nonfiction:
Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1673-1743), De Dominio Maris Dissertatio;
sets a 3-mi. territorial limit on coasts based on the range of cannon.
Edward Bysshe, The Art of English Poetry.
Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The Shortest Way with the Dissenters.
George Farquhar (1677-1707), Love and Business; incl. "A Discourse Upon Comedy".
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-74),
The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England: Begun in the Year 1641
(posth.) (3 vols.) (1702-4); ed. by his son Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester (1641-1711);
the first complete detailed history of the English Civil War, written by a key player,
pushing his royalist views, which David Hume assesses in his 1756 "The History of Great Britain":
"This age affords great materials for history; but did not produce any accomplished historian.
Clarendon, however, will always be esteemed an entertaining writer, even independent of our
curiosity to know the facts, which he relates. His style is prolix and redundant, and
suffocates us by the length of its periods: But it discovers imagination and sentiment, and
pleases us at the same time that we disapprove of it. He is more partial in appearance than
in reality: For he seems perpetually anxious to apologize for the king; but his apologies
are often well grounded. He is less partial in his relation of facts, than in his account
of characters: He was too honest a man to falsify the former; his affections were easily
capable, unknown to himself, of disguising the latter. An air of probity and goodness runs
through the whole work; as these qualities did in reality embellish the whole life of the author."
Cotton Mather (1663-1728),
Magnalia Christi Americana: The Ecclesiastical History of New England
(2 vols.) (London); the Puritan wicca experience in Am. 1620-98?
William Penn (1644-1718), Primitive Christianity Revived.
Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734), Specimen Becherianum.
Music:
Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Stortebeker und Jodge Michels
(opera) (Hamburg).
Plays:
Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Beau Duel; or, A Soldier for the Ladies;
The Stolen Heiress.
Colley Cibber (1671-1757), The Schoolboy;
She Wou'd and She Wou'd Not.
George Farquhar (1677-1707), The Inconstant; or, The Way to Win Him (comedy);
The Twin Rivals (comedy).
Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), The Fair Penitent;
adaptation of Philip Massinger's and Nathan Field's "Fatal Dowry"; big hit; set in Genoa; Sciolto, Altamont, Horatio, young rake Lothario, Rossano,
infidelity queen Calista, Lucilla; causes the term Lothario for young rake to become popular; makes a fan of Samuel Johnson.
Sir Charles Sedley (1639-1701),
Beauty the Conqueror; or, The Death of Marc Antony
(posth.);
The Miscellaneous Works of Sir Charles Sedley (posth.).
Births:
French gen.
Thomas Arthur, Comete de Lally, Baron de Tollendal
(d. 1766) on Jan. 13; of Irish Jacobite descent.
Japanese emperor #114 (1709-35)
Nakamikado (Yasuhito)
(d. 1737) on Jan. 14; 5th son of Higashiyama (1675-1710).
English highwayman
John "Jack" Sheppard
(d. 1724) on Mar. 4 in Stepney (near London).
English Noncomformist divine
Philip Doddridge
(d. 1751) on June 26.
Swiss-French painter
Jean-Etienne Liotard
(d. 1789) on Dec. 22 in Geneva.
Portuguese composer
Francisco Antonio de Almeida
(d. 1755).
French Rococo sculptor (in England)
Louis Francois Roubiliac
(d. 1762); settles in Britain in 1732.
Am. Quaker writer
Sophia Wigington Hume
(d. 1774) in S.C.
Japanese poet
Yokai Yagu
(d. 1783).
Am. Rev. War leader
William Peters
(d. 1786) in Liverpool, England; brother of Richard Peters (1704-76); emigrates to the U.S. in 1739; father of Richard Peters Jr. (1744-1828).
Deaths:
English Quaker leader Margaret Askew (Fell) (Fox) (b. 1614) in Swarthmoor Hall, Ulverston, Cumbria;
her grandson John Abraham sells the hall in 1759.
Swedish scientist Olof Rudbeck the Elder (b. 1630).
French organist-composer Nicolas Antoine Le Begue (b. 1631) on July 6 in Paris.
English/Scottish king (1689-1702) William III/I (b. 1650) on Mar. 8 in Kensington Palace, London.
1703 On Feb. 4 the Revenge of the 47 Ronin sees 47 Japanese ronin condemned for avenging their executed master Asano Naganori forced to commit seppuku. On Feb. 10 800 Camisards under Jean (Joan) Cavalier (1681-1740) rout French royal troops at the Battle of Vagnas, then get defeated and flee, and return on Apr. 30, where they are defeated at the Battle of Tour de Billot, which only causes more Huguenot volunteers to sign up and get their shirts? On Apr. 21 3K Swedes under Charles XII defeat 3.5K Saxons under Count Adam Heinrich von Steinau at the decisive Battle of Pultusk, losing only 18 KIA vs. 200 KIA and 800 captured for the Saxons; Steinau leaves Saxony to service Venice as "part of his old person". On May 1 the Russians take Nienshanz Fortress at the mouth of the Neva River, and drive the Swedes from the Neva Delta, then seize Noteburg and rename it Schlusselburg; on May 16 Tsar (1682-1721) Peter I the Great (1672-1725) pissed-off at his Moscow nobles failing to become kulturny and adopt Western culture, officially founds St. Petersburg (modern-day pop. 5.3M) on the banks of the Neva River on territory he just took from Sweden as Russia's "Window on the West" (modern pop. 4.7M), using serfs as expendable slaves; "A giant built it; lacking stones/ "He paved the swamps with human bones" (Mikhail Dmitriev); Peter I builds the Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul on a small island in the river on May 27, 1703-1740, designed by Swiss Italian architect Domenico Trezzini (1670-1734), who goes on to design Kronstadt (1704) on Kotlin Island 19 mi. W of St. Petersburg, St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral (1712-33) (world's tallest Orthodox Catholic bell tower), Peter the Great's Summer House (1710-14), the Alexander Nevsky Monastery (1710-13), the Winter Palace (1711-53), and the Twelve Collegia (Colleges) Bldg. Complex (1722-44) (main bldg. of St. Petersburg U.), founding Petrine Baroque, which departs from the Naryshin Baroque of Moscow and follows the Dutch, Danish, and Swedish (Flemish Renassance) styles; in 1709 Peter I begins the Peterhof Palace (Dutch "Piterhof" = Peter's Court), an attempt to ape Louis XIV's Versailles Palace, causing it to become known as "the Russian Versailles", with Domenico Trezzini as the main architect in 1714, succeeded in 1716 by Paris-born Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond (1679-1719) (Blond, James-Baptiste Blond)?, with his teacher, Versailles landscaper Andre (André) Le Notre (Nostre) (1613-1700) hired to design the gardens; the Grand Cascade of 64 fountains, modelled on Louis XIV's Chateau de Marly features the Samson Fountain (1736), with a 66-ft.-high water jet, which is upgraded in 1800-2 by local Russian Neoclassical sculptor Mikhail Ivanovich Kozlovsky (1753-1802), a gilt bronze statue of Greek god Samson tearing open the jaws of a lion to represent Russia's big V over Sweden in the Great Northern War (1700-21), with the lion representing Sweden's coat of arms, and Samson representing Russia's big V on St. Sampson's Day; in 1747-56 Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-71) is hired by Tsarina Elisabeth to design an expansion along with the Winter Palace; Trezzini's architect son Pietro has Peter I the Great as a godfather; this year 8-y.-o. black African slave Abraham (Ibrahim) Petrovich Gannibal (Hannibal) (1696-1781), who claims he was kidnapped from a royal tribal family in Africa is presented by a Russian diplomat as a gift to Peter I the Great, becoming his adopted son, and rising quickly to a 5-language linguist, civil engineer, diplomat, and gen. (Europe's first black intellectual?) - so cute everybody should own one? In May after invading the Spanish Netherlands, the duke of Marlborough takes Bonn, followed in Aug. by Huy; meanwhile Prince Eugene of Savoy is driven out of N Italy and almost trapped in the Alps until the Duchy of Savoy defects to the Grand Alliance, forcing the French army in his rear to turn back; Eugene then campaigns throughout S Germany along the Rhine. In May after English naval Vs against Spain permit England to detach Portugal from its French alliance, English ambassador John Methuen (1650-1706) negotiates the two Methuen Treaties, the first a 4-sided treaty, negotiated by Methuen with the help of his son Sir Paul Methuen (1672-1757) for England, Karl Ernst, Graf von Waldstein for HRE Joseph I, Franciscus van Shonenberg (AKA Jacob Abraham Belmonte) (a Marrano) for the United Provinces, and King Pedro II for Portugal, establishing an offensive-defensive alliance between Britain and Portugal, and promising to send the emperor's son Archduke Charles (later HRE Charles VI) to Portugal with land forces to win the crown of Spain, along with naval protection of the Portuguese coast against French and Spanish attack, followed by the 2nd on Dec. 27 with John Methuen signing for England, and Manuel Teles da Silva, 3rd Marquis de Alegrete (1682-1736) signing for Portugal, giving Portuguese (port) wines (grown in the Douro (Duero) River Valley in N Portugal and shipped in rabelo boats the Atlantic port of Porto) a one-third break on English duties in return for Portugal agreeing to import all its woolens from England duty-free, which, combined with the war with France depriving English drinkers of French wine causes the popularity of Portuguese port wine in England to zoom (not just for Whigs anymore?); meanwhile the Portuguese renounce manufacturing (except porcelain) in order to guarantee the security of Brazil, losing the Industrial Rev.?; too bad, while returning from Lisbon, Waldstein is captured at sea by the French, and exchanged a year later for Villeroi, who was captured in Italy by Prince Eugene. On June 15 Francis II Rakoczy and Tamas (Tamás) Esze (1666-1708) lead a Kuruc uprising against the Hapsburgs in Munkacs (located in Subcarpathian Ruthenia in the corner between Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, known for its large Jewish pop.), hooking up in Lawoczne, Poland and obtaining French money and 600 Polish mercenaries; too bad, after the Hungarian nobles snub his call, he has to rely on a peasant army, but takes most of Hungary E and N of the Danube River by late Sept., then raids S of the Danube River. On Aug. 8 the Weiner Zeitung (originally "Wiennerisches Diarium" until 1805) newspaper is founded in Vienna, Austria by the stonemasons building Stephans Dom; in 1810 it becomes the official newspaper of the govt., which acquires it in 1857 and sells it to a private co. in 1998, continuing to use it for official govt. announcements, with a circ. of 24K; becoming one of Austria's four main newspapers along with the right-liberal "Die Presse", the left-liberal "Die Standard", and the Roman Catholic "Salzburger Nachrichten". In Aug. broke 18-y.-o. Baroque musician Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1730) gets his first serious job as organist of the Neue Kirche in Arnstadt. On Sept. 11 after the War of the Spanish Succession makes the English govt. about-face on his case, William Dampier, new cmdr. of the 26-gun 120-man English navy ship St. George sails from Kinsale, Ireland to fight the Spanish and French along with 96-ton 16-gun 63-man galleon Cinque Ports; they go on to capture three Spanish ships returning from Buenos Aires, and fight to a push with a French ship; he returns to England in Dec. 1707 (his 2nd circumnavigation of the Earth) after giving Daniel Defoe a subject for a new novel? On Sept. 20 the First Battle of Hochstadt (Höchstädt) (2nd in 1704/1800) in Bavaria sees a French-Bavarian army of 24K under French marshal Claude de Villars defeat 16K Austrians under Gen. Hermann Otto II of Limburg-Stirum (1646-1704). On Nov. 15 after the Bavarians invade Tyrol and are repulsed, the French link up with them and throw the Austrians out of the Bavarian Palatinate at the Battle of Spira. In Nov. Queen Anne's Bounty is established, granting the first fruits and tithes (originally intended for the pope) that Henry VIII had confiscated for the crown in trust for increasing the incomes of small benefices for the poorer clergy. On Dec. 7 (Nov. 26 Old Style) the Great Storm of 1703 rages in C-S England, an extratropical cyclone (Category 2?) that collapses 2K chimneys in London, destroys 4K oaks in the New Forest, kills 1K seamen on the Goodwin Sands in Kent, killing a total of 8K and destroying the new Eddystone Lighthouse; Daniel Defoe calls it God's punishment for poor English performance against the Roman Catholic armies in the War of the Spanish Succession, while the Church of England calls it God's punishment for the nation's sins. On Dec. 28 sultan (since 1695) Mustafa II (b. 1664) dies after being forced to abdicate by a coup triggered by the Edirne Event, an attempt by the Jannisaries to restore power to the sultanate by making the position of cavalryman (timar) hereditary, and his brother Ahmed III (1673-1736) becomes Ottoman sultan #23 (until Sept. 20, 1730), starting a Muslim cultural revival while engaging in the Muslim pastime of constant warfare; too bad, the revolt backfires, decreasing the power of the sultanate and increasing the power of the Janissaries and kadis (Sharia judges); the real power is in the hands of his daughter Hatice Sultan and her grand vizier hubby Nevsehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha (1666-1730), who rule during the Tulip Era (Period) (ends Sept. 28, 1730), a relative period of peace in which the Dutch tulip craze infects the Ottoman court. Archduke Charles lands in Spain, invades Catalonia, and is proclaimed King Charles III of Spain in Madrid. Irish soldier James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde (1665-1745), who served under William III since 1688 is made lord lt. of Ireland like his grandfather the 1st duke in the 1640s, serving from 1703-5 and 1710-11. Chettha IV becomes king of Cambodia for the 3rd time (until 1706). Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (1643-1725), Montreal gov. (since 1702) is appointed gov.-gen. of New France (until 1725). Delaware breaks away from Penn. The Popery (Gavelkind) Act is passed by the British Parliament, modifying the Irish practice of Gavelkind (equal division of land among a dead landholder's sons, also used by the Jutes in Kent), giving all the land to the eldest son if he converts to Protestantism; land holdings by Irish Catholics shrink from 25% in 1688 to 14% in 1704 to 5% in 1776. The Scottish parliament passes an act making the succession to the crown of Scotland different from that to the English crown, causing the English to retaliate with new trade restrictions, causing a committee to be created to avert war (ends 1707). The pop. of Jerusalem led by Muhammad ibn Mustafa al-Husaini revolts against the excessive taxation of gov. Jurji Muhammad Pasha, taking his citadel and causing him to flee; al-Husaini becomes the new gov. until Nov. 1705 when new provincial gov. of Damascus Jurji Muhammad attacks Jerusalem with 2K Janissaries and regains control. The body of St. Francis Xavier in Goa is placed in a marble mausoleum donated by Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany; the 32 panels around the casket include the "world's most famous crab", which allegedly returned Xavier's crucifix after he had lost it at sea. Isaac Newton is elected pres. of the Royal Society; shortly afterward the instruments, papers, and only authentic portrait of his bitter rival Robert Hooke vanish, causing the latter's fame to sink into oblivion for over two cents.; meanwhile Newton befriends French Protestant refugee Jean Desaguliers, one of two Royal Society curators of experiments, who becomes a leader in the spread of Freemasonry in Europe, and in 1731 as master of the Masonic lodge in The Hague presides over the initiation of Duke Francois of Lorraine, who becomes the first Euro prince to join, and after he marries Maria Theresa of Austria becomes HRE Francis I, fathering Marie Antoinette. Alessandro Scarlatti becomes asst. choirmaster at the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The original Dumb and Dummer? Harvard grad Jeremiah Dummer (1681-1739) becomes the first colonial-born Am. to receive a Ph.D. from a Euro univ. (U. of Utrecht); he returns to Boston and becomes a preacher, then leaves for England in 1708, where he goofs up his political career and ends up as agent for the Mass. Bay Province in 1710-21. Architecture: The iron chain Luding Suspension Bridge over the Dadu River in Luding County, Sichuan, China is built, using 11 iron chains to span 100m. Bavarian architect Christoph (Krystof) Dientzenhofer (1655-1722) begins the Baroque St. Nicholas (Nikolas) Church (Malá Strana) in Prague on the site of a 13th cent. Gothic church (finished 1711), with a copper cupola built in 1737-52 based on plans by his son Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer (1689-1751), becoming Dientzenhof's magnum opus, and the #1 most beautiful Baroque church in Prague; too bad, during the 20th cent. Cold War the Commies use it as an observatory for watching the access route to the West German, U.S., and Yugoslav embassies. Nonfiction: John Adair, Description of the Sea Coasts and Islands Off Scotland. Louis-Armande de Lom d'Arce, Baron de Lahontan (1666-1715), Nouveaux Voyages; Memoires de l'Amerique Septentrionale. Universal, Historical, Geographical, Chronological and Classical Dictionary. William Dampier (1651-1715), A Voyage to New Holland; his 1699-1701 expedition. Charles Davenant (1656-1714), Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad (Nov.); pisses-off his Tory Party for promoting the nonpartisan attitude favored by the queen. Lawrence Echard (1670-1730), The Gazetteer's or Newsman's Interpreter; the first popular geographical dictionary, errors and all? Seraphim (1670-1735), Vernacular Greek New Testament; pisses-off the Greek Orthodox clergy that the Bible can be read by the common people, and the work is banned by Patriarch Gabriel III. Art: Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734), Fall of Phaeton (1703-4). Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Toccata and Fugue in D minor (1703-7) (for organ); big hit - take it brother, hallelujah? Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709), Sinfonia for Four Trumpets. Plays: Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1674-1731), As You Find It (comedy). Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), Love's Contrivance. Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729), The Lying Lover; or The Ladies' Friendship (sentimental comedy); a flop. Poetry: Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710), Poems on Several Occasions; the joys of friendship between women based on shared morals and intellectual pursuits; dedicated to Queen Anne to protect her from male chauvinists? Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), Hymn to the Pillory; written in jail, where he was put for his political writings, driving him into bankruptcy. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), Amores Britannici; Epistles Historical and Gallant. Births: Indian Muslim Sufi scholar-reformer Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (Syed Qutb ad-Din Ahmad Wali Allah ibn Abd ar-Rahim al-Umari ad-Dihlawi) (d. 1762) on Feb. 21 in Moza Phalat, Delhi; son of Sufi scholar Shah Abdur Rahm. English clergyman-evangelist (founder of Methodism) John Wesley (d. 1791) on June 28 in Epworth Rectory, Lincolnshire; son of Samuel Wesley the Elder (1662-1735); brother of Charles Wesley (1707-88). Am. maj.-gen. John Winslow (d. 1774) on May 10 in Marshfield, Mass.; son of Isaac and Sarah Winslow; grandson of Josiah Winslow (1628-80); great-grandson of Edward Winslow (1595-1655); husband (1725-) of Mary Little, descendant of Pilgrim Richard Warren (1578-1628); father of Josiah Winslow, Pelham Winslow, and Isaac Winslow; owner of slave Briton Hammon. French duke Louis of Bourbon, Duke of Orleans (d. 1752) on Aug. 4 in Versailles; only son of Duke Philippe II of Orleans (1674-1723). English "Treatise on Madness" psychiatrist-physician William Battie (Batty) (d. 1776) on Sept. 1 in Modbury, Devon; son of Rev. Edward Battie; educated at Eton College, and King's College, Cambridge U. French "Diana Leaving the Bath", "Toilet of Venus" Rococo painter Francois Boucher (d. 1770) on Sept. 29 in Paris; studies painting with Lemoine, and engraving with Cars, but ends up adopting Watteau's style. Am. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Puritan Congregational revivalist preacher (pres. of Princeton U.) Jonathan Edwards (d. 1758) on Oct. 5 in East Windsor, Conn.; educated at Yale U. Am. atty.-inventor (achromatic lens) Chester Moore (Moor) (More) Hall (d. 1771) on Dec. 9 in Leigh, Essex. English schoolmaster-writer John Entick (d. 1773) in St. Dunstan's, Stepney. Japanese Buddhist artist-poet Fukuda Chiyo-ni (Kaga no Chiyo) (d. 1775) in Matto, Kaga Province (modern-day Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture). Arab Sunni Muslim leader (Wahhabism founder) Muhammad (Mohammed) ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792) in Ayane, Arid District, Neyjd (C Arabia); rejects bidah (religious innovation) and shirk (polytheism). Deaths: English mathematician John Wallis (b. 1616) on Oct. 28. Italian scientist Vincenzo Viviani (b. 1622) on Sept. 22; later buried in Galileo's grave in the Church of Santa Croce. French writer Charles Perrault (b. 1628) on May 16 in Paris. French financier marquis Louis de Bechamel (b. 1630). German-Austrian Jewish banker Samuel Oppenheimer (b. 1630) on May 3 in Vienna. British colonial official in North Am. #1 (1676-) Edward Randolph (b. 1632) in Apr. in Va. English diarist Samuel Pepys (b. 1633) on May 26; leaves Pepys's Diary, covering the years 1660-9, written in a private shorthand not deciphered until 1825; first pub. in 1893-9; unexpurgated ed. pub. in 1970-83. English writer Thomas Tryon (b. 1634) on Aug. 21. English super physician-scientist Robert Hooke (b. 1635) on Mar. 3. English Orientalist Thomas Hyde (b. 1636) on Feb. 18 in Oxford. Ottoman sultan (1695-1703) Mustafa II (b. 1664) on Dec. 28. English actress Susanna Verbruggen (b. 1667). French composer Nicolas de Grigny (b. 1672) on Nov. 30 in Reims.
1704 On Jan. 25-26 the Apalachee Massacre (Battle of Ayubale) near modern-day Tallahassee, Fla. sees English colonists from N.C. led by Gov. James Moore along with their Creek allies raid and decimate the mainly peaceful pop. of the Big Bend area of N Spanish Fla., destroying Spanish missions and getting Apalachees to join up and resettle near the Savannah and Ocmulgee Rivers, by 1709 Spanish Fla. is depopulated outside Saint Augustine and Pensacola. On Feb. 29 Deerfield, Mass. is captured, burned, and depopulated of English colonists in a massacre by the French and their Indian allies. On Apr. 16 1K Huguenot Camisards under Jean Cavalier are defeated by 5K French troops under Marshal Montrevel at the Battle of Nages Bridge, after which a peace conference is held on May 11-16 at Pont d'Avne near Alais, and the Camisards surrender under honorable terms, with Louis XIV agreeing to give them amnesty and restore their property and partially restore their civil rights (right of assembly outside walled towns) in return for swearing allegiance to the French crown; too bad he will not let them build their own churches or restore the Edict of Nantes, causing most of them to continue the struggle another year, although leader Jean Cavalier caves in and is made a French col. with a pension, with his Camisards organized into a regiment under his command for service in Spain; too bad, the Huguenots think he sold them out and turn on him, causing him to flee from Nimes to Neu-Brisach, Alsace with his last 100 followers, then to Paris, where he tries in vain to get Louis XIV to budge, then flees to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he forms a Camisard refugee regiment, fighting for any enemy of the Frogs that will have them. On Apr. 24 Scottish-born Boston, Mass. postmaster (since 1702) James Campbell (1653-1728) (not to be confused with U.S. postmaster-gen. James Campbell, 1812-93) begins pub. the weekly Boston News-Letter, the first regularly pub. newspaper in America, expanding his regular "news letters" he had been sending to Gov. Winthrop and other colonial govs., and editing it until 1722. On July 2 22K troops of the Grand Alliance (British, Dutch, and Austrians) under the Duke of Marlborough and the Margrave of Baden schell 13K French and Bavarian troopss under the Comte d'Arco and the Marquis de Maffi at the Battle of Schellenberg (Donauworth) (Battle of Donauwörth) in Donauworth, Bavaria, winning a decisive V, with 1,342 Grand Alliance troops KIA and 3,699 wounded vs. 13K French-Bavarians KIA and 3K taken POW; Bavaria is placed under Austrian admin. On July 24 a combined British-Dutch force under British rear adm. Sir George Rooke (1650-1709) captures Spanish-held (since 1462) Gibraltar, which becomes the major British naval base in the "British pond" (the Mediterranean); on Aug. 13 Rooke attacks the French fleet off Malaga, and after a push he is criticized and resigns from the navy next Feb. - rooked out of it? On Aug. 12-13 after British forces under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) march toward the Danube River, meet up with Austrian forces under Prince Eugene of Savoy near Mandelsheim, and together march ulm in ulm to Ulm, they defeat the French under marshals Camille d'Hostun de la Baume, Duc de Tallard (1652-1728) and Ferdinand, Count of Marsin (1656-1706), and the Bavarians under elector Maximilian II Emanuel at the Battle of Blenheim (Second Battle of Hochstadt) (pr. BLEN-im) (corruption of Blindheim) N of Nuremberg on the Danube River in W Bavaria 23 mi. NW of Augsburg, with 4.5K British and Austrians KIA and 7.9K wounded vs. 20K French and Bavarians KIA or wounded and 14K taken POW; the French and Bavarians are beaten so badly that the French attack on Austria is broken, and French prestige suffers from the first pitched battle lost by French troops since who knows when; the giant Allied V ensures the safety of Vienna, preventing the collapse of the Grand Alliance, becoming a turning point in the War of the Spanish Succession; from now on French military domination of Europe begins to tank; Marlborough becomes a big hero back home, and Queen Anne promises to build him his own pretty little palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, called Blenheim Palace (1705-22), designed by Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726) and Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736), becoming the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England with the title of palace; too bad, political infighting leads to the duke of Marlborough's exile, damaging Vanbrugh's rep.; meanwhile Duke Victor Amadeus I of Savoy flip-flops, ditches France and joins Austria, pissing-off the French and causing them to send troops under Gen. Vendome to trash the Piedmont; the Rakoczy uprising in Hungary is robbed of its promised help by the French and Bavarians, causing him to mint new copper coins to replace silver coins as the economy collapses. On Oct. 4 Augustus II of Poland is deposed, and once-buff Stanislaus Leszczynski (1677-1766) is elected pudgy King Stanislaus I of Poland (until Aug. 8, 1709). The original Capt. Kirk? In Oct. Scottish sailing master Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721) of the Cinque Ports (part of the William Dampier expedition), which tried to round Cape Horn only to fall prey to a scurvy outbreak which killed 48, incl. Capt. Pickering, who was replaced by 21-y.-o. Lt. Thomas Stradling, then sailed to Mexico, capturing several Spanish ships along the way, then stopped at the Juan Fernandez archipelago off the coast of Chile to resupply, is put ashore at his own request on Mas a Tierra (renamed to Robinson Crusoe by Chile in 1966) after an argument with Stradling about the seaworthiness of the old bucket, going on to live alone for 52 mo. (4 years 4 mo.) until he is rescued on Feb. 2, 1709 by Capt. Woodes Rogers (1679-1732) of the English privateer Duke, run by sailing master William Dampier (1651-1715) (engaged in 1708), whose expedition makes a £200K profit from all the booty, although Dampier dies in 1715 before receiving his share; the old barge Cinque Ports does indeed sink off the coast of Colombia and lose most of its crew, so there? On Dec. 6 the Battle of Chamkaur Sahib sees 40 Sikhs led by Guru Gobind Singh defeat 100K Muslims, with 44 Sikhs and 90K Muslims KIA. Peter the Great takes Dorpat (Tartu) and Narva, and Ivangorod is returned to Russian control; after a great fire in 1708, by 1721 the pop. of Tartu sinks to 21. Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751) (Tory MP since 1701) becomes secy. of war under English PM Sidney Godolphin (until 1710). The Spanish bloodily suppress a Pima Indian rebellion in Nueva Vizcaya, Mexico, causing permanent bitterness. The press gang is authorized by British law. The Popery (Gavelkind) Act is passed by the British Parliament, modifying the Irish practice of Gavelkind (equal division of land among a dead landholder's sons, also used by the Jutes in Kent), giving all the land to the eldest son if he converts to Protestantism; land holdings by Irish Catholics shrink from 25% in 1688 to 14% in 1704 to 5% in 1776. Former British North Am. colonial administrator Sir Edmund Andros (1637-1714)/a> is apppointed lt. gov. of Guernsey Island (until 1708) by Queen Anne, riding out his career, marrying 3rd wife Elizabeth Fitzhebert (-1717) in 1707. Welsh-born British dandy Richard "Beau" Nash (1674-1761) becomes master of ceremonies at Bath, turning it into the most fashionable resort in England, known for gambling and balls and a breakdown of class distinctions; in 1735 he appoints himself MC in Royal Tunbridge Wells (40 mi. SE of London near the East Sussex border), turning it into a famous resort patronized by the upper classes. Jeremiah Clarke (1674-1707) becomes organist at Chapel Royal. Voltaire enters a Jesuit college (until 1710). Jonathan Belcher (1682-1757) becomes the first Am.-born Mason during a visit to London, and later founds Princeton U. Baptists from R.I. petition Conn. for the right to hold religious meetings. The first subscription library opens in Berlin. The Vossische Zeitung begins pub. in Berlin (until 1933). Daniel Defoe (still in jail) begins pub. the weekly The Review (until 1713). Sports: The Darley Arabian, the greatest racehorse of its day is brought to England from Aleppo, Syria by Thomas Darley (1664-), and is bred with English mares to found the line of modern Thoroughbreds. Architecture: Germain Boffrand (1667-1754) redesigns the Hotel de Soubise in Paris (finished 1707); he returns in 1735-40 to design a suite of high Rococo interiors. Inventions: Non-toxic Prussian Blue pigment is discovered accidentally in Berlin, and used to dye Prussian army uniforms. Nonfiction: Anon., Dictionnaire de Trevoux; pub. by the Jesuits at Trevoux. Mary Astell (1666-1731), A Fair Way with the Dissenters and Their Patrons (London); An Impartial Enquiry into the Causes of Rebellion and Civil War in This Kingdom (London). Louis Bourdaloue (1632-1704), Sermons (16 vols.) (1704-37) (ed. by Bretonneau). Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), The Being and Attributes of God; attempts to prove the existence of God by a posteriori arguments based on the evidence of intelligent design; a non-starter with atheistic scientists until ? Charles Davenant (1656-1714), Memorial Concerning the Free Trade Now Tolerated Between France and Holland; promotes continuation of the policy of permitting trade; never pub. John Dennis (1657-1734), The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry; the ancients are superior to moderns because of their religious pagan attitude? Antoine Galland (1646-1715), The Thousand and One Nights: Arab Stories Translated into French (12 vols.) (1704-17); big hit; first European version tr. from Arabic, plus some stories he probably invented, incl. "Aladdin's Lamp" and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves"; King Shahryar and his wife Scheherezade, who tells him a new story each night to keep from being beheaded instead of bedded, incl. "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor"; in 1706 the anon. "Grub St. Version" English trans. appears, followed in 1714 by "The Thousand and One Days: Persian Tales" by Ambrose Philips. Francis Gascoyne, Brief and True Relation of a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with a Description of Stony Arabia. John Harris (1666-1719), Lexicon Technicum; Or, An Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Explaining Not Only the Terms of Art, but the Arts Themselves; first alphabetical encyclopedia in English. Pierre Jurieu (1637-1713), Histoire Critique des Dogmes et des Cultes. Raimondo Montecuccoli (1609-80), Memorie del Generale Principe di Montecuccoli (posth.). Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), The Battle of the Books; "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"; "Instead of dirt and poison we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light." Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Denn Du Wirst Meine Seele; his first cantata; marks a plan to compose music according to Pythagorean principles. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), St. John's Passion. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Der Gesturzte und Wieder Erhohte Nebukadnezar, Konig zu Babylon (opera) (Hamburg). Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), Revision of Carlo Francesco Pollarolo's Opera "Irene". Art: Guillaume Coustou the Elder (1677-1746), Hercules on the Pyre (Hercule sur le Bucher) (sculpture). Plays: Colley Cibber (1671-1757), The Careless Husband; every-inch-a-lady Ann Oldfield (1683-1730) plays Lady Modish after Susanna Vergruggen turns ill, and becomes a star. John Dennis (1657-1734), Liberty Asserted (Lincoln's Inn Fields); anti-French; big hit. George Farquhar (1677-1707), The Stage Coach (comedy). Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718), Britain's Happiness. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), The Governor of Cyprus (drama). Jean-Francois Regnard (1655-1709), Les Folies Amoureuses (comedy of manners); "We love without reason, and without reason we hate." Poetry: William Wycherley (1640-1715), Miscellany Poems. Novels: Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), A Tale of a Tub; his first major work, pub. anon.; satire about three brothers, each representing a major branch of Christianity; despite getting his cousin Thomas to claim authorship, it damages his prospects in the Church of England; "Seamen have a custom, when they meet a whale, to fling him out an empty tub by way of amusement, to divert him from laying violent hands upon the ship"; "There are certain common privileges of a writer, the benefit whereof, I hope, there will be no reason to doubt; particularly, that where I am not understood, it shall be concluded, that something very useful and profound is couched underneath; and again, that whatever word or sentence is printed in a different character, shall be judged to contain something extraordinary either or wit of sublime"; "Bread is the staff of life"; "Books, the children of the brain"; "As boys do sparrows, with flinging salt upon their tails"; "He made it a part of his religion never to say grace to his meat"; "It is a maxim, that those to whom everybody allows the second place have an undoubted title to the first." Births: German composer Carl (Karl) Heinrich Graun (d. 1759) on May 7 in Wahrenbruck, Brandenburg. English steel processing inventor (Quaker) Benjamin Huntsman (d. 1776) on June 4 in Epworth, Lincolnshire; German Quaker parents. English flying shuttle inventor John Kay (d. 1780) on June 17 in Walmersly, Bury, Lancashire; not to be confused with spinning frame inventor (17170 John Kay. German theologian (Moravian Brethren) Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg (d. 1792) on July 15 in Klettenberg, Thuringia. Swiss Cramer's Rule mathematician Gabriel Cramer (d. 1752) on July 31. French Rococo portraitist Maurice Quentin de Latour (de La Tour) (d. 1788) on Sept. 5 in Saint-Quentin, Aisne; known for his portraits of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, and Voltaire. English Palladian architect (Freemason) John Wood the Elder (d. 1754) in Yorkshire; father of John Wood the Younger (1728-82). Am. ANGLICAN clergyman Richard Peters (d. 1776) in Liverpool, England; brother of William Peters (1702-86); educated at Wadham College, Oxford U.; emigrates to Penn. in 1735. Deaths: Hungarian poet Istvan Gyongyosi (b. 1620) on July 24. English Christian mystic Jane Warde Leade (b. 1624); leaves a diary A Fountain of Gardens (2 vols.). French clergyman Jacques Bossuet (b. 1627) on Apr. 12 in Paris (kidney stones?). German duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (1666-85) Rudolph Augustus (b. 1627) on Jan. 26 in Hedwigsburg. French Jesuit orator Louis Bourdaloue (b. 1632) on May 13 in Paris. English the-thrill-is-gone "tabula rasa" empiricist philosopher John Locke (b. 1632) on Oct. 28 in Essex: "No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience"; "New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common." English Penn. gov. William Markham (b. 1635) on June 12. German-born Norwegian gen. Ulrik Frederik Gyldenlove (b. 1638) on Apr. 17 in Hamburg, Germany. French physician Jean Baptiste Denis (Denys) (b. 1640). French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier (b. 1643). German physician-botanist Georg Franck von Franckenau (b. 1643) on June 17 in Copenhagen, Denmark. German (Bohemian) composer-violinist Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (b. 1644) on May 3. French botanist Charles Plumier (b. 1646) on Nov. 20 in Puerto de Santa Maria (near Cadiz) (pleurisy). Virginia planter William Byrd I (b. 1652). German Orientalist Johann Andreas Eisenmenger (b. 1654) on Dec. 20 in Heidelberg; dies of grief after his great work is banned. French mathematician Guillaume l'Hospital (b. 1661) on Feb. 2 in Paris - try to take it to the limit, you end up in l'Hospital?
1705 On May 5 HRE (since 1658) Leopold I (b. 1640) dies in Vienna, and is succeeded by his well-educated liberal anti-Jesuit son Joseph I (1678-1711), who grants privileges to the Protestants in his dominions, esp. in Silesia; a Bavarian revolt against Austrian admin. is suppressed; meanwhile the allies attack Spain from the E and W, capturing Barcelona and reaching Madrid, where they proclaim Leopold I's 2nd son Archduke Charles as king of Spain; too bad, the Spanish people want non-Hapsburg Philip V instead, and rise against the allies, driving them out with French help. In Sept. the Hungarian Diet elects Francis II Rakoczy as ruler of the kingdom of Hungary, assisted by a 24-member Senate, and on Oct. 27 after encouragement by Britain and Netherlands, they begin peace talks with the Austrian emperor, but hang up on sovereignty for Transylvania. The Astrakhan Revolt of archers against Peter the Great's Westernization program begins (ends 1706). On Nov. 18 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is appointed prince of Mindelheim in Uterallgau, Bavaria by HRE Joseph I (until 1713). The Whigs score big Vs in the election (the Whig Junto), and both Godolphin and Marlborough ally with them, but the queen is reluctant to replace Tory ministers, keeping the cabinet from going Whig until 1708. Scotland proposes a treaty with England. Nice is captured by the French. If you're black you'll have that feeling in the air this year, Or, Do surround yourself with yourself? Va. outlaws mixed-race marriages, defining a "mulatto" as "the child of an Indian and the child, grand child, or great grand child, of a negro"; New York City declares the death penalty for runaway slaves. The Dutch abandon Mauritius - the monkeys are upset with that? The Husaynid Dynasty in Tunisia (ends 1957) is founded by Al-Husayn I ibn Ali al-Turki (1669-1740), who overthrows the Ottoman dey of the Muradid Dynasty. Queen Anne knights Isaac Newton (1643-1727), who becomes the first Brit knighted for scientific achievement - if his wife were Gwyneth Paltrow they could name their kid Sir Apple? J.S. Bach walks 200 mi. to Lubeck to hear the Abendmusiken, dir. by Dietrich Buxtehude, but doesn't want his job since he requires him to marry his daughter. John Toland coins the term "pantheism" for the doctrine that all manifestations of the self-existing Universe are God. Architecture: Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, designed by Kit-Cat-loving playwright-turned-architect Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726) and architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough is begun (finished in 1722), later becoming the birthplace of Winston Churchill and the reddish-brown spotted white toy Blenheim spaniel. The Queen's Theatre in Haymarket, Westminster, West End, London (cap. 1,216) opens as an opera house, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, who produces 25+ operas by George Frideric Handel by 1739; in 1714 on the accession of George I it becomes the King's Theatre, followed in 1837 by Her Majesty's Theatre, His Majesty's Theatre in 1901, and Her Majesty's Theate in 1952. The Royal Observatory in Berlin, Germany is founded by Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz; it gets its first actual observatory in 1711. Science: English astronomer Edmond (Edmund) Halley (1656-1742) predicts the arrival in 1758 of the comet last seen in 1682, becoming one of the biggest coups of scientists over theologians of all time?; why couldn't superbrain Isaac Newton do it first? Robert Hooke discovers the 1/2-min. limit of human visual acuity. Nonfiction: Mary Astell (1666-1731), The Christian Religion as Profess'd by a Daughter of the Church of England. Pierre Le Pesant, Sieur de Boisguillebert, Factum de la France (1705-6); proposes the stimulation of consumption and production of commodities, a uniform tax on all revenue from property, and the abolition of imposts and internal duties. Samuel Clarke (1675-1729), Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion. Robert Hooke (1635-1703), Posthumous Works; incl. General Scheme, explaining his use of Francis Bacon's scientific methods (empiricism over rationalism). John Law (1671-1729), Money and Trade Considered, with a Proposal for Supplying the Nation with Money; proposes the Real Bills Doctrine, that a bank should issue notes only in the discount of "good bills" at not more than 60-day due dates to prevent collapse, which is "thoroughly discredited" in 1945. Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium; her 1699-1701 trip to Surinam to study Nature, making her the first person "to plan a journey rooted in science"; uses indigenous names for plants, and produces a classification of butterflies and moths that survives to modern times, becoming the first Euro to describe army ants and leaf cutter ants; contains a famous pictorial description of the metamorphosis of the butterfly, making her a star and making a fan of Peter I the Great. Adriaan Reland (Hadriani Relandi (1676-1718), De Religione Mohammedica Libri Duo; first Euro work that attempts to describe Islam objectively, by a Dutch scholar who toured Palestine in 1695. Christian Thomasius (1655-1728), Fundamenta Juris Naturalis et Gentium. Art: Sebastiano Ricci, Venus and Adonis (1705-6). Music: Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1674-1762), Idomnee. Francesco Gasparini (1661-1727), Ambleto (opera) (Venice); first opera about Hamlet; Missa Canonica; performed by J.S. Bach in 1740 in St. Thomas Church and St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig. Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), Almira, Konigin von Castilien (HWV 1) (first opera) (Hamburg) (Jan. 8) (20 perf.); libretto by Giulio Pancieri; big hit, launching his 4-decade opera career of Italian Baroque-inspired music. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Der Romische Unruhe oder Die Edelmutige Octavia (opera) (Hamburg). Die Kleinmutige Selbst-Morderin Lucretia oder Die Staats-Torheit des Brutus (opera) (Hamburg). Plays: Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Gamester (comedy); big hit; The Basset Table (4 perf.); gains her access to the highest lit. circles, incl. Colley Cibber (1671-1757), Richard Steele, George Farquhar (1677-1707), and Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718). Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718), The Amorous Miser; or, the Younger the Wiser; Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus. Ned Ward, Hudibras Redivivus. Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729), The Tender Husband (comedy). Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), The Confederacy (comedy). Poetry: Joseph Addison (1672-1719), The Campaign. Bernard de Mandeville (1670-1733), The Grumbling Hive, or Knaves Turn'd Honest. Novels: Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), Historia Hieroglyphica; first Romanian language novel; represents the Wallachian ruling houses of Brancoveanu and Cantacuzino by mythological beasts. Births: French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier (d. 1786) on Jan. 14. French architect Jacques-Francois "le Petit" Blondel (d. 1774) on Jan. 17 in Rouen; grandson of Francois "le Grand" Blondel (1617-86). Italian castrato singer Farinelli (Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi) (d. 1782) on Jan. 24 in Andria (Apulia); brother of opera composer Riccardo Broschi. Swedish naturalist ("Father of Ichtyology") Peter Artedi (d. 1735) on Feb. 22 in Angermanland. Scottish jurist William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (d. 1793) on Mar. 2 in Scone, Perthshire; educated at Westminster School, and Christ Church, Oxford U.; abolishes slavery in England in 1772. Portuguese dramatist (Jewish) Antonio Jose "the Jew" da Silva (d. 1739) on May 8 in Rio de Janeiro; emigrates to Portugal at age 8. English philosopher-physiologist David Hartley (d. 1757) on June 21 in Armley (Halifax), Yorkshire; educated at Jesus College, Cambridge; father of David Hartley Jr. (1732-1813); father of the Associationist School of Philosophy. Austrian Seven Years' War field marshal Count Leopold Josef (Joseph) von Daun, Prince of Thiano (d. 1766) on Sept. 24 in Vienna; son of Count Wirich Philipp von Daun (1669-1741). English statesman Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland of Foxley (d. 1774) on Sept. 28 in Chiswick; son of Sir Stephen Fox (1627-1716) and 2nd wife Christiana Hope; husband of Lady Caroline Georgiana Lennox; father of Stephen Fox, 2nd Baron Holland (d. 1774), Charles James Fox (1749-1806), and Henry Edward Fox (1755-1811); grandfather of Henry Richard Vassall, 3rd Baron Holland (1773-1840); educated at Christ Church, Oxford U.; squanders his inheritance then gains the backing of a woman of fortune and returns to society as a MP - a fox smells his own den first? Italian pope (1769-74) Clement XIV (Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli) (d. 1774) on Oct. 31 in Santarcangelo di Romagna; educated by the Jesuits, but ends up suppressing them due to political pressure. English historian Thomas "Tom" Birch (d. 1766) on Nov. 23 in Clerkenwell; of Quaker parents, which doesn't stop him from being ordained in the Church of England in 1730; known for going fishing dressed up as a tree to fool them? English poet David Mallet (d. 1765). English military commander Earl Loudoun (d. 1782). Deaths: French courtesan-writer Ninon de L'Enclos (b. 1620) on Oct. 17 in Paris; leaves money for 9-y.-o. Francois Marie Arouet (son of her accountant) (later Voltaire) to buy books: "Much more genius is needed to make love than to command armies." German duke Georg Wilhelm of Brunswick-Luneburg-Hanover (b. 1624). English naturalist John Ray (b. 1627). French Jesuit missionary Louis Hennepin (b. 1626) in Rome, Italy. Am. Puritan minister Michael Wigglesworth (b. 1631). Italian painter Luca Giordano (b. 1634) on Jan. 3 in Naples. German pietist theologian Philipp Jakob Spener (b. 1635) on Feb. 5. French ballet choreographer Pierre Beauchamp (b. 1636). English queen Catherine of Braganza (b. 1638) on Dec. 31 in Portugal. Austrian HRE (1658-1705) Leopold I (b. 1640) on May 5. English Popish Plot conspirator Titus Oates (b. 1649) on July 12/13. French fairy tale writer Madame d'Aulnoy (b. 1650) on Jan. 4. German Bible translator Ernst Gluck (b. 1654) in Moscow; deported there from Latvia by the Russians in 1702, losing the mss. of his new Russian trans. of the Bible. Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli (b. 1655) on Aug. 16 in Basel ; his tombstone bears the inscription of his beloved logarithmic spiral - the good spiral young? Hungarian anti-Hapsburg leader Count Imre Thokoly (b. 1657) on Sept. 13 in Nicomedia. French physicist Guillaume Amontons (b. 1663) on Oct. 11 in Paris. Prussian queen Sophie Charlotte (b. 1668) on Feb. 1.
1706 On Feb. 3 Charles XII of Sweden defeats the Russians and Saxons at the Battle of Franstadt in Saxony. On Feb. 7 new viceroy of New Spain (since Nov. 27, 1702) Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva (Cuervo) Enriquez, Marques de Cuellar, 10th Duke of Alburquerque (1666-1724) Albuquerque (Villa of San Francisco de Alburquerque) (modern-day pop. 560K/1.7M), and stocks it with 12 families, writing the viceroy about it after the fact, breaking Spanish law requiring permission, and lying that there are the required min. of 35 families; he is called to Mexico City for punishment, and loses his planned appointment as permanent gov., having to leave in 1711; the villa later becomes known as "Duke City"; in 1988 the city council declares "Founder's Day" in Albuquerque's honor, complete with a statue; since the Spanish have less than 60 soldiers to guard all the settlers and their farms, they relocate their homes into a single square, creating the Old Town Plaza for mutual defense, Mexico's first?; Albuquerque is incorporated in 1891. In Feb. after having had enough of the pesky Scots, Queen Anne appoints commissioners to effect a union between England and Scotland, and they meet at Westminster for several mo., then present the Treaty of Union to the parliaments of both countries for ratification, proposed by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (1661-1715), and backed by Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, 1st Earl of Ilay (1682-1761); compensation for Darien is incl.; on June 28 the Scottish parliament meets in Edinburgh and agrees to it on July 22, then waffles until Queen Anne bribes them in Nov. to go with it, with new peerages granted, plus trading privileges to the burgesses, plus rights of the kirk to mollify the clergy; the pop. knows they're being sold out and shows it, causing the queen to send an English army to the Scottish border. On May 23 British, Dutch and Danish forces under the Duke of Marlborough defeat the French under Gen. Villeroy at the Battle of Ramillies in Brabant, Belgium (13 mi. N of Namur), followed by the submission of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend et al., giving the Spanish Netherlands to the allies and driving the French back to their border defenses. On July 10 Grace Sherwood (1660-1740) of Pungo, Va., a midwife who sometimes wears men's clothes and is known as the "Witch of Pungo" and is accused of causing a miscarriage through her witchy woman powers is dropped into the Lynnhaven River, and floats, proving that she is guilty because the pure water cast out her evil spirit; she is then jailed until 1714, when she pays back taxes and with the help of Gov. Alexander Spotswood reclaims her property, living quietly until her death; on July 11, 2006 Gov. Timothy M. Kaine of Va. pardons her before a reenactment of her river drop in Virginia Beach, Va. On Sept. 7 after Gen. Vendome is recalled, 20K French troops are routed by troops of Savoy led by Duke Amadeus II and Prince Eugene under the walls of Turin, and they go on to occupy Milan and force the French out of Lombardy and Italy; Charles III is proclaimed at Milan; Austrian field marshal Count Wirich Philipp von Daun (1669-1741) becomes a hero for his defense of Turin. On Sept. 24 the Treaty of Altranstadt (Altranstädt) (in Prussian Saxony near Mereburg) with Sweden forces Augustus II to renounce the Polish crown in favor of Stanislaus I. On Oct. 3 the 227-member 1-chamber Scottish Parliament convenes, and the main item on the agenda is ratifying the Acts of Union with Britain; in Nov. James Hamilton, 2nd Baron Belhaven and Stenton (1656-1708) gives a big speech against union; too bad, after plenty of baksheesh is handed out, enough of the 117 dissenting members flip-flop - I can't go on but the Scottish nobles do it again and sell out their own people to go Norman? In Nov. S.C. adopts Anglicanism as its official religion. On Dec. 9 king (since Sept. 12, 1683) Pedro II (b. 1648) dies, and his son Joao (John) V "the Magnificent" (1689-1750) becomes Braganza king of Portugal (until July 31, 1750), beginning a 44-year reign as the gold flows in from Brazil, allying with England in the War of the Spanish Succession and raising Portugal's prestige, aggressively expanding in the Americas and India, becoming known as the Portuguese Sun King. Guido Wald Rudiger (Rüdiger), Count of Starhemberg (1657-1737) cousin of Gen. Ernst Rudiger von Starhemberg (b. 1701) is appointed CIC of the Hapsburg imperial army in Hungary, fighting the pesky insurgents led by Francis II Rakoczi; in 1708 he becomes CIC of the Austrian army in Spain. Archduke Charles conquers Madrid, but loses it after a short time. Thommo Reachea II becomes king of Cambodia for the 2nd time (until 1710). Charleston, S.C. successfully beats off a French-Spanish attack. Sophia Dorothea, princess of Brunswick marries Friedrich Wilhelm. Irish-born missionary Francis Makemie (1658-1708) (who arrived in Md. in 1683) founds the first presbytery in North Am., becoming the founder of U.S. Presbyterianism - I won't join, so make me? G.F. Handel travels from Hamburg to Italy at the invitation of Gian Gastone de' Medici, and meets his musician brother Ferdinando de' Medici, then finds that the pope has temporarily banned opera, causing him to compose sacred music and cantatas until next year. The first life insurance office in England is opened. White Horse Tavern in Newport, R.I. (built 1652) becomes the first to host a businessman's lunch after city councilors begin dining there and charging expenses to the city. Coffee trees are sent from Sri Lanka to Amsterdam, breaking the ancient Arab monopoly. The word "ain't" is invented as a contraction of "am not". The remains of the buried city of Herculaneum (destroyed in 79 C.E.) are discovered 40-100 ft. below the surface in Portici and Resina villages in the suburbs of Naples during the digging of a well; systematic excavations begin in 1738, uncovering a papyrus library and art relics, incl. statues of Aeschines, Agrippina, the Sleeping Faun, the Six Actresses, Mercury, the Satyr group, and busts of Plato, Scipio Africanus, Augustus, Seneca, and Demosthenes, which are put on display at the Nat. Museum in Naples. The Evening Post, the first evening newspaper begins pub. in London. Architecture: The Berliner Stadtschloss royal palace in Berlin (begun 1698) is completed; demolished in 1950 by the East German govt. as a symbol of "Prussian militarism". Filippo Juvara designs the Church of La Superba (Church of the Proud) in Turin. Governor's Place in Williamsburg, Va. is begun (finished 1720), based on the newly-built Nether Lypiatt Manor in Gloucester, England; after the Va. capital is relocated to Richmond in 1780, it burns down on Dec. 22, 1781 while being used as a hospital for Am. Rev. soldiers from the Siege of Yorktown. The Second Eddystone Lighthouse is built off Plymouth, England. Inventions: English inventor Henry Mill invents carriage springs. Music: Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Die Neapolitanische Fischer-Emporung oder Masianello Furioso (opera) (Hamburg). Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Horae Lyricae. Nonfiction: John Kersey the Younger, The New World of English Words (rev. ed); incl. the definition "Anthropology, a Discourse or Description of Man, or of a Man's Body." John Locke (1632-1704), Of the Conduct of the Understanding. Cotton Mather (1663-1728), The Negro Christianized; The Good Old Way (Puritanism?). Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771), Adversaria Anatomica. John Philips (1676-1709), Cerealia. Olous Romer, Catalog of Astronomical Observations. Matthew Tindal (1657-1733), Rights of the Christian Church. Plays: Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), Love at a Venture; Colley Cibber disses the play as too bawdy, then plagiarizes it for his "The Double Gallant". George Farquhar (1677-1707), The Recruiting Officer (comedy) (Drury Lane, London); English officers Plume and Brazen (Colley Cibber) recruit soldiers for the War of the Spanish Succession in Shrewbury; big hit; first play to be staged in New York City (Dec. 6, 1732). Nicholas Rowe (1674-1715), Jane Shore. Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), The Mistake (comedy). Novels: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), A Relation of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal. Births: Am. diplomat-scientist-inventor-postmaster-printer-icon, Founding Father, and U.S. postmaster gen. #1 (1775-6) ("America's Renaissance Man") ("America's First Internat. Celebrity") (Freemason) (lefty) (nudist) (face on the U.S. $100 bill) Benjamin Franklin (d. 1790) on Jan. 17 (Jan. 6 Old Style) in Boston, Mass.; 10th child of an English immigrant soap and candlemaker (youngest of 10 sons); his parents have 17 children; inventor of crop insurance; a couple of decades older than the other Founding Fathers; brother of Jane Franklin Mecom (1712-94); husband (1730-) of Deborah Read (1708-74); father of William Franklin (1731-1813), Francis Folger Franklin (1732-6), and Sarah Franklin "Sally" Bache (1743-1808); first to suggest Daylight Savings Time. English publisher and type designer John Baskerville of Birmingham (d. 1775) on Jan. 28 in Wolverley (near Kidderminster). British adm. Sir George Pocock (d. 1792) on Mar. 6 in Chieveley, Berkshire. French playwright-librettist (Freemason) Louis de Cahusac (d. 1759) on Apr. 6 in Mauntauban; collaborator of Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). English optician (inventor of the achromatic lens) John Dollond (d. 1761) on June 10 in Spitalfields, London; Huguenot refugee father. Viennese composer Baldassare Galuppi ("Il Buranello") (d. 1785) on Oct. 18. French mathematician-physicist Gabrielle Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Chatelet (Châtelet) (Chastellet) (d. 1749) on Dec. 17. English highwayman Dick Turpin (d. 1739). Indian sage ("the silent sage") Thayumanavar (d. 1744). German sculptor and porcelain designer Johann Joachim Kandler (d. 1775). Portuguese architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira (d 1786); pupil of Joao Frederico Ludovice and Jean Baptiste Robillon. Deaths: English gardening writer John Evelyn (b. 1620) on Feb. 27 in Dover St., London. German painter Michael Willmann (b. 1630) on Aug. 26 in Leubus, Poland. French Huguenot scholar Pierre Bayle (b. 1647) on Dec. 28. Portuguese king (1683-1706) Pedro II (b. 1648) on Dec. 9 in Alcantara. English Methuen Treaty diplomat-judge John Methuen (b. 1650) on July 2 in Lisbon, Portugal; buried in Westminster Abbey. German Baroque organist-composer Johann Pachelbel (b. 1653) on Mar. 3 in Nuremberg; leaves Canon in D, which is not rediscovered until 1919. French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (b. 1661) on July 9 in Havana, Cuba (yellow fever). Moravian Jesuit missionary Georg Joseph Kamel (b. 1661) on May 2 in Philippines; namesake of the camellia.
1707 On Mar. 1 after English Tory MP Charles Davenant (1656-1754) is appointed secy. of a commission to negotiate a union of Scotland and England in Sept. 1702, under pressure and bribes the Scottish Parliament votes itself out of existence; on Mar. 25 it adjourns for the last time until ?, 1998. On Mar. 3 Muslim Mughal emperor (since 1658) Aurangzeb (b. 1618) dies after reigning 48 years and 215 days (2nd longest after Akbar the Great) and his eldest son Muhammad Azam Shah (Abu'l Faaiz Qutb-ud-Din Muhammad Azam) (1653-1707) becomes Mughal emperor #7; too bad, he and his two sons Sultan Muhammad Bidar Bakht and Shahzada Wala Jah Bahadur are defeated by Azam Shah's elder step brother Prince Shah Alam (Qutb ud-Din Muhammad Mu-azzam), and Azam Shah is executed on June 8, and on June 19 Shah Alam is crowned Bahadur (Pers. "brave hero") Shah I (1643-1712), Mughal emperor #8 of Hindustan (N India) (until Feb. 27, 1712); the empire is at its zenith, covering 1.25M sq. mi. and 150M subjects, 25% of world pop.; it now begins its decline. On May 1 under Queen Anne (1665-1714) (now queen of Great Britain and Ireland instead of queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland), with the backing of lord high treasurer (1702-10) Sidney Godolphin, the Act of Union (Union with England Act) is passed, fixing the problem of Scotland being omitted from the Act of Succession, and joining Scotland, England, and Wales to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain (U.K.); the word "Celt" first appears in English in connection with the Act of Union, with Welsh (Gaelic) (Celtic) speakers prohibited from holding govt. offices; Scotland is given 16 peers and 45 members of the House of Commons in the British Parliament, free trade with England, and allowed to keep its local legal, political and ecclesiastical institutions, but cannot create any more Scottish peers; many Scots consider it a sell-out, but it gives backwater Scotland access to England's global marketplace, causing an economic and cultural boom, so that by the middle of the cent. the new prosperity it engenders reconciles many, esp. in Glasgow in W Scotland (50 mi. W of Edinburgh on the Clyde River), which is given equal freedom of trade with English ports and soon obtains a large share of the Am. trade, becoming the main center of the tobacco trade until the Am. Rev., then going into cotton manufacture and the sugar trade, shipbuilding and iron, and growing into Scotland's largest city; the economic boom triggers the Scottish Enlightenment, which becomes the basis of classical liberalism, and produces thinkers Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and David Hume, plus steam engine inventor James Watt, along with a dem. education system that is later exported to the U.S. On Apr. 25 the French under James II's son the duke of Berwick (who became a French subject in 1702 and was created a marshal of France) allied with the Spanish crush the Portuguese and British at the Battle of Almansa (Almanza) in Spain, securing the throne for Philip V and getting Berwick created a French peer by Louis XIV and duke of Liria and Xerica by Philip V; Jean Cavalier and his Camisards fight on the British side, and when they find themselves facing a Roman Catholic French regiment, they throw down their guns and rush at them to attack them with blades street-style, after which Cavalier writes "I fought as long as a man stood beside me and until numbers overpowered me, losing an immense quantity of blood from a dozen wounds"; driven out of the Languedoc, the remaining Camisards flee to Geneva and London, where Sir Isaac Newton takes a shine to them, probably for their gnostic beliefs; Cavalier takes refuge in Dublin, then ends up as lt. gov. of N.J. in 1735-8, getting promoted to maj.-gen. in the British army before croaking in 1740. On May 1 the Union Jack becomes the new flag of the U.K.; it consists of the English flag of St. George, the Scottish flag of St. Andrew, and the Irish flag of St. Patrick all superimposed - is it there in your heartache, waiting for some beautiful body, I don't seem to recognize ya? On June 13 the Hungarian Diet in Onod declares the Hapsburgs deposed from the Hungarian throne; too bad, Louis XIV of France refuses to ally with them, leaving them no options except alliance with Russia, which also snubs them. On Sept. 30 the Austrians under field marshal Count Wirich Philipp von Daun conquer Gaeta in C Italy. The Man in the Iron Mask is really the Man in the Velvet Mask? On Nov. 19 Eutache Dauger (1640-1703) AKA the Man in the Iron Mask (L'Homme au Masque de Fer), who had been a prisoner in the Bastile since 1679 (arrested in Dunkirk in 1669, perhaps after returning from exile in Canada) while forced to wear a velvet mask and remain silent on any subject other than his day-to-day needs dies; later novelist Alexandre Dumas changes the mask to iron and claims he is either Louis XIV himself or his twin brother; others believe he is Louis XIV's true father, who resembles him too much (Louis XIII didn't resemble his supposed son); he is buried under the name of Eustache Dauger, valet. On Dec. 16 after Osaka suffers a violent earthquake on Nov. 11, Mt. Fuji (Fujiyama) erupts, pouring lava and ashes into Edo 60 mi. away, but there are no fatalities, becoming its last eruption until ?. Prussia and Sweden sign a Perpetual Alliance. Charles XII and Stanislas I come to an understanding with Cossack hetman Ivan Stepanovich Mazepa (1639-1709) concerning the Ukraine. The Scottish Darien Colony in Panama (founded 1695) collapses, with 2K Scots killed and all moneys invested lost, ruining many thousands of families, which increases anti-English feeling in Scotland and results in riots; the collapse of the Scottish economy leads to more discussions of full parliamentary union with England. The British colonize Acadia in E Canada. The Society of Antiquaries of London, forced underground during the reign of James I begins meeting publicly again, receiving a royal charter in 1751. G.F. Handel meets with Domenico Scarlatti in Venice. Presbyterian preacher Francis Makemie (1658-1708) is imprisoned for preaching in New York City by Gov. Cornbury, tried, and acquitted - can't makemie stop? Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753) builds his first organ at Frauenstein, Saxony. Billiards begins to be played in Berlin coffeehouses. Fortnum & Mason is founded in Piccadilly, London by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason as a grocery store to make and sell jams, teas and sauces, going on to become a favorite of Queen Victoria, whom they supply annually with Christmas puddings, causing them to adopt the motto "Food Fit for a Queen" before evolving into a dept. store that stocks exotic items. Architecture: Fischer von Erlach finishes the Kollegien-Kirche in Salzburg (begun 1696). Inventions: The West finally catches up to the East where it hurts? German alchemist Johann Friedrich Bottger (Böttger) (1682-1719) of Dresden, Germany, with royal patronage and aided by Count Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651-1708) discovers the secret of "hard" porcelain similar to Chinese, developing a hard, reddish porcelain which becomes known as Dresden or Meissen China; in 1708 Bottiger is appointed dir. of new factories in Dresden, which he moves to Meissen in 1710, where he invents white porcelain in 1715; too bad that disloyal workers soon spread his secrets all over Europe? French engineer Denis Papin invents the high-pressure boiler. Science: English physician Sir John Floyer (1649-1734) introduces pulse rate as a medical diagnostic measure - flow rate of his johnson jokes here? German chemist-physician Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734) pub. the alchemy-influenced Phlogiston Theory of Combustion, which it takes Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier until 1783 to phlog out of fashion. Nonfiction: Anon., The Principles and Duties of Christianity; the first book printed in Manx, which was a purely spoken language until 1610. Bernardino Baldi (1533-1617), Cronica dei Matematici. ? Chamberlayne, State of England; mentions cricket. Anthony Collins (1676-1729), An Essay Concerning the Use of Reason. William Fleetwood (1656-1723), Chronicum Preciosum: Or, An Account of English Money, the Price of Corn and Other Commodities, for the Last 600 Years (London); first calculation of a cost-of-living index, finding that £5 in 1440 would buy the same as £28-£30 then; cited by Adam Smith in "The Wealth of Nations" (1776). Samuel Fritz (1654-1728), Map of South America; by a Bohemian-born Jesuit who explored the interior. Edward Lhuyd (1660-1709), Archaeologica Britannica. John Mill (1645-1707), Novum testamentum græcum, cum lectionibus variantibus MSS. exemplarium, versionum, editionum SS. patrum et scriptorum ecclesiasticorum, et in easdem nolis (Ocford); pub. after 30 years of work, documenting over 30K discrepancies between 100 extant New Testament mss., shocking the Christian world that had relied on Erasmus' 1516 Textus Receptus; dies of a stroke 2 weeks after pub. Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734), The True Theory of Medicine (Theoria Medica Vera); advances the Phlogiston Theory of Combustion. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), A Tritical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind; "The Mind of Man is at first (if you will pardon the Expression) like a Tabula rasa, or like Wax, which while it is Soft is capable of any Impression, 'till time has hardened it"; "Laws are like Cobwebs which may catch small Flies, but let Wasps and Hornets break through. But in Oratory the greatest Art is to hide Art"; "There is nothing in this World contant but inconstancy"; "For Men nowadays Worship the Rising Sun, and not the Setting." James Woodward, The Sea-Man's Vade Mecum (London). Music: Joseph Addison (1672-1719), Rosamond (opera). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Dixit Dominus; Rodrigo (opera) (Florence); original title "To overcome onself is the greater victory"; libretto based on Francesco Silvani's "Il Duello d'Amore e di Vendetta". Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Der Angenehme Betrug oder Der Carneval von Venedig (opera) (Hamburg). Agostino Steffani (1653-1728), Arminio (opera) (Dusseldorf). Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs (2 vols.) (1707-9); incl. Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?, Marching to Zion, Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Art: Claude Gillot (1673-1722), Les Deux Carrosses. Plays: Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Platonick Lady; the printed vers. has a preface dissing sexism. Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1707-77), Atree el Thyeste. George Farquhar (1677-1707), The Beaux' Stratagem (comedy) (Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London) (Mar. 8); Archer and Aimwell hatch a scheme to visit small towns and entrap young heiresses; too bad, in the first town, Lichfield, Aimwell is entrapped by Dorinda; landlord Boniface causes the term "boniface" to be coined for an innkeeper or tavernkeeper; Farquhar dies on Apr. 29. Alain-Rene Lesage (1668-1747), Le Diable Boiteux. Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718), Thomyris, Queen of Scythia. Poetry: Anon., Complete Tang Poetry; a Qing dynasty production. Elijah Fenton (1683-1730), Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany Poems. Births: French novelist Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (Crébillon) (d. 1777) on Feb. 13 in Paris; son of Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1674-1762). Italian "Amalasunta" dramatist-librettist ("Founder of Modern Italian Comedy") Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (AKA Polisseno Fegeio, Pastor Arcade) (d. 1793) on Feb. 25 in Venice. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) Stephen Hopkins (d. 1785) on Mar. 7 in Scituate, Providence, R.I.; brother of Esek Hopkins (1718-1802). Prussian gen. Hans Karl von Winterfeldt (d. 1757) on Apr. 4 in Vanselow Castle, Swedish Pomerania. English "Tom Jones" novelist Henry Fielding (d. 1754) on Apr. 22 near Glastonbury, Somersetshire. Swiss #1 mathematician (greatest of the 18th cent.?) Leonhard Paul Euler (d. 1783) on Apr. 15 in Basel; known for being a memory whiz. Swedish botanist ("Father of Taxonomy") Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linne) (Carl von Linné) (Carolus Linnaeus) (d. 1778) on May 23 in Rashult, Smaland. British gen. John Forbes (d. 1759) on Sept. 5 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. French "Histoire Naturelle" scientist ("Father of Natural History") Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (d. 1788) on Sept. 7 in Montbard, Burgundy. English Methodist "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" hymn writer Charles Wesley (d. 1788) on Dec. 18 in Epworth, Lincolnshire; son of Samuel Wesley the Elder (1662-1735); brother of John Wesley (1703-91). Am. historian Rev. William Stith (d. 1755). French dancer Marie Salle (d. 1756). Hessian gen. Leopold Philip de Heister 9d. 1777). French gen. Claude Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain (d. 1778); not to be confused with the Count of St. Germain (1712-84). Deaths: Italian mathematician Paolo Casati (b. 1617). Indian Mughal emperor #6 (1658-1707) Aurangzeb (b. 1618) on Mar. 3 in Ahmednagar. French painter Noel Coypel (b. 1628) on Dec. 24. English mathematician-astronomer Richard Towneley (b. 1629) on Jan. 22 in York. French Benedictine scholar Jean Mabillon (b. 1632) on Dec. 27 in Paris. Dutch painter Willem van de Velde the Younger (b. 1633). French fortifications engineer Sebastien Vauban (b. 1633) on Mar. 30. Danish composer Dietrich Buxtehude (b. 1637) on May 9. French mistress (of Louis XIV) Francoise Athenais, Marquise de Montespan (b. 1641) on May 27 in Bourbon-l'Archambault; leaves Memoirs. English theologian John Mill (b. 1645) on June 23 in Oxford; dies 2 weeks after pub. of his masterpiece on the Greek New Testament. German musical instrument maker Johann Christoph Denner (b. 1655) on Apr. 26 in Nuremberg. German gen. Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden (AKA Turkenlouis) (b. 1655) on Jan. 4 in Rastatt. French opera singer Julie d'Aubigny (b. 1670) in Provence. Italian composer Giuseppe Aldrovandini (b. 1671) on Feb. 9 in Bologna. English composer Jeremiah Clarke (b. 1674) on Dec. 1 in London (suicide); shoots himself over an unattainable woman. English playwright George Farquhar (b. 1678). English dean of St. Paul's (1691-1707) William Sherlock (b. 1641) in June in Hampstead.
1708 By this year blacks outnumber whites in Carolina, a first for a British Am. colony. In Feb. after the 1708 ed. of "Merlinus Almanac" by famous astrologer John Partridge (1644-1714) sarcastically refers to the Church of England as "the infallible Church", pissed-off Jonathan Swift pub. Predictions for the Year 1708, by Isaac Bickerstaff as an elaborate April Fool's joke to discredit him by predicting his death on Mar. 29, following on that date with a letter containing the soundbyte: "Here five foot deep lyes on his back/ A cobbler, starmonger, and quack.../ Who to the stars in pure good-will,/ Does to his best look upward still./ Weep all you customers that use/ His pill, his almanacks or shoes", after which Partridge pub. a pear, er, letter proclaiming that he's still alive, causing Swift to call it a fake as "they were sure no man alive ever to writ such damned stuff as this", causing a host of his enemies to keep the rumor alive for the rest of his life. I knew Jack Kennedy, pretender, and you're no Jack Kennedy, er, William Wallace? In Mar. "Old Pretender" James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales (1688-1766), son of James II/VII lands in Edinburgh, fails to mount a rebellion, and returns to France four days later after the French fleet assisting him is defeated - who wants to support a Scot king who uses the French spelling for his Scottish name Stewart? On July 11 British, Dutch, and Austrian forces under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat the French under Gen. Vendome and the Duke of Burgundy at the Battle of Oudenarde (Oudenaarde) in Belgium S of Dunkirk, breaking the French defense of the Spanish Netherlands; Lille surrenders after a siege; peace negotiations break down after the Allies demand that Louis XIV drive his pesky grandson from Spain with French troops. On Aug. 3 the Battle of Trencin (Trencsen) (Trentschin) in Slovakia is a V for the Hapsburg Austrians over the Hungarian Kuruc rebels after the horse of leader Francis II Frakoczy stumbles and knocks him unconscious, causing his forces to believe him dead and flee; the defeated Kuruc leaders transfer their allegience to the Austrian emperor in exchange for clemency, and Rakoczy's forces contract to Munkacs and Szabolcs. On Sept. 7 Persia signs a treaty with France, giving the French trading privileges and protecting French religious missions; trade remains a trickle. On Oct. 1 John Blow (b. 1649) dies, and his student William Croft (1678-1727) becomes organist of Westminster Abbey (until 1727), going on to compose works for the funeral of Queen Anne in 1714 and the coronation of George I in 1715. On Oct. 29 English Prince George (b. 1653) dies from asthma, leaving Queen Anne in "an unspeakable grief", and she lives on as a widow (until 1714), creating the Queen Anne Period in Britain, with unique arts, culture, and architecture, while keeping the Jacobites and Hanoverians from taking her throne; meanwhile many Scots can't get over that union thang. The British capture Minorca and Sardinia. Charles XII of Sweden invades Ukraine. The Austrians seize Mantua (until 1859), ending its independence. Robert Walpole becomes British secy. of war. Peter I the Great divides Russia into eight govt. districts. Britain passes the Naturalization Act, permitting Palatine Germans et al. to become British citizens. The British East India Co. and the New East India Co. are merged. The first German theater opens in Vienna. G.F. Handel goes to Rome and Naples. Tea consumption rises in England from £40K in 1699 to £240K this year. A professorship of poetry is established at Oxford U. Architecture: On Oct. 26 the new rebuilt St. Paul's Cathedral in London is topped-out by Christopher Wren's son Christopher Wren Jr; the figures of Gog and Magon on London's Guildhall destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 are replaced. The Chapel des Invalides in Paris (begun 1680) is finished. Nonfiction: Jesuit missionaries produce the first accurate Western Map of China. Hermann Boerhaave (1668-1738), Institutiones Medicae; theory of inflammation. Jeremy Collier (1650-1726), The Ecclesiastical History of Britain (1708-14). Thomas Corneille (1625-1709), Dictionnaire Universel Geographique et Historique (3 vols.). Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757), Histoire du Renouvellement de l'Academie des Sciences (3 vols.) (1708, 1717, 1722); "Nothing proves more clearly that the mind seeks truth, and nothing reflects more glory upon it, than the delight it takes, sometimes in spite of itself, in the driest and thorniest researches of algebra." Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (6 vols.) (1708-10); makes fans of George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, and John Wesley. ? Leguat, Voyages et Aventures; a Huguenot refugee from Rodriguez Island describes the Solitaire (Didine Bird), a large bird, taller than a turkey (45 lb.), which flaps its wings as a weapon or to call its mate, and later goes extinct - what a Thanksgiving dinner that woulda made? Bernard de Montfaucon, Paleographia Graeca. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), The British Empire in America. Art: Sir James Thornhill (1675-1734), The Painted Hall at Greenwich Hospital (1708-27); depicts the succession of the Protestant monarchs from William III and Mary II to George I. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Der Begluckte Florindo (HWV 3) (opera) (Theater am Gansemarkt, Hamburg); libretto by Heinrich Hinsch; debuts after Handel leaves for Italy. Nicola Porpora (1686-1768), Agrippina (first opera) (Naples). Plays: Peter Anthony Motteux (1663-1718), Love's Triumph. Jean-Francois Regnard (1655-1709), Le Legataire Universal (comedy). Poetry: Ebenezer Cooke (1667-1732), The Sot-Weed Factor: Or, a Voyage to Maryland, a Satyr in which is describ'd the Laws, Governments, Courts and Constitutions of the Country; and also the Buildings, Feasts, Frolocks, Entertainments and Drunken Humours of the Inhabitants of that Part of America in Burlesque Verse; rev. 1731; the first Am. satire?; basis of John Barth's 1960 novel "The Sot-Weed Factor". John Gay (1685-1732), Wine. John Philips (1676-1709), Cyder (2 vols.); imitation of Virgil's "Georgics"; his masterpiece? Births: Italian Rococo painter Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (d. 1787) on Jan. 25 in Lucca; moves to Rome in 1727, where he becomes a favorite of Brits on the Grand Tour. Am. celeb Deborah Read (d. 1774) on Feb. 14; wife (1730-) of Benjamin Franklin (1706-90); mother of Francis Folger Franklin (1732-6) and Sarah Franklin "Sally" Bache (1743-1808). Swedish poet-satirist-historian Olof von Dalin (d. 1763) on Aug. 29 in Vinberg Parish, Halland Province; relative of Bishop Andreas Rydelius of Lund. Swiss scientist-theologian-poet Albrecht von Haller (d. 1777) on Oct. 16 in Berne. English statesman and PM (1766-8) ("the Great Commoner") (#1 British statesman of the 18th cent.) William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham (d. 1778) on Nov. 15 in Westmindson; grandson of Diamond Pitt, gov. of Madras, who founded the family fortune by selling a large diamond to Philippe II, duke of Orleans for £135K; father of William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806); educated at Eton School, and Trinity College, Oxford U.; created earl in 1766; known for the family ailment of gout. English actress Lavinia Fenton (Lavinia Paulet, Duchess of Bolton) (d. 1760). Austrian HRE (1745-65) (founder of the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine) Francis I (Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine) (d. 1765); husband of Maria Theresa; father of Marie Antoinette, Maria Louise (wife of Napoleon I), and Maximilian I of Mexico. English painter-illustrator Francis Hayman (d. 1776) in Exeter, Devon. French adm. Louis Guillouet, Comte d'Orvilliers (d. 1791) in Moulins, Allier; grows up in Cayenne, French Guina. Deaths: French Roman Catholic bishop Francois Xavier de Laval-Montmorency (b. 1623). German dramatist-poet Christian Weise (b. 1642) in Zittau. French architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart (b. 1646) on May 11. Norwegian #1 poet Peter Dass (b. 1648). English composer John Blow (b. 1649) on Oct. 1 in London; buried in Westminster Abbey. Swedish gen. Count Otto Vellingk (b. 1649). Danish-born English prince George of Denmark, duke of Cumberland (b. 1653) on Oct. 28 in Kensington Palace, London (asthma). Scottish nobleman John Hamilton, 2nd Lord Belhaven and Stenton (b. 1656) on June 21 in London; dies in prison after being accused of favoring a phantom French invasion. French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (b. 1656) on Dec. 28 in Paris; killed by a carriage on a road in the 5th Arrondissement that is later named Rue de Tournefort. Irish-born Am. Presbyterian leader Francis Makemie (b. 1658). Scottish mathematician David Gregory (b. 1659) on Oct. 10. Hungarian Kuruc leader Tamas Esze (b. 1666) on May 27 in Nyitra. Indian Sikh Guru Gobind Singh (b. 1666) on Oct. 7 in Nanded.
1709 Famine strikes Europe, esp. Prussia; the first mass emigration of 14K Germans from the Palatinate to North Am. begins; by 1800 100K Germans emigrate, followed by 5M more by 1900. On Jan. 5/6 after volcanic eruptions by Teide in the Canary Islands, Santorini in the E Mediterranean, and Vesuvius near Naples, combined with the Maunder Minimum of 1645-1715 leads to the perfect storm, the European Deep Freeze (Le Grand Hiver) of 1709 begins, freezing the entire continent from Italy to Scandinavia and England to Russia for three months, becoming the worst Euro winter in 500 years, seeing the canals of Venice freeze over, allowing people to ice skate, and the Baltic Sea freeze, allowing people to cross on horseback; the pop. of Paris cut off from supplies for 3 mo.; points on the Rhone and Garonne Rivers have 11 in.-thick ice; the hot springs of Aaachen, Germany ice over, along with the Thames River, Ebro River, and the canals and port of Amsterdam; ships get trapped in ice in the Adriatic Sea, and their crews perish from hunger and cold; in Switzerland starving wolves venture into villages; the freeze weakens Sweden's army, leading to the epic Russian V at the Battle of Poltava in June 1709; France and England postpone hostilities in the War of the Spanish Succession, leading to the British V over the French at the Battle of Malplaquet in Sept. 1709; in mid-Apr. the thaw begins, leading to floods and a Euro-wide flu pandemic in 1709-10, compounded by plague from the Ottoman Empire via Hungary; in 1709 a Euro-wide food shortage leads to grain prices rising 6x; the French govt. appoints a commission headed by Henri-Francois D'Aguesseau to preside over food distribution and ban grain hoarding; in 1709-10 deaths increase 600K over the avg., along with 200K fewer births; "I believe the Frost was greater... than any other within the Memory of Man." (William Derham) In Jan. after the imperial army that has conquered Italy threatens Rome, Pope Clement XI ends his neutrality and names archduke Charles of Austria (later HRE Charles VI) as king Charles III of Spain. On June 27 Marlborough ("the Butcher") and Prince Eugene of Savoy siege Tournai (Doornik), Belgium, taking it on Sept. 3 after 3.8K casualties on the French side and 5.4K on the allied side; on Sept. 11 the allies defeat the French in the bloodiest battle of the war at the Battle of Malplaquet, followed on Sept. 6-Oct. 20 by the Battle of Mons, but at least the French check the allies' advance on Paris long enough for Marlborough's political opponents at home to stop it; the song Malbrouk s'en Va-t-en Guerre (For He's A Jolly Good Fellow) becomes popular after Malplaquet, with Malbrouk = Marlborough. On July 8 (June 27 Old Style) (June 28 Swedish) Peter the Great defeats Karl XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava (Pultowa) in the Ukraine, and he escapes to protection in Bender in Turkey along with Cossack leader Ivan Mazeppa, who dies, becoming the turning point in the Great Northern War (1700-21). On July 27 Japanese emperor (since 1687) Higashiyama (b. 1675) abdicates in favor of his 7-y.-o. 5th son Nakamikado (1702-37) (personal name Yasuhito), who becomes Japanese emperor #114 (until Apr. 13, 1735), with daddy keeping the real power until he reaches maturity; meanwhile shogun Tsunayoshi (b. 1646) dies without a male heir, and after his widow selects him, Tokugawa Iyenobu (Ienobu) (1662-1712), eldest son of Tokugawa Tsunashige of Kofu becomes shogun #6 of Japan (until Nov. 12, 1712), going on to transform then undo his predecessors' laws and edicts, take away power from the chamberlains, and transform the bakufu (original a military govt. HQ'd in tents) from a military to civilian institution. On Oct. 12 Chihuahua (San Francisco de Cuellar) (modern pop. 750K) is founded in NW Mexico. In Nov. English privateer Woodes Rogers, who rescued Alexander Selkirk in Feb. sails around Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur and captures a rich Manila galleon. After Louis XIV's grandson Philip V, aided by Gen. Vendome gets the advantage over Archduke Charles, peace negotiations are renewed at the Congress of Gertruydenburg (near Breda), with Louis XIV offering to pay subsidized troops to oust Philip V from Spain, while the allies again demand he send his own armies to do the job right, but he balks and the war goes on. Afghan Ghilzay leader Mir Vays Khan (-1715) seizes Kandahar (Qandahar) in Afghanistan from the Persians, who have held it since 1648, and builds it into a power base from which his son Mahmud overthrows the Safavids in Persia in 1722. Russia sends its first prisoners to Siberia. Taipei (modern pop. 2.7M/8.5M) on the Danshui River on N Taiwan Island, home of the Ketagalan tribes is settled by mainland Han Chinese immigrants. The first English Copyright Act of 1709 (Statute of Anne) grants owners 14 years of protection on their works, effective Apr. 10, 1710, causing English publisher Jacob Tonson the Elder (1655-1736) (founder of the Kit-Cat Club) to purchase the copyright to Shakespeare's Fourth Folio. English postage rates begin to be based on mileage. The Clyde Trust is created to convert the River Clyde in Scotland into a major thoroughfare. Wiltshire-born Joseph Addison (1672-1719) and Dublin-born Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729), who met while attending Charterhouse School in Surrey begin pub. the tri-weekly lit.-society journal The Tatler (until 1711); Steele writes under the alias Isaac Bickerstaff, "to expose the false arts of life, to pull off the disguises of cunning, vanity, and affectation, and to recommend a general simplicity in our dress, our discourse, and our behavior", with contributions by his Wiltshire-born friend it features the gossip column "Jennifer's Diary", becoming known for discretion and accuracy. Trinity School in New York City at Broadway and Wall St. is founded by the Trinity Church, becoming the #1 college prep school in the U.S. in 2010. Japanese magnolias are introduced to England. In the Brazilian state of Maranhao a colony of termites are put on trial for eating the food and gnawing the furniture of Franciscan monks; their lawyer makes an eloquent speech on their behalf, pointing to their industry vis a vis the monks, and pointing out that they are the original owners of the land; the judge compromises, ordering both parties to be bound by good behavior? Slovakian portraitist Johann Kupetzky (1667-1740) moves to Vienna (until 1723), where he wows the court crowd. Architecture: The Theater am Kartnertor (Kärntnertortheater) in Vienna is built as the imperial royal theater. The Church of Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Manzanillo, Mexico is founded. The Magdalene Church in Seville, Spain (begun 1691) is finished. Inventions: Father Batholomew of Brazil claims to invent a flying ship. Abraham Darby Sr. (1678-1717) invents coke smelting in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England, replacing expensive charcoal (which requires trees) with coal to make mass production of brass and iron goods possible, and making Shropshire into the iron center of England. Abraham Derby (1678-1717) develops coke smelting of iron. Johann (Giovanni) Maria Farina (1685-1766) of Italy invents Eau-de-cologne in Cologne, Germany using oil of bergamot; meanwhile barber Gian Paolo Feminis (Italian emigrant to Germany) begins producing Aqua admirabilis, a toilet water based on bergamot, an evergreen citrus that never grows in the wild and cannot be grown from seed, which first appears in Calabria, Italy about this time. German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) invents the alcohol, followed in 1718 by the mercury thermometer. Francis Hawksbee makes the first observations of capillary action in glass tubes. Christian Wolff (Wolfius) invents the anemometer. Nonfiction: George Berkeley (1685-1753), New Theory of Vision. Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), Aphorismi de Cognoscendis et Curandis Morbis. William Dampier (1651-1715), A Continuation of a Voyage to New Holland. Charles Davenant (1656-1714), Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of Trade to Africa; pub. anon.; advocates renewal of the Royal African Co. monopoly on the slave trade to compete with the hated Dutch. Jeremiah Dummer (1681-1739), A Letter to a Noble Lord Concerning the Late Expedition to Canada; argues for British expansion into Canada. August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), The Footsteps of Divine Providence; or, The Bountiful Hand of Heaven Defraying the Expenses of Faith; his orphanage the Franckesche Stiftungen. Franciscus Halma (1653-1722), Map of the World in Mercator View; shows Calif. as an island - one more good earthquake and he'll be right? John Lawson (1674-1711), A New Voyage to Carolina. John Strype (1643-1737), Annals of the Reformation and Other Various Occurrences in the Church of England During Queen Elizabeth's Happy Reign (2 vols.) (1709, 1725). Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Hints Towards an Essay on Conversation; "And surely one of the best rules in conversation is, never to say a thing which any of the company can reasonably wish had been left unsaid." John Toland (1670-1722) (tr.), Gospel of Barnabas (Amsterdam); supports the Muslim story that Judas dies in Jesus' place on the cross. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), La Resurrezione (oratorio) (Rome); Agrippina (opera) (Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice) (Dec. 29); Handel's last opera written in Italy, showing that he's learned all there is and can move on; libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani; Nero's mother Agrippina plots to do in emperor Claudius to make him emperor; stars Margherita Durastanti, Antonio Carli, and Diamante Scarabelli; big hit, with 27 successive perf.; Apollo and Daphne (HWV 122) (cantata) (1709-10); finished in Hanover. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), La Forza dell'Amore oder Die von Paris Entfuhrte Helena (opera) (Hamburg); Desiderius, Konig der Langobarden (opera) (Hamburg). Agostino Steffani (1653-1728), Enea (opera) (Hanover); Tassilone (opera) (Dusseldorf); hides behind his secy. Gregorio Piva because he's officially no longer a composer but privy councillor of the elector palatine Johann Wilhelm in Dusseldorf. Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709), 12 Concerti Grossi con una Pastrole per il Santissimo Natale, Op. 8. Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Psalms and Hymns. Plays: Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Busie Body (Busybody); Marplot; her biggest hit, a favorite role of David Garrick, and later a favorite of George I and George II; The Man's Bewitched; disses the Tory squirearchy, causing them to get even by pub. a fake interview in The Female Tatler framing her on insulting her actors. Alain-Rene Lesage (1668-1747), Turcaret, ou Le Financier (comedy of manners) (Comedie-Francaise) (Feb. 14). Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), Stage Edition of Shakespeare (6 vols.); first to divide the plays into scenes and acts, with entrances/exits noted, to normalize the spelling of names, and to prefix a list of dramatis pesonae; first ed. of Shakespeare to be illustrated; incl. a bio. by Rowe; too bad, he uses the corrupt Fourth Folio. Poetry: Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661-1720), The Spleen; pub. anon.; "What art hou, Spleen, which ev'ry thing dost ape?/ Thou Proteus to abused mankind,/ Who never yet thy real cause could find." Ambrose Philips (1675-1749), Winter; written in Copenhagen; his biggest hit. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Pastorals. Novels: Mary Astell (1666-1731), Bart'lemy Fair, or An Enquiry after Wit (London). Mary Manley (1663-1724), The New Atalantis; satire of almost all the prominent Whigs, which gets her sued. Births: English "Essay on Musical Expression" composer Charles Avison (d. 1770) on Feb. 16 in Tyne. French robot inventor Jacques de Vaucanson (d. 1782) on Feb. 24 in Grenoble. German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (d. 1782) on Mar. 3 in Berlin; teacher of Franz Karl Achard (1753-1821). French philosopher-historian-diplomat Abbe Gabriel Bonnot de Mably (d. 1785) on Mar. 14 in Grenoble; brother of Etienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714-80); friend of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Spanish Capt. Tomas Sanchez (Tomás Sánchez) de la Barrera (d. 1796) on June 4 in Cienega de Flores, Nuevo Leon, New Spain; founder of Laredo, Tex. and Nuevo Lauredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. French gen. (Freemason) Louis de Bourbon-Conde (Bourbon-Condé) (d. 1771) on June 15; 3rd son of Louis III de Bourbon-Conde, prince of Conde (1668-1710) and Louise-Francoise de Bourbon (1673-1743) (illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan); great-grandson of the Great Conde (1621-86); brother of Louis Henri I, duc de Bourbon (1692-1740); uncle of Philippe II d'Orleans (1674-1723). French minister of finance and amateur (inept?) portraitist Etienne de Silhouette (d. 1767) on July 5 in Limoges. English essayist-poet-critic-aphorist-biographer and dictionary king Dr. Samuel Johnson (d. 1784) on Sept. 18 (Sept. 7 Old Style) in Lichfield, Staffordshire; most famous English lit. figure of the latter half of the 18th cent.; "a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words" (himself); not to be confused with Am. educator Samuel Johnson (1696-1772). English "Fanny Hill" novelist (sodomite?) John Cleland (d. 1789) on Sept. 24 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. French Acadian leader Jean-Louis Le Loutre (d. 1772) on Sept. 26. Czech composer Frantisek (Franz) Xaver Richter (d. 1789) on Dec. 1 in Holleschau, Moravia. French atheist materialist philosopher-physician Julien Offray de la Mettrie (d. 1751) on Dec. 25 in Saint Malo. Russian Romanov tsar #10 (1741-61) Elizabeth Petrovna (d. 1761); daughter of Peter I the Great (1672-1725) and Catherine I (1684-1727). German Baroque sculptor Johann Michael Feuchtmayr (Fuchtmayer) the Younger (d. 1772); son of Michael Feuchtmayer (1667-); nephew of Franz Joseph Feuchtmayer (1660-1718) and Johann Michael Feuchtmayer the Elder (1666-1713); brother of Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer the Elder (1705-64); cousin of Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer (1696-1770); uncle of Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer the Younger (1735-); known for his stucco. English poet George Lyttleton (d. 1773). Am. "The History of the American Indians" historian James Adair (d. 1783) in County Antrim, Ireland; emigrates to North Am. in 1735, becoming an Indian trader among the Chickawaw. Deaths: French physician Francois Bayle (b. 1622). French playwright Thomas Corneille (b. 1625). Dutch painter Meindert Hobbema (b. 1638) on Dec. 7 in Amsterdam. French politician Ralph Montagu (b. 1638). Ukrainian Cossack hetman Ivan Mazeppa (b. 1640). Austrian Viennese preacher-satirist Abraham a Sancta Clara (b. 1644) on Dec. 1 in Vienna. British adm. Sir George Rooke (b. 1650) on Jan. 24 in St. Lawrence, Canterbury, Kent. French choreographer Raoul Anger Feuillet (b. 1653). Italian composer Giuseppe Torelli (b. 1658) on Feb. 8 in Bologna. English poet John Philips (b. 1675) on Feb. 15.
| Country | Leader | From | To | |
| England | Queen Anne (1665-1714) | Mar. 8, 1702 | Aug. 1, 1714 | |
| France | Louis XIV (1638-1715) | May 14, 1643 | Sept. 1, 1715 | |
| Austria | HRE Joseph I (1678-1711) | May 5, 1705 | Apr. 17, 1711 | |
| Russia | Tsar Peter I the Great (1672-1725) | May 7, 1682 | Feb. 8, 1725 | |
| Papacy | Pope Clement XI (1649-1721) | Nov. 23, 1700 | Mar. 19, 1721 | |
1710 Pop. of the Am. colonies: 300K. In this decade French Canadian voyageurs began exploring the rivers of W Canada by canoe, establishing the fur trading business (until 1870); too bad, they carry TB, which they spread go the Indians, where it lies dormant until the late 1800s, causing a delayed epidemic. On Feb. 27-Mar. 21 British Tory House MP and Anglican clergyman Henry Sacheverell (1674-1724) is impeached for his sermons condemning the principles of the 1688 Rev. and slamming Sidney Godolphin under the alias "Volpone", causing the Tories to proclaim him a martyr, and his light sentence of three years' suspension to be hailed as a Tory V, allowing the queen (influenced by Lady Abigail Masham) on Aug. 7 to dismiss Sidney Godolphin (who had been proppping the Whigs up) from her cabinet and pack it with Tories; John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett (1663-1743) succeeds Sidney Godolphin as chief minister of the British cabinet (until 1711); an election gives the Tories a majority; Henry St. John becomes British foreign secy., sharing the leadership of the Tory Party with chancellor of the exchequer Robert Hartley; Marlborough's Tory enemies work to secure his dismissal and begin negotiations to end the war with France, while thinking up laws making life difficult for Whigs (Property Qualification Act, Occasional Conformity Act, Schism Act). On Mar. 13 the Buke Shohatto Laws for the Japanese nobility are promulgated by Shogun Iyenobu, starting with the soundbyte: "The Way of Literature and Arms must be constantly pursued, human relations be clearly distinguished, and manners be correct". On July 27 the Battle of Almenar in the Almenar Hills near Balaguer, Catalonia is a V for the 23K-26K-man allied (pro-Archduke Charles) army, consisting of 18K men under Austrian Gen. Guido Wald Rudiger, Count of Starhemberg (1657-1737) (cousin of Ernst Rudiger von Starhemberg), and 5K men under British Gen. James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (1673-1721) over a 22K-man Spanish-French army under Spanish gen. Francisco Castillo Fajardo, 2nd Marquis de Villadarias (1642-1716), who is fired and replaced by Alexandre Maitre, Marquis de Bay (1650-1715); on Aug. 15-20 the allies score another V over the regrouped 20K-man Spanish-French force at the Battle of Saragossa between the Ebro River and the Torrero Heights, scattering them, killing or wounding 7K-10K, and and taking 5K POWs, with only 1.5K casualties on the allied side; Philip V barely escapes disguised as an enlisted soldier with the help of a miller; on Aug. 21 the allies capture Saragossa, and Archduke Charles triumphantly enters it; after deciding not to pursue the 18K Spanish suvivors to Tudela and recapture Valencia to secure the Spanish-French border against French invasion, the allies head for Madrid, and on Sept. 9 Philip V abandons it for Valladolid; on Sept. 28 Archduke Charles triumphantly enters it (2nd occupation), commenting "This city is a desert"; too bad, after losing 2K in action and many more through disease and skirmishes with guerrillas, the allied army is incapable of occupying the country, and after a Portuguese army advancing to their aid is scared off by a French force, they evacuate Madrid on Dec. 6, and begin a retreat to Catalonia, split into two forces, the main body of 12K men under Starhemberg and a rearguard of 5K men under Lord Stanhope; meanwhile French gen. Louis Joseph de Bourbon, 3rd Duc de Vendome (1654-1712) and an Irish brigade join Philip V's cause, forming a 24K-man army, and they race at record speed to intercept them, and on Dec. 8-9 they ambush and defeat the British rearguard under Lord Stanhope at the Battle of Brihuega, the game Brits fighting until they run out of gunpowder then continuing with bayonets until Stanhope calls it quits, and is taken POW along with almost the entire army, while a remnant of Brits make it to Barcelona; meanwhile Starhemberg races to their aid, and meets Vendome on Dec. 10 at the vicious Battle of Villa Viciosa (Villaviciosa de Tajuña) near Madrid, which is a V for Vendome, who takes 2K POWs and 22 guns, followed by Starhemberg's retreat to Barcelona, which he reaches on Jan. 6 after his army is reduced to 6K-7K, during which a French army under Gen. Noailles occupies Gerona on Dec. 15, securing Philip V's grip on Spain and causing the Hapsburg alliance in Spain to collapse. On Oct. 2 after petitioning Queen Anne for a military expedition to recapture the last colony of Nova Scotia, former Va. gov. (1699-1705) Francis Nicholson (1655-1728) attacks and captures Port Royal, capital of Acadia (founded 1605), followed by all of Acadia, turning it back into the British province of Novia Scotia and renaming the town Annapolis Royal; the pesky French Acadian pop. is dealt with in 1755; next year Nicholson triumphantly returns to England, taking five Irotoys, er, Iroquois chiefs, and petitions Queen Anne for another expedition to capture New France, which embarks next year, but doesn't turn out so well. After Charles XII of Sweden puts the sultan up to it, the Fourth Russo-Turkish War begins (ends 1711); Sweden declares war on Russia (ends 1711). Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury (1660-1718), who goes way back to the days of being on the committee of seven who invited William III and Mary II to come over, then went Jacobite but covered it up and retired to private life in 1700, telling Lord Somers he "would sooner bind him to a cobbler than a courtier, a hangman than a statesman", switches from Whig to Tory and is appointed by the queen as lord chamberlain, with his wife appointed lady of the bedchamber, going on to jiggle himself into a position to shrewsburily determine the succession on the queen's death in 1714. The Post Office Act begins an Am. postal service under the control of London effective June 1, 1711, whose postmaster is authorized to name a deputy in charge of the colonies; Benjamin Franklin is deputy from 1753-1774. The Irish Parliament sets up the Linen Board to encourage the linen industry. The French assume control of Mauritius (formerly part of the Dutch East Indies) (until 1810), and rename it Ile de France. Ang Em becomes king of Cambodia for the 2nd time (until 1722). Four Mohawks agree to accompany English agents to London, where they meet with Queen Anne and have their portraits painted (the first celebrity Indians in Europe since Pocahontas and her party); one of them is Chief Hendrick (d. 1755), uncle of Chief Joseph Brant (1742-1807), a staunch British ally until his death. Robert Walpole (1676-1745) becomes treasurer of the British Navy - you sunk my battleship? The English Parliament passes the New Churches in London and Westminster Act of 1710, creating the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches to build up to 50 "Queen Anne Churches" in the London area, funded by a duty on coal coming into London like with St. Paul's Cathedral, most designed by architects Nicholas Hawksmoor, Thomas Archer, James Gibbs, and John James, ending with 12 by 1733. An outbreak of rinderpest (cattle plague) begins in the Venetian Repub. (ends 1711), and chief physician Bernardino Ramazzini shocks the crowd by denouncing astrological or astral explanations in favor of scientific ones. Palatines and Swiss colonists settle New Bern, N.C. The British settle Beaufort, S.C., replacing prior flags from Spain, France and Scotland. The Christian-run city council of the Alsatian Jewish haven of Hagenau issues an edict prohibiting foreign Jews from being sheltered, and prohibiting them from transacting business on Sunday and Christian holy days. Berlin Charite (Hospital) in Germany is founded. The Meissen porcelain works in Saxony, famous for Dresden china are founded by Johann Friedrich Bottiger, who moved from Dresden. Magdeburg, Germany-born George Frideric (Georg Friedrich) Handel (1685-1759) returns from Italy after visiting Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, and is appointed kappelmeister to the elector prince George of Hanover (later George I of Britain); he makes a visit to London, where in 14 days he completes the opera Rinaldo, which debuts at the Queen's Theatre causing him to settle there permanently in 1712 with Queen Anne giving him £200 a year, after which rich Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753), and James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1673-1744) become patrons, both becoming known as "Apollo of the Arts". The Academy of Ancient Music (Academy of Vocal Music until 1726) is founded in London, with German-born composer Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752) as dir. #1 (until 1752). Isaac Newton's successor as Lucasian prof. of mathematics (since 1703) William Whiston (1667-1752) is expelled from Cambridge U. for heresy for pub. his anti-Trinitarian (Arian) views, and moves to London, becoming a kind of English Enlightenment hippie; Newton gets pissed off because he's an Arian too but keeps it secret, and prevents him from being invited to become a member of the Royal Society. Madame de Lambert (1647-1733) sets up a bureau d'esprit (salon) in the Hotel de Nevers in Paris, which becomes the first one to be used for serious philosophical discussions. After becoming an actor for Thomas Betterton's United Co. at Drury Lane Theatre in 1690, Bloomsbury, London-born Colley (OE "dark-haired") Cibber (1671-1757) rises to mgr. (first British actor-mgr.), going on to write 25+ crummy plays for his co., which are criticized as a "miserable mutilation... of crucified Moliere and hapless Shakespeare". The Sun Fire Office is founded in London to insure sugar refiners. The lit. periodical The Examiner begins pub. in England. Scipione Maffei, Apostolo Zeno, his brother Pier Caterino Zeno, and Antonio Vallisneri found Giornale de'letterati d'Italia (Journal of Italian Lit.). The version of the lewd comedy character Hans Wurst by Joseph Anton Stranitzky (1676-1726) first appears in the suburban theaters of Vienna. Architecture: Sir Christopher Wren begins Marlborough House in Westminster, London for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, favorite of Queen Anne (finished in 1711); in the 1980s it becomes the HQ of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Commonwealth Secretariat. French architect Germain Boffrand (1667-1754) begins the Hotel Amelot in Paris (finished 1713), which features an oval forecourt - a lot of what goes on there? As part of the rebuilding of Dresden after the 1685 fire, German Baroque sculptor Balthasar Permoser (1651-1732) and German architect Matthaus Daniel Poppelmann (Pöppelmann) (1662-1736) design the Zwinger Palace in Dresden for Augustus II the Strong of Saxony (finished 1728), featuring the Nymphenbad Fountain and the Wallpavilion, with sculptures by Permoser. Inventions: Jacob Christoph Le Blon (1667-1741) of Germany invents 3-color printing. Science: Per (Pehr) Elvius the Elder of Sweden becomes the first to assign the values 0 degrees and 100 degrees to the boiling and melting points of water. English astronomer Edmund Halley (1656-1742) discovers that the position of the "fixed" night stars change over time, hence the Earth must move around the Sun. Francois Xavier Bon de Saint Hilaire of France produces the first commercial saffron-colored silk from golden orb spiders in Madagascar, making an entire suit of clothes for Louis XIV. Nonfiction: Henri Arnaud (1641-1721), Histoire de la Glorieuse Rentree des Vaudois dans Leurs Vallees. Pierre Bayle, Dictionary (English tr.). George Berkeley (1685-1753), A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge; attempts to prove Immaterialism AKA Subjective Idealism, which holds that the outside world is composed solely of ideas; "Ideas can only resemble ideas"; "To be is to be perceived." Richard Bradley (1688-1732), Treatise of Succulent Plants. Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1673-1743), Observationes Juris Romani. Mary Chudleigh (1656-1710), Essays Upon Several Subjects; urges women to not be concerned with wealth, status, interest, or ambition. William King (1663-1712), An Historical Account of the Heathen Gods and Heroes. Theodor Krump, Travels in Abyssinia, 1700-2; by a German cleric-explorer. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz (1646-1716), Theodicy (Theodicee); coins the term "theodicy" for a system of natural theology that seeks to vindicate divine justice yet allow evil to exist, with the soundbyte "God created the best of all possible worlds", later satirized by oltaire in Candide. Cotton Mather (1663-1728), Essays to Do Good. Rev. John Wise (Mass.), The Churches' Quarrel Espoused; colonials "hate an Arbitrary Power... as they hate the Devil". Giambattista Vico (1668-1744), De Antiquissima Italorum Sapientia, ex Linguae Latinae Originibus Eruenda (On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians, Unearthed from the Origins of the Latin Language); known for the soundbyte "verum esse ipsum factum" (the true itself is fact), meaning that truth is verified through creation or invention and not through observation a la Descartes; "The criterion and rule of the true is to have made it. Accordingly, our clear and distinct idea of the mind cannot be a criterion of the mind itself, still less of other truths. For while the mind perceives itself, it does not make itself." Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Il Trionfo del Tempo (oratorio) (Rome). Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Der Durch den Fall des Grossen Pompejus Erhohete Julius Caesar (opera) (Hamburg); Der Hochmutige, Gesturzte und Wieder Erhabene Croesus (opera) (Hamburg). Plays: William Congreve (1670-1729), Collected Works (3 vols.). Alexander Pope (1688-1744), The Pastorals (debut); pub. in "Poetical Miscellanies" by Jacob Tonson, causing Pope to become a lit. celeb. Novels: Henry Carey (1687-1743), Records of Love; serialized romance for female readers. Births: Italian "Stabat Mater" composer-violinist-organist Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (Draghi) (d. 1736) on Jan. 4 in Jesi, Ancona, Marche; parents are from Pergola, Marche. French king (1715-74) Louis XV (the Well-Beloved) (d. 1774) on Feb. 15 in Versailles; son of Duke Louis de Bourgogne (1682-1712) and Marie-Adelaide of Savoy (1685-1712); great-grandson of Louis XIV. Am. Rev. War. gen. David Wooster (d. 1777) on Mar. 2 in Stratford, Conn. English "Rule, Britannia", "God Save the King", "A-Hunting We Will Go" composer (Roman Catholic) (Freemason) Thomas Augustine Arne (d. 1778) on Mar. 12 in Covent Garden, London; Anglican father, Roman Catholic mother; educated at Eton College. Italian castrato opera singer Caffarelli (Gaetano Majorano) (d. 1783) on Apr. 12 in Bitonto; pupil of Nicola Porpora; likes singing so much that he asks to be castrated? Am. explorer Jonathan Carver (d. 1780) on Apr. 13 in Weymouth, Mass.; grows up in Canterbury, Conn. French-Belgian-Spanish ballet dancer Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo (AKA La Camargo) (d. 1770) on Apr. 15 in Brussels; of Spanish descent. Scottish astronomer James Ferguson (d. 1776) on Apr. 25 near Rothiemay, Banffshire; self-educated; emigrates to England in 1743. Scottish "An Inquiry into the Human Mind on Principles of Common Sense" philosopher ("Hume's earliest and fiercest critic") Thomas Reid (d. 1796) on Apr. 26 in Aberdeen, Scotland; educated at the U. of Aberdeen. Am. Rev. patriot Richard Bland II (d. 1776) on May 6 in Williamsburg, Va.; cousin of Thomas Jefferson. Swedish king (1751-71) Adolf Fredrik (Adolph Frederick) (Adolphus Frederick) I (d. 1771) on May 14 in Gottorp; son of Duke Christian Augustus (1673-1726) of Schleswig-Holstein and Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach (1682-1755); father of Gustav III (1746-92). Am. Rev. patriot and Conn. gov. (1769-84) French Rococo sculptor Francois Gaspard Adam (d. 1761) on May 23 in Nancy; son of Jacob-Sigisbert Adam; brother of Lambert-Sigisberg Adam the Elder (1700-59), Nicolas-Sebastian Adam the Younger (le Jeune) (1705-78), and Anne Adam. German Goethe's father Johann Caspar Goethe (d. 1782) on July 29 in Frankfurt am Main; husband (1748-) of Catharina Elisabeth Goethe (1731-82); father of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). English Simpson's Rule mathematician Thomas Simpson (d. 1761) on Aug. 20 in Market Bosworth, Leicestershire. Am. Conn. gov. (1769-84) Jonathan Trumbull Sr. (d. 1785) on Oct. 12 in Lebanon, Conn.; only colonial gov. to support the Am. Rev. cause; George Washington calls him "Brother Jonathan", causing the term to refer to the entire U.S. English "Butler's Lives" Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer Father Alban Butler (d. 1773) on Oct. 13 in Appletree, Northamptonshire; educated in Douai, France. French dramatist (creator of the comic opera) Charles Simon Favart (d. 1792) on Nov. 13 in Paris; educated at Louis-le-Grand College; stage mgr. of the Opera-Comique; husband of Marie Justine Benoite Duronceray (1727-72). German "Twelve Polonaises" Rococo organist-composer Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (d. 1784) on Nov. 22 in Weimar; eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). English writer bishop Robert Lowth (d. 1787) on Nov. 27 in Hampshire; educated at New College, Oxford U. English poet John Hammond (d. 1742). Am. Rev. War gen. Josiah Quincy Sr. (d. 1784); father of atty. Josiah Quincy Jr. (1744-75); descendant of Edmund Quincy, who emigrated to Mass. in 1633; educated at Harvard U.; friend of Benjamin Franklin. English military physician Sir Clifton Wintringham, 1st Baronet (d. 1794); educated at Trinity College, Cambridge U.; knighted in 1762; created baronet in 1774. Deaths: English actor-dramatist Thomas Betterton (b. 1635) on Apr. 28 in London. French explorer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Duluth (b. 1636). French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson (b. 1636) in London, England. Italian composer Bernardo Pasquini (b. 1637) on Nov. 21. English-born Am. writer Mary Rowlandson (b. 1637) in Mass. French writer-historian Jean Donneau de Vise (b. 1638) on July 8. German astronomer Gottfried Kirch (b. 1639) on July 25. French archbishop Charles-Maurice le Tellier (b. 1642) in Reims. Danish astronomer Olaf Roemer (b. 1644). French mistress of Louis XIV (1661-7) Louise de La Valliere (b. 1644) on June 7 in Paris. Dutch dramatist Lucas Rotgans (b. 1654). English writer Mary Lee (b. 1656), Lady Chudleigh. Austrian noblewoman (sister of the wife of HRE Joseph I) Charlotte Felicitas (b. 1671). Japanese emperor #113 (1687-1709) Higashiyama (b. 1675) on Jan. 16 (smallpox).
1711- The Take Tattler Addison Steele Pope Year?
1711 Between this year and 1894 Istanbul (Constantinople) suffers 66 earthquakes. On Jan. 14 (Tevet 24) the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, Germany burns down; next fire 1721. On Feb. 21 after systematically getting contracted by the Austrians, Hungarian leader Francis II Rakoczy flees to Poland, and on Apr. 30 new Hungarian CIC Sandor Karolyi quickly signs the Peace (Treaty) of Szatmar (Szatmár), ending the Kuruc Rebellion (begun 1671), with the 12K rebels laying down arms and taking an oath of allegiance on May 1 in the fields of Majteny, Szatmar; meanwhile Francis II Rakoczy is offered the crown of Poland by Peter I of Russia twice, but turns it down, living in Danzig under the alias Count of Saros, then travels to England, is snubbed by Queen Anne, then tries France, is snubbed by Louis XIV, and ends up moving to the Ottoman Empire after Louis XIV's death in 1715. Feel like making love to whom? On Mar. 1 Wiltshire-born Joseph Addison (1672-1719) and Dublin-born Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729), who met while attending Charterhouse School in Surrey begin pub. the journal The Spectator which lasts for 555 daily issues (until Dec. 6, 1712); through its fictional char. Sir Roger de Coverly it becomes the moral conscience of England. On Apr. 14 Louis XIV's eldest son Grand Dauphin Louis (b. 1661) dies of smallpox, losing his chance to become a king, leaving a son who becomes Philip V of Spain, fulfilling the prophecy that he would be "son of a king, father of a king, but never a king". On Apr. 17 young whippersnapper HRE (since 1705) Joseph I (b. 1678) dies in Vienna of smallpox, and on Oct. 20 is succeeded as king of Bohemia and Hungary and HRE by his brother Charles VI (1685-1740) (until Oct. 20, 1740), husband of Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1691-1750) (future mother of Maria Theresa in 1717), becoming the last HRE of the direct Hapsburg line; Charles leaves Spain for the time being, while continuing to claim the throne of Spain, inheriting all of the Austrian possessions, freaking out the other powers with the realization that if he gains the Spanish inheritance too the Hapsburgs would be back in their full hog-jawed power; all this puts Louis XIV and his grandson Philip V in the driver's seat. Sarah Churchill (1660-1744) falls from favor with Queen Anne, and her husband John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough is charged with embezzlement and dismissed as CIC of the British armies, living in Holland until 1714; James Butler, 2nd duke of Ormonde replaces him as CIC (until 1714); a Tory backer replaces her in the queen's bedchamber, whispering sweet nothings in her ear scripted by a Tory leader. On May 1 the Peace of Szathmar is signed by HRE Charles VI, guaranteeing the Hungarian constitution in return for recognizing him. On July 18 after Peter I the Great leads the ill-advised Pruth (Prut) River Campaign, invading Moldavia with the aid of brainy Moldavian prince (since 1710) Dimitrie (Demetrius) Cantemir (1673-1723), and ends up surrounded by the Turks on the Pruth River and receiving a butt-kicking, it's curtain time until his mistress Catherine I gathers her jewels plus every other woman's she can find and uses them to bribe grand vizier Baltaji Mehmet Pasha into allowing a retreat, saving his butt bigime; if the Turks had captured Peter I they might have kept Russia down permanently, becoming a great historical what-if; on July 21 the Treaty of Pruth ends the Third Russo-Turkish War (begun 1710), and returns the Black Sea port of Azov to Turkey; Cantemir flees to exile in Russia, becoming prince of Russia and later prince of the HRE, going on to become one of Europe's big brains, (11 languages), doing researches on everything and writing volumes of ambrosia, etc. etc.; the Ottoman govt. of Ahmed III establishes the Phanariot System, ruling Moldavia and Walachia through hospodars ("lords"), who are usually Greeks from Constantinople; Romanian boyars (nobles) begin selling out and allying themselves with the Greeks, and Greek becomes the official language; the big D causes Russia to pass its first budget, tempting Peter I to go after Sweden's province (since 1157) of Finland. On July 30 a large British force of 7.5K troops and marines in nine ships under Adm. Sir Hovenden Walker (1666-1728), together with British colonists under mediocre Maj.-Gen. Sir John "Jack" Hill (-1735) leave Boston to attack Quebec City, capital of New France; too bad, on Aug. 18 as they enter the St. Lawrence River a storm hits, and after sheltering in Gaspe Bay they make the mistake of leaving during a lull on Aug. 22 and ending up in a bigger storm, which sinks seven transport ships, killing 740 of 1,390 troops plus 150 sailors, after which the expedition is abandoned. The French capture Rio de Janeiro from the Portuguese. The Jesuits are banned from entering the Minas Gerais highland region of SE Brazil. The Tuscarora War breaks out in N.C. between settlers and Iroquoian Tuscarora Indians after the latter massacre 200 settlers (ends 1713). Earl Robert Harley of Oxford succeeds Earl Poulett as chief minister of the British cabinet (until 1714). The French dauphin dies, and within a year the duke of Burgundy (his heir), the duchess, and their eldest son also die. To make the majority in the British House of Lords the same party as in the House of Commons, 11 new Tory peers are created, establishing the primacy of the Commons. The Occasional Conformity Bill (Toleration Act) is passed in England (until 1719), stopping Dissenters from technically satisfying the Test Act by taking Anglican communion once and otherwise attending their own nonconformist "chapel". To get the Treaty of Utrecht through Parliament, Queen Anne I gets the Qualification Act passed, establishing a landed property qualification for all MPs in a reactionary attempt to exclude upwardly-mobile merchants, financiers and industrialists, which are coming on strong with the new economy after the Glorious Rev., improved banking, and the lessening nat. debt; it is repealed in 1866 after lax enforcement. Whig Navy treasurer Robert Walpole is tried by the Tory House of Commons on trumped-up charges of "breach of trust and notorious corruption", and sent to the Tower next Jan. 17. Turkish Janissary Ahmed Karamanli (1686-1745) kills the Ottoman gov. of Tripoli in Libya, and establishes himself as pasha, ending Ottoman control (since 1551) and establishing the Karamanli Dynasty (ends 1835), which pays tribute to the Ottoman sultan while engaging in piracy. The South Sea Co. is organized in England to trade with South Am., and is given a royal monopoly; it is given the asiento obtained from Spain at the close of the Spanish War of Succession, and attracts way too much public capital, causing a stock market crash in 1720, although the co. doesn't fold until the 1850s. The first commercial shipment of coffee beans from the Dutch East India plantations in Java arrives in Amsterdam; it is less than 1K lbs. - like with any drug, start them out with free samples? Britain passes the Newspaper Stamp Act, a stamp duty. A slave market is set up at the foot of Wall St. in New York. Peter the Great stops in Hanover and meets German brain man Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, who founds the Berlin Academy as pres. #1. The Muslim Kong (Wattara) (Ouattara) Empire in NE Ivory Coast (ends 1898) is founded by Dyula immigrants from the decling Mali Empire, becoming a commercial center and center of Islamic studies. The Royal Academy of Arts in London is founded under English #1 portrait painter Sir Geoffrey Kneller. Sports: Queen Anne I establishes the Royal Ascot Horserace (pr. like "ask it") at Ascot Heath, Berkshire, becoming the #1 annual event for the British aristocracy, at which royal attire is cool, esp. ascot ties. Architecture: On Dec. 25 Parliament officially declares St. Paul's Cathedral in London (begun in 1669 by Sir Christopher Wren) completed, becoming the hub of the rebuilt London after the 1666 Great Fire; he accentuates the size by leaving the interior walls undecorated, but later they cover them with Baroque stuff, except for the W end. Matthaus Daniel Poppelmann (1662-1737) begins the Dresden Zwinger (finished 1722). The Clarendon Bldg. in Oxford, England is begun (finished in 1715). Inventions: The tuning fork is invented by English trumpeter John Shore (1662-1752). Nonfiction: Francis Atterbury (1662-1732), Representation of the State of Religion. Richard Bentley (ed.), The Works of Horace. Ferdinando Bibiena, Architettura Civile. Jean Chardin (Sir John Chardin) (1643-1713), Travels in Persia et al. (10 vols.); one of the finest works of early Western scholarship on Persia and the Middle East Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd earl of Shaftesbury, Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times (3 vols.). John Dennis (1657-1734), Essay Upon Publick Spirit; against luxury and servile imitations of foreign fashions. Filippo Juvarra (1678-1736), Raccolta di Varie Targhe Fatte da Professori Primarii di Roma; engravings of sculpted coats of arms. Thomas Maddox, The History and Antiquities of the Exchequer. Francis Nicholson (1655-1728), Journal of an Expedition for the Reduction of Port Royal. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), An Essay on Criticism; pisses off prominent critic John Dennis (1657-1734), who becomes a lifelong enemy, the first of many; "To err is human, to forgive divine" (line 525); "Fools dare to go where angels fear to tread". Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), The Conduct of the Allies. William Whiston (1667-1752), Primitive Christianity Revived (5 vols.) (1711-2); claims that Arianism is the doctrine of the primitive Christian church. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Rinaldo (HWV 7) (opera) (Queen's Theatre, London) (Feb. 24); libretto by Giacomo Rossi, based on Torquato Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered", set during the First Crusade (1096-9); Handel's first opera produced in London, and the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage; stars castrati Nicolo Grimaldi and Valentino Urbani; too bad, impresario Aaron Hill overextends himself to finance the grand production, causing it to be shut down after 9 perf. Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783), Croesus (opera); first use of the clarinet in an orchestra. Plays: Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1674-1762), Rhadamiste et Zenobie (tragedy); his masterpiece? Poetry: Peter Dass (1648-1708), Spiritual Pastime. Births: Am. Congregational minister (founder of Dartmouth College) Eleazar Wheelock (d. 1779) on Apr. 22 in Windham, Conn.; educated at Yale U. Scottish "A Treatise of Human Nature", "The History of England" empiricist philosopher-historian David Hume (d. 1776) on May 7 (Apr. 26 Old Style) in Edinburgh; educated at the U. of Edinburgh; experiences "a new Scene of Thought" at age 18 that causes him "to throw up every other Pleasure or Business to apply entirely to it", causing him to nearly have a nervous breakdown within 10 years; friend of Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin - writes about hume-an nature? German Prussian Hohenzollern margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth Frederick "the Beloved" (d. 1763) on May 10 in Weferlingen; son of margrave Georg Frederick Charles (1688-1735) and Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sondenburg-Beck (1685-1761); husband (1731-) of princess Wilhelmine of Prussia (1709-58), daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, and granddaughter of George I of Britain, and (1759-) duchess Sophie Caroline Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1737-1817). Croatian Jesuit scientist (in Italy and France) Roger Joseph (Ruggero Giuseppe) Boscovich (d. 1787) on May 18 in Dubrovnik. British Cornish adm. Lord Edward Boscawen (d. 1761) on Aug. 19; 3rd son of Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth (1680-1734). Dutch prince of Orange-Nassau (1711-51) (first hereditary Stadtholder of the Dutch Repub. in 1747-51) William IV (d. 1751) on Sept. 1 in Leeuwarden; son of Prince John William Friso of Orange and Marie Louise of Hesse-Cassel; father of William V (1748-1806). Am. Lutheran clergyman ("Founder of Am. Lutheranism") Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (d. 1787) on Sept. 6 in Einbeck, Hanover, Germany; emigrates to the U.S. in 1742. Am. gov. of colonial Mass. (1769-74) Thomas Hutchinson (d. 1780) on Sept. 9 in North End, Boston, Mass.; educated at Harvard U. English "By the Waters of Babylon", "O Where Shall Wisdom Be Found" composer (deaf) William Boyce (d. 1779) on Sept. 11 in London. English astronomer-mathematician-architect Thomas Wright (d. 1786) on Sept. 22 in Byers Green, County Durham. Chinese Qing emperor #4 (1735-96) Qian Long (Qianlong) (Ch'ien Lung) (Gao Zong) (Kao-tsung) (Hongli) (d. 1799) on Sept. 25 in Beijing; son of Yongzheng (1678-1735); father of Jiaqing (1760-1820). Am. poet (black) (first pub. African-Am. writer in America) Jupiter Hammon (d. 1805) on Oct. 17 in Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. Russian polymath natural philosopher (founder of Russian science) Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (Lemonossov) (d. 1765) on Nov. 8 (Nov. 19 Old style) in Denisovka (modern-day Lomonosovo), Archangelgorod. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) John Hart (d. 1779) in Hopewell, N.J. Kazakh khan Ablai (Abulmansur) (d. 1781). English actress Cathering "Kitty" Clive (nee Raftor) (d. 1785). Deaths: French critic-poet Nicholas Boileau-Despreaux (b. 1636). English bishop (of Bath) Thomas Ken (b. 1637) on Mar. 19; refused to swear allegiance to William III and was deprived of his see, after writing the hymn Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow. Dutch adm. Philips van Almonde (b. 1644) on Jan. 6 in Oegstgeest (near Leyden). English-born Va. colonist William Randolph (b. 1650) on Apr. 11 in Turkey Island, Henrico County, Va. Russian explorer Vladimir Atlasov (b. 1661) in Jen. (murdered in his sleep); namesake of Atlasov Island. French Grand Dauphin Louis of France (b. 1661) on Apr. 14 in Chateau de Meudon (smallpox). Austrian HRE (1705-11) Joseph I (b. 1678) on Apr. 17 in Vienna (smallpox).
1712 On Jan 29 the Peace Congress of Utrecht in Holland opens in Utrecht, Holland on the Rhine River 23 mi. from Amsterdam (ends 1713); powerful Tory orator Henry St. John (1678-1751), philosopher of the London Court Party-hating Country Party (Old Whigs) is called to the House of Lords under the title 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, and begins his rise to the top of English govt. by negotiating the Peace of Utrecht. On Feb. 27 Mughal emperor (since 1707) Bahadur Shah I (b. 1643) dies, and his son Jahandar Shah (1661-1713) becomes Mughal emperor #8 of India (until Feb. 11, 1713). In Feb. to reward her for her jewel trick on the Pruth, Peter I the Great finally officially marries his Swedish-Lithuanian-who-knows-what mistress (since 1703) Catherine I, and decides to move the Russian capital from Moscow to his new digs at St. Petersburg (until 1922), ordering the nobles to move there and erect elaborate palaces, forbidding stone building anywhere else in Russia until the town is completed to his satisfaction; he also establishes the Russian Academy of Engineering in 1715; the center of Russian trade moves W from Vologda to St. Petersburg, causing the latter to shrink in importance after two cents. On Apr. 6 there is a slave rebellion in New York. In May Carolina is divided into North and South. In June Penn. bans the importation of slaves; after William Penn suffers the first of a series of stroke, his 2nd wife (since 1696) Hannah Callowhill Penn (1671-1726) becomes acting proprietor until her death in 1726. On July 24 120K French under Marshal Claude de Villars defeat 105K invading imperial forces under Prince Eugene of Savoy at the Battle of Denain in France after the English under the duke of Ormonde suddenly withdraw, allowing a bayonet charge to push them into the Denain River, with 18K imperial troops dead or drowned vs. 5K French troops; the French then recapture Douai, Le Quesnoy and Bouchain. On Aug. 11 after a Roman Catholic defeat, the Treaty of Aargau (Aarau) signed by the Roman Catholics and Protestants ends the Swiss War, granting Protestant superiority over Catholic cantons. On Sept. 14 Scottish gambling head-calculating economist John Law (1671-1729), who fled to Amsterdam in 1694 after killing a man in a duel in London, studied banking, and tried unsuccessfully in 1700 to interest the Scottish Parliament in a nat. bank founds the Compagnie de la Louisiane ou d'Occident in France, which obtains exclusive rights to trade in French territory around the Mississippi River for 25 years, with large land grants. On Oct. 12 big man Francis Nicholson becomes British gov. of Nova Scotia and Placentia (until Aug. 1717). On Nov. 12 Tokugawa Iyenobu (b. 1662) dies, and infant Iyetsugu becomes shogun #7 of Japan. On Nov. 15 (a.m.) Scottish nobleman Sir James Douglas-Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (b. 1658), after being created a peer of Britain (1st duke of Branded With the Mark of Shame, er, Brandon in Suffolk) for selling out his Scottish people and getting a "toothache" during the final vote on the Acts of Union, allowing them to be passed in the Scottish House of Lords (still, the very thought of a wild-eyed Celt sitting in the British House of Lords with the descendants of Edward I Longshanks?), and maybe worse, being created Knight of the Garter in Oct. (the only non-royal in Britain to be a knight of both Thistle and Garter), fights a famous sword duel in Hyde Park, London with this-bird-you-cannot-change longtime Whig opponent Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun of Okehampton (1675-1712) (actually, Hamilton had been trying to steal his inheritance, and Mohun was a longtime dueling fool, and the Scot prick was made special envoy to Paris, and it was about time for him to fly?), who kills the pesky uppity Scot, after which he dies from his horrific wounds also, all of which is later covered in William Makepeace Thackeray's blockbuster 1852 novel The History of Henry Esmond, and causes Parliament to ban seconds in duels, causing the quicker and less gruesome pistols to become the weapon of choice - erin go bragh? In Nov. the Dutch Berbice plantations in Guyana are attacked by French buccaneers. On Dec. 20 a Swedish force of 12K defeats 24K Danes and Saxons at the Battle of Gadebesk. British West Indies slave owner William "Willie" Lynch makes a speech on the banks of the James River in Va., explaining to American slaveowners how to control (keep down) African slaves by exploiting skin color, age, and gender; duh, it's a 1990s Internet hoax - just lynch them when they get uppity? A war of succession begins between Bahadur Shah I's four sons in India. After borrowing money from the duke of Montrose and losing it in cattle speculation, the lands of Rob Roy McGregor (1671-1734) are seized, and he goes Celtic, gathers his clansmen and makes open war on the duke, stealing all the cattle of the district and kidnapping the factor with rents of more than 3K Scottish pounds; after becoming the Scottish Robin Hood, he ends his days peacefully under the protection of the duke of Argyll - see the movie? The last execution for witchcraft in England takes place. The first sperm whale is captured at sea by a Yankee from Nantucket - there's a dirty joke in there somewhere? Button's Coffee House is founded in London by Daniel Button, attracting brainy Whigs incl. Joseph Addison, fostering free journalism. Queene Anne touches 3-y.-o. Samuel Johnson to cure him of scrofula (TB). The long-standing Newton-Leibniz Priority Dispute over the invention of calculus between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz is finally decided by a commission appointed by the Royal Society of London for er, Newton. A wharf is built on the River Trent in Burton upon Trent, England, allowing navigation to Nottingham and causing the town to become a major site for exporting beer to Hull and London, after which several breweries open by the end of the cent., ramping up after Burton brewer Samuel Allsopp learns to replicate the pale ale produced in London in 1822 and best them with their better water, going on to produce India pale ale (invented in the late 18th cent.) that is hopped-up to stay fresh during the long trip to India, and becomes popular in England by 1840; later railways are built allowing beer to be exported throughout Britain, and by 1880 Burton has 30+ breweries, producing 25% of all beer in Britain; too bad, after the Liberal govt. turns prude, the number shrinks from 20 in 1900 to eight in 1928, and three in 1928, incl. Bass (founded 1777), Marston's (founded 1834), and Ind Coope (founded in 1845). Architecture: Philip V of Spain creates the Biblioteca Real royal public library in Madrid. English Baroque architect Thomas Archer (1668-1743) begins St. Paul's Cathedral, Deptford in Deptford, Kent (near London), with sweeping semi-circular porticos (finished 1730). Gabriel Boffrand designs the Hotel de Montmorency in Paris. Inventions: Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729) invents the Newcomen Steam Engine, becoming the first practical device to harness steam power to produce mechanical work, and the first great invention of an Englishman; unfortunately it uses only one chamber and is only about 1% efficient - hi, I love your purse? Nonfiction: John Arbuthnot, The Art of Political Lying: The History of John Bull; popularizes John Bull as a personification of England or an Englishman; "an honest plain-dealing fellow, choleric, bold, and of a very inconstant temper... very apt to quarrel with his best friends, especially if they pretend to govern him". Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82), Concerning Some Urnes Found in Brampton Field in Norfolk (posth.); written in 1667. Samuel Clarke, The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, in Three Parts, Wherein All the Texts in the New Testament Relating to the Doctrine... Are Collected, Compared, and Explained; shows that Arius was right all along and the Trinity is not in the scriptures, but all the pretty people are clapping that they got it made; Sidney Godolphin begs him not to pub. it, and after he does it causes a firestorm of controversy, causing him to issue specious apologies to keep from being defrocked. Charles Davenant (1656-1714), Reports to the Commissioners for Public Accounts; argues for British trade with France to keep up with the Netherlands. John Dennis (1657-1734), Essay on the Genius and Writings of Shakespeare in Three Letters; Reflections, Critical and Satirical; a backatchya against Alexander Pope (1688-1744), comparing him to a hunchbacked toad. John Flamsteed (1646-1719) Historiae Coelestis; 400 incomplete observations of fixed stars, begun in 1676, pub. by order of Prince George of Denmark over Flamsteed's objections, after which he later burns 300 copies in Greenwick Park, with the soundbyte "I make a sacrifice to Heavenly Truth"; the final vers. is not pub. until 1725. Francois Massialot (1660-1733), Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois (3 vols.) (1712-34). Cotton Mather (1663-1728), Curiosa Americana (1712-24). John Oldmixon (1673-1742), The Secret History of Europe (1712-5). Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), A Proposal for Correcting the English Language. Art: Giuseppe Crespi (1665-1747), The Seven Sacraments. Music: Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713), 12 Concerti Grossi. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Il Pastor Fido (opera) (London) (Nov. 22); libretto by Giacomo Rossi, based on the poem by Giovanni Battista Guarini; a flop. Plays: Pieter Langendijk (1683-1756), Het Wederzijds Huwelijks Bedrog (1712-4). Ambrose Philips, The Distrest Mother; adaptation of Racine's "Andromaque". Poetry: Alexander Pope (1688-1744), The Rape of the Lock (mock-heroic epic) (May) (2 cantos, 334 lines); rev. Mar. 2, 1714 into 5 cantos, 794 lines; his most popular poem, selling 3K copies in four days; mocks a high society quarrel between Belinda (Arabella Fermor) and Lord Petre, who had snipped a lock of her hair to use as a sex toy, while she is guarded by sylphs (guardian spirits of virgins); Uranus' moons Belinda, Umbriel and Ariel are named from chars.; "Forever cursed be this detested day, Which snatched my best, my favorite curl away! - love hurts? Births: English composer John Stanley (d. 1786) on Jan. 17 (old Style); student of Maurice Greene. Prussian Hohenzollern king #3 (1740-86) (Freemason) Frederick (Friedrich) II (the Great) (d. 1786) on Jan. 24 in Berlin; son of Frederick William I (1688-1740) and Sophia Dorothea. English portraitist Arthur Devis (d. 1787) on Feb. 19 in Preston, Lancashire. French Gen. Louis Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Sain-Veran (d. 1759) on Feb. 28 in Chateau de Candiac (near Nimes). English dipththeria physician (Quaker) John Fothergill (d. 1780) on Mar. 8 in Carr End (near Bainbridge), Wensleydale, Yorkshire. French adm. Luc Urbain de Bouexic (Bouëxic), Comte de Guichen (d. 1790) on June 21 in Fougeres, Ille-et-Vilaine. Swiss-French deistic philosopher-writer-composer Jean-Jacques Rousseau (d. 1778) on June 28 in Geneva; mother dies from birth complications, father abandons him at age 10 after fighting a duel; at age 16 he becomes a vagrant, engraver's apprentice, servant, secy., and musical copyist - such sweet eyes and face? English composer John Hebden (d. 1765) on July 21 in Spofforth (near Harrogate), Yorkshire. German mathematician Johann Samuel Konig (König) (d. 1757) on July 31 in Budigen. French diplomat-statesman-gen. Cesar (César) Gabriel de Choiseul, Duc de Praslin (d. 1785) on Aug. 15; cousin of Etienne Francois, duc de Choiseul (1719-85). French printer-engraver Pierre Simon Fournier (le Jeune) (d. 1768) on Sept 15. Italian (Venetian) "Doge's Feasts" painter Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (d. 1793) on Oct. 5 in Venice; brother of Giovanni Antonio Guardi (1699-1760); last of the Venetian School. Scottish poet Alison (Alicia) Cockburn (Rutherford) (d. 1794) on Oct. 8 in Selkirkshire. British Whig PM (1763-5) George Grenville (d. 1770) on Oct. 14 in Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire; maternal uncle of William Pitt the Elder; educated at Eton College, and Christ Church, Oxford U. Austrian field marshal prince Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine (d. 1780) on Dec. 12 in Luneville, Lorraine, France. Moravian bishop Peter Boehler (d. 1775) in Frankfurt am Main, Prussia; educated at the U. of Jena. Euro courtier, composer, and mystery man ("The Wonderman" - Voltaire) Comte de Saint Germain (Count of St. Germain) (d. 1784); son of Prince Francis II Rakoczi (1671-1735) of Transylvania and Duchess Violante Beatrice of Bavaria (1673-1731); Gian Gastone, last of the Medicis is his mother's brother-in-law; educated at the U. of Siena; claims to be 500 years old. English "Paradise Lost" composer John Christopher Smith (Johann Christoph Schmidt) (d. 1795) in Ansbach, Germany; Handel's secy. Deaths: Italian-born French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini (b. 1625) on Sept. 14 in Paris. English vapor action Richard Cromwell (b. 1626) on July 12 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. French marshal Nicolas Catinat (b. 1637) on Feb. 22 in Saint-Gratien; Memoirs of Nicolas Catinat are pub. in 1819. Dutch painter Jan van der Heyden (b. 1637) on Mar. 28 in Amsterdam. French Bible critic Richard Simon (b. 1638) on Apr. 11 in Dieppe. English actor Edward Kynaston (b. 1640) in Jn. English plant anatomist Nehemiah Grew (b. 1641) on Mar. 25 in London. Indian Mughal emperor (1707-12) Bahadur Shah I (b. 1643) on Feb. 27 in Lahore. English politician Sidney Godolphin, 1st earl Godolphin (b. 1645) on Sept. 15 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. French physicist Denis Papin (b. 1647). French marshal Louis Joseph de Bourbon, 3rd duc de Vendome (b. 1654) on June 11 in Vinaros, Spain; dies suddenly, and is buried in the Escorial. Scottish nobleman Sir James Hamilton, 4th duke of Hamilton (b. 1658) on Nov. 15 in Hyde Park, London (killed in a duel). Japanese shogun #6 (1709-12) Iyenobu (b. 1662) on Nov. 12. English satirist William King (b. 1663) on Dec. 25. German writer Christian Reuter (b. 1665). English politician Charles Mohun, 4th baron Mohun (b. 1675) on Nov. 15 in Hyde Park, London (killed in a duel). German Saxon field marshal Adam Heinrich Graf von Steinau (b. ?).
1713 There is a measles epidemic in Boston. On Feb. 11 Jahandar Shah (b. 1661) dies, and Baradar Shah I's grandson Mohammed (Muhammad) Shah (1685-1719) becomes Mughal emperor #9 of India (Great Mughal) (until Feb. 28, 1719), presiding over its breakup into loosely-knit states under the ascendancy of the Syed Brothers, Mughal gens. Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha (1668-1722) and Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha (1666-1722). On Feb. 25 Hohenzollern Prussian king #1 (since 1701) Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657) dies after having drained the country of resources, and his son Frederick William (Friedrich Wilhelm) I (1688-1740) becomes king #2 of Prussia and elector of Brandenburg (until May 31, 1740), soon showing himself a heaven-spelled-backwards royal tightwad who likes tall soldiers for his military parades as he builds up the size of the army from 38K to 83.5K, making Prussia the 3rd biggest military power after Russia and France, introducing pigtails to the army. On Mar. 12-Oct. 1 English writer Joseph Addison (1672-1719) and Irish writer Sir Richard Steele (Isaac Bickerstaff) (1672-1729) pub. the daily The Guardian (175 issues). You get this, I get that, now who wants lemonade? On Apr. 13 the Treaty (Peace) of Utrecht, signed by France on the one hand, and England, Holland, Prussia, Savoy, and Portugal on the other, followed by more treaties signed on July 13 between Spain and England, and more on Aug. 13 between Spain and Savoy (and more in 1714 and 1715), all concluded by Viscount Bolingbroke against the wishes of nearly the entire English nation ends Louis XIV's wars, Queen Anne's War (Second War of the Grand Alliance) (begun 1701), and the War of the Spanish Succession (begun 1700), with the uniting of France and Spain under one king permanently forbidden, and the whole idea being to check France's ambitions by pumping up Ahnuld, er, Austria and Holland on its N, Prussia on its E, and Savoy on its SE, launching the inevitable process of unification of Germany and Italy in the 19th cent., while freeing England for fast commercial expansion; it recognizes the Protestant succession in England, the title of Philip V as king of Spain and the Spanish colonies, and cedes from Spain the Spanish Netherlands (that part which had belonged to the Hapsburgs), and cedes Minorca and Gibraltar to England, along with Hudson Bay, Nova Scotia (Acadia), and Newfoundland in Canada, and St. Christopher (Kitts) and Nevis, allowing France to retain Quebec; Port Royal is renamed Annapolis Royal in honor of Queen Anne, and remains capital of Nova Scotia until 1750; Prussia receives recognition of the royal title and possession of Neuchatel and the upper quarter of Gueldres, while its claim to the principality of Orange on the Rhone River (which gives its name to the Dutch royal line) is ceded to France; Portugal receives expanded boundaries in South Am.; Sicily is separated from Naples and given to Savoy (until 1720), along with territory in upper Italy in return for renouncing its claims on Spain, reserving the right of inheritance in case the House of Bourbon should become extinct; Count Wirich Philipp von Daun becomes the first Austrian viceroy of Naples; the Iroquois are recognized as British subjects; Britain obtains the asiento (monopoly of slave trade) with Spanish possessions for 30 years; France gains the college town of Douai; England emerges ascendant on the sea over France and the Netherlands, and Euro politics becomes all about Anglo-French and Austrian-Prussian rivalry, with Russia, Spain, Holland, Sweden, and the smaller German states playing both sides; French-speaking English poet-diplomat Matthew Prior (1664-1721), who helped England negotiate the 1697 Peace of Ryswick and was called back to negotiate the Peace of Utrecht gets saddled with the blame as "Matt's Peace" even though he personally disapproves of it, and after Queen Anne dies next year Robert Walpole gets him impeached and placed under house arrest in 1715-7, causing him to turn back to poetry; John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough talks them into an exchange for a swap of his Principality of Mindelheim in Unterallgau, Bavaria with the county of Nellenburg (Mellenburg) in Austria, promoting it into a principality for him; too bad, Austrian law forbids it, and the plan is dropped in 1717. On Apr. 19 HRE Charles VI, living under the shadow of having no male offspring issues the Pragmatic Sanction, declaring that Hapsburg control of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary are indivisible, and that in case he dies without male heirs his future daughter Maria Theresa (1717-80) will succeed him, with the daughters of HRE Joseph I and their descendants as backups; too bad, the male chauvinist nobility of Hungary doesn't want to go with this program and causes trouble, and the whole thing becomes the hot potato of the 18th cent.? On June 24 the Peace (Treaty) of Adrianople (Edirne) is signed in Edirne by Turkey and Russia, confirming the 1711 Treaty of the Pruth, with Russia agreeing to abandon its gains in the Azov region and eliminate its new Black Sea fleet; exiled Charles XII of Sweden turns public opinion against signer Baltaci Mehmet Pasha and gets him removed, but can't convince Sultan Ahmed III to resume his war with Russia, and instead he sends Charles XII back to Sweden, after which the peace lasts 25 years. On July 13 the Treaty of Portsmouth ends the war between the Mass. Bay Colony and the Eastern Abenakis, renewing the 1693 treaty made with gov. William Phipps. On July 13 the Anglo-Spanish Treaty of Utrecht confirms the Anglo-French treaties related to the English and French successions. On July 25 the Siege of Barcelona sees the 40K-man Bourbon army of Philip V of Spain siege Barcelona for 13 mo. (until Sept. 11, 1714), capturing it from 24.7K Catalonians and building the 5-cornered Citadel of Barcelona to prevent another rebellion by the Catalans, becoming the largest fortress in Europe. On Aug. 13 the Spanish-Savoyard Treaty cedes Naples and Sicily to Victor Amadeus II of the House of Hapsburg, along with the title of king in return for renouncing claims to the Spanish throne, and assures Savoy of an independent position in N Italy free from French control; Amadeus' alliance with Austria gives him the remainder of Monteferrat. On Aug. 20 after the HRE continues the war, it loses the Battle of Landau to the French under the duc de Villars, who then sieges Freiburg, which surrenders without a battle after Ferdinand Mayer negotiates a deal. The Swedes capitulate at Oldenburg. The Tuscarora War (begun 1711) ends with the Tuscaroras being driven out of N.C., eventually (1722) joining the Iroquois Five Nations, making it Six Nations. Can I have just one more dance with you my love in the moonlight? Father Perrault founds the ageless paradise of Shangri-La in the Valley of the Blue Moon in Tibet, and becomes the High Lama, who doesn't age in the next 200 years (1937 film Lost Horizon). Pope Clement XI pub. the papal bull Unigenitus, marking the end of toleration of Jansenist doctrine - welcome to the popular table, or not? Captain Frezier introduces the Chilean strawberry to France. Francois Didot (1689-1757) goes into the publishing biz in France, going on to found a dynasty. Pretty-boy Alessandro Scarlatti becomes musical dir. of the viceroy of Austria in Naples, and dir. of the Conservatory di Sant' Onofrio (until 1719). The Scriblerus Club is founded in London by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), John Gay (1685-1732), Alexander Pope (1688-1744), John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), William Congreve (1670-1719) et al. to satirize pedantry in the form of fictional scholar Martinus Scriblerus; meanwhile Alexander Pope makes an unprecedented deal with publisher Barnaby Bernard Lintot (Lintott) (1675-1736) to translate Homer's "Iliad", with one vol. appearing every year by subscription for six years, for which he gets a 200 guinea per vol. advance, making him the first English poet who can support himself with poetry, "indebted to no prince or peer alive". French Bourbon Sun King (1643-1715) Louis XIV (the Great) (1638-1715) is presented with a coffee tree, and uses sugar as an additive in coffee for the first time. The Old State House at Washington and State Sts. in Boston, Mass. is built, becoming the seat of the Mass. Gen. Court until 1798, later becoming a landmark on the Boston Freedom Trail, and the oldest surviving public bldg. in Boston; in 1960 it is designated a nat. historic landmark. The Spanish Royal Academy (Real Academia Espanola) in Madrid is founded. The School of Dance is established at the Paris Opera. Architecture: Thomas Archer begins the Baroque St. John's Church in Smith Square, London (finished 1728), complete with four corner towers, becoming known as Queen Anne's Footstool after she allegedly kicked over her footstool and told Archer that she wanted it to look like that. Germain Boffrand designs the Hotel de Seignelay in Paris at 80 Rue de Lille. Prince Eugene's Palais Belvedere in Vienna is begun by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (1668-1745), who also begins the Palais Kinsky in Vienna, commissioned by Count Wirich Philipp von Daun. British MP (1707-14) James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1673-1744) begins the palatial £200K Cannons House in Little Stanmore (near Edgware), Middlesex (finished 1724), where he hosts G.F. Handel in 1718-19; the crowds get so big that he introduces 1-way roads; he starts with architect William Talman, switching in 1714 to John James, in 1715 to James Gibbs, in 1719 to John Price, and in 1723 to Edward Shepherd; it is demolished in 1747 to pay his debts. Inventions: English clockmaker George Graham (1674-1751) creates the first Orrery, a mechanical model of the Solar System, named for his patron Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1674-1731), and built by instrument maker John Rowley of London; Orrery gets the 2nd copy after the first goes to Austrian prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736). Science: Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli (1654-1705) pub. the primitive form of the Law of Large Numbers, that the average of a large number of trials converges to the expected value. English (Cambridge) mathematician Roger Cotes (1682-1716) revises Newton's Principia Mathematica (begun 1709), contributing a preface touting Newton's Law of Gravitation as superior to Rene Descarte's Theory of Vortexes; 750 copies are printed. Japanese scientist Ekiken Kabara (-1714) first describes the concept of dietary control as a method for achieving good health and longevity. Nonfiction: Arthur Collier, Clavis Universalis, or A New Inquiry After Truth. Anthony Collins (1676-1729), A Discourse of Free-Thinking. Francois Fenelon (1651-1715), Traite de l'Existence et des Attributs de Dieu. Thomas Parnell (1679-1718), Essay on the Different Stiles of Poetry. Abbe Saint Pierre, Projet pour la Paix Perpetuelle. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Utrecht Te Deum; Teseo (Theseus) (opera) (Queen's Theatre, London) (Jan. 10); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on Philippe Qinault's "Thesee"; stars castrati Valeriano Pellegrini and Valentino Urbani. Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770), Violin Sonata in G minor, B.g5 AKA the Devil's Trill Sonata, a difficult work that becomes his most popular work, and his favorite, allegedly composed by a devil that appeared at the foot of his bed; "One night, in the year 1713 I dreamed I had made a pact with the devil for my soul. Everything went as I wished: my new servant anticipated my every desire. Among other things, I gave him my violin to see if he could play. H ow great was my astonishment on hearing a sonata so wonderful and so beautiful, played with such great art and intelligence, as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy. I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke. I immediately grasped my violin in order to retain, in part at least, the impression of my dream. In vain! The music which I at this time composed is indeed the best that I ever wrote, and I still call it the 'Devil's Trill', but the difference between it and that which so moved me is so great that I would have destroyed my instrument and have said farewell to music forever if it had been possible for me to live without the enjoyment it affords me"; it is not pub. unti 1799; Art: Alexandre Francois Desportes, Spaniels with Dead Game. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), L'Indifferent. Plays: Joseph Addison (1672-1719), Cato. John Gay (1685-1732), The Wife of Bath. Poetry: Henry Carey (1687-1743), Poems on Several Occasions. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Windsor Forest; based on his life in Berkshire, home of Windsor Castle, celebrating the "Tory Peace" after the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Cadenus and Vanessa; written for his babe Esther Vanhomright, with his title Dean and her name in code; "'Tis an old maxim in the schools,/ That flattery's the food of fools;/ Yet now and then your men of wit/ Will condescend to take a bit." Edward Young (1683-1765), Poem on the Last Day; dedicated to Queen Anne. Births: Spanish mathematician and naval officer Jorge Juan y Santacilia (d. 1773) on Jan. 5 in Novelda, Alicante. French "Coelum Australe Stelliferum" astronomer Abbe Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (La Caille) (d. 1762) on Mar. 15 in Rumigny; educated at the College de Lisieux, and College de Navarre. Am. DOI signer Francis Lewis (d. 1803) on Mar. 21 in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales; emigrates to the U.S. in 1734; great-great-great grandfather of film dir. William A. Wellman (1896-1975). French Clairaut's Theorem mathematician-astronomer Alexis Claude Clairaut (d. 1765) on May 13 in Paris. British PM (1762-3) and Scottish PM #1 (1707-) John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (d. 1792) on May 25 in Edinburgh, Scotland. English writer-bookseller ("Father of English Children's Literature") John Newbery (d. 1767) on July 9 in Waltham St. Lawrence, Berkshire. French Neoclassical Pantheon architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot (d. 1780) on July 22 in Irancy (near Auxerre). Dutch prince (1735-80) Charles I of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel) (d. 1780) on Aug. 1 in Braunschweig; eldest sun of Duke Ferdinand Albert II (1680-1735); brother of Duke Louis Earnest of Brunswick-Luneburg (1718-88). Spanish Bourbon king #2 (1746-59) (Roman Catholic) Ferdinand VI (the Learned) (d. 1759) on Sept. 23 in Madrid; 4th son of Philip V (1683-1746) and 1st wife Maria Luisa of Savoy. French Encyclopedist philosopher (atheist) Denis Diderot (d. 1784) on Oct. 5 in Langres, Champagne; educated in Jesuit schools. Polish Jewish scholar rabbi Yechezkel ben Yehuda Landau (d. 1793) on Oct. 8 in Opatow. Scottish mercantilist economist Sir James Denham Steuart, 3rd Baronet of Goodtrees and 7th Baronet of Coltness (d. 1780) on Oct. 21 in Edinburgh; educated at the U. of Edinburgh. French "The Story of Ernestine" novelist Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni (Laboras de Mezieres) (d. 1792) on Oct. 25 in Paris. Spanish missionary founder Father (St.) Miguel Josep "Junipero" Serra y Ferrer (d. 1784) on Nov. 24 in Petra, Mallorca; canonized by Pope John Paul II on Sept. 25, 1988; sainted by Pope Francis on Sept. 23, 2015; feast day: July 1. English "Tristram Shandy" novelist and Anglican clergyman Laurence Sterne (d. 1768) on Nov. 24 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland; British soldier father; grows up in Yorkshire; educated at Jesus College, Cambridge U. English travel writer Edward Wortley Montagu (d. 1776); son of Edward Wortley Montagu (1678-1761) and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762). John Tuberville Needham (d. 1781); British naturalist and proponent of abiogenesis. Scottish painter Allan Ramsay (d. 1784) in Edinburgh; son of poet Allan Ramsay (1681-1758). Jean Paul de Gua de Malves (d. 1785). Deaths: Am. minister Rev. Samuel Whiting Jr. (b. 1633) on Feb. 28. Hungarian Palatine prince (1681-1713) field marshal Pal Esterhazy (b. 1635) on Mar. 26 in Kismarton. French Huguenot pastor Pierre Jurieu (b. 1637) on Jan. 11 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. English clockmaker Thomas Tompion (b 1639) in London. English campanologist Fabian Stedman (b. 1640). English banker Francis Child (b. 1642). French travel writer Jean Chardin (b. 1643) on Jan. 5 in Chiswick, London. Italian composer Arcangelo Corelli (b. 1653) on Jan. 8 in Rome. Prussian king #1 (1701-13) Frederick I (b. 1657) on Feb. 25 in Berlin. English actress Elizabeth Barry (b. 1658) on Nov. 7. English physicist Francis Hauksbee (b. 1666); first to study capillary action - proof that the year 1666 sucks?
1714 On Mar. 2 (Feb. 19 Old Style) the Finnish army under Swedish gen. Carl Gustaf Armfelt (1666-1736) is crushed by the Russian army at the Battle of Napue (Storkyro) (Isokryo) near the Storkyro River in Finland, ending Swedish control and starting the Greater Wrath (Russian occupation of Finland) (ends 1721); Russian field marshal Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn (Galitzine) (1675-1730) becomes Russian gov. of Finland (until 1721). On Mar. 7 France signs the Treaty (Peace) of Rastatt with HRE Charles VI of Austria in his own name, returning Freiburg and Breisach to the HRE, followed on Sept. 7 by the Treaty of Baden (Switzerland) in the name of the empire, ending hostilities with France; Austria takes possession of the Spanish Netherlands with a barrier agreed on for Holland, and is restored to Naples, Sardinia and Milan; the electors of Bavaria and Cologne have their bans of the empire removed and are reinstated; France keeps Strasbourg, Alsace and Landau; the HRE still refuses to recognize the Bourbons in Spain, and their war continues until 1720. On June 26 Spain and the Netherlands formalize their peace. In July the English Parliament passes the Longitude Act, creating a Board of Longitude (Commissioners for the Discovery of the Longitude at Sea) to create an Apollo Project to make an accurate chronometer so that the British Navy can create the empire where the Sun never sets, with a 20K pound reward offered. On July 20 the Bridge of San Luis Rey falls, killing Esteban, Uncle Pio, Marquesa de Montemayor, Pepita, and Jami; Franciscan Brother Juniper investigates - 1927 Thornton Wilder novel. In July Viscount Bolingbroke gives up trying to ditch Robert Hartley for the time being, and begins a plot to form a ministry favoring a Jacobite succession; too bad that Queen Anne's sudden death foils him? On Aug. 1 after a 1-mo. crisis occasioned by her impending death, Queen (since Mar. 8, 1702) Anne (b. 1665), last of the Stuart dynasty dies childless, and after some shenanigans where the earl of Oxford is fired as lord treasurer on July 29 and Lord Shrewsbury (who became lord lt. of Ireland last year and hurries back) is appointed in his place on July 30, going on to throw his weight in favor of the elector of Hanover and against James II and the Jacobites, she is succeeded by the eldest son of Electress Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of James I through his daughter Elizabeth Stuart (1596-1662) (Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia) and Palatine Elector Frederick V (1596-1632), 54-y.-o. genuine Kraut George Louis, elector of Hanover, who becomes George (Georg) I Ludwig of Hanover (1660-1727) (the 50th British monarch) (until June 22, 1727), landing in England on Sept. 18; the Stuart Dynasty (founded 1371) ends, and the Hanover, Saxe-Coburg, and Windsor Dynasty begins (ends ?); George I never learns to speak or read English, and comes to England without his wife but with three German mistresses and a retinue of Germans; his cousin-wife Sophia Dorothea of Celle (1666-1726) was imprisoned for an affair in 1794, and remains in captivity in the Castle of Ahlden until her 1726 death; his friend Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who helped angle him into power is snubbed because of the big Calculus dispute with Isaac Newton, and he is forbidden to come to London until he finishes a history of the Brunswick family commissioned by his father 30 years earlier; the Whigs regain control of Parliament, and George I appoints a mostly Whig cabinet led by Lord Townshend; Robert Walpole, a strong Hanoverian is restored to his fortune; on Aug. 28 George deposes Viscount Bolingbroke and reinstates the duke of Marlborough; Robert Harley is succeeded by as PM (until 1715); by now the cabinet is assuming its modern form as a committee of leaders of the majority in Parliament that takes the blame for the king's policy mistakes, as his royal personage is sacred and inviolable and somebody's head must always roll? On Nov. 11 King Karl (Charles) XII returns from captivity in Turkey to Stralsund, Sweden and ends attempts to replace him. On Dec. 9 the Seventh Ottoman-Venetian War (ends 1718) begins when the Ottoman Empire declares war on Venice after they seize an Ottoman ship belonging to grand vizier Damad Hasan Pasha and grant sanctuary to Montenegro Prince-Bishop Danilo I, assembling an army of 70K in Macedonia along with 80 ships under Adm. Canum Hoca to take on Venice's 80K men and 42 ships under Capt. Daniel Delfin. James Butler, 2nd duke of Ormonde is dismissed as CIC of the British armies, and is impeached for his Jacobite sentiments, causing him to flee to France then Spain. The Schism Act is passed in England (until 1719), stopping Dissenters from running schools or doing private tutoring. Witch trials are abolished in Prussia. Kev Fa III (Ang Im) (d. 1722) becomes king of Cambodia. The British Board of Trade enters a long period of lethargy (until 1748), its eight parliamentary members regarding it as a sinecure. George Augustus (George II) and his wife Caroline of Anspach come to London with George I, and her home becomes a trendy place for Alexander Pope, Lord Chesterfield, John Gay, Lord Hervey, and other deep thinkers and cool cats. Natchitoches (pr. NAK-uh-tush) in French La., named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe is founded by French capt. Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis (1674-1744), becoming the oldest permanent settlement in the La. Purchase; the sister city of Nacogdoches, Tex. (pr. naka-DOE-shis), named after the Caddo family of Indians is founded in 1716 as a church. French Baroque organist-composer Michel Richard de Lalande (1657-1726), tutor of the daughters of Louis XIV becomes dir. of the French chapel royal (until 1726), going on to please his royal boss by composing almost 80 grand motets, sacred music written for choir, soloist, and large orchestra. Young Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706) attends Boston Latin public school. William Northmore loses his entire $850K fortune playing cards, and the townspeople of Okehampton, England feel so sorry for him that they elect him to Parliament every year from this year until his death. Worcester College at Oxford U., named after benefactor Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648-1701) of Worcestershire is founded by refurbishing Gloucester Hall (founded in 1283 for Benedictine monks, and dissolved in 1539), becoming known for its quaint medieval cottages. The Mercury is founded in Norwich, becoming the oldest English newspaper to survive to modern times (until 1872). The Princess of Palatine remarks that Chinese tea is as fashionable in Paris as chocolate is in Spain; meanwhile tea is introduced to the Am. colonies; French tea lovers incl. Louis XIV, Cardinal Mazarin, royal minister Pierre Seguier, playwright Racine, and writer Madame de Genlis; later the salonist Marguerite de la Sabliere (Sablière) (Hessein) (1640-93) introduces the fashion of adding milk (to prevent her eggshell teacups from cracking?), which is quickly adopted by the English. Architecture: In Feb. after returning to London from Rome in Nov. 1708, where he studied under Carlo Fontana, Aberdeen, Scotland-born architect James Gibbs (1682-1754) begins the £16K St. Mary le Strand Church in Westminster, London (finished Sept. 1717, consecrated Jan. 1, 1723), becoming the first completed for the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches; the Italianate interior is inspired by Luigi Fontana and Michelangelo, and the steeple is influenced by Sir Christopher Wren; too bad, after a great quantity of stone purchased for a statue of Queen Anne is ordered to be reused after her 1714 death, he ends up extend the ground plan N-S, making it oblong, and add extravagant Baroque ornamentation, pissing-off critics esp. after a decorative urn falls on a passerby during a procession in 1802; either way, the bldg. makes Gibbs a star. Gabriel Boffrand designs the Hotel de Torcy in Paris; in 1803 it is acquired by Eugene de Beauharnais, who rebuilds it in the Empire style, becoming the Hotel Beauharnais, later becoming the official residence of the German ambassador. After he croaks on July 4, the Magliabechiana Library in Florence is founded by bibliophile scholar-librarian Antonio di Marco Magliabechi (Magliabecchi) (1633-1714) (librarian to Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici of Tuscany since 1673), who bequeaths his 40K-vol. library; in 1743 a law requires every work pub. in Tuscany to have a copy submitted; in 1747 it is opened to the public; in 1861 its holdings are merged by Victor Emmanuel II with the Biblioteca Palatina grand ducal private lirary; in 1870 it collects copies of all Italian pubs.; in 1885 it is renamed the Nat. Central Library of Florence (BNCF). Inventions: French surgeon Dominique Anel (1679-1730) invents the fine-point Anel Syringe. Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) of Danzig invents the 32-212 temperature scale for his new mercury thermometer; mercury solidifies at -39 C. The first crude typewriter is patented by Henry Mill (1683-1711) in England. Nonfiction: Gottfried Arnold, Unpartheyische Kirchen und Ketzer-Historie (3 vols.). Justus Bohmer (1674-1749), Jus Ecclesiasticum Protestantium. Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), Description of Moldavia. Francois Fenelon (1651-1715), Letter to the French Academy; the relationship between lit., politics and religion. Alexander Helladius, The Current Status of the Greek Church (Status Proesens Ecclesiae Graecae); lambastes those who translate the Bible into vernacular Greek - like the apostles spoke? Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716), La Monadologie; pub. posth.; 90-paragraph philosophical magnum opus that proposes that the Universe is composed of eternal, indecomposable, irreducible elementary particles ("substantial forms of being") with blurred perceptions of each other, which can be compared to Descartes' corpuscles, never interacting but each reflecting the entire Universe in a pre-established harmony (little mirrors of the Universe); monads are the true centers of all force, while space, matter, and motion are mere phenomena; too bad, he considers each human being to be a monad in an attempt to overcome the mind-matter and free will problems. Isaac Newton (1643-1727), Opticks; advances the corpuscular theory of light; Query 31 questions whether gravity can be responsible for chemical attraction, admitting it "not improbable but that there may be more attractive Powers than these. For Nature is very constant and conformable to Herself" - he misses electricity by just that much? John Oldmixon (1673-1742), Arcana Gallica, or the Secret History of France for the Last Century. Adriaan Reland (Hadriani Relandi) (1676-1718), Palestina ex Monumentis Veteribus Illustrata; based on his tour of Palestine, in which he surveyed 2.5K places mentioned in the Bible or Mishnah, drawing a map and taking a census; he finds that most of Palestine is desolate, with most of the pop. concentrated in Jerusalem, Acre, Tzfat, Jaffa, Tiberius, and Gaza, and most of them Jews, with Christians being #2; the few Muslims he sees are nomad Bedouins, with 120 Muslims of the Natsha family and 70 Shomronites living in Nablus (Shchem), the most he finds in one place; in contrast, 700 Christians live in Nazareth in Galilee, and 5K live in Jerusalem, mostly Jews, with some Christians; Gaza has 550 residents, 50% Jews, and most of the rest Christians; Tiberius and Tzfat are mostly Jewish. Music: Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), L'Inganno Federle oder Der Getreue Bertrug (opera) (Hamburg). Plays: Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret; dedicated to George I. Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1674-1762), Xerxes; flops after one perf. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), The Wife of Bath. Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), The Tragedy of Jane Shore (Drury Lane, London) (19 perf.); stars Mrs. Oldfield. Poetry: Susana Centlivre (1667-1723), A Woman's Case. John Gay (1685-1732), The Fan; The Shepherd's Week (pastoral). Edward Young (1683-1765), The Force of Religion; or Vanquish'd Love; on the execution of Lady Jane Grey and her hubby; On the Late Queen's Death and His Majesty's Accession to the Throne; praises the new king indecently soon? Births: English surgeons (co-founder of orthopedics) Percivall Pott (d. 1788) on Jan. 6 in London. French Rococo sculptor Jean Baptiste Pigalle (d. 1785) on Jan. 26 in Paris. English lord chancellor Charles Pratt, 1st Earl of Camden (d. 1794) on Mar. 21; 3rd son of Sir John Pratt (1657-1725); Camden, N.J. is named after him. Portuguese king (1750-77) Joseph (Jose) I (the Reformer) (d. 1777) on June 6 in Ribeira Palace, Lisbon; son of John V (1689-1750). German classical-Rococo "Orfeo ed Euridice" opera composer Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (d. 1787) on July 2 in Erasbach (Berching), Bavaria; music teacher of Marie Antoinette and Antonio Salieri. Welsh "Lake Avernus" painter ("Father of British Landscape Painting") Richard Wilson (d. 1782) on Aug. 1 in Penegoes, Montgomeryshire. French painter Claude-Joseph Vernet (d. 1789) on Aug. 14. French sensationalist philosopher Abbe Etienne Bonnot de Condillac (d. 1780) on Sept. 30 in Grenoble; brother of Gabriel Bonnot de Mably (1709-85); can't read till age 12+. English "The Schoolmistress" poet William Shenstone (d. 1763) on Nov. 13 in Halesowen, Worcestershire. English "Calvinist Methodist" evangelist (cross-eyed) George Whitefield (d. 1770) (pr. WHIT-field) on Dec. 16 inu Gloucester; educated at Pembroke College, Oxford U. American scientist ("Father of Seismology") John Winthrop (d. 1779). German harpsichordist-composer Carl (Karl) Philipp Emanuel Bach (d. 1788) in Weimar; 2nd son of J.S. Bach (1685-1750). Deaths: German electress-dowager Sophia of Hanover (b. 1630) on June 8 in Herrenhausen, Hanover. Italian bibliophile scholar-librarian Antonio Magliabechi (b. 1633) on July 4 in Florence. Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini (b. 1633) on Nov. 5 in Padua. German duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (1685-1714) Anthony Ulrich (b. 1633) on Mar. 27 in Salzdahlum. English colonial gov. Sir Edmund Andros (b. 1637) on Feb. 24 in London. Austrian economist Philipp von Hornigk (b. 1640) on Oct. 23 in Passau. English astrologer John Partridge (b. 1644) (d. 1715?). French economist Pierre Le Pesant, Sieur de Boisguillebert (b. 1646) on Oct. 10. English royal physician John Radcliffe (b. 1652). English economist-politician Charles Davenant (b. 1656) in London. Welsh minister Matthew Henry (b. 1662) on June 22 in Nantwich (apoplexy); dies while en route from Chester to London. German architect Andreas Schluter (b. 1664) in May. English queen (1702-14) Anne (b. 1665) on Aug. 1 in Kensington Palace, London.
1715 The Maunder Minimum (period of low sunspot counts) ends (began 1645). Early in the year an election in England returns a large Whig majority to the House of Commons; the first Parliament of George I convenes, and proceeds to impeach Bolingbroke and other leading Tories, causing many Tories to join the Jacobites in their impending First Jacobite Rebellion which begins when widespread dissatisfaction with an alien Kraut king causes riots in England, causing the Riot Act to be passed in June, empowering a justice of the peace to read 12 or more persons the act, giving them 1 hour to disperse or become guilty of a felony; Tory support for the rebellion causes the Whigs to gain an ascendancy in Parliament until the reign of George III, starting with Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1669-1738), who replaces Charles Montagu, 1st earl of Halifax, from May 23 to Oct. 10, and is then replaced by Robert Walpole (1676-1745) as chief minister of the British cabinet (chancellor of the exchequer and first lord of the treasury) (until 1717), where he becomes known as Cock Robin, founder of the Robinocracy; too bad, although Louis XIV had promised to help the Old Pretender, his death causes loss of French support, and Bolingbroke flees to France, while his Catholic fence-sitting friend Alexander Pope manages to equivocate enough (and pay enough bribes?) to remain and collect his huge Homer royalties. In Feb. after Italian Cardinal Giulio Alberoni (1664-1752) becomes effective ruler of Spain (until 1719), the Treaty of Madrid makes peace between Spain and Portugal. In Mar. Viscount Bolingbroke flees to France, and in Aug. is attainted, preventing him from returning to England until 1722; in France he becomes the secy. of state to English Old Pretender James Francis Edward Stuart. On Apr. 22 there is a total solar eclipse in London, and rising-star Edmond Halley sells maps predicting its path. On July 24 (Wed.) the 12-ship 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, biggest in history, carrying a huge load of treasure stored during the Spanish War of Succession (which left Spain bankrupt, but was too risky to attempt to transport) leaves Havana to act as dowry for sexually-denerate Philip V's wedding to Elizabeth Farnese (1692-1766); too bad, on July 31 it runs into a hurricane and is wrecked off the Fla. coast near modern-day Vero Beach, killing 1K sailors, after which only 30% of the treasure is recovered, the rest becoming known as the Queen's Dowry; Farnese goes through with the marriage, then virtually rules Spain through pussy power? On Aug. 12 English poet laureate (since 1692) Nahum Tate (b. 1652) dies after calling bard John Dryden a modern "Asaph" (1 Chron. ch. 25), and Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), who produced eight plays between 1700-14 becomes poet laureate of England (until Dec. 6, 1718); "Guilt is the source of sorrow/ 'tis the fiend, Th' avenging fiend,/ that follows us behind, With whips and stings" (Rowe). It's 1715, so it's time for Louis 15? On Sept. 1 the "Grand Monarque", big-wigged French Bourbon Sun King Louis XIV the Great (b. 1638) dies after an unprecedented reign of 72 years 4 mo. (since May 14, 1643) (3 x 24), and his 5-y.-o. great-grandson Louis XV (the Well-Beloved) (1710-74) (well-laid?) succeeds him as French Bourbon king #4 (until May 10, 1774) (a mere 58 years 8 mo.); on Sept. 2 Louis XIV's will creating a regency council is voided by the French parliament, which gives Louis XIV's nephew Philippe II, Duke of Orleans (1674-1723) full powers as regent (until 1723); the royal court moves from Versailles to Paris, the French nobility begins to regain its power and enjoy the frivolous life, as captured by painter Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743), the monarchy loses the power of taxation, and things lighten up a bit; as the saying goes, "It's the time of the regency and we can do everything except penance"; the ban on Italian comedy is lifted; Rococo painter Antoine Coypel (1661-1722), son of Noel Coypel becomes court painter; the Baroque style begins to go out in favor of the Rococo (Fr. "rocaille" = rock work) (light Baroque) style; Louis XV grows up a superstitious skirt-chaser known for his many mistresses (Duchess of Chateauroux, Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Berry), while female hairstyles turn into lofty curl constructions stiffened with wire and topped by flowered and plumed caps or hats; Bourbon king Philip V of Spain begins to scheme for the throne of France, while Charles VI of Austria covets the throne of Spain. In Sept. Jacobite noble "Bobbing John" Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar leads an uprising of "the Fifteen" in Scotland, who want to put the Old Pretender James III on the British throne, and in Dec. he arrives from France at Peterhead; too bad, on Nov. 13 they are defeated at the Battle of Sheriffmuir and the Battle of Preston; the Macrae Clan is hit especially hard; meanwhile James Butler, 2nd duke of Ormonde (d. 1745) leads an unsuccessful Jacobite invasion of England from Spain, causing Parliament to confiscate his estates next year, and he spends the rest of his life at the Spanish court. On Nov. 15 at the Battle of Stresow on the Island of Rugen, the Allied army under Prince Leopold of Anhalt Desau defeats the Swedes under Charles XII; Strasland falls on Dec. 24. The Turks under Ahmed III retake the Peloponnesus (Morea) and the Ionian Isles (except Corfu) from Venice; Timus is the last to fall. Mir Vays dies, and his son Mir Abdullah Mahmud becomes ruler of Kandahar (Qandahar), plotting to invade Safavid Persia. After the 4th Lord Baltimore becomes Anglican, the colony of Md. reverts from a royal colony to proprietary status. The Yamasee and allied Indian tribes in S.C. revolt, and are driven into Spanish Fla. The Otomi people of C Mexico (modern-day states of Queretaro, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Michoacan, and Mexico), known for shorter stature and darker color than neighboring tribes, and a monosyllabic language are finally subdued by the Spanish. Riots and demonstrations for James III the Old Pretender cause the Whig English Parliament to pass the Septennial Act of 1715/1716, lengthening its term from three to seven years, giving them more time to deal with the Jacobites and enjoy their domination. French Protestant reformer Antoine Court (1696-1760), who addresses audiences of 10K and more convokes the first Synod of the Desert - when the weight of the world is upon you? His father failing to send him to Harvard, young Benjamin Franklin attends George Brownell's school in Boston, where he excels in writing but fails in math; his two years of schooling end. Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) arrives in China, influencing Chinese painting with his unique Euro blend. Karlsruhe (Carlsruhe) (Ger. "Charles' rest") in Wurttemberg-Baden, Germany 5 mi. E of the Rhine River 30 mi. W of Stuttgart is founded by Swedish-born Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden (1755-1801), with streets radiating like spokes from the Palace (Schloss). Vaudevilles first appear in Paris. Irish actor James Quin (1693-1760) appears for first time in Drury Lane in London as Bajazet in Nicholas Rowe's "Tamerlane". King George I of England donates a valuable library to Cambridge U., and dispatches a regiment to Oxford U.; "One was a learned body in need of loyalty, the other was a loyal body in need of learning." Architecture: After HRE Charles VI fulfills a vow made during the 1713 Black Plague sweeping Vienna to build a church dedicated to his namesake St. Charles Borromeo, Fischer von Erlach begins the Karlskirche in Vienna (finished 1739). The first dock in Liverpool, England is built. Ft. Michilimackinac is built by the French overlooking the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Sports: Thomas Doggett founds an annual 4 mi. 5 furlong (7.4km) rowing race on the Thames River between London Bridge and Cadogan Piere in Chelsea for six apprentice watermen, awarding Doggett's Coat and Badge to the winner, becoming the oldest rowing race and prize on Earth. Inventions: George Graham (1673-1751) of London invents the Graham Deadbeat Escapement, improving the accuracy of pendulum clocks. John Lethbridge of England invents a wood-leather diving suit for salvage work. Sybilla Masters (-1720) becomes the first American to be granted an English patent, for a corn-grinding mill; the patent is issued in her husband Thomas' name - I need a lover who won't drive me crazy? Nonfiction: Colen Campbell (1676-1729), Vitruvius Britannicus, or, The British Architect (3 vols.) (1715-25); first original architectural work pub. in England since John Shute's "First Groundes"; a student of James Smith disses the "excesses" of Baroque style and declares British independence from Europe, dedicating the work to George I of England, popularizing neo-Palladian Architecture in Britain and British Am., making him a star, riding on a boom in country house and villa building among the Whig oligarchy. Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), Histoire de l'établissement, du progrès et de la décadence du Christianisme dans I'empire des japons. John Dennis (1657-1734), Remarks Upon Mr. Pope's Translation of Homer; A True Character of Mr. Pope. Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1756), Rudiments of Grammar for the English-Saxon Tongue; first work on the subject in English; the preface "An Apology for the Study of Northern Antiquities" disputes Jonathan Swift, causing him to change his views; too bad, her brother and fellow scholar William Elstob (1673-1715) dies, leaving her in debt, causing her to have to give up her studies for nanny work. Giacomo Leoni (1686-1746), The Architecture of A. Palladio, in Four Books (4 vols.) (1616-20); the first English translation of Palladio's "Four Books on Architecture", becoming a big hit despite being filled with flaws, popularizing Palladian (Georgian) architecture in England and making it the std. until the advent of Robert Adam's Neoclassicism. Bernard de Mandeville (1670-1733), The Fable of the Bees; or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits; incl. the poem The Grumbling Hive; or, Knaves turn'd Honest, first pub. in 1705; a hive of greedy self-centered bees thrive until they begin seeking individual honesty and virtue, proving that without private vices there can be no public benefit; also incl. An Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue; popular exposition of Underconsumption Theory, which claims that prosperity is increased by spending rather than saving; too bad, its attack on Christian virtues incl. temperance causes it to be convicted as a nuisance in 1723, and underconsumption theory to be ignored until Thomas Malthus' Principles of Political Economy (1820); repub. in 1723 with An Essay on Charity and Charity Schools and A Search into the Nature of Society; claims that charity schools don't reform the poor since it only makes them want material things and become as corrupt as the educated and wealthy. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), Memoirs of North Britain. Humphrey Prideaux (1648-), The Old and New Testament Connected in the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations: From the Declension of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to... (1715-7); uses the term "Vulgar Era", first used by Johann Kepler in 1635. Brook Taylor (1685-1731), Methodus in Crementorum Directa et Inversa; announces the discovery of the calculus of finite differences, and Taylor Series. Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Divine Songs for Children; incl. I Sing the Mighty Power of God. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Amadigi di Gaula (opera) (Haymarket Theatre, London) (May 25); stars castrato Nicolo Grimaldi. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Fredegunda (opera) (Hamburg); L'Amore Verso la Patria oder Der Sterbende Cato (opera) (Hamburg). Art: G.B. Tiepolo, Sacrifice of Isaac. Plays: Henry Carey (1687-1743), The Contrivances (first play). Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Gotham Election; satire of bribery in Parliamentary elections, pissing-off the mgrs. of Drury Lane, who ban it, so that it first debuts in 1724 at the Haymarket Theatre. John Gay (1685-1732), The What D'ye Call It. Gian Vencenzo Gravina, Della Tragedia. Pieter Langendijk, Krelis Louwen of Alexander de Groote op het Poeettmaal; De Wiskenstenaars of 't Gevluchte Juffertje. Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), The Tragedy of Lady Jane Grey; a flop, causing him to give up playwriting. Poetry: John Gay (1685-1732), Rural Sports. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) (tr.) Homer's Iliad (6 vols.) (1715-20); "A peformance which no age or nation could hope to equal" (Dr. Samuel Johnson); "It is a pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you must not call it Homer" (Richard Bentley). Matthew Prior (1664-1721), Solomon, or The Vanity of the World; Alma, or The Progress of the Mind. Novels: Alain-Rene Lesage (1668-1747), L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane (4 vols.) (1715-35); #1 French picaresque novel. Births: French anti-religious hedonist materialist utilitarian philosopher (Freemason) Claude Adrien Helvetius (Helvétius) (d. 1771) on Jan. 26 in Paris; born to a family of physicians originally named Schweitzer (Ger. "Swiss"); husband (1751-) of Anne-Catherine de Ligniville, Madame Helvetius (1722-1800); appointed royal tax collector in 1738, making 100K crowns/year, allowing his wife to maintain a popular salon in Paris; known for her clowder of pampered Angora cats. English richest woman in Britain Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (d. 1785) on Feb. 11 in Welbeck Abbey, Nottinghamshire; only child of the 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer and Lady Henrietta Holles (1694-1755); grows up in Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire; wife of William Bentinch, 2nd duke of Portland (1709-62); mother of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd duke of Portland (1738-1809); great-great-great-great-grandmother of Elizabeth II. English "The School for Lovers" playwright and poet laureate (1757-85) William Whitehead (d. 1785) on Feb. 12 in Cambridge; educated at Clare College, Cambridge U. French engraver-printmaker-critic Charles-Nicolas Cochin II (the Younger) (d. 1790) on Feb. 22 in Paris; son of Charles-Nicolas Cochin the Elder (1688-1754) and Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels (1686-1767). Am. landowner Ephraim Williams Jr. (d. 1755) on Mar. 7 (Feb. 24, 1714 Old Style) in Newton, Mass. German poet Ewald Christian von Kleist (d. 1759) on Mar. 7 in Zelin (near Koslin), Pomerania. Spanish sign language inventor (Jewish) Jacob Rodrigues Pereira (Jacob Rodrigue Pereire) (d. 1790) on Apr. 11 in Peniche; of Marrano Portuguese descent; grandfather of Emile Pereire (1800-75) and Isaac Pereire (1806-80); emigrates to France in 1741. German poet Christian Furchtegott (Fürchtegott) Gellert (d. 1769) on July 4 in Hainichen, Saxony; educated at Leipzig U. French Physiocratic economist (coiner of the term "mercantilism") Victor de Riquetti, Marquis de Mirabeau (d. 1789) on Oct. 15 in Pertuis; father of Comte de Mirabeau (1749-91). Russian Romanov tsar #7 (1727-30) Peter II (d. 1730) on Oct. 23 in St. Petersburg; only male-line grandson of Peter I the Great (1672-1725). German banker Johann Philipp Bethmann (d. 1793) on Nov. 30 in Nassau; eldest son of Simon Moritz Bethmann (1687-1725); brother of Simon Moritz Bethmann (1721-82); father of Simon Moritz (1768-1826). Russian gen. Count Gottlieb Curt Heinrich von Tottleben (d. 1773) on Dec. 21 in Tottlebe, Thuringia, Saxony. Irish fur trader and British maj. gen. Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet (d. 1774) in Smithtown, County Meath; emigrates to British Am. in 1737; supt. of affairs of the Six Nations 1744-55; supt. of Indian affairs N of the Ohio River 1755-74; founder (1762) of Johnstown, N.Y. British adm. Sir Charles Saunders (d. 1775); not to be confused with Sir Charles Edward Saunders (1867-1937). French philosopher Etienne Bonnot de Condillac (d. 1780). English poet Richard Jago (d. 1781). French marshal Charles de Rohan, Prince de Soubise (d. 1787); inventor of soubise (onion-butter sauce). English engineer-physicist William Watson (d. 1787). French explorer +Francois de La Verendrye (Vérendrye) (d. 1794) in Sorel; 3rd son of Pierre de la Verendrye (1685-1749); brother of Louis-Joseph de La Verendrye (1717-61). Scottish deaf-mute teacher Thomas Braidwood (d. 1806) in Hillhead Farm, Covington, Lanarkshire; educated at Edinburgh U.; opens the first school for deaf-mutes in the British Empire, at Hackney near London (1760); uses the Heinicke "sound" lip-reading system. Deaths: French king (1643-1715) Louis XIV (b. 1638) on Sept. 1; his stomach is discovered to be twice normal size, which isn't surprising considering his typical dinner is four plates of soup, a pheasant, a partridge, two slices of ham, garlic mutton, salad, pastry, fruit, and hardboiled eggs. French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche (b. 1638). French winemaker Dom Pierre Perignon (b. 1639). French "The Thousand and One Nights" writer Antoine Galland (b. 1646) on Feb. 17. French anti-establishment Catholic prelate-writer Francois Fenelon (b. 1651) on Jan. 7 in Cambrai English 3-times-around-the-world Alexander-Crusoe-rescuing bestselling privateer William Dampier (b. 1651) in Mar. in London; his writings later turn on Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt, his innovations are adopted by James Cook and Horatio Nelson, his reports on breadfruit lead to the Mutiny on the Bounty voyage, his writings on Panama inspire the Darien Scheme, his writings on NW Australia lead to the naming of and colonization of Botany Bay, and the OED later cites him over 1Kx on words incl. barbecue, avocado, and sub-species; Jonathan Swift parodies him in Part 4 of "Gulliver's Travels". Irish poet Nahum Tate (b. 1652) in Southwark, London. English statesman-poet Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (b. 1661) on May 19; dies without a male heir. English scholar-divine William Elstob (b. 1673).
1716 In Feb. the British and Dutch sign a commercial treaty. In Feb. John Campbell, duke of Argyll (Argyle) disperses the Jacobite troops without a battle, and Old Pretender James III flees to France; the Jacobite leaders are impeached, and Dernwentwater and Kenmure are executed on Feb. 25. On Apr. 5 HRE Charles VI of Austria declares war on Turkey; on Aug. 5 Prince Eugene of Savoy (Savoy-Carignan) (1663-1736) defeats the Turks in the Battle of Peterwardein (Petrovaradin) in Serbia; in mid-Oct. the Banat capital of Temesvar, the last Turkish bastion in Hungary (taken in 1552) falls, after which in 1718 all the Jews are expelled as spies. In May the Septennial Act of 1715 prolongs Parliament's life from three to seven years to guard against possible Jacobite uprisings. In May John Law founds the Banque Generale Privee (Gen. Private Bank), the first bank in France, with royal banking decrees that the bank's notes can be used to pay taxes; in 1715 he moves to Paris and secures the patronage of the duke of Orleans. In June the Treaty of Westminster between England and Austria is a mutual defense pact. On Aug. 24 John Knox (b. ?) (not the preacher who died in 1572) is executed for treason in Perth, Scotland after uttering some famous last words. On Nov. 28 after entering the Great Northern War against Sweden following Peter the Great's 1709 defeat of Charles in the Ukraine, Holland negotiates a Second Triple Alliance against Sweden with England and France, and the Dutch sign it at The Hague next Jan. 4. Peter the Great visits Europe for the 2nd time. Shogun (since 1712) Iyetsugu (b. ?) dies, and Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751) becomes shogun #8 of Japan (until 1745). Speaking of sinking treasure fleets? The Sinking Fund Act is passed by the British Parliament as a way to pay off the debt of the Bank of England. The first black slaves are brought to the Louisiana territory. An Englishman obtains a license to extract oil from sunflowers for use in the weaving and tanning industries. English porno publisher Edmund Curll falsely attaches poet Alexander Pope's name to a collection of poems, causing the latter to respond by pub. A Strange But True Relation How Edmund Curll Was Circumcised, claiming that he converted to Judaism to become rich, but was "too much circumcised, which by the levitical law, is worse than not being circumcized at all," causing them to "cast him forth from their synagogue, and he now remains a most piteous, woeful and miserable sight." China prohibits Christian religious teaching. In 1716 the province of Chianti in C Tuscany, Italy between Florence and Sienna becomes an official wine-producing region, defined as the area around the villages of Gaiole, Castellini, and Rada; in 1932 it is redrawn and divided into seven sub-areas, incl. Classico, Colli Aretini, Colli Fiorentini, Colline Pisane, Colli Senesi, Montalbano, and Rufina; they have been producing wine since the 14th cent; it is traditionally sold in a squat bottle in a straw basket (It. "fiasco"), with a black rooster (gallo nero) seal. Mineral waters are discovered in Cheltenham, England. The Royal Regiment of Artillery is founded in England. Diario di Roma, the first Italian newspaper begins pub. The Historical Register begins pub. (ends 1738). The Collegiate School of America (later Yale U.) relocates to New Haven, Conn. 10-y.-o. Benjamin Franklin leaves school to work in his father's candle and soap shop in Boston. The first co. of English actors is formed in Williamsburg, Va., opening the first theater in British Am. - Shakespeare's not welcome in New England? Poltergeist phenomena are reported in Epworth Old Rectory in Lincolnshire, England, home of Methodism founders John Wesley (1703-91) and Charles Wesley (1707-88). Architecture: On Sept. 14 the Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, Mass. in outer Boston Harbor begins operation, becoming the first lighthouse in the U.S.; on Nov. 3, 1718 lighthouse keeper George Worthylake (1673-1718) drowns along with his wife and daughter en route to the island; during the Am. Rev. the British capture and hold it, surviving two rebel attacks, who burn it each time, after which they withdraw in 1776 and blow it up, after which the lighthouse is rebuilt in 1783 to the original 75-ft. height, then raised to 98 ft. in 1856; it is automated in 1998. The Amber Room (Bernsteinzimmer), constructed in 1701-9 in Charlottenburg Palace, Prussia is given by Friedrich Wilhelm I to Tsar Peter the Great, becoming known as "the Eighth Wonder of the World". Baroque St. George's Church in S Bloomsbury, London, designed by architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) is begun (consecrated Jan. 28, 1730); his 6th and last London church; Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope is baptized there in 1824. Spain begins establishing Roman Catholic missions in East Tex., starting with Mission Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de los Ainais on the Angelina River, serving the Ainais tribe until the French threat causes them to close it and reopen it in 1721, then move it to Austin, Tex. in 1730 followed by San Antonio, Tex. in 1731 as Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisima Concepcion de Acuna; in 1716 Mission San Jose de los Nazonis is established near modern-day Cushing, Tex., moving in 1730 to San Antonio as San Juan Capistrano; in 1716 Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches is established in East Tex. to serve the Nacogdoche tribe, later becoming the town of Nacogdoches, Tex.; in 1716-17 Mission San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes is established 20 mi. W of the French fort at Natchitoches, La. to serve the Adaes tribe; in 1717 Mission Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Ais is established near modern-day San Augustine, Tex. to serve the Ais tribe, moving to San Antonio in 1719; on May 1, 1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero is established on the San Antonio River by Father Antonio de Olivares and New Spain viceroy Marquis de Valero, becoming known as the Alamo in 1744. Science: After being brought in by brain babe Princess Caroline of Ansbach (wife of future George II), English philosopher-clergyman Samuel Clarke (1675-1729) begins the Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence with aging Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (ends 1716), which incl. a famous debate on absolute vs. relative space, with Clarke on the absolute (Newton's) side, maintaining that space is not a substance but an attribute of a self-existent infinite spiritual supreme being - a galactic computer program inside God's mind? Edmund Halley pub. an account of nebulae. Cotton Mather describes the first plant hybridization, of Indian corn by yellow corn; he also predicts that the world will end this year - 17-16 = Matherian Fever? Music: Francois Couperin (1668-1733), L'Art de Toucher le Clavecin (The Art of Harpsichord Playing); suggestions for keyboard technique when playing his 4 vols. of harpsichord music (230 pieces) pub. in 1713, 1717, 1722, and 1730, which influence Johannes Brahms et al.; "The poet musicianp par excellence", who believed in "the ability of Music [with a capital M] to express itself in prose and poetry", and that "if we enter into the poetry of music we discover that it carries grace that is more beautiful than beauty itself." (Jordi Savali) Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Das Zerstorte Troja oder Der Durch den Tod Helenens Versohnte Achilles (opera) (Hamburg). Art: Sir James Thornhill (1675-1734), Ceiling of the Great Hall in Bleinheim Palace; shows the duke of Marlborough's V at the Battle of Blenheim. ?, Life of St. Paul (1716-9); eight grisaille scenes in the cupola of St. Paul's Cathedral. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), La Lecon d'Amour. Nonfiction: The first ed. of the Kings James Bible is pub. in Ireland, becoming the Sin On Bible when the pop-up porno ad "sin on more" is printed for John 5:14 instead of "sin no more", and 8K copies are printed before the mistake is discovered. Richard Bradley (1688-1732), History of Succulent Plants (5 vols.) (1716-27). Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82), Christian Morals (posth.); "Tread softly and cirumspectly in this funambulatory Track and narrow Path of Goodness: Pursue Virtue virtuously: Leven not good Actions nor render Virtues disputable. Stain not fair Acts with foul Intentions: Maim not Uprightness by halting Concomitance." (opening) Benjamin Church (1642-) (with Thomas Church), Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip's War; puffs himself up, and creates the myth of the westward-pushing Am. frontiersman. Arai Hakuseki, Ori-Taku-Shiba (autobio.). Plays: Joseph Addison (1672-1719), The Drummer. Susanna Centlivre and Nicholas Rowe, The Cruel Gift (tragedy). Poetry: Christopher Bullock, The Cobbler of Preston; "'Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes." John Gay (1685-1732), Trivia - coins the word? ? da Silva (ed.), Fenix Renascida (anthology). Births: Spanish writer-astronomer and naval officer Antonio de Ulloa (d. 1795) on Jan. 12 in Seville; first Spanish gov. of La. (1766-8). Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) (Presbyterian) (Freemason) Philip Livingston (d. 1778) on Jan. 15 in Albany, N.Y.; grandson of Robert Livingston (1654-1728); educated at Yale U.; founder of King's College (Columbia U.). French writer Jean-Jacques Barthelemy (d. 1795) on Jan. 20 in Cassis, Provence. Spanish Bourbon king #3 (1759-88), Sicilian king (1735-59), and duke of Parma (1732-5) Charles III (Don Carlos of Bourbon) (d. 1788) on Jan. 20 in Madrid; 2nd son of Philip V (1683-1746) and Elizabeth Farnese; half-brother of Ferdinand VI (1713-59); husband (1738-60) of Maria Amalia Christina of Saxony (1724-60); father of Ferdinand IV (1751-1825). English soldier-politician George Germain (Germaine), 1st Viscount Sackville (d. 1785) on Jan. 26; 3rd son of Lionel Cranfield Sackville (1688-1765); educated at Trinity College, Dublin. Am. architect (first prof. architect in Am.) Peter Harrison (d. 1775) on June 14 in York, England; emigrates to the R.I. in 1740. French "Chevaux de Marly" artist Guillaume Coustou the Younger (d. 1777) on Mar. 19; son of Guillaume Coustou the Elder (1677-1746); nephew of Nicolas Coustou (1658-1733). French Neoclassical painter (last French royal painter, 1789-91) Joseph-Marie Vien (Joseph-Mary Wien) (d. 1809) on June 18 in Montpellier; husband of Marie-Therese Reboul (1728-1805); teacher of Jacques-Louis David and Francois-Andre Vien. Scottish scury-curing physician James Lind (d. 1794) on Oct. 4 in Edinburgh. English "Father of the Colonies" George Montagu Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (d. 1771) on Oct. 6; pres. of the Board of Trade and Plantations. French Rococo sculptor Etienne (Étienne) Maurice Falconet (d. 1791) on Dec. 1 in Paris; patronized by Madame de Pompadour. English "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" poet (bi?) Thomas Gray (d. 1771) on Dec. 26 in Cornhill, London; educated at Eton College and Peterhouse College, Cambridge U. French gov. of Guadeloupe (1763-4) maj.-gen. Francois-Charles de Bourlamaque (d. 1764) in Paris. English Bridgewater Canal engineer James Brindley (d. 1772) in Tunstead, Derbyshire. English writer Sir John Hill (d. 1775) in Peterborough. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) George Taylor (d. 1781) in Ireland. English landscape designer ("England's greatest gardener") Lancelot "Capability" Brown (d. 1783) in Kirkharle, Northumberland. Japanese haiku poet-painter Yosa (no) Buson (Taniguchi) (d. 1784) in Kema (Osaka), Setssu Province. Spanish gov. #1 of Alta calif. (1767-70) Gaspar de Portola (Portolà) i Rovira (d. 1786) in Os de Balaguer, Catalonia. French road engineer P.M.J. Tresaguet (Trésaguet) (d. 1794). Italian sculptor Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (d. 1799). Deaths: English politician Sir Stephen Fox (b. 1627) on Oct. 28. French painter Charles de la Fosse (b. 1636) on Dec. 13. French adm. Francois Louis de Rousselet, marquis de Chateaurenault (b. 1637) on Nov. 15 in Paris. English dramatist William Wycherley (b. 1640). German #1 philosopher-scientist-mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (b. 1646) on Nov. 14 in Hanover; the English royalty snubs his funeral, even though George I is near Hanover at his death; never marries; his grave goes unmarked for 50+ years; there goes the last universal European thinker until TLW, nyuk nyuk nyuk - and the one voted most likely to be cloned? German naturalist Engelbert Kaempfer (b. 1651) on Nov. 2 in Lemgo. French musical theorist Joseph Sauveur (b. 1653). German elector Johann Wilhelm II (b. 1658) on June 8 in Dusseldorf. French mathematician Antoine Parent (b. 1666) on Sept. 26. English mathematician Roger Cotes (b. 1682) on June 5 in Cambridge.
1717 The 4th and final mass migration from Britain to the New World begins as hundreds of thousands of Celtic Britons and Scotch-Irish from N Ireland, the Scottish lowlands and the N counties of England flock into the rugged back country along the Appalachian Mts. in Am., incl. 250K Ulstermen (ends 1775). On May 19 Peter the Great takes a crap at the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, and, there being no other paper, uses a 100 franc note to wipe his ass, leaving it to the valet, who freaks, until the concierge tells him, "When you wash it off, it will buy just as many drinks"; while in Paris, Peter sits for his portrait by painter French Rococo Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755). On May 27 the viceroyalty of New (Nueva) Granada is formed by the Bourbon kings from Nueva Granada (Bogota Plateau), Panama, Venezuela, and Quito (until 1739). On June 24 (feast of St. John the Baptist) the Premier (Mother) Grand Lodge (Orient) of England (London) (Westminster) is established in London at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House in St. Paul's Churchyard from the union of four London Craft lodges; Mother Kilwinning Lodge (Number 0) in Scotland claims to date from 1140; official Freemasonry is born, building men instead of churches; the trademark is the square and compass; the Masonic Tenets are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth; the three degress are entered apprentice, fellow craft, and master mason; there are three degrees, three candles, three knocks on the door, three stages of life, three principal numbers, all because Plato taught the Trinity (1+2=3); passwords: Boaz (1st degree), Jachin (2nd degree), Mahabyn (3rd degree); the first gift given to a Freemason is a white leather apron, which is buried with him at death; the York Rite has 10 higher degrees: four Royal Arch degrees, three Cryptic Mason degrees, three Chivalric orders, ending with the Knights Templar Order; in the early years a man with a sword guards the doors; non-Freemasons get suspicious that the Freemasons are using mind control on them, and found the Mad Hatter fraternity, wearing aluminum foil hats? In the summer wealthy Barbados landowner ("the Gentleman Pirate") Stede Bonnet (1688-1718) goes bad, buys the Revenge, and begins freebooting along the E coast of North Am., then hooks up with Blackbeard in Dec., ceding to his command before/after he fails to capture the Protestant Caesar; he becomes the only pirate who actually is known to make his victims walk the plank? On July 11 after Spain attacks Austria in Italy, the Triple Alliance (a different one than in 1668, an attempt to maintain the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht) is formed by Britain, France, and the Netherlands against Spain. On July 17 (7-17-1717) the Water Music, composed by Georg Friedrich (George Frideric) Handel (1685-1759), now in the service of the Duke of Carnarvon is used as the serenade to George I at a royal river picnic on the Thames River, where the king's barge is accompanied by "so great a Number of Boats, that the whole River in a manner was cover'd"; the barge next to the royal one carries 50 musicians playing Handel's composition 3x as they all travel 5 mi. upriver from Westminster to Chelsea. On Apr. 15 PM (since oct. 12, 1715) Robert Walpole resigns, and on Apr. 15 is succeeded by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (1673-1721) as chief minister of the British cabinet (until Mar. 20, 1718), who tries to use a network of alliances to maintain the peace of Europe as well as the stability of Britain; for the first time the English cabinet is all Whig. Prince Eugene ejects the Turks from Belgrade. Old Pretender James III is forced to leave France. A separate Afghan state is formed under Abdalis of Herat. The Tibet Revolt (ends 1720) begins with the seizure of Lhasa by the Dzungar (Zunghar) Mongols under Tsewang Rabdan (1697-1727), nephew of W Mongol (Olot) chief Gladan. The Bahamas become an English crown colony (until 1964). Philippines gov. Fernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamente y Rueda (-1719) "the Marsical" attempts to reform govt. finances, causing his murder by friars in 1719 - don't bust the mint? John Law's Mississippi Co. receives a monopoly of trade with Louisiana. Armenian Mekhitarist monks settle on the San Lazzaro Island in Venice. Dover, Del. is founded on 125 acres acquired by William Penn in 1683. The seaport of Krasnovodsk (Rus. "red water") (modern pop. 50K) on the Krasnovodsk Gulf in NW Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea from Baku is founded as a fort; in 1993 it is renamed Turkmenbashi ("leader of all Turkmen") by pres. Saparmurat Niyazov. The value of a golden guinea is fixed at 21 shillings, equivalent to $20.67 a troy ounce (almost quadrupling since 1344); this price is maintained until 1934. The bang-bang-on-the-door-baby Bangorian Controversy begins when Bangor, Wales bishop Benjamin Hoadly (1676-1761) gives a hoadly sermon denying the doctrinal and disciplinary authority of the church; the king suspends the convocation (church legislative body) until 1852. By an act of the British Parliament, convicts guilty of certain crimes can escape the hangman by "transportation" to the colonies; most choose the Chesapeake - like Defoe's Moll Flanders? School attendance becomes compulsory in Prussia. Ft. Prince of Wales is built on the Hudson Bay at the mouth of the Churchill River by James Knight of the Hudson's Bay Co. The Spanish build a fort on the N shore of the La Plata estuary on the future site of Montevideo. William Pitt, gov. of Madras sells the Indian 136.9 carat Pitt (Regent) Diamond to Duke Philippe of Orleans. Bohemian-born Baroque architect Johann Balthasar Neumann (1687-1753) begins working for the Schonborn prince-bishop of Wurzburg, going on to turn the town into a showpiece, building the Wurzburg Residence, the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen (Fourteen Holy Helpers) (1743-72) et al. French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur (1692-1730) debuts at the Comedie Francaise in Paris in Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon's "Electre". J.S. Bach becomes kappelmeister in Kothen (Köthen) in Saxony-Anhalt (until 1723). Architecture: British army barracks are erected in Berwick-upon-Tweed, 2.5 mi. S of the Scottish border, designed by Nicholas Hawskmoor (1661-1736) (finished 1721). After returning from a Grand Tour of Italy in 1714, and before going on a 2nd one in 1719, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694-1753) reads Giacomo Leoni's "Palladio", and is turned on, firing James Gibbs (hired in 1709 by his mother Lady Juliana) and hiring Colen Campbell to remodel Burlington House on Piccadilly Circus in Mayfair, London in strict Palladian style, which ends up housing five learned societies (the Courtyard Societies), incl. the Royal Astronomical Society, Society of Antiquaries of London, Linnean Society of London, Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Geological Society of London; by the 1730s the Palladian style is accepted as the std. for a British country house or public bldg., and Burlington becomes known as "the Apollo of the Arts" and "the Architect Earl". Inventions: On Dec. 31 the first written mention of the Conestoga Wagon, named after the Conestoga River and/or Township and/or Conestoga tribe in Lancaster, Penn., invented by German Mennonite immigrants, which becomes popular for use in the Great Appalachian Valley along the Great Wagon Road, and for commerce to Pittsburgh and Ohio; they prove too heavy for use on the Great Prairie, and ordinary farm wagons with canvas covers are used by pioneers. Edmund Halley invents the first practical diving bell, consisting of a wooden chamber with glass windows, supplied with air by movable exterior wooden air barrels fitted with leather tubes. Science: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) introduces smallpox inoculation in England. The hybridization of Dianthus is reported in Britain by English gardener Thomas Fairchild (1667-1729) of Hoxton, East End, London, who crosses a Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) with a Carnation Pink to create Fairchild's Mule, the first artificial hybrid. Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Orgelbuchlein (46 organ chorales); Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (1717-23). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Water Music (July 17); the Allegro is later used by William F. Buckley Jr. for "Firing Line". Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Der Grossmutige Tomyris (opera) (Hamburg); Jobates und Bellerophon (opera) (Hamburg). John Weaver (1673-1760), The Loves of Mars and Venus (ballet) (Drury Lane). Art: Jean Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), Portrait of Tsar Peter the Great (Paris). Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Embarkation for the Isle of Cythera. Nonfiction: Anon., The Vinegar Bible; ed. of the 1611 King James Bible that misprints the heading of Luke 20 as "The parable of the vinegar" instead of vineyard. Anthony Collins (1676-1729), A Philosophical Inquiry Concerning Human Liberty. August Hermann Francke, Praelectiones Hermeneuticae. Cardinal de Retz (1614-79), Memoires (Fronde period) (posth.). William Sutherland, Prices of the Shipbuilding Adjusted: or, the Mystery of Ship-Building Unveiled. Rev. John Wise, The Vindication of the Government of the New England Churches: "Government was never Established by God or Nature, to give one Man a Prerogative to insult over another." Plays: Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1674-1762), Semiramis; another flop, although his jealous rival Voltaire writes his own version later, like he does with four other of his tragedies ("Electre", "Catilina", "Le Triumviral", "Ahreeas"). Poetry: Thomas Parnell (1679-1718), Battle of the Frogs and Mice. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Collected Works; incl. "Eloisa to Abelard", "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady", "Epistles to Martha Blount". Voltaire (1694-1778), La Henriade; in honor of Henry IV of France during the 1589 siege of Paris; written in the Bastille, then pub. in 1723. Births: Ottoman sultan #26 (1757-74) Mustafa III (d. 1774) (AKA Cihangir) on Jan. 28 (Jan. 18) in Constantinople; son of Ahmed III (1673-1736); brother of Abdulhamid I (1725-89); father of Selim III (1761-1808). English field marshal Baron Jeffrey (Jeffery) (Geoffrey) Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Montreal (d. 1797) on Jan. 29 in Brooks Place (Riverhead), Sevenoaks, Kent (near Sackville's Knole); born into a family of lawyers and clergymen; at age 12 becomes a page to Lionel Sackville, 7th earl and 1st duke of Dorset, rising to secy.; at age 18 becomes an ensign in the First Regiment of Foot Guards; leads British forces that win control of Wet-Dry Can Can Canada from France, becoming Britain's #3 all-time gen. after Marlborough and Wellington. Austrian field marshal Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon (Loudon) (d. 1790) on Feb. 2 in Tootzen (Latvia). English 5'4" actor-playwright-impresario David Garrick (d. 1779) on Feb. 19 in Hereford; descendant of French Huguenots who settled in the 1680s; pupil-friend of Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-84). Austrian archduchess (1740-80), Bohemian queen (1740-1), and HRE (1745-65) Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (d. 1780) on May 13 in Vienna; daughter of HRE Charles VI; empress of the German Holy Roman Empire, and mother of 16 children incl. HRE Joseph II and Marie Antoinette. Czech violinist-composer Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (Jan Vaclav Stamic) (d. 1757) on June 18 in Deutschbrod, Bohemia; father of Carl Stamitz (1745-1801) and Anton Stamitz (175-1809). French sculptor Jacques Francois Joseph Saly (d. 1776) on June 20 in Valenciennes. French chemist Joseph Marie Francois de Lassone (d. 1788) on July 3 in Carpentras (Vaucluse). Portuguese king (1777-86) Pedro III (d. 1786) on July 5 in Lisbon; younger son of John V and Mary Anne of Austria; brother of Joseph I; maternal grandson of HRE Leopold I. French military leader Louis Francois I de Bourbon, Prince of Conti (d. 1776) on Aug. 13 in Paris; son of Louis Armand II and Louise Elisabeth de Bourbon (granddaughter of Louis XIV). English "The Castle of Otranto" writer-statesman Horace (Horatio) Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (d. 1797) on Sept. 24 in London; 3rd (youngest) son of Robert Walpole (1676-1745); educated at Eton College, and King's College, Cambridge U.; becomes 4th earl of Oxford in 1791 when his eldest brother's son dies; cousin of Lord Horatio Nelson (1758-1805); MP in 1741-68. Am. Rev. War maj. gen. John Armstrong Sr. (d. 1795) on Oct. 13 in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Ireland; father of John Armstrong Jr. (1758-1843) and James Armstrong (1748-1828). French Canadian explorer Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Verendrye (Vérendrye) (d. 1761) on Nov. 9 in Ile aux Vaches, Quebec; youngest son of Pierre La Verendrye (1685-1749); brother of Francois de La Verendrye (1715-94). French philosopher-scientist-mathematician-encyclopedist (atheist) Jean Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (d. 1783) on Nov. 16 in Paris; left by his mother at the steps of the Saint-Jean-le-Rond de Paris Church; educated at the U. of Paris; shacks up with babe Jeanne Julie Eleonore de Lespinasse (1732-76). German "History of Ancient Art" archaeologist and art historian (gay?) Johann Joachim Winckelmann (d. 1768) on Dec. 9 in Stendal, Brandenburg; son of a cobbler. French statesman-diplomat Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes (d. 1787) on Dec. 20 in Dijon. English Baptist hymnodist Anna Steele (d. 1778) in Broughton, Hampshire. Spanish gov. of Guatemala (1779-83) and viceroy of New Spain (1783-4) gen. Matias de Galvez (Gálvez) y Gallardo (d. 1784) in Macharaviaya; father of Bernardo Galvez y Madrid (1746-86). English brewer William Bass Jr. (d. 1787); son of William Bass Sr. (-1732); father of William Bass III and Michael Thomas Bass (1760-1827). Welsh hymnodist William Williams Panycelyn (d. 1791) in Cefn-coed Llanfair ar y bryn Llandovery. Italian fencing master Domenico Angelo (Angelo Domenico Malevolti) (d. 1802) in Leghorn. English Bluestocking writer Elizabeth Carter (d. 1806). Deaths: French gov. of New France (1661-7) Pierre Boucher de Boucherville (b. 1622) on Apr. 19 in Boucherville (near Montreal), Canada. French mathematician Jacques Ozanam (b. 1640) on Apr. 3. German scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian (b. 1647) on Jan. 13 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. French Quietist leader Madame Guyon (b. 1648) on June 9: "It is the fire of suffering that brings forth the gold of godliness." African Ashanti king (1675-1717) Osei Kofi Tutu I (b. 1660). German anatomist Frederick Ruysch (b. 1665). English coke smelting inventor Abraham Darby Sr. (b. 1678) on Mar. 8 in Madeley, Shropshire.
1718 The mass emigration of Protestants from Ulster to the New World begins. On Jan. 6 English sea capt. Woodes Rogers (1679-1732) (who rescued Alexander Selkirk in 1709) is appointed as royal gov. #1 of the new British crown colony (until 1973) of the Bahamas by George I (until June 1721), going on to clear the area of pirates, offering the "King's Pardon" to all but the worst and the leaders; in the summer Stede Bonnet is pardoned by N.C. gov. Charles Eden, and given a license to take Spanish ships, but he decides to go pirate again under the alias Capt. Thomas of the Royal James, then is chased by Col. William Rhett under the authorization of S.C. gov. Robert Johnson, and is captured on the Rhett River in early Oct. after all his ships run aground, and hanged in Charleston on Dec. 10; meanwhile on Nov. 22 6' English buccaneer Blackbeard the Pirate (Edward Teach or Thatch) (b. 1680), known for having 14 wives, carrying 12 pistols along with knives and swords, and tying slow-burning fuses to his heavy black beard and long braided hair dies at the Battle of Ocracoke Inlet fighting his former employees in his 300-ton 40-gun ship Queen Anne's Revenge (formerly Concorde, which he captured last Nov. and added 14 guns to), which sinks; his head is hung from the mast of his enemy's ship; in Oct. 2006 archeologists find his ship off the N.C. coast. On Mar. 25 the Danes claim the island of St. John in the Virgin Islands and found the Cinnamon Bay Plantation. In Mar. Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (1674-1722) (whose portrait bears a striking resemblance to Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727)?), known for his private library in Althorp (the finest in Europe in 1703, later moved to Blenheim Palace) replaces James Stanhope as chief minister of the British cabinet (until 1721), spending his time trying to get the number of members of the House of Lords limited. In Apr. 24-y.-o. Francois-Marie Arouet is released from the Bastille, and changes his name to the cool Voltaire (1694-1778), becoming the coolest "you can't touch this" literary wit of the cent.? On May 1 Mission San Antonio de Valero is established on the San Antonio River by Father Antonio de Olivares and New Spain viceroy Marquis de Valero as the first of a mission chain for Christianizing Indians, becoming known as the Alamo in 1744; on May 5 Gov. Martin Alarcon founds Villa de Bejar 3/4 league upstream at the headwaters of San Pedro Creek, which becomes the capital of the New Spain province of Tejas, the northernmost settlement in the Valley of Mexico; the mission is abandoned in 1793, becoming a military depot and fortress until 1836, when it becomes the Alamo, "Cradle of Texas Liberty". Pass around the wits, Sophocles? On July 21 the Treaty of Passarowitz (Pozarevac) between Turkey, Venice, and Austria ends the Seventh Ottoman-Venetian War (begun 1714); Banat, Lesser Walachia, and N Serbia, incl. Belgrade are lost by the Ottomans to the Hapsburgs of Austria, halting their westward expansion; too bad, Turkey is given full possession of Greece, and they partition it into districts ruled by autocratic govs. who oppress Greek Christians, causing klepht guerrillas to take to the mountains and Greek pirates to hold out on the Aegean while an underground Greek independence movement looks to Russia for aid; meanwhile Ibrahim becomes Ahmed III's chief advisor, and encourages the spread of learning and libraries, and the promotion of Greek Phanariots (PHanariotes) (residents of Phanar, the Greek quarter of Constantinople) to high places. On Aug. 2 the Quadruple Alliance of France, England, Holland, and the HRE (Austria) against Spanish ambitions in Italy is formed to maintain the Treaty of Utrecht, guarantee the succession of the reigning families of England and France, and settle the partition of the Spanish monarchy; Holland actually joins next year, but it's called the you know what, so? In the fall Charles XII of Sweden (b. 1682) goes to war against the Norwegians, and dies on Nov. 30 of a gunshot wound to the head during the Battle of Fredriksten (Fredrikshald) in Norway; he is succeeded on Dec. 5 by his sister Ulrika Eleonora the Younger (1688-1741) (until Feb. 29, 1720). In Nov. Alexis, only son of Peter I the Great of Russia is murdered at his orders. Pierre Sidrac Dugue (Dugué) dit Laf, Sieur de Boisbriant (Boisbriand) (1675-1740) is appointed as the first cmdr. of Ill. by the French. The Spanish reestablish Ft. Zamboanga (Pilar) in Mindanao (abandoned 1663), causing the Muslim kingdoms to renew hostilities. The Potawatomi relocate from Green Bay to Detroit. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu uses inoculation against smallpox in Turkey. Houessou Akaba (ruled since 1685) dies of smallpox, and his brother Dossou Agadja (Agaja) (-1740) usurps the throne from Akaba's 10-y.-o. son Agbo Sassa, and becomes king #5 of Dahomey in W Africa (until 1740), going on to get his butt kicked by the Yorubas and end up with his kingdom paying the king of Oyo an annual tribute of human slaves for the next cent., but making up for it by conquering the Savi city of Ouidah in 1724 using his Dahomey Amazon nude bodyguards as warriors, giving Dahomey direct access to the sea and the lucrative slave trade; starting next year the majority of African slaves brought to La. (until 1731) come from Benin, bringing La. Voodoo with them. The French begin moving N of Cape Charles to fish - and after that they really want to talk? Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville and the Mississippi Co. of Perth Amboy (founded 1685) found the city of New Orleans ("the Crescent City") on a bend in the Mississippi in honor of the duke of Orleans (regent of France), becoming one of the first planned towns in North Am.. Fort de Chartres is built by the French N of Kaskasia, Ill. 12-y.-o. Benjamin Franklin is apprenticed to his printer brother James for nine years. Nicholas Rowe (b. 1674) dies, and Laurence Eusden (1688-1730) becomes poet laureate of England (until Sept. 27, 1730). G.F. Handel succeeds John Christopher Pepusch as kappellmeister to the duke of Chandos. The Leeds Mercury newspaper begins pub. The first bank notes are issued in England. Porcelain begins to be manufactured in Vienna. Wool export is forbidden by the British govt. French Jesuit missionary Joseph-Francois Lafitau (1681-1746), who arrived in Canada in 1711 and lived with the Iroquois pub. his discovery of ginseng in Canada, causing a gold rush fever and big profits; the first shipment of ginseng from Canada arrives in Canton, China; too bad, they overproduce it and dry it too fast, creating inferior stuff, ruining their own trade. The word "cicisbeo" (arranged lover of a married woman) is first used in a letter by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu; Lord Byron later acts as cicisbeo to Contessa Teresa Gamba Guiccioli, and writes "You must understand, this Italian fashion prevails at Nice among all ranks of people; and there is not such a passion as jealousy known. The husband and the cicisbeo live together as sworn brothers; and the wife and the mistress embrace each other with marks of the warmest affection." The London Society of Antiquaries is founded. The Accademia dei Scienze, Lettere, ed Arti is founded in Palermo. Yale College is named after prominent Anglican Conn. diamond merchant and slave trader (in Madras, India) Elihu Yale (1649-1721) after Calvinist minister Cotton Mather convinces him to give it an endowment of nine bales (£562 worth) of goods along with 417 books and a portrait of George I to counter the liberal and irreligious trends at Harvard "to serve the great interests of education and so of religion"; Yale's money to fund the college was stolen from the East India Trading Co., when he was pres. of Madras until being removed in 1692 after charges of corruption?; actually, Jeremiah Dummer Jr. (1681-1739) (first colonial-born Am. to earn a Euro Ph.D.) is the real founder, soliciting donations from Yale, as well as Isaac Newton and Richard Steele, but nobody wants to go to Dumb and Dummer College, so they stage a coverup? The first Free Masonic Hell Fire (Hellfire) Club is founded by Jacobite politician Philip, 1st Duke of Wharton (1698-1731) et al. in London, England, expanding to several clubs run by the notorious Sir Francis Dashwood et al., whose members (incl. Benjamin Franklin?) engage in sexual orgies and call themselves "Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe"; in 1721 they are closed by royal edict, and some reopen later under less obvious names in 1749-60/66? - like massage parlors? Architecture: Inventions: English weaver Sir Thomas Lombe (1685-1739) patents a machine to make thrown silk, then builds a silk mill in Derby, pissing off the Italians, from whom he had stolen the design (used since the early 1600s), who send a hit woman, who poisons his brother and partner John Lombe in 1722, but doesn't stop him from breaking the Italian monopoly on silk trade and lowering the price, even getting knighted. Science: French chemist Etienne Francois Geoffroy (1672-1731) presents his tables of chemical affinities to the French Academie. Nonfiction: William Fleetwood (1656-1723), The Justice of Paying Debts. Thomas Foxcroft (1697-1769), A Practical Discourse Relating to the Gospel Ministry; new Harvard-educated Puritan preacher blasts his Boston congregation with shocking language in order to "breathe heavenly fire to melt and enliven... dead affections". Etienne Geoffroy (1672-1731), Tables of Affinity; chemical reactivity data recording the order in which acids will expel weaker ones from combination with bases. Abraham de Moivre (1667-1754), The Doctrine of Chances; first textbook on probability theory; prized by gamblers; De Moivre's Formula is later named after him. Cornelius Nary (1658-1738), Catholic English Version of the New Testament; first complete English trans. after the Rheims trans., by a parish priest from Dublin. Bernard Nieuwentyt (1654-1618), The Religious Philosopher: or, The Right Use of the Contemplation of the World, for the Conviction of Atheists and Infidels (2 vols.); basis of William Paley's "Natural Theology" (1802). Philibert-Joseph Le Roux, Dictionnaire Comique, Satrique, Critique, Burlesque, Libre, et Proverbial (1718-86). Art: Peter Cooper, The Southeast Prospect of the City of Philadelphia; long horizontal painting which becomes the oldest painting of a North Am. urban center to survive to modern times. Giambattista Foggini (1652-1725), Bust of Cosimo III de' Medici (1642-1723) (1717-18) (marble sculpture). Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), Portrait of the Duke of Norfolk. Balthasar Permoser (1651-1732), Apotheosis of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1718-21) (sculpture); portrays him as Hercules towering over a fallen Turk along with the figure of Fame, but the prince doesn't like it because it's too Baroque and not classical enough? Sebastiano Ricci, The Dream of Aesculapius. Jean Antoine Watteau, Mezzetin; Parc Fete. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Acis and Galatea (HWV 49) (masque); libretto by John Gay (1685-1732), John Hughes, and Alexander Pope (1688-1744), based on John Dryden's 1717 trans. of Ovid's "Story of Acis, Polyphemus and Galatea"; his most performed work during his lifetime. Plays: Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), A Bold Stroke for a Wife (satire) (Lincoln's Inn Fields, London) (Feb. 3) (6 perf.); big hit in the U.S.; debuts on Broadway at Wallack's Theatre in 1863; Col. Fainwell and Anne Lovely are in love, but he must court her in disguse to get around her four guardians, and goes too far when he impersonates Quaker Simon Pure, who has to fight an identity thief; a satire of the Tories, religious hypocrisy, and capitalism, supporting the Whigs; causes the term "simon-pure" to be coined for untainted. Colley Cibber (1671-1757), The Non-Juror (comedy). Voltaire (1694-1778), Edipe (tragedy); about Oedipus; his first play, written in the Bastille, which becomes a hit, launching his career. Births: Am. Rev. War Maj. Gen. Israel "Old Put" Putnam (d. 1790) on Jan. 7 in Salem (Danvers), Mass.; ranking officer at the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill; born to a farming family associated with the Salem Witch Trials; moves to Mortlake (Pomfret), Conn. at age 22. English adm. Georges Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney (d. 1792) on Feb. 13 in Walton-on-Thames; created baron in 1782. French Jesuit Oriental scholar Jean Joseph Maria Amiot (d. 1793) in Feb. in Toulon; Jesuit missionary in China from 1750-93. Scottish prof. of rhetoric Hugh Blair (d. 1800) on Apr. 7 in Edinburgh. U.S. Navy Commodore (Navy CIC in the Am. Rev. War.) Esek (Essex) Hopkins (d. 1802) on Apr. 26 in Scituate, R.H.; brother of Stephen Hopkins (1707-85); first CIC of the U.S. Navy and first ranking officer. Am. nonconformist Glasite theologian Robert Sanderman (d. 1771) on Apr. 29 in Perth, Scotland; educated at Edinburgh U.; emigrates to Danbury, Conn. in 1763. Swiss astronomer Jean-Philippe Loys de Cheseaux (Chéseaux) (d. 1751) on May 4 in Lausanne. Italian mathematician-philosopher ("the Witch of Agnesi") Maria Gaetana Agnesi (d. 1799) on May 16 in Milan; educated at the U. of Bologna. English cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale (d. 1779) on June 16 (June 5 Old Style) in Otley (near Leeds); known for "Gothick" tracery on chair backs. Dutch field marshal (1750-66) Louis Ernest of Brunswick-Luneburg (Brunswick-Lüneburg-Bevern) (d. 1788) on Sept. 25 in Wolfenbuttel; brother of Duke Charles I of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel (1713-80). English socialite Elizabeth (Fidget) Montagu (d. 1800) on Oct. 2 in Yorkshire; invents the highbrow blue-stocking parties. French marshal Victor Francois de Broglie, 2nd Duc de Broglie (d. 1804) on Oct. 19 in Paris; father of Victor de Broglie (1756-94) and Victor de Broglie, 3rd duc de Broglie (1785-1870). British lord of the admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (OE "sandy place") (d. 1792) on Nov. 13 (Nov. 3 Old Style); educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge U.; namesake of the Sandwich. French astronomer (discoverer of the Ring Nebula) Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix (d. 1802) on Nov. 23 in Toulouse. Deaths: English Utilitarian philosopher Richard Cumberland (b. 1631). Chinese Catholic priest and painter Wu Yushan (b. 1632). French mathematician-astronomer Philippe de La Hire (b. 1640) on Apr. 21. English Quaker Oats cover boy William Penn (b. 1644) on July 30 in Berkshire. Dutch theologian-mathematician Bernard Nieuwentyt (b. 1654) on May 30 in Purmerend, North Holland. English/Scottish queen Mary of Modena (b. 1658) on May 7 in Paris. French-born English dramatist Peter Anthony Motteux (b. 1663) on Feb. 18; dies in a brothel (autoerotic asphyxiation?). English celeb Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield (b. 1664) on Feb. 17. English poet laureat and dramatist Nicholas Rowe (b. 1674). Dutch scholar Adriaan Reland (b. 1676) on Feb. 5 in Utrecht (smallpox). Anglo-Irish poet-clergyman Thomas Parnell (b. 1679) on Oct. 24. English lusty arrrgh pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) (b. 1680) on Nov. 22 in Ocracoke, N.C. (KIA). his head is displayed on a pole in Va. Swedish king (1697-1718) Charles XII (b. 1682) on Nov. 30 in Fredrikshald, Norway.
1719 On Jan. 23 HRE Charles VI declares the fiefs of Vaduz and Schellenberg united as a principality (Furstentum) under the name Liechtenstein; the princes of Lichtenstein don't visit it until Prince Aloys in 1818. On Feb. 8 England and France declare war on Spain. On Feb. 28 Farrukhsiyar (b. 1685) dies, and Syed Brothers puppet Rafi-ul Darjat (b. 1699) becomes Mughal emperor #10, dying on June 11 after having his brother Shah Jahan II (Rafi-ud-Daulah) (b. 1696) enthroned as Mughal emperor #11; on Sept. 19 he dies of lung cancer, and is succeeded by Bahadur Shah I's 4th son Muhammad (Mohammed) Shah (Roshan Akhtar) (Rangeela) (Joy-Maker) (1702-48) as Mughal emperor #12 (until Apr. 26, 1748), who goes on to kill the Syed Brothers in 1722 and become the last capable Mughal emperor, making Urdu the official court language, getting the Quran trans. for the first time into Persian, and replacing the Tartar dress with the long coatlike Sherwani. On Mar. 29 James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley (1680-1736), cmdr. of the Dorsetshire becomes English lord high adm. (until Aug. 2, 1727), the first not of royal blood (until ?). On Sept. 18 Spain recaptures Pensacola, Fla. On Nov. 11 New Spain (Mexico) sets up the Tribunal de la Acordada (Court of Agreement) for quick justice to bandits, convicting 57.5K of 62,8250 accused by 1810, of which 888 are hung. In Nov. the Peace (Treaty) of Stockholm is signed between Sweden and Hanover, with Sweden ceding Bremen and Verdun to George I (elector of Hanover) for 1M rix dollars. On Dec. 5 after a short war between Spain and the Quadruple Alliance which comes close to making Spain the common enemy of all of Europe, Philip V of Spain dismisses Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, who retires to Rome. The Jacobites stage the Little Rising, and are defeated at the Battle of Glenshiel; Ireland is declared inseparable from England; speaking of mashed potatoes, Irish immigrants bring the potato to Londonderry, New Hampshire, and begin the first large-scale potato growing in North Am. The Jesuits are expelled from Russia. N Carolina and S Carolina become royal colonies after disputes over Yamassee land cause the Board of Trade to intervene (ends 1729). The city of Baton Rouge (Fr. "red stick") on the E bank of the Mississippi River in La. is founded. French settlers move into St. Vincent Island, cultivating coffee, tobacco, indigo, cotton and sugar using African slaves and Black Caribs. Cuyaba (Cuiaba) on the Cuiaba River (chief tributary of the Paraguay River) in Brazil is founded by prospectors from Sao Paulo who find gold and diamonds, becoming the capital of the inland state of Matto Grosso. The Church of the Brethren (Dunkers) (Dunkards), composed of Baptists opposed to military service and the taking of oaths migrates to Germantown, Penn. G.F. Handel becomes dir. of the Royal Academy of Music in London. Nouveau riche Alexander Pope moves to a villa in a watered grotto in Twickenham, which he lavishly decorates. Alessandro Scarlatti leaves Naples after his popularity fades, and settles in Rome (until 1723). The English Parliament repeals the Occasional Conformity Act and the Schism Act. The Banque General of John Law absorbs the rival East India and China Co., becoming the Banque Royale, with its notes guaranteed by the king, and a charter to manage the mint for nine years, and farm the nat. revenues while acting as receiver of the govt. debt, with Law becoming councilor of state and comptroller gen.; meanwhile his Mississippi scheme attracts speculators, who drive the shares sky high while his bank floods the country with paper money. The Oriental Co. is founded in Vienna; their 2nd try; lasts 25 years (until 1744). Westminster Hospital in Broad Sanctuary, London is founded after a meeting in a coffeehouse by four men to discuss a "charitable proposal for relieving the sick". Smoking is prohibited in France, except in Franche-Comte, Flanders, and Alsace. Scottish Presbyterian minister and Englightenment philosopher Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746) opens a private academy in Dublin, churning out a bunch of works on philosophical ethics that capture the British market until John Locke; afterwards (1729) he becomes a prof. of moral philosophy at Glasgow until death. Welsh-born Bartholomew Roberts (1682-1722), a third mate on a slave ship is captured by pirates off the coast of Africa, and ends up joining then rising to comand them, becoming known as Black Bart, and going on to capture some of the greatest prizes ever (until 1722). The Boston Gazette is founded by William Brooker after he becomes postmaster of Boston, Mass. (until 1720). The Am. Weekly Mercury begins pub. in Philly, becoming the first newspaper in the middle colonies, and 4th in North Am. Sports: The first Cricket Match pits the Londoners against the Kentish Men. James Figg (1695-1734) becomes England's first bare-knuckled boxing champ (until 1729), founding the modern art of boxing - I'm gonna knock your fig off? Architecture: Inventions: Antoine de Reaumur proposes using wood to make paper. German Baroque painter Jakob Christof Le Blon (1667-1741) invents color printing. Nonfiction: Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), Treatise on Turkish Music; Chronicle of the Durability of Romanians, Moldavians and Wallachians (1719-22). Baron Christian von Wolff (1679-1754), Rational Thoughts About God, the World, and the Soul of Man, and on All Things Whatsoever. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), 12 Chandos Anthems; for his patron James Brydges, 1st duke of Chandos. Isaac Watts (1674-1748), The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and Applied to the Christian State and Worship, paraphrases in Christian verse the entire book of Psalms except for 12 he didn't think appropriate; incl. Joy to the World, which becomes the most popular Christmas hymn in North Am., Bless, O My Soul! The Living God, Jesus Shall Reign, My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, Our God, Our Help in Ages Past, This is the Day the Lord Hath Made, and 'Tis by Thy Strength the Mountains Stand; Watts' hymns go on to become popular with Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Mormons, and Christian Scientists. Poetry: Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Pedar Paars (1719-20); mock-heroic epic poem satirizing contemporary manners. Plays: Thomas D'Urfey (1653-1723), Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy. Edward Young (1683-1765), Busiris (Drury Lane, London). Novels: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (Apr. 25); the first English novel?; based on the life of Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721); spends 24 years on a desert island, where he is saved from cannibals by Friday on guess what day, and makes an umbrella out of skins; how white Euros can achieve salvation via work, the conquering of loneliness, and recognition of the inequality of human relations; "The aptest treatise on natural education" (Jean-Jacques Rousseau). Births: Am. Congregationalist Christian Socialist minister Joseph Bellamy (d. 1790) on Feb. 20 in Cheshire, Conn.; educated at Yale U.; student of Jonathan Edwards; great-grandfather of Edward Bellamy (1850-98) and Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). German poet Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (d. 1803) on Apr. 2 in Ermsleben (near Halberstadt), Ostharz. Swedish statesman-gen. Count Fredrik Axel von Fersen the Elder (d. 1794) on Apr. 5; son of Lt. Gen. Hans Reinhold von Fersen; father of Axel von Fersen the Younger (1755-1810). French diplomat-statesman-gen. Etienne Francois, Duc de Choiseul, Comte de Stainville (d. 1785) on June 28 in Nancy; eldest son of Joseph Francois de Choiseul, Marquis de Stainville (1700-70); cousin of Cesar Gabriel de Choiseul, duc de Praslin (1712-85). French "Philosophie sans le Savoir" dramatist Michel-Jean Sedaine (d. 1797) on July 4 in Paris. German geologist Johann Gottlob Lehmann (b. 1719) on Aug. 4 in Langenhennersdorf, Saxony; educated at the U. of Wittenberg. French marshal Francois-Gaston de Levis (Lévis), Duc de Levis (Lévis) (d. 1787) on Aug. 20 in Chateau d'Ajac (near Limoux). Austrian violinist-composer Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (d. 1787) on Nov. 14 in Augsburg, Germany; father of "miracle of God" Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91). Irish actor Spranger Barry (d. 1777) on Nov. 23. English philosopher George Campbell (d. 1796) on Dec. 25. French critic Elie Catherine Freron (Élie-Catherine Fréron) (d. 1776) in Quimper, Brittany; educated by Jesuits. Irish elocutionist actor-lexicographer Thomas Sheridan (d. 1788); godson of Jonathan Swift; educated at Trinity College, Dublin; husband of Frances Chamberlaine Sheridan (1724-66); father of dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816). Am. educator (founder of Phillips Exeter Academy) John Phillips (d. 1795); uncle of Samuel Phillips Jr. (1752-1802). Irish writer (deaf) Charles Johnstone (d. 1800). Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) James Smith (d. 1806) in Dublin, Ireland; emigrates to Penn. at age 10-12. Deaths: French mistress Marquise Francoise de Maintenon (b. 1635) on Apt. 15 in Saint-Cyr. Dutch painter Jan Weenix (b. 1640). English royal astronomer John Flamsteed (b. 1646) on Dec. 31 in Burstow, Surrey. English banker Sir Richard Hoare (b. 1648) on Jan. 6 in Hendon. Catholic educator St. John Baptist de la Salle (b. 1651) on Apr. 7 in Saint-Yon, Rouen, Normandy: "To touch the hearts of your pupils is the greatest miracle you can perform." French mathematician Michel Rolle (b. 1652) on Nov. 8 in Paris. French ecclesiastical historian Louis Elias Dupin (b. 1657). English poet Samuel Garth (b. 1661) on Jan. 18 in London. English writer-clergyman John Harris (b. 1666) on Sept. 7. French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptist Bissot, sieur de Vincennes (b. 1668) in Kekionga. English celebrated poet-essayist-dramatist Joseph Addison (b. 1672) on June 17 in Holland House, London; buried in Westminster Abbey; last words "See in what peace a Christian can die": "We are always doing, says he, something for posterity, but I would fain see posterity do something for us"; "A man must be both stupid and uncharitable who believes there is no virtue or truth but on his own side"; "There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the right side"; "The grand essentials for happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for"; "Admiration is a very short-lived passion, that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object"; "Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover,/ Fades in his eye, and palls upon the senses." English banker Henry Hoare (b. 1677). French mathematician Pierre de Montmort (b. 1678) on Oct. 7. French garden designer Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond (b. 1679) on Mar. 10 in St. Petersburg (smallpox); the tsar attends his funeral; buried at St. Sampson Cemetery. German Dresden china inventor Johann Friedrich Bottiger (b. 1682).
| Country | Leader | From | To | |
| Great Britain | George I (1660-1727) | Aug. 1, 1714 | June 11, 1727 | |
| France | Louis XV the Well-Beloved (1710-74) | Sept. 1, 1715 | May 10, 1774 | |
| Austria | HRE Charles VI (1685-1740) | Oct. 12, 1711 | Oct. 20, 1740 | |
| Russia | Tsar Peter I the Great (1672-1725) | May 7, 1682 | Feb. 8, 1725 | |
| Papacy | Pope Clement XI (1649-1721) | Nov. 23, 1700 | Mar. 19, 1721 | |
1720 Pop. of the Am. colonies: 450K; Boston 12K; Philadelphia 10K; New York City 7K. Marseille, France becomes the last European city to suffer a major outbreak of the plague, killing 100K. On Jan. 26 the Treaty of the Hague ends the war between the Spain and the Quadruple Alliance (begun 1718), and Spain evacuates Sicily and Sardinia; on May 20 Spain signs an act of adhesion to the Quadruple Alliance in return for recognition by the HRE of the Spanish Bourbons; Don Carlos is acknowledged to the succession of Parma and Tuscany through his mother; 3-y.-o. Infanta Maria-Anne-Victoire is promised in marriage to Louis XIV; the House of Savoy is obliged to exchange Sicily (which it got in 1713) for Sardinia with Austria in return for a promotion from duke to king for Victor Amadeus II, whose 11th cent. House of Savoy has come a long way, baby?; Austria rules Sicily until 1735; Turin (Torino), capital of the duchy of Savoy becomes the capital of the new improved tin can Kingdom of Sardinia (1324-1861), incl. Savoy, Piedmont, and Sardinia, becoming the nucleus of the later kingdom of Italy. On Feb. 29 queen (since Dec. 5, 1718) Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicates in favor of her husband Frederick (Fredrik) I (1676-1751), who on Mar. 25 beccomes king of Sweden (until Mar. 25, 1751) (first king to have been prince consort first), who in 1730 also becomes landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (Hesse-Kassel) (1567-1803); in Feb. Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm, ending the war between Sweden and Hanover-Prussia, ceding Swedish territory to Hanover and Prussia and restoring the prewar boundaries among Sweden, Saxony, and Poland; on July 14 (July 3 Old Style) Sweden and Denmark sign the Treaty of Fredericksborg, yielding Danish conquests in return for Swedish payment. On July 12 king (since 1674) Sukjong (Sukchong) (b. 1661) dies, and his son Gyeongjong (Kyonjong) (1688-1724) becomes Yi king #20 of Korea (until Oct. 11, 1724). On July 31 Mughal nobleman Nizam-ul-Mulk ("Regulator of the Realm") (1671-1748) becomes ruler #1 of the new state of Hyderabad in modern-day Pakistan (until June 1, 1748), going on to become the "greatest Mohammedan hero of the eighteenth century" (Henry George Briggs). On Aug. 7 (July 27 Old Style) the Battle of Grengam in Sweden sees 86 Russian ships and 11K sailors and soldiers under field marshal Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn (Galitzine) (1675-1730) decisively defeated by the 13-ship 1K-sailor Swedish fleet under vice-adm. Eric Sjoblad, halting Russian naval activities in the Baltic, and becoming the last major naval battle in the Great Northern War (begun 1700). The Pragmatic Sanction is recognized by the estates of Upper and Lower Austria. The cat's away? Marquis Joseph Francois Dupleix (1697-1763) comes to India as an official of the French East India Co. after his shareholder father gets him a seat on the superior council in Pondicherry; in 1730 he rises to supt. of French affairs in Chandernagore, Bengal, then gov.-gen. of all French India in 1742, vexing the British in India for decades by using the decay of the Mogul empire to extend French influence (until 1754) - hahaha, gotcha? The Tibet Revolt (begun 1717) is suppressed by armies from Gansu and Sichuan, the Mongols are driven out of Tibet, and Tibet becomes a Chinese protectorate, with a popular Dalai Lama enthroned, protected by imperial garrisons. Starting in this decade the Kazakh tribes of Kazakhstan fight a war against the invading Jungar (Zhunghar) (Dzungar) ("left hand") hordes of W Mongolia, fighting each other on horseback; by 1760s the Kazakhs drive them off, making a hero of Abulmansur, who becomes Ablai Khan (1711-81). Japanese shogun (since 1716) Tokugawa Yoshimune breaks down and repeals the laws against European books and study. British PM Charles Spender, er, Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland gives Robert Walpole the post of paymaster gen., after which the South Sea Bubble bursts after its stock soars from £128 to over £1K a share, followed by a crashy crash crash, hurting many people in England incl. Sir Isaac Newton, and causing the public to look to him to restore order; on June 11 the Bubble (Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corporation) Act is passed, incorporating the Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corp., and prohibiting the development of joint-stock cos. without a royal charter or act of Parliament; Sunderland's career bursts like a bubble?; "I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people." (Newton) L.V. Izmailov (1686-1738) establishes a Russian Orthodox church and trading agent in Peking. Marine insurance is first established in Britain. The original supply side economics? After a royal decree halves the value of his Banque Royale's notes, causing coined money to disappear from circulation and prices to skyrocket, John Law's Mississippi Co. fails, becoming known as the Mississippi Bubble (Scheme), and many people in France are hurt, causing Law to be dismissed by regent Philippe d'Orleans, leave France secretly, and settle in Venice, where he dies penniless in 1729; meanwhile he pub. a book exposing his fallacious theories of finance, which consider money the cause of public wealth rather than its result, and believe in the power of running the printing presses to produce paper money. Spain occupies Texas (until 1722). Augsburg and Marienthal are founded in Louisiana by Germans immigrants. The city of Karachi on the Arabia Sea is founded as the fortified village of Kolachi; in the mid-19th cent. the British East India Co. arrives, turning it into a major seaport and railroad hub, growing to 400K pop. by 1947, after which the partition of British India causes it to be flooded with millions of Muslim refugees, reaching 14.9M pop. in 2017, becoming the most populous city in Pakistan and #5 in the world, hosting 2M immigrants from Bangladesh, 1M from Afghanistan and 400K Rohingyas from Myanmar, also becoming its industrial and financial center. Sauk and Meskwaki Indians found the village of Saukenuk along the Rock River near its confluence with the Mississippi River on the site of modern-day Moline, Ill., home of John Deere. The Swiss Anabaptist Amish (separate from the Mennonites) begin migrating from Switzerland to Lancaster County, Penn. Illinois (Ill.) ("warriors" in Algonquin) is settled. The first collective settlement begins in New Connecticut (Vermont). Spanish-born Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo (-1734), gov. of Coahuila (since 1719) organizes Spanish settlements in Texas to counter French encroachment (until 1723). The imperial privileged Alsatian city of Hagenau gets more antsy about its wealthy moneylending Jewish pop., and issues regulations restricting settlement by their children, only one married son per family allowed to settle, and all Jews are restricted to moneylending and dealing in horses, cattle and old clothes (until 1790). French naval officer Gabriel Matthieu Francois D'ceus de Clieu (1687-1774) allegedly smuggles coffee plans from the Jardin Royal des Plantes in Paris to Martinique, sharing his rationed water with the plants, beginning the South Am. cultivation of coffee; in 1727 the Brazilian coffee industry is founded; cultivation is slow until independence in 1822, after which massive areas of rainforest are cleared near Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, making Brazil the largest coffee producer on Earth by 1852 (until ?); in 1737-52 de Clieu becomes gov. of Guadeloupe. After falling behind in their payments, their Turkish landlords evict the Ashkenazi Jews from Jerusalem; 200 families relocate to Hebron, Safed, and Damascus, and don't return for a cent. The Royal (Old) Haymarket (Little) Theatre opens in Westminster, London. The court of the Rhine Palatinate is moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim (until 1777). King George County in Va. between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers is formed from Richmond County, and named after George I, later becoming the birthplace of James Madison (b. 1751). The first yacht club is established at Cork Harbor in Ireland. Caffe (Caffè) Florian on St. Mark's Square in Venice is founded, becoming Italy's oldest coffeehouse to survive to modern times. St. Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109), known for his Ontological Proof of the Existence of God is declared a Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church. The word "roué" (roue) (Fr. "wheel") is coined to describe the dissolute, dissipated, debauched companions of Duke Philippe II of Orleans. Edmund Halley becomes English astronomer royal, and begins an 18-year study of the complete revolution of the Moon through its ascending and descending nodes. Wallpaper becomes fashionable in England. Novels begin to be serialized in newspapers. In this decade black tea (Bohea) (Wu-i) passes green tea in popularity in England, with sugar and milk becoming popular additives early on; by this time maritime Euro trade with China is dominated by the exchange of silver for tea; by 1750 tea is the British nat. drink. Inventions: On June 10 Mrs. Clements of Durham, England becomes the first to market paste-style mustard after finding a way to mill the seed hearts to fine powder. 14-y.-o. Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) invents swimming flippers; he later becomes the only Founding Father in the Am. Swimming Hall of Fame. About this time chili con carne originates in La Villa de San Fernando de Bejar in the Nueva Espana province of Nuevas Filipinas (modern-day San Antonio, Tex.) among mission Indians and mestizos as a way to eat tough meat (goat, jackrabbit etc.), and is disdained by the Anglos until the 1880s. Nonfiction: Arthur Collins, Baronetage of England. William Jacob 's Gravesande (1688-1742), Mathematical Elements of Natural Philosophy, Confirmed by Experiments (Leiden); lays the foundation for physics teaching. Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-74), The History of the Rebellion and Civil War in Ireland (posth.); a companion to "The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England" (1702-4), covering the period after the death of Charles I. Bernard de Montfaucon, L'Antiquite Expliquee (1720-24). Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693-1755), Vindiciae Antiquae Christianorum Disciplinae; critique of John Toland. John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, Cato's Letters; or Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious, and Other Important Subjects (4 vols.) (1720-3); castigates the "South-Sea Plunderers", the "able guilty Ministers", and "despotick Princes", and argues for freedom of speech; later used by "Real Whigs" in the American colonies to justify independence. Giovanni Battista Vico (1668-1744), De Uno Universo Juris Principis. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Radamisto (HWV 12) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Apr. 27); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on Matteo Noris' "Zenobia" and Domenico Lalli's "L'Amor Tirranico, o Zenobia"; his first opera for the Royal Academy of Music; Harpsichord Suite No. 5; incl. The Harmonious Blacksmith. Nicola Porpora (1686-1768), Orlando (opera). Art: G.B. Tiepolo, Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Le Enseigne de Gersaint. Plays: Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743), Declaration of Love (fete galante). Charles Shadwell (-1726), The Fair Quaker of Deal, or The Humours of the Navy, Irish Hospitality, or Virtue Rewarded, and Other Plays. Poetry: John Gay (1685-1732), Collected Poems. Novels: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The Life, Adventures and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton; about an Englishman stolen as a child from his well-to-do family and raised by Gypsies. John Watts (pub.), A Select Collection of Novels in Four Volumes, Written by the Most Celebrated Authors in Several Languages (London); incl. "Upon the Origin of Romances" by Huet. Births: Spanish minister Jose de Galvez y Gallardo, Marques de Sonora (José de Gálvez y Gallardo, Marqués de Sonora) (d. 1787) on Jan. 2 in Macharavialla. English (Cornish) dramatist-actor Samuel Foote (d. 1777) on Jan. 27 in Truro, Cornwall; coins the term "panjandrum" for a pompous, self-important official. Japanese emperor #115 (1735-47) Sakuramachi (Teruhito) (d. 1750) on Feb. 8; eldest son of Nakamikado (1702-37). Swiss entomologist and natural philosopher Charles Bonnet (d. 1793) on Mar. 13 in Geneva. Spanish duke of Parma (1748-65) Philip of Spain (d. 1765) on Mar. 15 in Madrid; 3rd son of Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese; husband of Louise Elisabeth of France, eldest daughter of Louis XV; father of Ferdinand, duke of parma (1751-1802). German marshal Heinrich Wilhelm von Freytag (d. 1798) on Mar. 17 in Estorf. Italian Biblical scholar and archbishop of Florence (1781-1809) Antonio Martini (d. 1809) on Apr. 20 in Prato, Tuscany. English MP (1768-90) and brewer Samuel Whitbread (d. 1796) on Aug. 30 in Cardington, Bedfordshire; father of Samuel Whitbread Jr. (1764-1815). Italian etcher and architect Giambattista (Giovanni) Piranesi (d. 1778) on Oct. 4 in Mogliano Veneto (near Treviso); known for his cool "carceri d'invenzione" (imaginary dungeons). Irish actress Margaret "Peg" Woffington (d. 1760) on Oct. 18 in Dublin; father is a poor bricklayer; as a child she assists a tightrope walker; debuts in Irish theaters at age 10, and in London in 1740. Am. Quaker abolitionist preacher-reformer John Woolman (d. 1772) on Oct. 19 in Mount Holly, N.J. French adm. Count Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet (Piquet) de la Motte (d. 1791) on Nov. 1 in Rennes. Georgian king (1744-98) ("the Little Kakhetian") Erekle (Heraclius) (Erekli) (Irakly) II (d. 1798) on Nov. 7 in Telavi; son of Teimuraz II of Kakheti and Tamar, daughter of Vakhtang VI of Kartli. German jurist Justus Moser (Möser) (d. 1794) on Dec. 14 in Osnabruck. English/Scottish prince ("the Young Pretender") Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart (Stewart), Count of Albany (d. 1788) (AKA Bonnie Prince Charlie and Charles III) on Dec. 31 in Rome; son of "Old Pretender" James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766); grandson of James II; husband (1772-) of Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern (1752-1824). Ottawa Chief Pontiac (Obwandiyag) (d. 1769) in Great Lakes Region, New France. Shawnee Chief Cornstalk (Hokoleskwa) (Hokolesqua) (d. 1777) in Penn. Italian painter Bernardo Bellotto (Canaletto) (d. 1780) (1721 or 1722?) in Venice. English bigamous courtesan Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, Countess of Bristol (d. 1788); known for her affairs with courtiers of George II, and being convicted of double-dipping with poor (later rich, but she couldn't wait) Augustus Hervey, 3rd earl of Bristol and rich Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd duke of Kingston (1776). German self-promoting soldier-adventurer-anecdotist Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Baron von Munchausen (Munchhausen) (d. 1797) in Bodenwerder, Brunswick-Luneberg. English spinning jenny inventor James Hargreaves (d. 1778) in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire. Spanish viceroy of Peru (1795-1801) Don Ambrosio Bernardo O'Higgins, 1st Marquis of Osorno (d. 1801) in Summer Hill (near Daingean), County Offaly, Ireland; father of Bernardo O'Higgins (1778-1842); created marquis in 1792. English writer Charlotte Lennox (nee Barbara Charlotte Ramsay) (d. 1804) (b. 1730?) in Gibraltar. Deaths: French sculptor Charles-Antoine Coysevox (b. 1640) on Oct. 10 in Paris. English sea capt. Robert Knox (b. 1641) on June 19 in London. British gov. of Mass. (1702-15) Joseph Dudley (b. 1647) on Apr. 2 in Roxbury, Mass. Am. Puritan minister Samuel Parris (b. 1653) on Feb. 27 in Sudbury, Mass. Italian physician Giovanni Maria Lancisi (b. 1654) on Jan. 20 in Rome. English poet Anne Finch, countess of Winchilsea (b. 1661) on Aug. 5 in Westminster. English poet John Hughes (b. 1677) on Feb. 17.
1721 On Jan. 28 the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, Germany burns down again (first time 1711), and suffers looting by Christians, causing HRE Charles IV to order the town council to punish them and reimburse the Jews, which they do by annuling taxes and fees; in 1729 the last 45 Jewish families living temporarily in Christian houses are forced back into the ghetto. On Mar. 19 Pope (since Nov. 23, 1700) Clement XI (b. 1649) dies, and on May 8 Michelangelo (Michele) dei Conti is elected Pope (#244) Innocent XIII (1655-1724) (until Mar. 7, 1724), going on to impose new frugality standards and end the practice of nepotism among cardinals. What's going on in your head, what's wrong, Or, I walk alone, I walk alone? On Apr. 3 after he English Parliament begins proceedings against the suspects in the South Sea Bubble, the ruling Whig party is blamed, the ministers guilty of taking bribes resign or die, and chancellor of the exchequer John Aislabie (1670-1742) is sent to the Tower for fraud, Robert Walpole (1676-1745), brother-in-law of Lord Townshend replaces him, and his handiness with figures saves the day; James Stanhope dies, and Walpole becomes first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, and the first official British First (Prime) Minister (until Feb. 11, 1742, replacing Charles Spencer, 3rd earl of Sunderland as chief of the cabinet (since 1718), where he helps solidify Hanoverian control of the English throne, using bribery to secure a solidly Whig House of Commons, and dominating England until his 1742 retirement - as its Big Whig? In summer China suppresses a revolt in Formosa (Taiwan) led by Zhu Yigui (Chu It-kui) (1689-1721), who is executed on June 28. On July 2 Yale rector Timothy Cutler outrages his protege Cotton Mather (1663-1728) by closing his commencement with the words, "and let all people say, Amen", Mather dubbing him a "treacherous Rector" for using the formula used to close an Anglican service; Cutler resigns and leaves for England, and Cotton is later passed over for the presidency. On Aug. 30 the Great Northern War (begun 1700) between Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, etc. is concluded by the Treaty of Nystadt (Uusikaupunki) between Russia and Sweden, marking the beginning of Swedish military decline; Sweden cedes SE Finland (Karelia) and the Baltic provinces of Estonia (Esthonia), Livonia, and Ingria (Ingermanland), along with a number of Baltic islands to Russia, giving Peter I the Great (1672-1725) his precious outlet (window) to the Baltic Sea, permitting the opening of traffic with the West; Peter I is proclaimed Emperor of All the Russias; Sweden keeps W Finland (until 1809), ending the Great War (begun 1714); Denmark forces the abolition of Sweden's privileges regarding the Sound Tolls and gains the Slesvig lands, but the war takes a big bite out of Denmark, esp. agriculturally; the war causes a 16% pop. loss in Finland and a 10% loss in Sweden. After getting knighted last year, confirmed bachelor Francis Nicholson (1655-1728), becomes British gov. of S.C. (until 1725). Jeremiah Dummer (1681-1739), Mass.-born British agent for Mass. Bay Province since 1710 pub. A Defense of the New England Charters in response to a House of Commons bill seeking to annul the charters of Mass. Bay, N.H., R.I. and Providence Planations, arguing for the colonies' loyalty to the crown, and causing the bill to be defeated, although he loses his job, after which he stays on without pay. The Seneca Iroquois sign the Treaty of Albany, selling the Va. Piedmont to the Virginia Colony. Rama Varma dies, and Ravi Varma III (-1731) becomes king of Cochin in India (until 1731). France declares bankruptcy over the failure of John Law's Mississippi Co. Norwegian Lutheran missionary Hans Egede (1686-1758) sails in the ship The Hope from Norway to Greenland to convert Norse farmers, becoming the first new European in Greenland in 200 years; too bad, the Inuits tell him that there are no Norse there anymore, showing him crumgling stone church walls, causing the mystery of their disappearance to arise, which isn't solved until ? (the Little Ice Age?); he founds Godthab (Good Hope) on Kangeq (Kangek) Island on the W coast, establishing trade with Denmark and beginning missionary work among the Skraelings, er, Inuit, becoming known as "the Apostle of Greenland"; in 1728 Danish-Norwegian gov. Maj. Claus Enevold Paarss (1683-1762) moves Godthab to the mainland, becoming the world's northernmost capital ahead of Reykjavik; in 1979 it is renamed Nuuk ("cape"). After setting out from Quebec last year, French Jesuit priest-traveller Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761) calls a point at the border of modern-day Mo. and Ill. N of St. Louis where the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers meet "the finest confluence in the world". Swiss immigrants to British North Am. introduce rifles. Regular postal service begins between London and New England. The New England Courant newspaper is founded in Boston, Mass. by Ben Franklin's older brother James Franklin (1697-1735) along with his wife Ann and brother Benjamin, introducing yellow journalism to Boston and forming the Hell-Fire Club, getting him imprisoned for four weeks in 1722 for "scandalous libel"; in 1727 the paper is suppressed, and he leaves Boston for Newport, R.I., founding Rhode Island's first printing press, followed in 1727 by the Rhode-Island Almanack AKA Poor Robin, and on Sept. 27, 1732 by the Rhode Island Gazette, which folds on May 24, 1733. Journal Oeconomique is founded in France to promote agrononomy and rational husbandry (until 1772). The first coffeehouse opens in Berlin, Germany. Georg Philipp Telemann becomes dir. of music in Hamburg. Breslau, Silesian-born mathematician-philosopher Christian Wolff (1679-1754) of the U. of Halle, a disciple of Gottfried Leibnitz known for ditching Latin for German gives the lecture "On the Practical Philosophy of the Chinese", citing the moral axioms of Confucius as proof that human reason can attain moral truth by its own efforts without Biblical revelation, pissing-off the religious (mainly Pietist) faculty; on July 12, 1723 Wolff gives another lecture comparing Moses, Christ, Mohammad, and Confucius, which attracts 1K students, pissing-off the Pietists, who convince Frederick William I that Wolff's determinism would ruin military discipline, causing him to be banished to Prussia for atheism and fatalism, where he teaches at the U. of Marburg in Hesse-Cassel until 1740, when Frederick II the Great recalls him and makes him a celeb, getting him promoted to chancellor of the U. of Halle in 1743. Porter, a heavily-hopped beer mixture of dark to light malts is invented in London, England, becoming the first beer to be aged at the brewery and shipped ready-to-drink, and the first that could be made on a large scale; the name comes from the landlord of the Old Blue Last Inn in Shoreditch, London, who orders Harwood Brewery to supply it ready-mixed, and whose customers are mainly market porters; too bad, it initially fails to gain popularity in the Am. colonies. Architecture: John James (1673-1746) begins St. George's Church in Hanover Square, London (finished 1725). The Spanish Steps in Rome are begun (finished 1725). James Gibbs (1682-1754) designs a replacement for St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church in the NE corner of London's Trafalgar Square, and it is completed in 1726, going on to become popular for cloning in British North Am. Inventions: English mathematician John Hadley (1682-1744) builds the first Newtonian reflecting telescope (6 in. mirror). Science: In Apr. Scottish surgeon Charles Maitland (1668-1745) performs the first smallpox inoculation in England with live smallpox virus on 4-y.-o. Mary Montagu, daughter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), who had contracted smallpox in Dec. 1715 and learned of the procedure while visiting Constantinople and had him do it to her 5-y.-o. son there in Mar. 1718; in Aug. 1722 seven condemned prisoners at Newgate Prison volunteer to become guinea pigs, and all survive and are released; in Dec. 1722 after five orphans of St. James's Parish in London are successfully inoculated, French-born English surgeon Claudius Amyand (1680-1740) inoculates three of the children of Prince George (later George II) and Princess Caroline of Ansbach, and later has Maitland inoculate her eldest son Frederick and one other child; meanwhile a smallpox epidemic in Boston, Mass. in Apr.-Dec. 1721 that infects 5,889 and kills 884 leads Cotton Mather to have his son inoculated, then to preach inoculation, causing a public hue and cry against him even though it works, drawing fire from physician William Douglass and support from physician Zabdiel Boylston, with prejudice against "heathens" in the Ottoman Empire and Bible-thumping arguments playing a role. The first hybrid cabbage is reported - Brussel sprouts right ahead? Nonfiction: Nathaniel Bailey (-1742), Universal Dictionary of the English Language; reissued in 1731 as Dictionarium Brittanicum: A More Compleat Universal Etymological Dictionary Than Any Extant; uses quotations from lit. works; used as the basis of Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary. Richard Bradley (1688-1732), A Philosophical Account of the Works of Nature; covers the "mineral, vegetable, and animal parts of the Creation", plus an account of gardening in Britain, getting him appointed Cambridge U.'s first prof. of botany in 1724, going on to pioneer the biological theory of infectious disease while pub. works on greenhouses and the first cookbook in English with recipes using pineapple; in his coverage of humans, he claims that there are "five sorts of men" based on skin color, incl. white Euros with beards, white Native Americans sans beards, men with copper skin, small eyes, and black hair; blacks with straight hair, and blacks with curly hair; later used by Curly, er, Carl Linnaeus?; A General Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening (3 vols.) (1721-4). Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1673-1743), De Foro Legatorum. Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (6 vols.) (Old Tappan, N.J.). Johann Theodor Jablonski, Allgemeines Lexicon; the first short encyclopedia. Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693-1755), Observationes sacrae; gets him an appointment as prof. at the U. of Helmstedt. Music: Filippo Amadei (Mattei), Giovanni Bononcini, and G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Muzio Scevola (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Apr. 15); libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli, based on a work by Silvio Stampiglia (each does one act). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Six Concerti (The Brandenburg Concertos), BWV 1046-51; composed for Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt (1677-1734). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Floridante (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Dec. 9); libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli, based on Francesco Silvani's "La Costanza in Trionfo". Art: William Hogarth (1697-1764), The South Sea Scheme; the first of his black-and-white satires. Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Pilgrimage to Cythera; his #1 fete-galante painting? Plays: Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Arlequin Poli par l'Amour (comedy). Edward Young (1683-1765), Revenge (Drury Lane, London). Poetry: Thomas Parnell (1679-1718), A Night-Piece on Death (posth.); The Hermit (posth.); A Hymn to Contentment (posth.); pub. in "Poems on Several Occasions", ed. by Alexander Pope. Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), Poems; first major work. Novels: Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), Persian Letters (Lettres Persanes); two aristocratic Persian travelers in Europe write letters to each other satirizing French society; a hit, helping fuel the French Enlightenment. Births: British lt.-gen. John Manners, Marquess of Granby (d. 1770) on Jan. 2 in Kelham, Nottinghamshire; educated at Eton College, and Trinity College, Cambridge U. English actor-mgr. Roger Kemble (d. 1802) on Mar. 1 in Hereford; husband (1753-) of Sarah "Sally" Ward (1735-1807); father of John Philip Kemble (1757-1823) and 11 other children, who become the Kemble Family of actors. Scottish architect John Adam (d. 1792) on Mar. 5 in Linktown, Abbotshall (modern-day Kircaldy, Fife); eldest son of William Adam (1689-1748) and Mary Robertson (1699-1761); brother of Robert Adam (1728-92) and James Adam (1732-94); father of William Adam of Blair Adam (1751-1839). Scottish "Roderick Random", "Peregrine Pickle" picaresque novelist Tobias George Smollett (d. 1771) on Mar. 19 in Dalquhurn (Renton), West Dunbartonshire; educated at the U. of Glasgow as a surgeon. Moravian missionary (in the U.S.) David Zeisberger (d. 1808) on Apr. 11 in Zauchtenthal (Suchdol nad Odrou); emigrates to British Am. in 1738. British military leader ("Butcher Cumberland") Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (d. 1765) on Apr. 26 in Leicester House, Westminster, London; 3rd and youngest son of George II and Caroline of Ansbach; worst Brit of the 18th cent.? Am. Rev. leader Roger Sherman (d. 1793) on Apr. 30 (Apr. 19 Old Style) in Newton, Mass.; moves to Conn. in 1743; only person to sign the Articles of Assoc., DOI, Articles of Confederation, and U.S. Constitution; starts out as a shoemaker, studies law, becomes a superior court judge in 1766, then goes into politics; first mayor of New Haven, Conn.; has 15 children by two wives; first cousin twice removed of Eli Whitney; ancestor of Archibald Cox; Sherman, Conn. is named for him; "A man who never said a foolish thing in his life" (Thomas Jefferson). Italian ballerina #a Barbara "La Barbarina" Campanini (d. 1799) on June 7 in Parma. Am. Rev. War. Gen. (Freemason) Johann von Robaii, Baron de Kalb (d. 1780) on June 19 in Huttendorf (near Erlangen), Bavaria, Germany; becomes a lt. in a German regiment in the French army, rising to brig. gen. by 1761 after fighting in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. French architectural draftsman and painter Charles-Louis Clerisseau (Clérisseau) (d. 1820) on Aug. 28 in Paris; pupil of Giovanni Paolo Pannini. Swedish vice-adm. and naval architect Fredrik Henrik (Fredric Henric) af Chapman (d. 1808) on Sept. 9 in Gothenburg; son of English naval officer Thomas Chapman, who joined the Swedish royal navy in 1715. Am. Rev. leader Edmund Pendleton (d. 1803) on Sept. 9 in Caroline County, Va. Am. Rev. leader Peyton Randolph (d. 1775) on Sept. 10 in Williamsburg, Va.; pres. #1 of the Continental Congress (1774-5). Am. abolitionist Congregationalist clergyman-theologian Samuel Hopkins (d. 1803) on Sept. 17 in Waterbury, Conn.; nephew of Samuel Hopkins (1693-1755); uncle of Mark Hopkins (1802-87); educated at Yale College; pupil of Jonathan Edwards; kicked out of Housatonic, (Great Barrington), Mass. for his theology in 1769, he becomes a pastor in Newport, R.I. for life. Scottish historian (Whig) (Presbyterian) (historiographer royal, 1764-) William Robertson (d. 1793) on Sept. 19 Borthwick, Midlothian; educated at the U. of Edinburgh. English poet-physician Mark Akenside (d. 1770) on Nov. 9 in Newcastle upon Tyne; educated at the U. of Edinburgh. English "Ode to Evening" lyric poet William Collins (d. 1759) on Dec. 25 in Chichester, Sussex; educated at Winchester College, and Magdalen College, Oxford U. French courtesan (Louis XV's mistress) ("La Reinette") (Little Queen) Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (d. 1764) on Dec. 29 in Paris; loves filet of sole topped with truffles. German banker Simon Moritz Bethmann (d. 1782) in Nassau; youngest son of Simon Moritz Bethmann (1687-1725); brother of Johann Philipp Bethmann (1715-93). Italian Neoclassical painter Domenico Corvi (d. 1803) in Viterbo; student of Vincenzo Camuccini (1771-1844) and Francesco Alberi (1765-1836). British fleet adm. Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet (d. 1811) in Ireland; knighted in 1772. Deaths: English slave trader Edward Coston (b. 1636) on Oct. 11 in Mortlake, Surrey; in 1895 a statue designed by John Cassidy is erected in Bristol in honor of his philanthropy; on May 8, 2020 it is toppled by Black Lives Matter protesters and thrown in the drink. French Waldensian pastor-soldier Henri Arnaud (b. 1641) on Sept. 8 in Schonenberg. Dutch-born English woodcarver Grinling Gibbons (b. 1648) on Aug. 3 in London; buried in St. Paul's, Covent Garden. Dutch New Amsterdam settler Harmen Jansen Knickerbocker (b. 1648) on Apr. 3 in Albany, N.Y. Am. sweathog Elihu Yale (b. 1649) on July 8 in Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales; his tombstone is stolen by the secret Skull & Bones society and brought back to Yale U.? English poet-diplomat Matthew Prior (b. 1664) on Sept. 18 in Wimpole, Cambridgeshire; buried in Westminster Abbey. German botanist Rudolf Jakob Camerarius (b. 1665) on Sept. 11 in Tubingen. English natural philosopher John Keill (b. 1671) in Sept. English statesman-gen. James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (b. 1673) on Feb. 21. Scottish "Robinson Crusoe" mariner Alexander Selkirk (b. 1676); master's mate on the English man-of-war Weymouth. French fete-galante painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (b. 1684) on July 18.
1722 The Golden Age of Piracy (begun 1650) for Britain comes to an end. after only about good 30 years. By this year S.C.'s slave pop. reaches 65% of the total pop. of 18,350, brought about by the profitability of the mortar and pestle technique of removing rice grains from husks. On Jan. 24 Peter I the Great issues an edict that the ruler of Russia shall choose his own successor, and establishes the Table of Ranks; he then joins in the fun and attacks Persia, seizing territories around the Caspian Sea; meanwhile the Ottomans want theirs too, and capture parts of W Persia as far as Hamadan (until 1723). On Mar. 8 (Sun.) Afghan Ghilzai Pashtun leader Mir Mahmud Hotaki (1697-1725) of Kandahar invades Persia and defeats the Persians at the Battle of Gulnabad near Isfahan; on Oct. 23 Isfahan falls after a 6-mo. siege and 80K starved or KIA and sultan (since 1694) Soltan Hosayn (Hosein) (1668-1726) abdicates in favor of Mahmud, declaring him his successor; Safavid rule in Persia collapses, and C and S Persia, and Sistan in W Khurasan are captured; Soltan Hosayn's son Prince Tahmasp flees to Tabriz, declares himself shah in Nov. and establishes a govt., and goes on to gain the support of Sunni Muslims in the Caucasus as well as Qizilbash tribes, regaining control of most of the country by 1729, while the Ottomans and Russians grab their pieces. On Apr. 2 the first of Benjamin Franklin's Addison-Steele-style essays by the fictional prudish middle-aged widowed woman Silence Dogwood appears anon. in his brother James Franklin's periodical the New England Courant. On Apr. 5 (Easter Sun.) after entering the Pacific in Mar. and sailing E to W in a search for Terra Australia, Easter Island (Rapa Nui) (Isla de Pascua) in the mid-South Pacific is discovered by Dutch explorer Adm. Jacob (Jakob) Roggeveen (1659-1729); due to overpop., deforestation, and the introduction of the Polynesian rat, the pop. is down to 2K-3K from 15K a cent. earlier; it is filled with 300 30-ft.-high stone busts (moai) (carved from volcanic rock from dormant Rano Raraku) with red headpieces, mounted on huge platforms; Roggeveen and his three ships sail away, and when Euros return almost 50 years later, the busts had been toppled from the platforms to the ground after tribal wars; 400 more uncompleted busts are found inside the crater, covered with Rongorongo inscriptions; Roggeveen continues on and discovers Bora Bora and Maupiti of the Society Islands and Samoa. On Dec. 20 emperor (since Feb. 5, 1661) Qing Sheng Zu (Kang Xi) (b. 1654) dies, and on Dec. 27 Qing Shi Zong (Shih Tsung) (Yongzheng) (Yinzhen) (1678-1735) becomes Qing (Manchu) emperor #3 (#5) of China, founding the Yung Zheng (Cheng) Dynasty (until Oct. 8, 1735), going on to ban Roman Catholicism in China, issuing the first anti-opium edict in 1729, and reducing slavery in China in 1730 while fighting Mongols in the W and cracking down on corruption and financial mismanagement; in 1733 he establishes the Grand Council (Junjichu) ("Office of Military Secrets"), which starts out in charge of military affairs and evolves into a privy council higher in rank than the grand secretariat. Hungary rejects the Pragmatic Sanction. Satha Ang Chey II becomes king of Cambodia (until 1738). The Australian East India Co. is founded. A British Privy Council memorandum sets out doctrines of discovery and conquest for Canada. Black Bart's ships are finally defeated by HMS Swallow off the African coast after logging 35K mi. in 3 years of plundering shipping lanes, and his men are captured after Bart is killed on Feb. 10 in a battle with a British warship after capturing a record 470 prizes since 1719. George I allows exiled (since 1715) Tory leader Viscount Bolingbroke to return to England, and restores his property in 1725; he settles at Dawley near Uxbridge, and becomes a literary bird, associating with Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), et al., and writes a series of letters in The Craftsman attacking PM Robert Walpole and his Robinocracy, later reprinted as A Dissertation on Parties. The Gen. Workhouse (Knatchbull's) Act is passed by the English Parliament, enabling parishes to build workhouses for able-bodied paupers and form poor law unions; too bad, it proves more expensive than outdoor relief. The English Parliament levies a tax on Roman Catholics. The Moravian Sect (Bohemian Brethren) is founded in Saxony by the Bohemian Brethren of the Lutheran Church, disciples of John Huss from Moravia in C Bohemia, and after persecution they found the Herrnhut settlement in Betrthelsdorf, Upper Lusatia on the estates of religious reformer Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-60). The English Parliament forbids journalists to report debates. The Iroquois-speaking Tuscarora tribe of N.C. and Va. joins the Iroquois Confederacy and moves to N.Y. and Ont. Danish dramatist Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), prof. at the U. of Copenhagen opens a theater in Copenhagen, staging plays in Danish, which establish it as a lit. language. London bookseller and South Sea Bubble winner Sir Thomas Guy (1644-1724) founds Guy's Hospital in Southwark, London with a £300K donation. The Izhorsky Factory on the Izhora River in St. Petersburg is built by order of Peter I to supply the Russian fleet. Architecture: The Dresden Zwinger (begun 1711) is finished, becoming the city's most famous landmark. Quaker minister Elihu Coleman (1699-1789) builds a spacious house on Nantucket Island S of Cape Cod. Science: German physician Friedrich Hoffmann (1660-1742) discovers that the base of alum is an individual substance. Music: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), The Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. 1 (Das Wohltemperierte Klavier); preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys "for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning, and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study"; vol. 2 is pub. in 1742; becomes one of the top musical works of Western music. Francois Couperin (1668-1733), Les Concerts Royaux; performed for the court of Louis XIV in 1714-15. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Ulysses (opera) (Copenhagen). Nonfiction: Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751), Reflections on Exile. Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), History of Peter the Great; A Journal of the Plague Year. Guillaume Delisle (1675-1726), Map of the Americas; shows Calif. as a peninsula. Johann Mattheson, Critica Musica. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Traite de l'Harmonie (Treatise on Harmony); mathematizes music, describing the modern 12-tone musical scale with major and minor keys; makes him famous as a musical theorist, "the Isaac Newton of Music". R.A. Ferchault de Reaumur, L'Art de Convertir le Fer Forge en Acier. Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743), Grand Tour; travel handbook, making the well-educated (Greek and Latin) young man who goes on a Grand Tour of Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome the thing to be. Plays: Henry Carey (1687-1743), Hanging and Marriage. Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), The Artifice (comedy); a flop, becoming her last play. Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Surprise de l'Amour. Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), The Briton. Richard Steele (1672-1729), The Conscious Lovers (comedy) (last play); based on Terence's "Andria". Novels: Richard Boyle (1694-1753) (tr.), The Travels and Adventures of Three Princes of Serendip; the ever-lucky princes from Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (picaresque); The History and Remarkable Life of the Truly Honorable Colonel Jack, Another Robinson Crusoe. Births: British dramatist and gen. John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne (d. 1792) on Feb. 24 in Sutton (near London); educated at Westminster School. Am. Baptist minister (founder of Brown U.) Morgan Edwards (d. 1795) on May 9 in Wales; educated at Bristol College. Dutch anatomist-naturalist Pieter (Peter) (Petrus) Camper (d. 1789) on May 11 in Leiden; educated at the U. of Leiden; inventor of the term "extinct" with Geores Cuvier to describe the mammoth. English sculptor Joseph Wilton (d. 1803) on July 16 in London; born to a wealthy family. French salonist Anne-Catherine "Minette" de Ligniville, (d'Autricourt) Madam Helvetius (Helvétius) (d. 1800) on July 23; wife (1751-) of Claude Adrien Helvetius (1715-71); Ben Franklin proposes to her? Am. brewer and Rev. patriot-statesman ("Father of the Am. Rev.") Samuel "Sam" Adams (d. 1803) on Sept. 27 in Boston, Mass.; cousin of John Adams (1735-1826). French Adm. of the West Indies Francois Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse (d. 1788) in Sept. German painter Johann Heinrich Tischbein (Ger. "table leg") (the Kasseler) (d. 1789) on Oct. 3 in Haina; father of Johann Friedrich August Tischbein (1750-1812) and Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (1751-1829). British Battle of Bunker Hill Maj. John Pitcairn (d. 1775) on Dec. 28 in Dysart, Fife, Scotland. Afghan amir (emir) #1 (1747-73) Ahmed (Ahmad) Shah Durrani (d. 1773); son of Abdali (Durrani) chief Sammaun Khan; father of Timur Shah Durrani (1748-93); founder of the Sadozai dynasty of the Abdali tribe. Austrian luthier (stringed instrument maker) Leopold Widhalm (d. 1776). English poet Christopher Smart (d. 1771) in Shipbourne, Kent. Am. Rev. printer William Bradford Jr. (d. 1791) in New York City; son of William Bradford (1663-1752); brother of Philly publisher Andrew Sowles Bradford (1686-1742). Am. indigo planter Eliza Lucas Pinckney (nee Lucas) (d. 1793) in Antigua; daughter of the gov. of Antigua; emigrates to S.C. in 1738; wife (1744-) of Charles Pinckney (-1758). Deaths: Scottish physician Sir Robert Sibbald (b. 1641) in Aug. English soldier-statesman John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough (b. 1650) on June 16 in Windsor. Italian composer Carlo Francesco Pollarolo (b. 1653). Chinese Qing emperor #4 (1661-1722) Kangxi (b. 1654) on Dec. 20 in Beijing. German architect Christoph Dientzenhofer (b. 1655) on June 20 in Prague. French historian Comte Henri de Boulainvilliers (b. 1658) on Jan. 23 in Paris. French historical painter Antoine Coypel (b. 1661). English freethinker John Toland (b. 1670) on Mar. 11 in London, England. French painter Claude Gillot (b. 1673). English PM (1618-21) Charles Spencer, 3rd earl of Sunderland (b. 1674) on Apr. 19. Welsh pirate Black Bart (b. 1682) on Feb. 10 off Cape Lopez, Gabon.
1723 On Feb. 15 Louis XV of France attains majority, and puts Dr. Evil, er, regent (since 1715) Duke Philippe II of Orleans (b. 1674) out of business just in time, since he croaks on Dec. 23 after becoming PM - a little arsenic? On Oct. 10 after Peter I the Great conquers territory on the Caspian Sea incl. Baku in his last major military campaign, to insure against future hostilities, the Treaty of Charlottenburg between England and Prussia is signed, promising George I's grandson to the Prussian princess while Prince Frederick is promised to the daughter of the Prince of Wales. On Oct. 10 17-y.-o. runaway Boston printing apprentice Benjamin Franklin comes ashore on Penn's Landing in Philadelphia in a storm, attracted by its promise of "liberty of conscience" and no mandatory tithing; he buys three pennies' worth of bread and roams the streets, one roll under each arm and one in his mouth, going on to become the world's first self-made man (multimillionaire), starting by working for printer Samuel Keimer (1688-1739). On Oct. 31 ultra-reactionary grand duke (since May 23, 1670) Cosimo III de' Medici (b. 1642) dies after a 53-year reign, during which he allowed Tuscany to deteriorate economically to a new low, and is succeeded by his eldest surviving son Gian (Giovanni Battista) Gastone de' Medici (1671-1737), who becomes the 7th and last Medicean grand duke of Tuscany (until July 9, 1737), who tries in vain to reverse his father's policies, abolishing taxes for the poor, ending public executions, and repealing penal laws oppressing Jews; too bad, he has no heirs. On Nov. 12 Joseph Clemens von Wittelsbach (b. 1671) dies, and Clemens August of Bavaria (1700-61), brother of Bavarian elector Maximilian II Emanuel is appointed archbishop-elector of Cologne. On Nov. 18 the city of Ekaterinburg (Yekaterinburg) (named after Peter the Great's wife Yekaterina AKA Tsar Catherine I) on the Iset River E of the Ural Mts. of Russia (modern-day pop. 1.34M/1.49M) is founded, becoming Russia's mining capital, known as "the window to Asia" after Tsar Catherine II builds the Siberian Route (Tea Road) (Moscow Highway) (Great Highway) from Russia to Siberia to China through it. On Dec. 29 the Anglican Georgian-style Old North (Christ) Church in Boston, Mass. (193 Salem St.), designed by William Price, and built with bricks from Medford and designed to copy Sir Christopher Wren's St. Paul's Cathedral in London (whose tall spire dwarfs the other bldgs. in North End) holds its first service, becoming Boston's oldest church bldg. surviving to modern times, made famous as the scene of Paul Revere's Midnight Ride (Apr. 18, 1775); on Oct. 23 Increase Mather (b. 1639) dies, and his son Cotton Mather (1663-1728) becomes minister of Boston's original North Church, which is a different (Puritan) church. Prussia establishes a ministry of war, finance, and domains. The Hungarian Diet finally accepts the Pragmatic Sanction. The Marthas invade Malwa Province, and take the capital Ujjain. British PM Robert Walpole reduces the duty on tea. The Waltham Black Acts make poaching and 49 other pissant offenses a capital offense in England. The princely state of Bhopal in the Vindhya Mts. of C India is founded by an Afghan chieftain who had fought in Aurangzeb's army, becoming the capital of Madhya Pradesh. J.S. Bach is appointed Thomascantor in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig after Telemann turns the post down. The London theatrical seasons of 1723-4 are dominated by spectacle and pantomime plays, and Henry Carey (1687-1743) becomes the unnoficial composer for Drury Lane (until 1733); next year William Hogarth composes a satire on the abandonment of drama for puppets. Alessandro Scarlatti (d. 1725) returns from Rome to Naples for the last time. Architecture: Pedro de Ribeira builds the Toledo Bridge in Spain. Nonfiction: Anon., T'u Shu Chi Ch'eng (1723-36); Chinese encyclopedia. William Buchanan, An Inquiry into the Genealogy and Present State of Ancient Scottish Surnames, with the Origin and Descent of the Highland Clans and Family of Buchanan; dude from Auchmar covers all the Scottish clans, but takes up half the book with his own Buchanan clan. M.A. Capeller, Prodromus Crystallographiae. Joseph-Francois Lafitau (1681-1746), Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains Comparees aux Moeurs des Premiers Tempes; study of Iroquois customs. Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores (28 vols.) (1723-51). Manuel Teles da Silva, 3rd Marquis of Alegrete (1682-1736), Collections of the Documents and Memories of the Royal Academy of Portuguese History; followed by History of the Royal Academy of Portuguese History (1727). Voltaire (1694-1778), La Henriade. Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), St. John Passion. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Ottone, Re di Germania (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Jan. 12); libretto by Nicola Haym based on a libretto by Pallavicini; stars Francesca Cuzzoni as Teofane and Farinelli as Adelberto (only time he performs in a Handel opera); first composed for the Royal Academy of Music; Flavio, Re di Langobardi (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (May 14); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on Matteo Noris' "Il Flavio Cuniberto". Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni); pub. in 1725; becomes his most famous work. Plays: Elijah Fenton (1683-1730), Mariamne (tragedy). Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) (ed.) Shakespeare's Plays (1723-5); his "regularizing" of metre and other revisions cause Lewis Theobald and other critics to ridicule him; "I have discharg'd the dull duty of an Editor to my best judgment, with more labour than I expect thanks, with a religious abhorrence of all Innovation, and without any indulgence to my private sense or conjecture"; "Players are just such judges of what is right, as Taylors are of what is graceful. And in this view it will be but fair to allow, that most of our Author's faults are less to be ascribed to his wrong judgment as a Poet, than to his right judgment as a Player". John Thurmond, Harlequin Dr. Faustus (pantomime) (Drury Lane, London). Novels: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The Highland Rogue; Or, The Memorable Actions of the Celebrated Robert Mac-gregor, Commonly Called Rob-Roy; about Rob Roy (1671-1734), making him a legend, and causing George I to pardon him in 1727 just before he is scheduled to be transported to the colonies. Births: Am. Presbyterian minister (DOI signer) John Witherspoon (d. 1794) on Feb. 5 in Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland; educated at Edinburgh U.; emigrates to the U.S. in 1768; pres. of Princeton U. (1768-94). German physicist Johann Tobias Mayer (d. 1830) on Feb. 17 in Mabach, Wurttemberg; educated at the U. of Gottingen. French historian Louis Pierre Anquetil (d. 1808) on Feb. 21 in Paris; brother of Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (1731-1805). Scottish-Swedish Neoclassical Somerset House architect Sir William Chambers (d. 1796) on Feb. 23 in Gotheburg, Sweden; rival of Robert Adam (1728-92); sails to Canton, China at age 16, and brings the Chinese Style to Britain. British Adm. Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet (d. 1796) on Feb. 26 in Kirk Deighton, North Riding of Yorkshire; created baronet in 1773. Danish-Norwegian king (1746-66) Frederick V (d. 1766) on Mar. 31 in Copenhagen; son of Christian VI (1699-1746) and Sophia Magdalen of Brandenburg-Kulmbach; father of Christian VII (1749-1808). Scottish "The Wealth of Nations" laissez-faire economist ("Father of Economics") Adam Smith (d. 1790) on June 16 (June 5 Old Style) in Kircaldy, Fifes. German Halley's Comet astronomer Johann Georg Palitzsch (d. 1788) on June 11 in Prohlis (near Dresden), Saxony. Scottish Englightenment philosopher-historian (friend of David Hume) Adam Ferguson (of Rath) (d. 1815) on June 20 in Logierait, Atholl, Perthshire; educated at the U. of St. Andrews. English "Commentaries on the Laws of England" jurist Sir William Blackstone (d. 1780) on July 10 in London; educated at Charterhouse School, and Pembroke College, Oxford U. English Grand Style portraitist Sir Joshua Reynolds (d. 1792) on July 16 Plympton (near Plymouth), Devon; pupil of Thomas Hudson; pres. #1 of the British Royal Academy of Arts (1768); knighted in 1769. Am. statesman William Livingston (d. 1790) on Nov. 30 in Albany, N.Y.; brother of Philip Livingston (1716-78); educated at Yale College; gov. of N.J. (1776-90); signer of the U.S. Constitution. Welsh poet Gronwy Owen (d. 1769). Am. Rev. 6'2" black (mulatto) martyr Crispus Attucks (d. 1770); from Wopanaak "ahtuk" = deer? German philosopher-encyclopedist (in France) (atheist) Paul-Henri Thiry (Paul Heinrich Dietrich), Baron d'Holbach (d. 1789) in Edesheim, Germany; inherits his French uncle's money, estate and title, and moves to Paris to set up shop. Welsh liberal Congregationalist minister Richard Price (d. 1791) in Tynton, Glamorganshire. French statesman Clement Charles Francois de Laverdy (d. 1793). English architect John Carr (d. 1807) in Horbury, West Riding of Yorkshire. Deaths: Dutch scientist Antony van Leeuwenhoek (b. 1632) on Aug. 30 in Delft. English's chief architect Sir Christopher Wren (b. 1632) on Feb. 25 in London; epitaph: "If you seek his monument, look around you." Am. clergyman Increase Mather (b. 1639) on Aug. 23 in Boston, Mass. Italian grand duke #6 (1670-1723) Cosimo III de' Medici (b. 1642) on Oct. 31 in Pitti Palace, Florence. German-born English portraitist Sir Godfrey Kneller (b. 1646) on Oct. 19 in Twickenham (fever); painted portraits of 10 reigning monarchs. Spanish architect Jose Churriguera (b. 1650). English playwright Thomas D'Urfey (b. 1653) on Feb. 26 in London: "All animals, except man, know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it." Chinese Ming emperor #2 (1661-1723) Qing Sheng Zu (b. 1654). Austrian architect Fischer von Erlach (b. 1656). English bishop William Fleetwood (b. 1656) on Aug. 4 in Tottenham, Middlesex. Italian anatomist Antonio Valsalva (b. 1666) on Feb. 2 in Bologna. English poet-dramatist-actress Susanna Centlivre (b. 1667) on Dec. 1 in London. Romanian prince-musician Dimitrie Cantemir (b. 1673) near Kharkov, Russia (exile). French duke Philippe II of Orleans (b. 1674) on Dec. 23 in Versailles. German poet Johann Christian Gunther (b. 1695).
1724 On Jan. 28 the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, Russia is founded by Peter I the Great with advice by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, with members incl. Leonhard Euler (1707-83), Daniel Bernoulli, Nicholas Bernoulli, and Christian Goldbach; called St. Petersburg Academy of Science until 1917, and Soviet Academy of Science in 1925; moves to Moscow in 1934. Philip V abdicates in favor of his 17-y.-o. son, who becomes Luis I of Spain, but he dies of smallpox before the year is up, and Philip V resumes his reign; his 2nd son Ferdinand becomes the prince of Asurias, next in line for the throne; Philip V builds San Ildefonso, the palace of the Granja (modeled on Versailles) to house himself and Elizabeth as the palace of the Bourbons in Spain. On Mar. 7 Pope Innocent XIII dies, and on May 27 Pietro Francesco Orsini is elected Pope (#245) Benedict XIII (1649-1730); he learns to smoke and repeals papal bulls against clerical smoking - didn't I make you feel like you are the only man? In June Russia and Turkey agree to a peaceful partition of Persia's newly-captured NW provinces. On Aug. 23 after Father Rale's War (Lovewell's War) (Gov. Dummer's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War) (4th Anglo-Abenaki War) (Wabanaki-New England War of 1722-5) begins after English colonists suspect French Jesuit missionary (since 1694) Father Sebastien Rale (Rasle) (Rasles) (b. 1657) of abetting tribal hostilities against British settlements, 200 colonial troops under Capt. Johnson Harmon, Capt. Jeremiah Moulton, and Capt. Richard Bourne from Fort Richmond via Taconic Falls (Winslow), Maine arrive in the Abenaki village of Narantsouak (Norridgewock, Maine) on the Kennebeck River on the border with Acadia, starting the Battle of Norridgewock, massacring 26 Indian warriors incl. Chief Mog along with Father Rale and injuring 14, with the 150 survivors fleeing to St. Francis (where they get a little payback in 1757) and Becancour, Quebec, after which Rale is treated as a Catholic martyr, with a monument erected over his grave in Madison, Maine in 1833; the Abenaki Confederacy (founded in the 1670s) is destroyed by the English. On Nov. 16 famed highwayman Jack Sheppard (b. 1702), who commits a robbery a day in and about London is betrayed by fence Jonathan Wild, arrested and sentenced to death, then escapes with the help of Edgeworth Bess, is rearrested, escapes from Newgate, gets drunk and is arrested a final time, placed under 24-hour guard, then hanged in Tyburn, going on to be celebrated in A Narrative of All the Robberies, Escapes, Etc., of John Sheppard, attributed to Daniel Defoe. In Nov. after receiving a promise of a line of credit to buy equipment and supplies to start his own printing shop, 18-y.-o. Benjamin Franklin sails for London with aspiring poet James Ralph, befriending prominent Quaker merchant Thomas Denham on the voyage; on the way they stop at Block Island, and the sight and smell of the plentiful cod being cooked causes him to give up his flirtation with vegetarianism, picked up after by reading a book by Thomas Tryon (1643-1703) in 1722; after the line of credit falls through, he gets a job at Samuel Palmer's printing house; he then tries to seduce Ralph's girlfriend and they break up. Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle (1693-1768) is appointed secy. of state for the British ministry's southern dept., with responsibility for supervising the Am. colonies; a petty buffoon, his policy becomes known as "solitary neglect". Lord Newcastle becomes secy. of the committee of the privy council in England, and commandeers control of the Board of Trade (ends 1748). Peter the Great crowns his wife Tsarina Catherine. The Austrian Netherlands agree to the Pragmatic Sanction. Most of the Tulpehocken Delawares migrate to the Ohio Valley. Vermont (Vt.) is settled at Ft. Dummer on the Connecticut River by the English. France issues a decree against the Reformed (Protestant) Church, prohibiting it from holding secret exercises; a price is put on the head of reformer Antoine Court (d. 1760), causing him to flee to Lausanne in 1730 and found a seminary, which he runs for life. After the Portuguese begin fortifying the heights around the Bay of Montevideo in Uruguay, a Spanish force from Buenos Aires led by Spanish soldier Bruno Mauricio de Zabala (1682-1736) forces them back to Colonia, and Zabala founds a fortress that becomes the city of Montevideo (San Felipe y Santiago de Montevideo) on the NE bank of the Rio de la Plata River 68 mi. E of Buenos Aires (modern-day pop. 1.3M/1.9M), continuing the turf war, while the British and Portuguese carry on what they claim to be illicit trade in the Rio de la Plata region; Montevideo goes on to become the center of Spanish control over the Banda Oriental, capital and largest city of Uruguay, and southernmost capital city in the Americas. Gin drinking becomes popular in Great Britain. The Paris Bourse, France's nat. stock market opens. Professorships of modern history and languages are founded at Oxford U. and Cambridge U.; David Gregory (1696-1767) becomes the first Regius Professor of History at Oxford U. (until 1736); Samuel Harris (1682-1733) becomes the first Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge U. (until 1733); in 2010 it becomes the Regius Professor of History at Cambridge U, starting with Sir Richard J. Evans (until 2014), then Christopher Clark (until ?). Bavarian elector Maximilian II Emanuel founds a union of all the lines of the Wittelsbach family in hopes of one day getting the HRE title away from the Hapsburgs, which happens in 1742, 16 years after his death when his sonny boy Charles VII Albert finally gets to sit his you know what on the emperor's chair, although only for three years. Longman's Publishing House is founded in England, becoming the oldest to survive to modern times. After receiving a bequest from William III's secy. Sieur D'Allone, English philanthropist Dr. Thomas Bray founds the Associates of Dr. Bray in London educated enslaved blacks in the British North Am. colonies; on Jan. 2, 1760 they elect Ben Franklin to membership, signifying him as a leading philanthropist in New England. The Three Choirs Festival for Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester in England is founded. The Academy of Antient Musick in London elects Italian composer Agostino Steffani as honorary pres. for life, causing him to send them a bunch of musical mss. which end up in the British Museum. Architecture: James Gibbs begins building the Fellows' Bldg. at King's College, Cambridge (finished 1749). Prince Eugene's Belvedere Palace in Vienna is finished by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. Leonardo de Figueroa designs the West Entrance to the St. Telmo Palace in Seville, Spain. Inventions: Blasting is first used in Sweden. Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit of Amsterdam discovers the phenomenon of supercooling (undercooling), the ability of a liquid or gas to be lowered below its freezing point, for example when water doesn't freeze in clouds. Am. tavern owner Joseph French near Albany, N.Y. invents French toast; should have called it French's toast? Science: After being freaked-out by the 1692-3 Salem Witch Trials, Puritan New England minister Cotton Mather (1663-1728) advances physical rather than demonic explanations for mental illnesses. Nonfiction: Anon., Letter of Jesus Christ; claims to have been "written by Jesus Christ, and found under a great stone both round and large, at the foot of the cross, 18 miles from Iconium, near a village called Mesopotamia", and "now in the possession of the Lady Cuba's family"; becomes a big hit, circulating into the 20th cent. Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), Elementa Chemiae (Elements of Chemistry); describes Boerhaave's Syndrome (tearing of the esophagus); tells how in the winter he "exposed beer, wine, vinegar, and brine in large open vessels to the frost; which, thus, congeal'd nearly all the water of these liquors into a soft, spongy kind of ice, and united the strong spirits of the fermented liquors; so that by piercing the ice, they might be pour'd off and separated from the water, which diluted them from freezing... it is probable, that the utmost possible cold in nature would deprive water of all its dissolving power." Anthony Collins (1676-1729), Discourse of the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion. Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724-6) (3 vols.). Bernard de Fontenelle (1657-1757), De l'Origine des Fables (On the Origin of Fables); written in 1691-9. August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), Commentatio de Scopo Librorum Veteris et Novi Testamenti. Capt. Charles Johnson, General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates; the real author is Daniel Defoe? Philip Miller (1691-1771), The Gardener's and Florist's Dictionary; or A Complete System of Horticulture; by the chief gardener of the Chelsea Physic Garden. Herman Moll (1654-1732), New Description of England and Wales; atlas. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), A Critical History of England (1724-26). Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences; bestseller (20 eds.). Music: William Croft (1678-1727), Musica Sacra; first church music collection printed in the form of a score; incl. Burial Services, which is used at British state funerals. Francois Couperin (1668-1733), Le Parnasse, ou L'Apotheose de Corelli. Francesco Gasparini (1661-1727), Tigrane (opera). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Feb. 20); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym; stars Senesino as Caesar, and Francesca Cuzzoni as Cleopatra; incl. Al Lampo dell'Armi, L'Empio, Sleale Indegno, L'Angue Offeso Mai Riposa; Tamerlano (Tamerlane) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Oct. 31); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym based on Agostin Piovene's "Tamerlano"; stars Francesco Borosini as Sultan Bajazet, Andrea Pacini as Tamerlane, and Francesca Cuzzoni as Bajazet's daughter Asteria; Bajazet is one of the first major tenor roles in opera. Plays: Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Henrik and Pernille (comedy). Poetry: Allan Ramsay (1685-1758), The Tea-Table Miscellany: A Collection of Choice Songs, Scots and English (4 vols.) (1724-7); The Ever Green (1724-7); anthology of Scottish verse, incl. The Vision. Novels: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (The Fortunate Mistress: Or, A History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, Afterwards Called the Countess de Wintselsheim, in Germany, Being the Person known by the Name of the Lady Roxana, in the Time of King Charles II). Births: Am. Baptist preacher and church-state separation advocate Isaac Backus (d. 1806) on Jan. 9 in Yantic, Conn. Courland duke (last) (1769-95) Peter von Biron (d. 1800) on Feb. 15 in Jelgava; son of Ernst Johann von Biron (1690-1772). Am. Rev. leader Brig. Gen. Christopher Gadsden (d. 1805) on Feb. 16 in Charleston, S.C.; grandfather of James Gadsden (1788-1858). British field marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend (d. 1807) (AKA Viscount Townshend from 1764-87) on Feb. 28; son of Charles Townshend, 3rd viscount Townshend (1700-64) (Lord Lynn); brother of Charles Townshend (1725-67); 1st cousin of Thomas Townshend, 1st viscount Sydney (1732-1800); educated at St. John's College, Cambridge U. Am. Rev. leader and physician (DOI signer) Lyman Hall (d. 1790) on Apr. 12 in Wallingford, Conn.; educated at Yale U. German "Critique of Pure Reason" philosopher (founder of the Idealist school) Immanuel Kant (d. 1804) on Apr. 22 in Konigsberg, Prussia (Kaliningrad, Russia). Austrian field marshal Dagobert Sigismund, Count von Wurmser (d. 1797) on May 7 in Strasbourg, Alsace. English artist (originator of the idea of the picturesque) Rev. William Gilpin (d. 1804) on June 4 in Cumberland; educated at Queen's College, Oxford U. English civil engineer-physicist ("Father of Civil Engineering") John Smeaton (d. 1792) on June 8 in Austhorpe, Leeds. Swiss (Genevan) physicist Georges-Louis Le Sage (d. 1803) in Geneva; educated at the U. of Geneva. German poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (d. 1803) on July 2 in Quedlinburg. English historian Lawrence Brockett (d. 1768) on Aug. 13; educated at Trinity College, Cambridge U. English painter George Stubbs (d. 1806) on Aug. 25 in Liverpool; known for his paintings of horses. British gen. Sir Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (d. 1808) on Sept. 3 in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland. German educator Johann Bernhard "J.B." Basedow (d. 1790) on Sept. 11 Hamburg; educated at the U. of Leipzig. Spanish queen consort of Naples and Sicily (1738-59) and Spain (1759-60) Maria Amalia Christina Franziska Xaveria Flora Walburga of Saxony (d. 1760) on Nov. 24 in Dresden; daughter of Augustus III of Poland (1696-1763) and Maria Josepha (1699-1757) (daughter of HRE Joseph I); wife (1738-60) of Charles III (1716-88); mother of Maria Louisa of Spain (1745-91) (wife of HRE Leopold II), Charles IV (1748-1819), and Ferdinand I (1751-1825). German Palatine elector (1742-99) and Bavarian elector (1777-99) Karl IV Theodor (Charles IV Theodore) (d. 1799) on Dec. 11 in Drogenbos (near Brussels); of the Oberpfalz-Sulzbach line of the House of Wittelsbach (founded 1119). English natural philosopher John Michell (d. 1793) on Dec. 25 in Earking, Nottinghamshire; educated at Queen's College, Cambridge U. Chinese "Dream of the Red Chamber" novelist Cao (T'sao) Xueqin (Zhan) (Chan) (d. 1764) (b. 1715?) in Nanjing; Han Chinese. Irish "Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph" novelist-playwright Frances Sheridan (nee Chamberlaine) (d. 1766) in Dublin; wife (1747-) of Thomas Sheridan (1719-88); mother of Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816). Japanese wood block artist Suzuki Harunobu (d. 1770) (b. 1725?); pupil of Shighenega; inventor of polychrome block prints. Spanish Calif. gov. (1775-82) (founder of Los Angeles) Felipe de Neve (d. 1784) in Bailen, Jaen Province. Dutch novelist Willem Leevend (d. 1785); collaborator of Rhijnvis Feith (1753-1824). Am. Rev. leader-jurist (DOI signer) ("Father of American Jurisprudence") ("Virginia's Foremost Classical Scholar") George Wythe (d. 1806) in Chesterton (Hampton), Va.; first law prof. in the U.S., and Thomas Jefferson's mentor. Deaths: English philanthropist John Kyrle (b. 1637) on Nov. 7 in Ross-on-Wye. German composer Johann Theile (b. 1646) on June 24. English divine Humphrey Prideaux (b. 1648). Scottish-born Am. colonist William Trent (b. 1653). French Jesuit missionary Sebastian Rale (b. 1657) on Aug. 23 in Norridgewock, Maine (KIA). English writer Delarivier (Mary) Manley (b. 1663): "There's no time like the present." Spanish viceroy of New Spain (1702-11) Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, 10th duke of Alburquerque (b. 1666) on June 28 in Madrid. English highwayman Jack Sheppard (b. 1702) in Tyburn (hanged). Korean king Kyonjong.
1725 The pop. of black slaves in the British Am. colonies reaches 75K. In 1725-1800 there are 137 newspapers pub. in N.Y. state, incl. 20 in New York City; by 1865 there are 373 newspapers being pub. in 428 eds. in N.Y., incl. 54 in New York City. On Jan. 9 (Dec. 29 Old Style) Peter I the Great asks Danish-Russian explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681-1741) to launch an expedition E from St. Petersburg to explore the N Pacific Ocean, becoming known as the First Kamchatka Expedition, going on to discover the Bering Strait, Gulf of Kamchatka, Avacha Bay, and the Chukchi Sea, proving that Asia and North Am. aren't connected; they return on Feb. 28, 1730 to St. Petersburg via Okhotsk, making Bering a celeb. On Feb. 8 (Jan. 28 Old Style) after aggravating his condition by attempting to rescue some drowning soldiers by wading into the Baltic, tsar (since 1682) Peter I the Great (b. 1672) dies of uremia in the middle of writing his will ("I leave everything to..."), and his illiterate serf wife (not so great) Catherine (Ekaterina Alexeyevna) I (1684-1727) takes the Russian throne as Russian Romanov tsar #6 (until May 17, 1727), taking advantage of all his modernization efforts to begin a push to expand Russia to the Black Sea, creating the Order of Alexander Nevsky on June 1 (May 21 Old Style), conveniently forgetting the way this hero sold-out to the Tartars; Peter's black adopted son Gen. Abram Petrovich Gannibal (d. 1781) is demoted and sent to exile in Siberia, but eventually retires to a modest estate, where he does research on military engineering amongst his white serfs. On Apr. 22 after watching the Persian pop. rise against him, and inviting Persian nobles and princes to a meeting then having them slaughtered, along with 3K Persian royal guards, along with all the Safavid princes except Soltan Hosein and his two sons, then going insane, Mir Mahmud Hotaki (b. 1697) is killed in a palace revolt, and his son Ashraf Ghalzai (1700-20) becomes Hotaki shah of Afghanistan and Persia, marrying a Safavid princess and going on to stop Ottoman and Russian incursions. In Apr. after mapping the W African Kingdom of Whydah, French explorer Reynaud des Marchais, Chevalier des Marchais witnesses the coronation of king Haffon (1695-1727); Whydah is conquered by Dahomey in 1727; he also discovers the Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum Dulcificum), whose berries cause sour foods (lemons, limes etc.) to taste sweet; it takes until 1968 to isolate the active ingredient miraculin. On May 18 George I founds the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, based on the medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involves bathing as a symbol of purification. In May Dutch ship officer Leendert Hasenbosch (b. 1695) is marooned at Clarence Bay on Ascension Island for sodomy, and dies of thirst after failing to find the freshwater spring in Breakneck Valley or Dampier's Drip lower down and drinking urine and turtle blood instead, and leaving a diary after dies at the end of the year. On June 7 after his daughter's engagement to Louis XV is broken off, Philip V of Spain signs the Treaty of Vienna with Austria, guaranteeing the Pragmatic Sanction, and causing Britain, France. and Prussia on Sept. 3 to form the Alliance of Herrenhausen in opposition, signing the Treaty of Hanover. On June 23 the Malt Tax Riots begin among Scottish highlanders in hamilton over a new malt tax, spreading throughout the country, sparking the Shawfield Riots in Glasgow; James I decides to treat them like Jacobites, founding the Black Watch of several cos. of Scottish militia wearing kilts and dark tartans to quash the revolt and curb feuds among Scottish highland clans; in 1729 they are integrated into the British army; the chieftains of the clans are known for the Fiery Cross (AKA bidding stick, budstikke, war arrow, stembod), a partially burned cross dippped in blood and sent via relay runners in order to assemble the clans in time of emergency, which is later adopted by the Ku Klux Klan and jazzed up. On Nov. 25 after French settlers of Ill. led by Pere Beaubois send 22 native chiefs, only to see the ship sink, then try again and send Chief Agapit Chicagou of the Metchigamea and five other chiefs to France, they meet with 15-y.-o. Louis XV in Fontainebleau, and Chicagou has a letter read pledging allegiance to the crown; they later dance three kinds of dances in the Theatre Italien, inspiring Jean-Philippe Rameau to compose the rondeau Les Sauvages for harpsichord. In Dec. (around Xmas) Voltaire escorts actress Adrienne Lecouvreur to the Comedie-Francaise in Paris, and is publicly insulted by Chevalier de Rohan Chabot, who says, "Monsieur de Voltaire - Monsieur Arouet - why don't you decide what your name is?", to which he replies, "My name begins with me, yours ends with you"; after Chabot has him beaten up by six rogues, Voltaire demands a duel, gets put in the Bastille, and is released upon promise of voluntary exile? Monkey, will you marry me? Louis XV of France marries Marie Leszczynska (1703-68), daughter of Stanislaus I of Poland, and she goes on to live in a few small rooms in Versailles while her hubby excludes her from court life and carries on with his parade of can't-take-it-with-you mistresses. The Marathas under Baji Rao I battle the Nizam-ul-Mulk in Hyderabad, while other Maratha forces invade Gujarat, and are routed by a Mughal army led by Sarbuland Khan. Yongjo (1694-1776) becomes Yi king of Korea (until 1776). Canada begins making treaties with the aborigines. Sir Francis Nicholson returns to London, is promoted to lt.-gen., and lobbies to unite the British North Am. colonies in order to provide for their common defense against French and Indians, with a viceroy and a united army; too bad, the Va. legislature opposes it. The word "waffle" first appears in English in Robert Smith's Court Cookery. Ben Franklin switches to the popular pub. house of John Watts in Wild Court near Lincolns-Inn-Fields in London (until 1726), and sells an asbestos purse to Royal Society secy. Sir Hans Sloane for a goodly sum; Watts' printing press is exhibited in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philly, then sold to the Smithsonian Inst. in 1901. King George grants an explanatory charter to the Mass. Bay Province. The 1679 French wooden fort at Niagara is rebuilt of stone and named Ft. Niagara, becoming the oldest continuously occupied military site in North Am. to survive to modern times. After asking himself the question "How doth Christ execute the office of a king", Scottish minister John Glas (1695-1773) founds a nonconformost society "separate from the multitude", with 100 members who reject nat. covenants and believe that the true Reformation can't be carried out by political secular weapons but only by the spirit and word of Christ. Charles Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Derwentwater (1693-1746), an illegitimate cousin and personal secy. of Bonnie Prince Charlie founds the first Masonic lodge in Europe in Paris. The New York Gazette is founded on Nov. 8 by Philly-hating William Bradford (until 1744), becoming the first newspaper in New York City and the 4th in British Am. A.D. Philidor gives the first concerts spirituels (public concerts) in Paris. German organ maker Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753) of Freiberg adopts Bartolommeo Cristofori's pianoforte mechanism. Chantilly soft-paste porcelain begins to be produced in France (until 1800), with tin-oxide glaze, switching to an orthodox glaze in 1760, becoming known for the Chantilly Sprig of cornflower and forget-me-nots. Architecture: The Standetheater opera house in Prague is founded. The Spanish Steps in Rome (begun 1721) are finished. The Octagon Orleans House in England (begun 1720) is finished. St. George's in Hanover Square, London (begun 1712) is finished. Inventions: Scottish goldsmith William Ged (1699-1749) patents stereotyping, using a 1-piece printing plate cast in type metal from a mold (matrix) taken off a page of set type; too bad, he can't push it on the public and ends up dying broke. Science: English astronomer royal #3 James Bradley (1692-1762) observes that the fixed stars describe small ellipses within exactly the duration of the terrestrial year, and that stars from the poles of the ecliptic to the ecliptic describe figures increasingly less circular and more approaching straight lines, suggesting the possibility of observing stellar parallax (discovered in 1838); he also discovers the aberration of light (which he explains by the finite speed of light combined with the motion of the Earth around the Sun), and the phenomenon of nutation, and begins measurement throughout an 18.5-year lunar cycle (until 1748). Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet (1695-1744) introduces the Greengage plum (Prunus domestica italica) (Reine Claude) (a large plum with golden-green skin and flesh) into England from France. Nonfiction: Anon., Compendium of Books Past and Present (Gujin Tushu Jicheng) (5,020 vols.); Qing Dynasty encyclopedia; 66 copies are printed using 250K bronze movable type characters. Guillaume Delisle (1675-1726), Map of Europe. Elijah Fenton (1683-1730) (ed.), The Works of John Milton. John Flamsteed (1646-1719), Historia Coelestis Britannica (3 vols.) (posth.); first ed. in 1712; observations of 3K fixed stars, becoming a key work for British astronomers. Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain; a critique of William Wollaston's "The Religion of Nature Delineated"; claims to disprove free will, immortality, and Calvinist salvation-damnation by starting with the theorem: "What He [God] consents to must be good, because He is good; therefore evil does not exist"; he is later embarrassed by it. Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741), Gradus ad Parnassum (Ascent to Mount Parnassus); dedicated to HRE Charles VI; becomes a standard textbook on counterpoint, used by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Abram Petrovich Gannibal (1695-1781), Geometry and Fortifications. Arai Hakuseki (1657-1725), Autobiography. Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746), An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue; Inquiry Concerning Moral Good and Evil. Marquise de Sevigne (1626-96), Letters (posth.). Giovanni Battista Vico (1668-1744), The New Science (Principii d'una Scienza Nuova Intorno Alla Commune Natura Delle Nazione); his magnum opus; attacks the separateness of body and mind, along with Cartesian analysis and other forms of reductionism in favor of systemic thinking, propounding a cyclical view of history (the divine, heroic, and human phases), founding the modern philosophy of history; "[We] must take seriously Vico's great observation that men make their own history, that what they can know is what they have made, and extend it to geography." (Edward Said) Samuel Wyld, The Practical Surveyor. Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Notenbuch for Anna Magdalena Bach; incl. Bist Du Bei Mir. Henry Carey (1687-1743), Sally in Our Alley. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Rodelinda, Regina de' Longobardi (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Feb. 13); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym based on a libretto by Antonio Salvi, based on Pierre Corneille's "Pertharite, Roi des Lombards". Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783), Antonio e Cleopatra (Naples); sung by Farinelli and Vittoria Tesi; makes German composer Hasse a celeb in Naples. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Bretislaus oder Die Siegende Bestandigkeit (opera) (Hamburg). Art: Canaletto (1697-1768), Four Views of Venice. William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Lottery; The Mystery of Masonry brought to Light by the Gormogons; A Just View of the British Stage. Plays: Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), The Gentle Shepherd (pastoral comedy); a giant hit. Poetry: Henry Carey (1687-1743), Namby Pamby; or, A Panegyric on the New Versification; satire of the stupid verse of Ambrose Philips (1675-1749), enemy of Alexander Pope; causes the term "namby pamby" to become popular for nonsense, and Philips to become known as Namby Pamby; "So the nurses get by heart,/ Namby Pamby's little rhymes". Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Il Colosso; satire against Pavia girls which gets him expelled from Collegio Ghislieri; Il Quaresimale in Epilogo (1725-6). Alexander Pope (1688-1744) (tr.), The Odyssey of Homer (1725-6); Elijah Fenton tr. books 1, 4, 19 and 20, and William Broome tr. others, and after the news that he had help leaks, his rep. is somewhat soiled; The Complete Works of Shakespeare; a new ed. that "regularized" the meter and changed the verse in several places, demoting 1560 lines to footnotes for being "excessively bad"". William Somerville (1675-1742), The Two Springs, a Fable. James Thompson (1700-48), The Seasons. Edward Young (1683-1765), Love of Fame, the Universal Passion (satires) (1725-7); "Must women have a doctor, or a dance?/ Though sick to death, abroad they safely roam,/ But droop and die, in perfect health, at home:/ For want - but not of health, are ladies ill;/ And tickets cure beyond the doctor's bill." Novels: Eliza Haywood (1693-1756), Memoirs of a Certain Island Adjacent to Utopia. Births: Am. Rev. "Barnstable Patriot" "taxation without represenation is tyranny" statesman-atty. James Otis Jr. (d. 1783) on Feb. 5 in West Barnstable, Mass.; brother of Mercy Otis Waren (1728-1814); educated at Harvard U. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) Abraham Clark (d. 1794) on Feb. 15 in Elizabethtown, N.J. French automobile inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (d. 1804) on Feb. 26 in Void-Vacon, Lorraine. Italian cardinal (1747-) Henry Benedict Maria Clement Stuart (d. 1807) on Mar. 11 in Rome; son of "Old Pretender" James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766); brother of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" Charles Edward Stuart (1720-88); 4th and last Jacobite heir, referring to himself as the duke of York until 1688 and Henry IX of England Henry I of Scotland afterwards; the last claimant to the English throne to touch for the King's Evil. Am. Rev. War brig. gen. Lachlan McIntosh (d. 1806) on Mar. 17 in Raits, Badenoch, Scotland; emigrates to the U.S. in 1736. Ottoman sultan #27 (1774-89) Abdul Hamid (Abdulhamid) I (d. 1789) on Mar. 20 in Constantinople; son of Ahmed III (1703-30) and Rabia Sermi Sultan; brother of Mustafa III (1757-74); father of Mahmud II (1785-1839). Am. Rev. Boston pastor Samuel Cooper (d. 1783) on Mar. 28 in Boston, Mass. Italian adventurer-lover-libertine-rake-writer ("king of seduction") Giovanni (Jacques) Giacomo (Jacopo) Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt (d. 1798) on Apr. 2 in Venice; son of two Venetian thespians; educated as a lawyer. Corsican patriot leader (bi?) Filippo Antonio Pasquale de Paoli (d. 1807) on Apr. 6 in Stretta, Morosaglia, Haute-Corse; son of Giacinto Paoli. French adm. Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel (d. 1786) on Apr. 25; 2nd son of Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd earl of Albemarle and Anne van Keppel (daughter of the 1st duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of Charles II); created viscount in 1782. French soldier Louis Philippe I (the Fat) (le Gros), Duke of Orleans (d. 1785) on May 12 in Versailles; son of Duke Louis of Orleans (1703-52); first prince of the blood after 1752; father of Philippe Egalite (1747-93). Am. Rev. War politician Samuel Ward (d. 1776) on May 25 in Newport, R.I.; descendant of Roger Williams. French marshal Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau (d. 1807) in Vendome on July 1 in Vendome, Loir-et-Cher; cmdr. of French forces in the Am. Rev. War. French genre-portrait painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze (d. 1805) on Aug. 21 in Tournus, Burgundy. French mathematician Jean Etienne Montucla (Jean-Étienne Montucla) (d. 1799) on Sept. 5 in Lyon. English military leader and opium eater ("British Conqueror of India") maj.-gen. Robert Clive (OE "cliff"), 1st Baron Clive (d. 1775) on Sept. 29 in Styche Hall, Moreton Say, Market Drayton, Shropshire; his Clive (Clyves) family goes back to Henry II. English radical journalist-politician John Wilkes (d. 1797) on Oct. 17 in Clerkenwell, London; ancestor of Am. actor John Wilkes Booth (1838-65); friend of poet Charles Churchill (1731-64); namesake of Wilkes-Barre, Penn. Am. clergyman Martin Boehm (d. 1812) in Nov. 30 in Lancaster, Penn.; Mennonite parents; descendant of Jakob Boehme (1575-1624); father of Henry Boehm (1775-1875); founder of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Am. Rev. planter-statesman ("the gentleman revolutionary") ("the reluctant statesman") George Mason (d. 1792) on Dec. 11 in Doeg's Neck, Fairfax County, Va.; his 10th son Thomas Mason is the great-times-seven grandfather of 21st cent. celeb Paris Hilton. English novelist-playwright-satirist William Kenrick (d. 1779) in Watford, Hertfordshire. Am. Rev. War. brig. gen. John Alexander Lillington (d. 1786) in Barbados, West Indies. English stock breeder Robert Bakewell (d. 1795); first to breed cattle for food rather than pulling plows; creator of the Dishley Longhorn cattle breed, the English Leicester sheep breed, and the Shire horse breed. English astronomer Nathaniel Pigott (d. 1804) in Whitton, Middlesex; father of Edward Pigott (1753-1825). English abolitionist divine and "Amazing Grace" hymn writer John Newton (d. 1807); infidel slave trader for 20 years converts to Christ and spends the rest of his life seeking to make amends. Deaths: French New France gov.-gen. (1703-25) Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (b. 1643) on Oct. 10. Italian sculptor Giambattista Foggini (b. 1652) on Apr. 12 in Florence. Am. Congregational minister John Wise (b. 1652). Japanese dramatist Chikamatsu Monzaemon (b. 1653). Japanese writer Arai Hakuseki (b. 1657) on June 29. Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti (b. 1660) on Oct. 24; wrote 115 operas, 20 oratorios, 500 chamber and solo cantatas, 10 masses, plus a load of instrumental music - she doesn't even hear me when I talk? French dramatist-actor Florent Carton Dancourt (b. 1661) on Dec. 7. Spanish architect-sculptor Jose Benito de Churriguera (b. 1665) on Mar. 2. Russian tsar (1682-1725) Peter I the Great (b. 1672) on Feb. 8 (Jan. 28 Old Style) in St. Petersburg (uremia after wading into the cold Baltic to rescue shipwrecked soldiers).
1726 Pop. of London: 700K. On Feb. 26 Maximilian II Emanuel (b. 1662) dies, and his son Charles VII Albert (1697-1745) becomes elector of Bavaria, maintaining good relations with his Hapsburg relatives while waiting for them to die out so he can become HRE Charles VII on Jan. 24, 1742. On May 5 French ballerina Marie Anne de Cupus de Camargo (1710-70) makes her debut at the Paris Opera. In July Benjamin Franklin leaves England after visiting his ancestral home in Ecton Village in Northamptonshire, where his ancestors lived for 3 cents., many engaging in the blacksmithing (vilage smithy) trade, borrowing a coat of arms from some English family named Franklin that he eventually has engraved on a silver tankard; he returns to Philadelphia and works as a clerk for Thomas Denham; during the voyage he writes a "Plan for Future Conduct", pledging to be frugal, honest, industrious, and "to speak ill of no man whatever"; a few mo. after landing Denham dies, and Franklin goes back to Keimer's print shop next year. In Sept. 25-y.-o. married maidservant Mary Toft (Tofts) (1701-63) is claimed by her physician John Howard to have given birth to 17 rabbits in Godalming, England, fooling several other physicians incl. George I's surgeon Nathaniel St. Andre and Sir Richard Manningham, until it is revealed to be a hoax, exposing the abysmal state of medicine. 73-y.-o. Cardinal Andre Hercule de Fleury (1653-1743) becomes PM of France under Louis XV until his death at age 90 (1743). Dutch ambassador to Spain (1715-25) Johan Willem (John William) (Juan Guillermo), Baron of Ripperda (Ripperdá), 1st Duke of Ripperda (1686-1737) is dismissed for incompetence and imprisoned, and the 1725 agreement with Austria is repudiated; Prussia withdraws from the Alliance of Herrenhausen, and signs the Treaty of Wusterhausen, guaranteeing the Pragmatic Sanction, leaving Austria and Prussia on one side, Britain and France on the other, and Spain swinging loose; Ripperda the ripoff artist escapes to Holland in 1728, then allegedly goes to Morocco and becomes a Muslim. Orthodox Catholic Russia and the Roman Catholic Holy Roman Empire ally against Turkey. Turkoman Qizilbash Afshar tribal leader Khouli Khan (1687-1747) (later Nadir or Nader Shah the Great) of N Persia helps Prince Tahmasp (son of Soltan Husayn) reconquer Persia from the Afghans, Russians, and Ottomans, acknowledging him as shah Tahmasp II (1704-40) until he can finish the job and take over for himself and become the Napoleon and Alexander the Great of Persia in 1736. Poor riots rock Philadelphia. 16-y.-o. castrato Caffarelli (1710-83) debuts in Rome in Domenico Sarro's Valdemaro, going on to rise to the top of his profession behind Farinelli. Jonathan Edwards becomes minister of the Congregational church in Northampton, Mass. St. John of the Cross is canonized. After pissing-off some aristocrats, French lit. giant Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet) (1694-1778) is exiled in Britain (until 1728), living at 10 Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, London, where he develops an interest in the works of Shakespeare, which are still relatively unknown in Europe, admiring them for having more on-stage action than French plays; too bad, as Shakespeare becomes popular in France, he gets jealous, dissing him for his barbarities and trying to set his own plays up as a counterexample; in May he meets 83-y.-o. Isaac Newton in London, and may have attended his funeral - and discussed the secret formula for eternal life? Charles IV of Spain selects the fishing village of El Ferrol in Galicia (NW Spain), whose harbor is so narrow that only one ship at a time can pass, yet has the one of the largest harbors in Spain as the site for a naval station and shipbuilding yards. The first written reference to shamrocks being worn on St. Patrick's Day appears in the diary of a traveling Protestant minister, "...it being a Current Tradition, that by this Three Leafed Grass, he emblematically set forth to them the Mystery of the Holy Trinity". Bavarian elector Maximilian II Emanuel founds the Royal Order of Saint George for the Defense of the Immaculate Conception as a dynastic order of the royal house of Bavaria; it is confirmed by a papal bull on Mar. 15, 1728. Allan Ramsay establishes the world's first circulating library in Edinburgh. The Academy of Ancient Music is founded in London for musical works over 150 years old (prior to 1625), becoming the first use of the word "ancient". Italian violinist Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) establishes a violin school in Padua. Gen. George Wade begins building 250 mi. of military roads in the Scottish Highlands (finished 1737). Architecture: Colin Campbell designs Compton Palace in Eastbourne, Sussex, England. Henry Somerset-Scudamore, 3rd Duke of Beaufort (1707-45) commissions the construction of the ebony Badminton Chest (Cabinet) in Florence; in 2004 Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein buys it for $35M, making it the most expensive piece of furniture in the world. The Baroque Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany, designed by George Bahr (Bähr) (1666-1738) begins construction (finished 1743), featuring a 314-ft.-high 12K-ton sandstone dome called the Steineme Glocke (Stone Bell), which gives the city a distinctive silhouette. St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Anglican Church at the NE corner of Trafalgar Square in London, begun in 1721, by architect James Gibbs is finished, inspiring a number of Am. Georgian churches. Inventions: John Harrison (1693-1776) of England invents the gridiron pendulum, with alternate rods of steel and brass to equalize thermal variations. Science: English clergyman Stephen Hales (1677-1761) first measures blood pressure. You might as well be walking in the Sun? On Apr. 15 William Stukeley dines with Sir Isaac Newton; "After dinner, the weather being warm, we went into the garden and drank thea, under the shade of some appletrees, only he and myself. Amidst other discourse, he told me, he was just in the same situation, as when formely, the notion of gravitation came into into his mind. It was occasion'd by the fall of an apple, as he sat in a contemplative mood. Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground, thought he to himself. Why should it not go sideways or upwards, but constantly to the earths centre? Assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it... That there is a power, like that we here call gravity, which extends its self thro' the Universe." Nonfiction: Anon., Tadhkirat al-Muluk; a manual of the Persian Safavid admin., detailing the powers of the grand vizier, the influence of the harem over rulers, and the 50+ royal guilds that produce articles for them, incl. textiles and carpets for export. Richard Bentley (1662-1742) (ed.), The Works of Terence. George Berkeley (1685-1753), America, or the Muse's Refuge: A Prophecy; pub. in 1752 as "Verses by the Author on the Prospect of Planting Arts and Learning in America"; "Westward the course of empire takes its way;/ The four first Acts already past,/ A fifth shall close the Drama with the day;/ Time's noblest offspring is the last." Joseph Butler (1692-1752), Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel. The Berleburg Bible (8-vol.); trans. for the Pietist movement within German Luthernism by Johann Haug begins to be pub. from Bad Berleburg, 100 mi. N of Frankfurt am Main, where Count Casimir von Wittgenstein Berleburg grants them asylum. Jean Cavalier (1681-1740), Memoirs of the Wars of the Cevennes under Col. Cavalier. Benito Jeronimo Feijoo y Montenegro (1676-1764), Teatro Critico Universal (1726-39) (essays); shows influence by Christian Thomasius and Thomas Browne, combating popular superstitions; he once allegedly proves that exorcism is bunk by reading from Boccaccio's "Decameron" to a possessed person, who becomes cured? August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), Lectiones Paraeneticae (1726-36). Jean Hardouin (1646-1729), Conciliorum Collectio Regis Maxima (Acta Conciliorum et Epistolae Decretales ac Constitutiones Summorum Pontificum); critical ed. of the Roman Catholic Church councils; printed at the expense of the French king, and not released to the public until 1715. William Law (1686-1761), The Absolute Unlawfulness of Stage Entertainment Fully Demonstrated - Shakespeare rolls over in his grave? Johann Lorenz von Mosheim (1693-1755), Institutionum Historiae Ecclesiasticae libri IV; gets him appointed abbot of Marienthal by the duke of Brunswick, with an income from Michaelstein Abbey. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Nouveau Systeme de Musique Theorique. Charles Rollin (1661-1741), Traite des Etudes (Paris) (1726-31); attempts to reform education by ditching Latin for the vulgar tongue and discarding medieval traditions, along with studying nat. history. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Scipione (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Mar. 12); libretto by Antonio Salvi and Paolo Antonio Rolli; based on Roman gen. Scipio Africanus; features March of the Grenadier Guards; Alessandro (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (May 5); libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli based on "La Superbia d'Alessandro" by Ortensio Mauro, about Alexander the Great's journey to India, where he meets King Poro; stars Faustina Bordoni as Rossane, and Francesca Cuzzoni as Lisaura. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Der Iacherliche Printz Jodelet (opra) (Hamburg). Art: William Hogarth (1697-1764), Engravings for Samuel Butler's "Hudibras". G.B. Tiepolo, Frescoes in the Udine Palace (1726-8). John Vanderbank (Michael Dahl?), Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton at Age 83. Plays: Henry Carey (1687-1743), Faustina; or the Roman Songstress; A Satyr on the Luxury and Effeminacy of the Age; a satire of opera and singer Faustina Bordoni, who has a fight with Francesca Cuzzoni during a performance of Handel. Poetry: Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Metamorphosis. James Thomson (1700-48), The Seasons (1726-30); poetic tetralogy; early Romantic work. Novels: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The Four Years Voyages of Captain George Roberts. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Gulliver's Travels (Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts, By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships); Lemuel Gulliver visits the countries of Lilliput and Blefuscu (6-in. tall people, Lilliput's capital city Mildendo is surrounded by a 2.5-ft. wall), Brobdingnag (60-ft. tall giants), Laputa (flying island of scientific quacks), Glubdubdrib (sorcerers), Luggnag (island where the Stuldbrugs live forever while suffering the infirmities of old age), the land of the Houyhnhnms, where intelligent horses rule over savage humanoid Yahoos, and Balnibarbi (failed inventors and projectors, capital Lagado); a satire of all things English, or just English modernism?; "If I had to make a list of six books which were to be preserved when all others were destroyed, I would certainly put 'Gulliver's Travels' among them" (George Orwell); "He [the emperor of Lilliput] is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court, which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders"; "I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives [Brobdingnag] to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth"; "He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put in vials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw inclement summers [Laputa]"; "I said the thing which was not. (For they have no word in their language to express lying or falsehood.) [Houyhnhnms]"; "Poor Nations are hungry, and rich Nations are proud, and Pride and Hunger will ever be at Variance [Houyhnhnms]"; "And he gave it for his opinion, that whosoever could make two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together." Lewis Theobald (1688-1744), Shakespeare Restored, or a Specimen of the many Errors as well Committed as Unamended by Mr Pope in his late edition of this poet; designed not only to correct the said Edition, but to restore the true Reading of Shakespeare in all the Editions ever published; a variorum ed. of Shakespeare's works in reaction to Alexander Pope's 1725 ed., pointing out many errors that Pope grudgingly acknowledges by changing his 2nd ed. in 1728, while only admitting to "about twenty-five words", knocking Theobald in his anon. 1728 work "The Dunciad"; in 1733 Theobald pub. a 2nd ed. in 7 vols., which becomes a std. work; the 1740 ed. contains 35 frontispieces engraved by Hubert-Francois Gravelot. Births: Canadian soldier-judge Joshua Winslow (d. 1801) on Jan. 23 in Portsmouth, N.H.; father of Anna Green Winslow (1759-80). Russian Anglophile adm. Vasily Yakovlevich Chichagov (d. 1809) on Feb. 28 in St. Petersburg; father of Pavel Chichagov (1767-1849); educated in Britain. British adm. ("Black Dick") Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (d. 1799) on Mar. 8 in London; brother of William Howe (1729-1814) and George Howe (1725-58). French writer Louise Florence Petronille Tardieu d'Esclavelles, Madame d'Epinay (d. 1783) on Mar. 11 in Valenciennes. Am. Va. gov. #5 (1781-4) (DOI signer) Benjamin Harrison V (d. 1791) on Apr. 5 in Charles City County, Va.; son of Benjamin Harrison IV and Anne Carter; educated at the College of William and Mary; father of William Henry Harrison (1773-1841); great-grandfather of Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901). English "General History of Music" music historian-composer Charles Burney (d. 1814) on Apr. 7 in Shrewsbury; educated at Shrewsbury School; father of Fanny Burney (1752-1840); friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Scottish uniformitarian geologist ("Father of Modern Geology") James Hutton (d. 1797) on June 3 in Edinburgh; educated at the U. of Edinburgh, and U. of Leyden; starts out a physician, turns to agriculture, then becomes a scientist. Am. clergyman Philip William Otterbein (d. 1813) on June 3 in Dillenburg (near Wiesbaden), Germany; emigrates to the U.S. in 1752; co-founder of the United Brethren in Christ. British lt.-gen. Robert Monckton (d. 1782) on June 24 in Yorkshire. Am. politician-scientist James Bowdoin II (d. 1790) (pr. BOH-din) on Aug. 7 in Boston, Mass.; son of James Bowdoin I (1676-1747); father of James Bowdoin III (1752-1811). French composer and chess player Francois-Andre Danican Philidor (d. 1795) on Sept. 7. Am. Rev. leader and surgeon James Warren (d. 1808) on Sept. 28 in Plymouth, Mass.; descendant of Mayflower passengers Richard Warren and Edward Doty; brother of Joseph Warren (1741-75); educated at Harvard U.; husband (1754-) of Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814). German-Polish painter-printmaker Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (d. 1801) on Oct. 16 in Danzig (Gdansk); Huguenot ancestry. Am. Rev. War brig. gen. (DOI signer) Oliver Wolcott Sr. (d. 1797) on Dec. 1 in Windsor, Conn.; educated at Yale U.; father of Oliver Wolcott Jr. (1760-1833). Am. Rev. War brig.-gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling (d. 1783) in New York City. British lt.-gen. Sir Eyre Coote (d. 1783) near Limerick, Ireland. Polish Jewish religious leader Jacob Joseph Frank (Jakub Lejbowicz) (d. 1791) in Korolowka. Scottish physicist John Anderson (d. 1796) in Dunbartonshire; educated at Glasgow U.; founder of the U. of Strathclyde. British soldier-politician col. Isaac Barre (Barré) (d. 1802) in Dublin; son of a French refugee; educated at Trinity College, Dublin; coiner of the term "Sons of Liberty". Deaths: English anti-theater Anglican cleric Jeremy Collier (b. 1650) on Apr. 26. French composer-organist Michel Richard de Lalande (b. 1657) on June 18 in Versailles. Bavarian elector (1679-1726) and Maximilian II Emanuel (b. 1662) on Feb. 26 in Munich. English dramatist-architect Sir John Vanbrugh (b. 1664) on Mar. 26: "Lie heavy on him, Earth! For he/ Laid many heavy loads on thee!" British caged queen Sophia Dorothea of Celle (b. 1666) on Nov. 13 in Ahlden, Germany. Am. Penn. proprietor (1712-26) Hannah Callowhill Penn (b. 1671) on Dec. 20 in Penn. (stroke). French mapmaker Guillaume Delisle (b. 1675) on Jan. 25 in Paris. Italian composer Antonio Bononcini (b. 1677) on July 8 in Modena. Italian composer-organist Domenico Zipoli (b. 1688) on Jan. 2 in Cordoba, Argentina. Swiss mathematician Nicholas Bernoulli (b. 1695) on July 31.
1727 On Jan. 22 German-born composer Georg Friedrich Handel, now George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), who moved into a new house at 25 Brook St. in London in 1723 becomes a British subject, going on to stay there for life while composing his biggest hits, after which it becomes the Handel House Museum. In Feb. after Philip V's 1721 request to the Brits to restore Gibraltar in return for renewal of trade licenses, war begins between England and Spain as the Spanish begin a siege of Gibraltar with 12K-25K troops that lasts for 14 mo. (its 13th siege and second by the Spanish) (ends 1728); the defending Brits only have 1.5K-5K troops, but it's one tough rock to siege? On Mar. 31 (Mar. 20, 1726 Old Style) Sir Isaac Newton (b. 1643) (b. 1642 Old Style) dies in London after saying that his greatest accomplishment is lifelong celibacy; his brainy disciple Samuel Clarke (1675-1729) (known for leaping over chairs and tables and swimming on tables?) turns down his £1K-a-year job as master of the mint because it's a govt. job and he's a clergyman?; his VIP burial is attended by royalty and presided over by his friend Alexander Pope (1688-1744), who gives a stirring eulogy before sprinkling dirt on his tomb, with the soundbyte: "Nature and Nature's Laws lay hid in Night/ God said, Let Newton be! and All was Light". On May 17 (May 6 Old Style) having expelled the Jews from the Ukraine, Catherine I (b. 1684) dies, and on May 18 after her will is forged, pampered, secluded Peter II (1715-30), the only male-line grandson of her deceased hubby Peter I the Great is proclaimed Russian Romanov tsar #7 (until 1730). On May 19 the Bishop of London states that holding Christians as slaves does not contradict Christian doctrine - especially as he has some? On June 22 (June 11 Old Style) (10 weeks after Isaac Newton) Hanoverian king of Great Britain #1 (since Aug. 1, 1714) George I (b. 1660) dies of a stroke en route to Hanover, becoming the last British monarch to be buried outside the U.K. (until ?), and his Hanover-born son George (Georg) II (1683-1760) is crowned the 51st British monarch (until Oct. 25, 1760); Handel's Coronation Chorus is first used at his coronation; his wife (a strong Robert Walpole backer) Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1683-1737) is a brain babe who corresponds with Leibniz, and is appointed regent when her hubby is in Hanover, causing the rhyme "You may strut, dapper George, but 'twill all be in vain,/ We all know 'tis Queen Caroline, not you, that reigns." On Nov. 18 the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India (modern-day pop. 3.1M) 167 mi. from modern-day New Delhi is founded as a trading city and new capital by Rajput maharaja (1699-1743) and astronomer Sawai Jai Singh II (1688-1743) of Amber, becoming known for its Havelis, courtyard mansions; in 1876 the city is pained pink to welcome English Prince Albert Edward of Wales (future Edward VII) , causing the city to be nicknamed "the Pink City"; the Jantar Mantar (magical device), a network of three observatories based in and S of Delhi is built there by the maharaja, who designs masonry structures and crude instruments because his Jesuit advisers were prohibited by the Church from accepting the views of Galileo and Copernicus; the city is designed according to Hindu doctrine in seven rectangular areas according to the caste system, with the palace in the 7th and holiest one, and the observatory in the place of the temple; other observatories are built in Delhi, Mathura, Ijjain, and Varanasi. The Amur frontier between Russia and China is rectified via the Kiakhta (Kyakhta) Treaty, negotiated by Bosnian Serbian Russian minister Count Sava Lukich Vladislavich Raguzinsky (1669-1738) in Peking, governing their relations until the mid-19th cent. The Shawnees migrate from the Upper Delaware Valley to the Ohio Valley. A police regulation in Paris requires actresses and female dancers to appear on the stage wearing drawers; women still don't wear underwear, so men can peek up their dresses. Kansas (Kan.) (Sioux "south wind people") is settled. West Virginia (W. Va.) is settled. Some Quakers begin demanding abolition of slavery - strapped with puffed oats and ready to blow? Scottish witch Janet Horne (b. ?) becomes the victim of the Last Execution for Witchcraft in England takes place in Dornoch, Sutherland (June 1722?) - it takes time for the message to filter to the colonies? The Brazilian coffee industry is founded with seedlings smuggled from Paris; cultivation is slow until independence in 1822, after which massive areas of rainforest are cleared near Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The city Concord, N.H. (originally Penacook) on the Merrimack River (modern-day pop. 42K) is founded by colonists from Haverhill, Mass. led by Capt. Ebenezer Eastman on the site of the main Pennacook Indian village; originally named Penacook, the name is changed to Rumford in 1733, and incorporated on Feb. 9, 1734; in 1765 after a 20-year boundary dispute with Mass. (which claims the Merrimack River) it is reincorporated as Concord to celebrate peace being declared with them; it goes on to become the capital of N.H. The Moravians of Herrnhut split from the Lutheran Church, with Count von Zinzendorf as leader. The Ursulines found the oldest institution of learning for women in the U.S., in New Orleans. The Tidjani (Tijani) moderate branch of Sufism is founded in Morocco and Algeria by Sheik Ahmad al-Tidjani (1735-1815), spreading throughout W Africa, incl. Chad, N Nigeria, and Sudan; to become a murid (disciple) of the order, one must receive from a muqaddam (rep of the order) a wird, or sequence of holy phrases to be repeated twice daily. The English word "fun", orginally meaning trick, hoax, or joke takes on the meaning of "amusement"; Samuel Johnson calls it a "low, cant word"; by the middle of the 19th cent. it funnily (which is an adverb) becomes a verb and an adjective, and becomes proper? Charles Radclyffe, 5th Earl of Derwentwater (1693-1746) succeeds Isaac Newton as grandmaster of the Priory of Sion (until 1746) :). The Am. Philosophical Society is founded in Philadelphia, Penn. Cherney's Racing Calendar (records of horse races run the previous year) begins pub. by John Cherney. The first marriage ad appears in a newspaper in Manchester, England. The Gentleman's Mag., the first modern mag. begins pub. Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, a satirical periodical by Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), and Dr. Arbuthnot begins pub. (until 1732); it contains the first use of the name "Vanessa". 24-y.-o. Jonathan Edwards (b. 1703) marries 17-y.-o. Sarah Pierrepont (1710-58), daughter of New Haven's most prominent minister, who composed "Jingle Bells" on July 28; they have 11 children, 8 boys, and 3 girls; John Pierrepont Morgan is one of their descendants. Architecture: Mirabell Palace in Salzburg (begun 1721) is completed. Science: After discovering slight magnetic fluctuations on his compass to be correlated with the latter's observations of aurorae, English watchmaker George Graham (1674-1751) and Swedish scientist Anders Celsius (1701-44) discover that sunspots are really magnetic storms. French scientist George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-88) discovers the Binomial Theorem. Nonfiction: Henri de Boulainvilliers (1658-1722), Histoire de l'ancien gouvernement de la France (posth.); divides the French into the aristicratic French race descended from the Germanic Franks, and the peasant class Gallo-Roman race, which the aristocrats have the right to dominate by right of conquest, becoming the predecessor of scientific racism; Etat de la France, Avec des Memoires sur l'Ancien Gouvernement (posth.). Richard Bradley (1688-1732), Ten Practical Discourses Concerning Earth and Water, Fire and Air, as They Relate to the Growth of Plants; The Country Housewife and Lady's Director; first English cookbook containing recipes using pineapple. Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776), History of the Five Nations; the first English colonial rep. to the Iroquois gives the Iroquois side of the story along with the British; revised ed. pub in 1757, read by Benjamin Franklin. Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), The Complete English Tradesman. Stephen Hales (1677-1761), Vegetable Staticks, or, Statical Essays; founds the science of plant physiology. Francesco Scipione Maffei, Istoria Diplomatica. Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplished Gentlewoman's Companion; contains the first recipe for "English Katchop". John Spencer (1630-93), De Legibus Hebraeorum Ritualibus et Earum Rationibus (posth.); master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge U. claims that Jews learned their religious practices from the Egyptians. Voltaire (1694-1778), An Essay Upon the Civil Wars of France, Extracted from Curious Manuscripts; Essay Upon Epic Poetry of the Euuropean Nations, from Homer Down to Milton; pub. in English while living in exile at 10 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London (1726-8). Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (sacred oratorio); libretto by Picander; based on the Gospel of Matthew Chs. 26-27; rev. 1736, 1739, 1745; first performed on Mar. 15 (Good Friday), 1729 in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Zadok the Priest (HWV 258); coronation anthem for George II, based on 1 Kings 1:38-40 ("And all the people rejoic'd, and said: 'God save The King, long live The King, may The King live for ever!, Amen, Hallelujah!'"), sung at every British coronation service since, during the anointing of course; Admeto, Re di Tessaglia (Admetus, King of Thessaly) (opera) (Haymarket Theatre, London) (Jan. 31); libretto by Nicola Haym based on Euripides' "Alcestis"; stars Faustina Bordoni as Alcestis, and Francesca Cuzzoni as Antigona; Riccardo Primo (Richard I) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Nov. 11); libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli, based on Francesco Briani's "Isacio Tiranno"; written to celebrate the coronation of George II. Art: Elias Gottlob Haussmann (1695-1774), Portrait of Gottfried Reiche (1667-1734); shows him holding a hunter's trumpet and a music ms. containing his famous Abblasen (Fanfare), which is used as the theme music for the TV show CBS Sunday Morning. William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Large Masquerade Ticket. William Kent (1685-1748), The Designs of Inigo Jones. John Michael Rysbrack (1684-1770), Sculpture of George I. Plays: Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1674-1762), Pyrrhus. Philippe Destouches, Le Philosophe Marie (comedy). Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, Migda Oz (in Hebrew). Lewis Theobald (1688-1744), Double Falsehood; or, The Distrest Lovers (Drury Lane, London) (Dec.); inspired by Don Quixote; claims he based it on three of Shakespeare's mss., and is called a fraud by Alexander Pope, who lampoons him as Dulness in his Dunciad; in 2010 English prof. Brean Hammond claims that it is based on William Shakespeare's lost play "Cardenio". Poetry: Henry Carey (1687-1743), Masking Is Catching; satire of opera castrato Senesino. John Gay (1685-1732), Fables, Vol. 1; vol. 2 in 1738. William Somerville (1675-1742), Occasional Poems. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), The Furniture of a Woman's Mind; "A set of phrases learnt by rote;/ A passion for a scarlet coat;/ When at a play to laugh, or cry,/ Yet cannot tell the reason why:/ Never to hold her tongue a minute;/ While all she prates has nothing in it"; "For conversation well endued;/ She calls it witty to be rude;/ And, placing raillery in railing,/ Will tell aloud your greatest failing"; On Dreams; "Those dreams that on the silent night intrude,/ And with false flitting shapes our minds delude/ ...are mere productions of the brain./ And fools consult interpreters in vain." Novels: Eliza Haywood (1693-1756), The Court of Carmania. Births: British gen. James Wolfe (d. 1759) on Jan. 2 in Westerham, Kent. French gen. Charles Deschants de Boishebert (Boishébert) de Raffetot (d. 1797) on Feb. 7 in Quebec, Canada. Am. Rev. War brig. gen. John Nixon (d. 1815) on Mar. 1 in Framingham, Mass. Bavarian elector (1745-77) Maximilian III Joseph (d. 1777) on Mar. 28 in Munich; eldest son of HRE Charles VII and Marie Amalie of Austria (daughter of HRE Joseph I). German deaf educator (not deaf) Samuel Heinicke (d. 1790) on Apr. 10 in Nautschutz. French #1 economist (physiocrat) Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune (d. 1781) on May 10 in Paris; from an old Norman family; educated at the Sorbonne. English "Blue Boy" portratist and landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough (d. 1788) on May 14 in Sudbury, Suffolk. French actress Marie Justine Benoite Favart (nee Duronceray) (d. 1772) on June 15; wife of playwright Charles Simon Favart (1710-92). Am. Rev. War Gen. Horatio Gates (d. 1806) on July 26 in Maldon, Essex, England; godson of Horace Walpole. Belgian (Flemish) sculptor (in France) Jean Pierre Antoine Tassaert (d. 1788) on Aug. 19 in Antwerp; student of Rene Michel Slodtz; teacher of Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764-1850). Italian engraver (in London) Francesco Bertolozzi (d. 1815) on Sept. 21 in Florence; moves to London in 1764-1802. Am. politician-jurist William Samuel Johnson (d. 1819) on Oct. 7 in Stratford, Conn.; educated at Yale U., and Harvard U.; first pres. of Columbia College (1787-1800). English "Letters on the Improvement of the Mind" Bluestockings writer Hester Chapone (nee Mulso) (d. 1791) on Oct. 27 in Twywell, Northamptonshire; wife (1760-) of John Chapone (1728-51), son of Sarah Chapone (1699-1764). Russian educator ("the Maecenas of the Russian Enlightenment") Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov (d. 1797) on Nov. 1 in Moscow; boy toy of Tsarina Elizabeth Petrovna. Am. Rev. War maj. gen. Artemas Ward (d. 1800) on Nov. 26 in Shrewbury, Mass. Am. scholar-diarist and Congregational clergyman Ezra Stiles (d. 1795) on Nov. 29 in North Haven, Conn.; educated at Yale U.; pres. of Yale (1778-95). Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) William Ellery (d. 1820) on Dec. 22 in Newport, R.I. Am. atty. (loyalist) John "the Tory" Randolph (d. 1784) in Williamsburg, Va.; son of Sir John Randolph; husband (1750-) of Ariana Jenings (1727-1808); brother of Peyton Randolph (1721-75); father of Edmund Randolph (1753-1813); friend of Thomas Jefferson. Italian painter-engraver Giovanni Battista Cipriani (d. 1785) in Florence. English cabinetmaker George Hepplewhite (d. 1786) in Durham; known for small chairs with heart-shape or shield-shape backs, slender tapering legs, spade feet, and painted or inlaid ornamentation. Am. Rev. War loyalist printer Samuel Loudon (d. 1813). British gen. (CIC of British North Am. in 1783-7) John Campbell of Strachur (d. 1827) in Argyll, Scotland. Deaths: Now make a 3-inch incision between the abdominal muscles? Shouldn't you be doing this? English #1 scientist-mathematician-alchemist Sir Isaac "Apples Happen" Newton (b. 1643) (b. 1642 Old Style) on Mar. 31 (Mar. 20 Old Style) in Kensington, Middlesex, London; a few weeks before his death he burns numerous boxes of mss. and personal papers, and doesn't request last rites on his deathbed; first scientist buried in Westminster Abbey; his funeral is presided over by "A. (Alexander) Pope"; after a lifetime studying the Corpus Hermeticum, he leaves a sealed trunk with 100K pages on alchemy, astrology, and the occult, incl. works rejecting the Bible Book of Revelation (after all, he lived through 1666 personally so it failed the empirical test?); also leaves The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (begun 1689), which tries to establish the origins of the institution of kingship to Israel, and touts its primacy over the cultures of antiquity; "Newton was not the first of the Age of Reason. He was the last of the magicians, the last of the Babylonians and Sumerians... He looked on the Universe and all that is in it as a riddle... He regarded the Universe as a cryptogram set by the Almighty" (John Maynard Keynes): "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"; "To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me" - having a sense of the mathematical designs and codes in Nature, and believing he can concentrate hard enough to decode anything, he falls for Satan's offer to be a god and enjoy immortality if he can just find the code for the right potion, laboring to the point of mental breakdown to find it, thinking that Satan is Lucifer, the Angel of Light, who will be his god forever, while all that Be As A Child, Have Faith, Jesus Saves, Armageddon is Nigh, and Leave It To Beaver, er, Jehovah to Resurrect You stuff sails over his proud head? Sicilian-born French chef Procopio Cuto (b. 1651) on Feb. 10 in Paris. French-born Canadian bishop of Quebec Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrieres de Saint-Vallier (b. 1653) on Dec. 26 in Quebec City. French Protestant minister Jacques Abbadie (b. 1654) on Sept. 25 in Marylebone, London, England. English king (1714-27) George II (b. 1660) on June 11. Italian composer Francesco Gasparini (b. 1661) on Mar. 22 in Rome. German educator August Hermann Francke (b. 1663) on June 8. English composer William Croft (b. 1678) on Aug. 14 in Bath. Russian empress (1725-) Catherine I (b. 1684)on May 17 (May 6 Old Style).
1728 On Feb. 28 the Battle of Palkhed near Nashik in Maharashtra, India sees the Marathas under Baji Rao I decisively defeat Nizam ul-Mulk. On Mar. 21 after running away from Calvinist Geneva, 15-y.-o. Jean-Jacques Rousseau meets French Roman Catholic Madame Francoise-Louise de la Tour, Baronness de Warens (1699-1768) in Annecy, who converts him to Roman Catholicism, then in 1733 ends his virginity. In early June the Spanish siege of Gibraltar ends after 14 mo.; on June 14 the Congress of Soissons begins in hopes of ending all the disputes plaguing Europe, and ends in failure after a year of pissing contests (ends 1729). On Dec. 23 HRE Charles VI and Frederick William of Prussia sign the Treaty of Berlin. Let's get something straight between us? Danish-Russian explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering (Behring) (1681-1741) begins exploring the N Pacific basin (until 1741), and discovers that Asia and America are two separate continents joined by the Bering Strait; he discovers the two Diomede Islands halfway between Alaska and Siberia, which later becomes the U.S.-Soviet boundary line, with Little Diomede on the U.S. side and Big Diomede on the Soviet side. The town of Fredericksburg, Va. is founded on 50 acres of land with a trading post and warehouse; during the U.S. Civil War it becomes the scene of the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, with a total of 100K casualties. John Wesley is ordained. Ben Franklin opens his own print shop in Philly with Hugh Meredith, and composes his own epitaph: "The body of B. Franklin, Printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents worn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding) lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more, in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author". Walter Churchman opens an apothecary shop in Bristol, England, which next year is granted a patent by Charles II for chocolate-making, and after Quaker physician Joseph Stores Fry purchases the patent and recipes in 1761, it goes on to become J.S. Fry & Sons, becoming the oldest chocolate firm in Britain to survive to modern times. English actress Lavinia Fenton (1708-60) achieves theatrical fame in only two years, and goes on the meat market looking for a duke. Architecture: Castle Nymphenburg near Munich (begun 1664) is finished. The Palladian Queen Square in Bath, England, designed by John Wood the Elder (1704-54) is begun (finished 1729). The Madrid Lodge of Freemasons is founded; too bad, the Inquisition soon shuts it down. Inventions: Sheet-iron rolling is discovered in England. Science: James Bradley detects the aberration of light from fixed stars using the star Etamin (gamma Draconis) in Draco (between the Big and Little Dipper). Nonfiction: John Balguy, The Foundation of Moral Goodness. Isaac Joseph Berruyer, Histoire du Peuple de Dieu (3 parts) (1728-58); a Jesuit delights in the sexual exploits of the patriarchs, pissing-off popes Benedict XIV and Clement XIII and resulting in his deposition in 1756 by the Parliament of Paris. William Byrd II (1674-1744), The History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina; his survey in 1728; Matrimony Creek is named for its brawling waters. Ephraim Chambers (1680-1740), Cyclopaedia, or An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences ("containing the definitions of the terms, and accounts of the things signify'd thereby, in the several arts, both liberal and mechanical, and the several sciences, human and divine: the figures, kinds, properties, productions, preparations, and uses, of things natural and artificial; the rise, progress, and state of things ecclesiastical, civil, military, and commercial: with the several systems, sects, opinions, &c; among philosophers, divines, mathematicians, physicians, antiquaries, criticks, &c: The whole intended as a course of ancient and modern learning") (4 vols.) (1728-53); basis of the French Encyclopedie after a 1743 French trans. James Dalton (-1730), Genuine Narrative of My Street Crime Career; head of a street robbery gang in London, who is pardoned after going king's evidence last May; recounts his experience with "back door gentlemen" (sodomites); too bad, he is hanged for robbery at Tyburn on May 11, 1730 after being framed. Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761), Le Chirurgien Dentiste, ou Traite des Dents (The Surgeon Dentist); disproves the worm theory of dental decay; and invents the profession of dentistry and the word dentist; invents an improved tooth drill. James Gibbs, Book of Architecture. Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-66), Ausfuhrliche Redekunst. Francis Hutcheson, An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections; Illustrations upon the Moral Sense. William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. John Martyn (1699-1768), Historia Plantarum Rariorum (1728-37). Isaac Newton (1646-1727), The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (posth.); "They have made the antiquities of Greece three or four hundred years older than the truth." John Oldmixon (1673-1742), Essay on Criticism. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), A Short View of the State of Ireland; Essay on the Fates of Clergymen; "This evil fortune, which generally attends extraordinary men in the management of great affairs, has been imputed to divers causes, that need not be here set down, when so obvious a one occurs, if what a certain writer observes be true, that when a great genius appears in the world the dunces are all in confederacy against him." Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Philosophia Rationalis, sive Logica. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Siroe, Re di Persia (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Feb. 17); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on Pietro Metastasio's "Siroe"; Tolomeo, Re di Egitto (HWV 25) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Apr. 3); libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on Carlo Sigismondo Capece's "Tolometo et Alessandro"; his 13th and last opera for the Royal Academy of Music; stars Senesino as Tolomeo, Francesca Cuzzoni as his wife Seleuce, Giuseppe Maria Boschi as King Araspe of Cyprus, and Faustina Bordoni as his sister Elisa. Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739), Lucius Verus oder Die Siegende Treue (opera) (Hamburg). Art: Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779), The Ray (La Raie). William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Wanstead Assembly; The Politician. Plays: Colley Cibber (1671-1757), The Provok'd Husband; stars Ann Oldfield as Lady Townly, of whom Cibber says "She did her usual Outdoing". Henry Fielding (1707-54), Love in Several Masques (comedy) (first play) (Theatre Royal, London) (Feb. 16) (4 perf.). John Gay (1685-1732) and Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752), The Beggar's Opera (comic ballad opera) (Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London) (Jan. 29); a big hit, running for a record 62 consecutive perf., helping build the new London Royal Opera House; runs for 1,463 perf. in 1920 at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith; satirizes Italian opera; Newgate prisoner Macheath is helped to escape by the cruel gov.'s daughter Lucky Lockit, and returns to London's criminal underworld to woo Polly Peachum; a satire of Sir Robert Walpole, pioneering the device of using lower-class criminals to satirize upper-class society; incl. Fill Every Glass, Over the Hills and Far Away. Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Triomphe de Plutus; the sequel Polly: An Opera, Being the Second Part of the Beggar's Opera (ballad opera) sees Polly Peachum going to the West Indies to search for Macheath and his ho Jenny Diver, after which Macheath is executed and Polly marries Indian prince Cawwawkee; performance is banned by the govt. after Sir Robert Walpole is no longer amused, but gets pub. and widely read until its debut in England on June 19, 1777 at the Haymarket Theatre in London - mama don't take my pollychrome away? Poetry: Alexander Pope (1688-1744), The Dunciad (3 vols.); pub. anon. in Dublin; a satire of witless critics, using initials for the targets, with Lewis Theobald ("Tibbald") (who pub. a criticism of his 1725 ed. of Shakespeare in 1726) as King of Dunces, appointed by the goddess Dulness to succeed Elkannah Settle on Lord Mayor's Day in 1724 to degenerate Great Britain; goes after George II with "Still Dunce the second rules like Dunce the first", and takes on Protestants, Whigs, and hack writers Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), Ambrose Philips (1674-1749), Nahum Tate (1652-1715), Thomas Heywood (1570-1641), and Sir Richard Blackmore (1654-1729), also Susanna Centlivre (1667-1723), who stays awake through a reading of Richard Blackmore's boring epics longer than anyone except Folly; "Books and the Man I sing, the first who brings/ The Smithfield Muses to the Ear of Kings" (opening); "How, with less reading then makes felons 'scape,/ Less human genius than God gives an ape,/ Small thanks to France and none to Rome or Greece,/ A past, vamp'd, future, old, reviv'd, new piece,/ 'Twixt Plautus, Fletcher, Congreve, and Corneille,/ Can make a Cibber, Johnson, or Ozell" (1.235-40); causes a big reaction, creating a ton of lifelong enemies, who love to slander him, which isn't hard to do?; he begins taking his Great Dane attack dog Bounce with him while walking, with loaded pistols in his pocket; a satirical print from "Pope Alexander" pub. in 1729 portrays him as an ape wearing papal vestments, suggesting Darwin's Theory of Evolution?; in 1729 he anon. pub. "The Dunciad Variorum", followed in 1742 by "The New Dunciad", and in 1743 by "The Dunciad in Four Books", with Bays replacing Tibbald. Allan Ramsay (1686-1758), Poems. Richard Savage (1697-1743), The Bastard; "O Memory! thou soul of joy and pain!" Novels: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731), Memoirs of Captain George Carlton. Abbe Prevost (1697-1763), Mémoires et Aventures d’un Homme de Qualité qui s’est Retiré du Monde (4 vols.) (1728-9) (Paris). Births: English poet laureate (1785-90) and critic Thomas Wain Warton the Younger (d. 1790) on Jan. 9 in Basingstoke, Hampshire. German composer-organist Johann Gottfried Muthel (Müthel) (d. 1788) on Jan. 17 in Molln (near Hamburg); first to use the term "pianoforte" (fortepiano) (1771). French neoclassical architect Etienne-Louis Boullee (Étienne-Louis Boullée) (d. 1799) on Feb. 12 in Paris; student of Jacques-Francois Blondel, Germain Boffrand, and Jean-Laurent Le Geay. Scottish surgeon-anatomist ("Father of Modern Scientific Surgery") (founder of modern dentistry) John Hunter (d. 1793) on Feb. 13 in Long Calderwood (near Glasgow); youngest of 10 children; George III's surgeon (1776-); surgeon-gen. of the British army (1793). Russian pro-Prussian Romanov tsar #11 (1762) ("the Prussomaniac") Peter III (d. 1762) on Feb. 21 in Kiel; son of Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp (1700-39) (nephew of Charles XII of Sweden) and Tsarina Elizabeth Petrovna (1708-28), daughter of Peter I the Great (who dies from childbirth). English architect John Wood the Younger (d. 1782) on Feb. 25 in Bath; son of John Wood the Elder (1704-54). French chemist Antoine Baume (Baumé) (Ger. "tree") (d. 1804) on Feb. 26 in Senlis; inventor of Baumé (Bé.) specific gravity hydrometer scales. German painter-critic (precursor to Neoclassical painting) Anton Raphael Mengs (d. 1779) on Mar. 12 in Usti (Aussig), Bohemia; converts from Protestant to Roman Catholic. Swiss anti-masturbation physician Samuel Auguste Andre (André ) David Tissot (d. 1797) on Mar. 20 in Grancy, Canton de Vaud. Scottish chemist Joseph Black (d. 1799) on Apr. 16 in Bordeaux, France; one of 16 children; son of a Scottish wine merchant from Ulster; educated at Glasgow U., taking chemistry from William Cullen; discoverer of latent heat (1761); teacher of James Watt. British Cornish navigator Samuel Wallis (d. 1795) on Apr. 23 in Lanteglos-by-Camelford (near Camelford), Cornwall; starts out serving under Capt. John Byron. German piano maker Johann (Georg) Andreas Stein (d. 1792) on May 16 in Heidesheim; inventor of the Viennesse piano. Am. Rev. War flip-flopping loyalist jurist ("the Weathercock") William Smith (d. 1793) on June 18 in New York City; educated at Yale U.; chief justice of New York Province (1763-82); ends up fleeing to Canada and becoming chief justice of Quebec Province in 1786-93. Scottish Neoclassical architect Robert Adam (d. 1792) on July 3 near Kirkcaldy, Fife; son of William Adam (1689-1748); brother of John Adam (1721-92) and James Adam (1732-94);rival of Sir William Chambers (1723-96) and James Wyatt (1746-1813). German "very bright" mathematician-physicist-philosopher Johann Heinrich Lambert (d. 1777) on Aug. 28 in Mulhouse. Am. Rev. War gen. ("Hero of Bennington") John Stark (d. 1822) on Aug. 28 in Londonderry, N.H.; coiner of the phrase "Live free or die" in 1809. English engineer Matthew Boulton (d. 1809) on Sept. 3 in Birmingham. Am. poet-playwright-historian ("Conscience of the American Revolution") Mercy Otis Warren (d. 1814) on Sept. 14 in Barnstable, Mass.; first Am. female playwright; voice of the "Old Republican" elite; #3 of 13 children born to Col. James Otis (1702-78) and Mary Allyn Otis (1702-74) (a descendant of Mayflower passenger Edward Doty); brother of James Otis Jr. (1725-83); wife (1754-) of James Warren (1726-1808). English physician and obstetric surgery pioneerCharles White (d. 1813) on Oct. 4 in Manchester. French diplomat-spy-swordsman Chevalier Charles Genevieve Louis Auguste Andre Timothee d'Eon de Beaumont (d. 1810) on Oct. 5 in Tonnerre; 18th cent. Europe's most famous transvestite. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) (asthmatic) Caesar Rodney (d. 1784) on Oct. 7 in Byfield Farm, Dover Hundred, Kent County, Del.; featured on the first Del. quarter (1999); helps break the deadlock on the DOI; known for a giant Great Caesar's Ghost rotten skin cancer on his face, which he covers with a green scarf. English exploring fool and sea captain James Cook (d. 1779) on Oct. 27 in Marton, North Yorkshire. Serbian Jesuit priest and scientist Franz Xaver von Wulfen (d. 1805) on Nov. 5 in Belgrade; Swedish descent father, Hungarian mother. Anglo-Irish "The Vicar of Wakefield", "The Deserted Village" poet-dramatist-novelist-essayist Oliver Goldsmith (d. 1774) (b. 1730?) on Nov. 10 near Ballymahon, County Longford (Elphin, County Roscommon?); educated at Trinity College, Dublin, U. of Edinburgh, and U. of Leiden; wanders through Europe playing a flute and begging, then settles in England, working as a physician and writing hack works to order until he gets famous enough to go legit. Egyptian Mamluk ruler (1760-72) Ali Bey Al-Kabir (d. 1773) in Abkhasia (Georgia, Caucasus); starts out as a young slave carried to Egypt, becoming a Mamluk soldier. Am. Rev. War brig. gen. ("Hero of Oriskany") Nicholas Herkimer (Nikolaus Herchheimer) (d. 1777); son of German Palatinate immigrants in German Flatts in the Mohawk Valley of New York. English type-founder and chocolatier (Quaker) Joseph Fry (d. 1787); son of poet John Fry (-1775); father of Joseph Storrs Fry (1767-1835). Am. Rev. Tory leader Capt. John Butler (d. 1794) in New London, Conn. Italian composer Nicola Piccini (d. 1800); Christoph Gluck's rival in Paris. English industrialist (pioneer in cast iron use) John "Iron-Mad" Wilkinson (d. 1808) in Clifton, Cumberland. Deaths: Scottish-born Am. newspaper publisher John Campbell (b. 1653). Am. colonial official Robert Livingston the Elder (b. 1654) on Oct. 1. British royal gov. Sir Francis Nicholson (b. 1655) on Mar. 5 in London. Italian composer Agostino Steffani (b. 1653) on Feb. 2 in Frankfurt, Germany - no doubt a relation to Gwen? German jurist-philosopher Christian Thomasius (b. 1655) on Sept. 23. Am. purest of pure white Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather (b. 1663): "Historians are to be read with moderation and kindness, and it is to be remembered that they can not be in all circumstances like Lynceus." British adm. Sir Hovenden Walker (b. 1666).
1729 Nobody at the time knew it, but 1729 is the smallest taxicab number? On Feb. 14 Penn. passes a debt servitude law allowing the jailing of debtors. On Aug. 19 French dauphin Louis Ferdinand (1729-65) is born to Louis XV and his queen Marie Leszczynska, saving the decimated French royal Bourbon line, causing celebrations in all major French cities as well as Rome and Euro courts; too bad, he dies before ascending the throne. On Oct. 2 (Sept. 29?) Nadir Khan defeats the Afghans at the Battle of Damghan and kills Afghan shah (since 1727) Ashraf (b. 1700), driving them out of Persia, then reconquers the NW provinces from the Ottomans. On Oct. 15 Paul Atkinson dies in Hurst Castle after 30 years of imprisonment, becoming the last Roman Catholic confessor in chains in Protestant England. On Nov. 9 France, Spain, and England sign the Treaty of Seville, restoring their conquests and confirming the asiento. On Nov. 29 after the Natchez tribe attacks French colonists near modern-day Natchez, Miss., the Natchez Massacre (Revolt) ends in a massacre of 230 French colonists in Fort Rosalie, with most of the women and African slaves spared, causing the French in New Orleans to send out an army that wipes out the Chaouacha people then allies with the Choctaw to wipe out the Natchez, selling hundreds into slavery while the remnant seek refuge with the Chickasaw, Creek, and Cherokee until they are kaput by 1736; in 1731 the French crown takes control of La. from the French West India Co., and in 1732 La. gov. Etienne Perier is recalled to France to pay for the massacre. ending all their wars with them (begun 1716); reps of the Illiniwek nation give allegiance to the French. Portugal loses Mombasa on the coast of Kenya to the Arabs. Corsica becomes independent of Genoa (until 1732). South Carolina (S.C.) officially separates from North Carolina (N.C.), and the latter becomes a royal colony. To cope with the Gin Craze caused by the accession of Protestant William of Orange in 1688, which started out as an alternative to Roman Catholic French brandy, causing Londoners to ditch beer, the English Parliament passes the Gin Act, increasing the duties on gin, doing ditto in 1736, 1743, 1747, and 1751; "Drunk for 1 d.; dead drunk for 2 d.; straw for nothing" appears on a sign over a gin shop in 1736. The Kingdom of Travancore in S India is founded (until 1949), covering most of C and S Kerala. The city of Baltimore, Md. (AKA B'more, Charm City, Mobtown, Monument City, Ravenstown, City of Firsts) on the upper Cheseapeake Bay at the mouth of the Patapsco River (modern-day pop. 620K/2.7M) is founded as a tobacco port, becoming the largest independent city in the U.S. by modern times (until ?), becoming known as the home of celebs Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Douglass, H.L. Mencken, Eubie Blake, Babe Ruth, Billie Holiday, and Francis Scott Key's nat. anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". Emperor Qing Shi Zong prohibits opium smoking in China - him and what army? Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), son of Alessandro Scarlatti settles in the Spanish court at Madrid for life - the fresh face of 1729? After the fallout from the 451 Council of Chalcedon works its magic, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church splits with the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and aligns with the Roman Catholic Church while keeping Arabic as its official language. The Academia de Buenas Letras is founded in Barcelona, Spain. Benjamin Franklin and James Franklin buy the The Pennsylvania Gazette (until 1765), turning it into the most popular Am. colonial newspaper. Sports: 6' 200 lb. John "Jack" Broughton (1704-89), who founded the London Prize Ring Rules after he killed somebody in the ring takes over the English bare-knuckle boxing title (until 1750) from his teacher James Figg, who retires. The Godolphin Arabian (1724-54), the last of three stallions on which English Thoroughbreds are based is imported, joining Byerly Turk (1686) and Darley Arabian (1729); his bay colt by English mare Roxana named Lath (1724-53) becomes a top racehorse, followed by Regulus (1739-65), who goes undefeated. Architecture: Old South Church (Meeting House) in Boston, Mass. is built, becoming the largest bldg. in Boston, used by 5K colonists as the HQ for organizing the Boston Tea Party of Dec. 16, 1773. John Wood begins building Queen Square in Bath, England (finished 1736). Science: French scientist Pierre Bouguer (1698-1758) pub. Essai d'optique sur la gradation de la lumiere (lumière), a study of the quantity of light lost passing through the atmosphere, announcing the Beer-Lambert Law, which states that the absorbance is directly proportional to its path length. Stephen Gray of England discovers electrical conductivity by passing static electricity through threads and wires. French scientist Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan (1678-1771) first observes the Circadian Rhythm in the plant Mimosa pudica. Nonfiction: Elijah Fenton (1683-1730), The Works of Edmund Waller. Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Description of Denmark and Norway. Andrew Motte (tr.)., Isaac Newton's 'Principia Mathematica'; tr. from Latin to English - it's still Greek to me? Thomas Sherlock (1678-1761), A Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), A Modest Proposal; the classic children's cookbook?; satire written after a famine in Ireland caused by an oat crop failure, proposing that infants be sold for food; "I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout." Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Lotario (Lothair) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Dec. 2); libretto adapted from Antonio Salvi's "Adelaide"; flops after 10 perf. Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738), Two Suites de Symphonies; incl. Fanfare-Rondeau, used as the theme of the PBS TV program "Masterpiece Theatre". Art: Canaletto (1797-1768), The Stonemason's Yard (Campo St. Vidal and Santa Maria della Carita); overlooks the Grand Canal; two children are playing in the left foreground, and one falls and pisses involuntarily in surprise. Alexandre Desportes, Still Life with Oysters. J.F. de Troy, Rape of the Sabines. Plays: Samuel Madden (1686-1765), Themistocles, the Lover of His Country (tragedy) (Theatre Royal, London); the Athenian dude who lived from -528 to -462. Poetry: Albrecht von Haller (1708-77), Die Alpen (The Alps). Births: German mathematician Johann Daniel Titius (d. 1796) on Jan. 2; discoverer of the misnamed Bode's Law of Planetary Distances - the law of godly titties? Italian scientist (physiologist) (spontaneous generation disprover) Lazzaro Spallanzani (d. 1799) on Jan. 10 in Scandiano; educated at the U. of Bologna. British statesman-orator-writer Edmund Burke (d. 1797) on Jan. 12 in Dublin; educated at Trinity College, Dublin. German "Nathan the Wise" Christian dramatist-critic (Freemason) Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (d. 1781) on Jan. 22 in Kamenz, Upper Lusatia, Saxony. British col. gov. of N.C. (1765-71) and N.Y. (1771-80) William Tryon (b. 1788) on Jan. 27 in Norbury Park, Surrey, England. English "The Hermit of Warkworth", "O Nanny, Wilt Thou Gang with Me?", "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry" poet-antiquary-bishop and "Tatler", "Guardian", "Spectator" ed. Thomas Percy (d. 1811) on Apr. 13 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire; bishop of Dromore. Russian Romanov tsar #12 (1762-96) Catherine (Yekaterina) II (the Great) (Sophia Augusta Petrovna) (d. 1796) on May 2 (Apr. 21 Old Style) in Stettin, Prussia; daughter of Christian August, prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (1690-1747) and Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp; 1st cousin of Gustav III of Sweden and Charles XIII of Sweden. Austrian field marshal Michael Friedrich Benedikt, Baron von Melas (d. 1806) on May 12 in Radeln, Transylvania (modern-day Roades, Romania); of Saxon descent. French dauphin Louis Ferdinand (d. 1765) on Aug. 4 in Versailles; only surviving son of Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska; husband of (1744-6) Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain, and (1747-65) Marie Josephe of Saxony; father of Marie Therese (1746-48), Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X. German statesman-educator Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Furstenberg (Fürstenberg) (d. 1810) on Aug. 7 in Herdringen, Westphalia. German philosopher (Jewish) Moses Mendelssohn (d. 1786) on Sept. 6 in Dessau; the 3rd Moses after Moses Maimonides and Moses One; grandfather of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47). English "Feminead" writer-poet-clergyman John Duncombe (d. 1786) (AKA Crito) on Sept. 29 in London; educated at Essex and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge U. British Gen. Charles "No Flint" Grey, 1st Earl Grey (d. 1807) on Oct. 23 in Northumberland; 4th son of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet of Howick; created earl in 1806. French soldier-explorer-mathematician adm. Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (d. 1811) on Nov. 12 in Paris; writes a treatise on integral calculus at age 25; discoverer of Bouvainville Island. French fur trader Pierre Laclede (Laclède) Liguest (d. 1778) on Nov. 22 in Bedous, Bearn. Russia field marshal Count Alexander Vasilievich "Rimnikski" Suvorov (d. 1800) on Nov. 29 in Moscow; of Swedish ancestry; son of Vasily Ivanovich Suvorov; uncle of Prince Alexander Ivanovich Gorchakov; last generalissimo of the Russian Empire, who won all 60+ battles. Am. Rev. leader Charles Thompson (d. 1824) on Nov. 29 in Gorteade, Tobermore (near Maghera), County Londonderry, Ireland; Scots-Irish parents; emigrates to Penn. in 1739. emigrates to North Am. at age 8; secy. of the Continental Congress (1774-89). English Methodist minister (John Wesley's successor) John William Fletcher (b. 1785) in Nyon, Switzerland. Am. loyalist Episcopal minister Rev. Samuel Seabury (d. 1796) (AKA A.W. Farmer) on Nov. 30 in Ledyard, Groton, Conn.; first Am. Episcopal bishop and first bishop of Conn. Spanish composer Antonio Soler (d. 1783) on Dec. 3 in Olot, Gerone, Catalonia. Italian opera composer-organist Giuseppe Sarti (d. 1802) on Dec. 28 in Faenza. Am. playwright John Leacock (d. 1802); Philadelphia silversmith, member of the Sons of Liberty, and an associate of Benjamin Franklin and John Dickinson. Scottish "Zeluco" physician-novelist John Moore (d. 1802) in Stirling; father of Gen. Sir John Moore (1761-1809) and Adm. Sir Graham Moore (1764-1843). English "The Old English Baron" novelist Clara Reeve (d. 1807) in Ipswitch. Deaths: Am. Congregationalist pastor Solomon Stoddard (b. 1643) on Feb. 11 French scholar Jean Hardouin (b. 1646) on Sept. 3. English poet Sir Richard Blackmore (b. 1650). French actor Michel Baron (b. 1653) on Dec. 22 in Paris. Dutch explorer adm. Jakob Roggeveen (b. 1659) on Jan. 31 in Middelburg. Indian Maratha adm. Kanhoji Angre (b. 1669) on July 4 in Alibag, Maharashtra. French Roman Catholic priest Jean Meslier (b. 1664); leaves Memoir of the Thoughts and Feelings of Jean Meslier: Clear and Evident Demonstrations of the Vanity and Falsity of All the Religions of the World, revealing that he turned atheist, knocking all religions, with the soundbyte that he wishes that "all the great men in the world and all the nobility could be hanged, and strangled with the guts of the priests", which Denis Diderot turns into "Let's strangle the neck of the last king with the entrails of the last priest"; Voltaire becomes a big fan; the first Westerner to pub. a complete book in support of atheism? English steam engine inventor Thomas Newcomen (b. 1664) on Aug. 5 in London. French composer Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (b. 1665) on June 27. English gardener Thomas Fairchild (b. 1667) on Oct. 10. English neoclassical Restoration poet-dramatist William Congreve (b. 1670) on Jan. 19 in London. Scottish economist John Law (b. 1671) on Mar. 21 in Venice (pneumonia); dies poor. Irish writer Sir Richard Steele (b. 1672) on Sept. 1 in Carmarthen, Wales. English philosopher Samuel Clarke (b. 1675) on May 17 in London. Scottish architect Colen Campbell (b. 1676) on Sept. 13 in London, England. English Deist philosopher Anthony Collins (b. 1676) on Dec. 13. German composer Johann David Heinichen (b. 1683).
| Country | Leader | From | To | |
| England | George II (1683-1760) | June 22, 1727 | Oct. 25, 1760 | |
| France | Louis XV the Well-Beloved (1710-74) | Sept. 1, 1715 | May 10, 1774 | |
| Austria | HRE Charles VI (1685-1740) | Oct. 12, 1711 | Oct. 20, 1740 | |
| Russia | Tsar Peter II of Russia (1715-30) | May 18, 1727 | Jan. 30, 1730 | |
| Papacy | Pope Benedict XIII (1649-1730) | May 29, 1724 | Feb. 21, 1730 | |
1730 Julian calendar slip: 11 days. Pop. of the Am. colonies: 600K; in this decade Irish immigrants settle in large numbers in Philadelphia, Penn. On Jan. 30 (Sun.) tsar (since 1727) Peter II (b. 1715) dies of smallpox on his wedding day, and his bride is pushed into his deathbed in hopes of producing an heir, but it doesn't work, and the direct male Romanov line ends; Anna (Anne) Ivanovna (Ioannovna) (1693-1740), duchess of Courland, daughter of Peter I the Great's half-brother Ivan V is elected Russian Romanov tsar #8 by the privy council (until 1740), and after getting her to sign an agreement limiting her power before she arrives in Moscow, she stages a coup on Mar. 8 and executes or exiles the members, then goes on to bring in her Courland hunk (grandson of a groom) Ernst Johann Biren (1690-1722), and rule with an iron hand, killing thousands of her subjects and exiling thousands more to Siberia. On Feb. 21 Pope (since 1724) Benedict XIII (b. 1649) dies after letting leeches sponge off him while his head's in the clouds, and on July 12 Florentine-born Lorenzo Corsini is elected Pope (#246) Clement XII (1652-1740) (until Feb. 6, 1740). On June 11 Whig statesman Charles, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1674-1738), Sir Robert Walpole's brother-in-law becomes pres. of the privy council (until June 25, 1721), after which he retires to his Raynham Hall estate in Norfolk, leaving Walpole as the sole minister in the British cabinet, and begins the 4-course system of husbandry, growing turnips on a large scale to feed his cattle during the winter so they don't have to be slaughtered, earning the nickname "Turnip Townshend". On Aug. 10 Jonathan Belcher (1682-1757) (first Am.-born Mason) is appointed royal gov. of Mass. and N.H. (until Sept. 7, 1741). On Sept. 3 Sardinian king (since 1720) Victor Amadeus II abdicates after going semi-insane, and his son Charles Emmanuel III (1701-73) becomes king of Sardinia and duke of Savoy (until Feb. 20, 1773). On Sept. 17 a disastrous war with the Persians causes a revolt by 12K mostly Albanian Janissaries led by Albanian-born ex-Janissary Patrona ("vice-admiral") Khalil (Halil) Isyani (1690-1730) (Turkish bath waiter), killing grand vizier Nevsehirli Damag Ibrahim Pasha and forcing sultan (since 1703) Ahmed III (b. 1673) to abdicate and lock himself back in his cage, and on Sept. 20 his nephew Mahmud I (1696-1754) becomes Ottoman sultan #24 (until 1754), ending the 27-year Tulip Era (begun 1703), playing along with big man Khalil until he can have him killed on Nov. 25 along with 7K supporters, inheriting an insolvent empire; Nubian chief eunuch Beshir Agha (1653-1746) becomes the real power behind the throne (most powerful chief eunuch in Ottoman history) while the sultan spends his time writing poetry - come on, show me your best Vogue face? On Oct. 12 Frederick IV (b. 1671) dies after a 31-year reign, and his narrow intolerant pussy-whipped pietist son Christian VI (1699-1746) becomes an unpopular king of Denmark and Norway (until Aug. 6, 1746), run by his German pietist wife Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1700-70). On Dec. 3 Benjamin Franklin pub. the first known notice about Freemasonry in North Am. in his Penn. Gazette; meanwhile after blasting the owner of the Packet in a series of essays, he buys it from the owner. Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia is imprisoned by his father. Cresap's (the Conojocular) War (ends May 1738) between Md. and Penn. begins after German settlers from Penn. seeking to expand the colony's ill-defined borders are run off by Md. settler Thomas Cresap (1702-87), who becomes known as a "Border Ruffian" by Marylanders, and as the "Maryland Monster" by Pennsylvanians, as he leads an armed force to uphold the claims of Md. to all land up to the 40th parallel (just N of Philadelphia, Penn. and S of Lancaster, Penn.)., while Penn. claims the boundary is at 39 deg. 36 min., creating a 20-mi.-wide strip of disputed territory; the armed conflict ends in May 1738 after intervention by George II, but it takes until the 1767 for the Mason-Dixon Line to be recognized as the permanent boundary. Charles Roger dies leaving no male heirs, and the Courtenay line in France becomes extinct. French soldiers massacre the Fox nation - Eighteenth-Century Fox flopped? Arab Sheikh Daher el-Omar (1690-1775) takes over Tiberias, expanding his rule by 1735 to Nazareth, Majd ibn Amr, and Nablus. Emperor Qing Shi Zong reduces slavery in China. Laurence Eusden (b. 1688) dies, and after pulling political strings, Bloomsbury, London-born mediocre poet-actor-stage mgr. Colley Cibber (1671-1757) becomes poet laureate of England, his appointment pissing-off the literati esp. Alexander Pope, who makes him the Head Dunce in his satirical poem "The Dunciad"; he leaves the memoir "Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber" (1740), which becomes a historical ref. Scottish clergyman John Glas (1695-1773) founds the Glasite (Glassite) (Sandemanian) Sect, which is spread by his son-in-law Robert Sanderman (1718-71) in England and Am.; "The bare death of Jesus Christ without a thought or deed on the part of man, is sufficient to present the chief of sinners spotless before God", i.e., all one has to do is assent to the divine testimony concerning Jesus to be saved - are we clear? Crystal? In this decade a movement in England for love in marriage causes young people to begin avoiding arranged marriages - think outside the window box? By this decade Caribbean pirates abandon their motley flags and standardize on the Jolly Roger (skull and crossbones). The first French and British traders begin operating in the region of the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers in Penn., later becoming the site of Pittsburgh. The city of Rosario in Argentina's La Pampa region is founded (modern pop. 1M). The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in Scotland is founded. The first Am. tobacco factories open in Virginia, producing snuff. A Spanish wine-exporting firm is founded in Jerez de Frontera, which in 1816 becomes Pedro Domecq sherry producers. About this time Bible-thumping brothers John Wesley (1703-91) (of Lincoln College) and Charles Wesley (1707-88) (of Christ Church) found the Protestant sect of Methodism at Oxford U. in England, turning the taunts of fellow students into their name; their views are soon taken up by "Calvinistic Methodist" George Whitefield, and spreads to the U.S. and other countries via outdoor preaching, reaching 80M followers by modern times; their theology focuses on sanctification and the effect of faith on character (people are dead in sin by nature, hence children of wrath, and are justified by faith alone, with the love of God reigning supreme in their hearts, giving them outward holiness and allowing them to experience Jesus Christ personally), with the main doctrines incl. the primacy of Scripture, assurance of salvation, imparted righteusness, the possibility of perfection in love, and works of piety, clinging to the Arminian doctrine that salvation is available to all and rejecting the Calvinist doctrine that God has pre-ordained a select group of people to be saved, becoming popular with the worknng class and black Am. slaves; Methodists go on to engage in charitable work for the sick and poor, and to get deep into music and hymns. "They are the people who place all religion in wearing long beards." Zinc smelting is first done in England. Francois Boucher returns from Rome to Paris. Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706) marries Deborah Read Rogers (1708-74), whom he had proposed to in 1724, but her mother wouldn't permit it because of his financial instability and pending trip to England, after which she married John Rogers, who fled, leaving her and Ben in legal limbo, resulting in a common law marriage only; they have two children, Francis Folger Franklin (1732-6) and Sarah Franklin "Sally" Bache (1743-1808), and raise Ben's illegitimate son William Franklin (1731-1813), who goes on to become colonial gov. of N.J. 363 Nature-worshiping Bishnois ("Twenty-niners") led by Amrita Devi protect green Khejri trees from royal loggers by hugging them. The satirical Grub Street Journal, ed. by Richard Russel and botanist John Martyn (1699-1768) begins pub. in London on Jan. 8 (until 1738), satiring popular journalism, hack writers, and lit. profs., with Alexander Pope as one of its contributors. In this decade the Rococo style reaches full bloom. In this decade Charrington Brewery is founded in Bethnal Green, London by Robert Westfield; in 1766 John Charrington (-1815) joins, forming Westfield, Moss & Charrington; in 1783 Charrington and his brother Henry gain full control of the business, becoming the 2nd largest brewery in London in 1807 (20,252 barrels/lyear); in 1964 it merges with United Breweries of London to become Charrington United Breweries; in 1967 it merges with Bass Brewery to become Bass Charrington, the largest brewery in the U.K.; in 2000 it is acquired by Interbrew. Architecture: St. George's in Bloomsbury, London (begun 1720) is finished. After being ordered by the tsar at the conclusion of the Treaty of Nerchinsk on Nov. 22, 1689, the Siberian Route (Tea Road) (Moscow Highway) (Great Highway) from Russia to Siberia to China is begun to replace the Siberian River Routes, going on to transport up to 65% of China's tea exports (70.2K tons in 1915), esp. the Russian Caravan brand; the Siberian Route is not completed until the 1850s. In this decade Francois Cuvillies (Cuvilliés) designs the Amalienburg Pavilion near Munich, Germany, featuring the Rococo Hall of Mirrors. The Serpentine Lake (River) dividing Hyde Park, London in half is created from the Westbourne River for Queen Caroline; Serpentine Bridge marks the boundary between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, causing the E half of the lake to become knoan as the Serpentine, and the W half to become known as the Long Water; it only has one bend. The Jacobean Georgian 18-room H-shaped Stratford Hall in Va. is built, becoming the ancestral home of the Lees of Va., beginning with acting Va. gov. Thomas Lee, his sons Richard Henry Lee (1732-94) and Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734-97) (DOI signers), Light-Horse Harry Lee (who lives there from 1782-1810), and his son Robert E. Lee, who lives there until 1830. William Byrd builds his Georgian Westover Mansion in Va. Jewish colonists build Shearith Israel in New York City, becoming the first synagogue in North Am. Inventions: English mathematician John Hadley (1682-1744) invents the Octant (precursor to the sextant) for sea navigation to determine latitude; Thomas Godfrey (1704-49) of British Am. independently invents it. London Soho optician Edward Scarlett perfects rigid sidepieces for eyeglasses, which are in greater demand because of the proliferation of the printing press - tell us about the revolutionary role spectacles play in history? Science: Swedish chemist Georg Brandt (1694-1768) discovers the element Cobalt (Co) (#27), becoming the second new element discovered since ancient times (phosphorus in 1669). George Martine (1700-41) performs the first tracheotomy to treat diphtheria. French physicist Henri Pitot (1695-1771) invents the Pitot Tube to measure fluid velocity. Quassi of Suriname first prescribes Quassia for treating fever. Nonfiction: Nathan Bailey (-1742), Dictionarium Brittannicum; A More Compleat Universal Etymological Dictionary Than any Extant; the first comprehensive English dictionary; used by Dr. Samuel Johnson as the basis for his 1755 dictionary. Richard Bradley (1688-1732), A Course of Lectures upon the Materia Medica, Ancient and Modern. Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), Histoire de I'Isle Espagnole ou de Saint-Domingue (2 vols.) (1730-1). William Douglass (1691-1751), Practical Essay Concerning the Small Pox; Scottish-born Boston physician promotes inoculation but insists on isolation of inoculated patients. Thomas Foxcroft (1697-1769), Observations, Historical and Practical, on the Rise and Primitive State of New-England; defends Puritanism against liberalism and evangelicalism. Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), A Witch Trial at Mount Holly (Oct. 22); a satire about witchcraft among the Quakers, which fools the "English Gentleman's Magazine" to report it as factual. Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-66), Versuch einer Kritischen Dichtkunst fur die Deutschen; first systematic treatise in German on the art of poetry from the standpoint of Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux. Friedrich Hoffmann (1660-1742), Medicina Rationalis Systematica; recommends "Anodyne" (spirit of ether) for intestinal cramps, painful menstruation, earache and toothache, kidney stones and gallstones, etc. Abraham de Moivre (1667-1754), Miscellanea Analytica; first book to use a probability integral with an integrand consisting of the exponential of a negative quadratic; contains De Moivre's Formula, using complex numbers in trigonometry, bringing it into the realm of analysis. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), History of England During the Reigns of the Royal House of Stuart. Charles Rollin (1661-1741), Ancient History (Histoire Ancienne) (12 vols.) (1730-8); uncritical inaccurate compilation that becomes a big hit but ends up forgotten, making his name into an epithet. Josiah Smith (1704-81), The Greatest Sufferers; S.C. religious leader points to a New England earthquake as God's warning against sinners in Charleston. Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734), Ars Sanandi cum Expectalione. Robert Witham (1667-1738) (tr.), English Version of the Reims Catholic New Testament. Matthew Tindal (1657-1733), Christianity as Old as the Creation. Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Philosophia Prima, sive Ontologia. Martin Wright, An Introduction to the Law of Tenures. Music: Anon., Gaudeamus Igitur (De Brevitate Vitae) (On the Shortness of Life); German drinking song dating back to a 1287 Latin ms. is pub. for the 1st time, becoming a Euro univ. graduation hymn and drinking song. Henry Carey (1687-1743), God Save the King; he becomes the first to sing it at a Patriot Whig meeting; later pub. in Thesaurus Musicus; his claim to this song is doubted until his father Friedrich Chrysander substantiates it. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Partenope (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Feb. 24); based on a 1699 libretto by Silvio Stamiglia; his first comic opera since "Agrippina" (1709). Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783), Artaserse (German opera in Italian style). Art: Canaletto (1697-1768), The Entrance to the Grand Canal; The French Ambassador Being Received at the Doge's Palace; Scuola di San Rocco; Symbolic Marriage of Venice to the Adriatic. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779), Mallard Drake Hanging on a Wall and a Seville Orange. William Hogarth (1697-1764), Before and After; A Fishing Party; The Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox. Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743), La Camargo (The Dancer). Plays: Henry Fielding (1707-54), The Tragedy of Tragedies, or Tom Thumb the Great (Apr.) (Drury Lane, London); The Author's Farce (Haymarket Theatre, London). Rape Upon Rape; or, The Justice Caught in His Own Trap (comedy). George Lillo (1693-1739), Sylvia; or, The Country Burial (ballad opera). Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard. James Ralph (1705-62), The Fashionable Lady (ballad opera); first Am. play produced in London, by a friend of Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), who accompanied him to London in 1724. Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard (The Game of Love and Chance) (comedy) (Jan. 23) (Theatre Italien, Paris). Voltaire (1694-1778), Zaire (The Tragedy of Zara); a Christian raised by Turks; first successful French tragedy with French chars.; Brutus (Dec. 11) (Paris) (110 perf.). Poetry: Ebenezer Cooke (1667-1732), Sotweed Redivivus, or The Planter's Looking Glass (Annapolis, Md.). Richard Lewis (1699-1733), A Journey from Patapsco to Annapolis, April 4, 1730; best nature poem in Am. colonial lit.?; "At length the wintry Horrors disappear,/ The grateful Earth from frosty Chains unbound,/ Pours out its vernal Treasures all around,/ Her Face bedeckt with Grass, with Buds the Trees are crown'd." Births: French publisher Francois Ambroise Didot (d. 1804) on Jan. 7 in Paris; son of Francois Didot (1689-1757); brother of Pierre Francois Didot (1732-93); father of Pierre Didot (1761-1853) Am. Rev. War leader (DOI signer) William Whipple Jr. (d. 1785) on Jan. 14 in Kittery, Maine. Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Mueller (Müller) (d. 1784) on Mar. 11 in Copenhagen. French mathematician Etienne Bezout (Étienne Bézout) (d. 1783) on Mar. 31 in Nemours, Seine-et-Marne. Swiss painter-poet Salomon Gessner (d. 1788) on Apr. 1 in Zurich. British gen. Sir Henry Clinton (OE, "settlement near the headland") (d. 1795) on Apr. 16 in Newfoundland, Canada; cmdr. of British forces in North Am. 1778-82. French economist-theologian (Roman Catholic) Nicolas Baudeau (d. 1792) on Apr. 25 in Amboise. English PM (1782, 1765-6) Charles Watson-Wentworth 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (d. 1782) on May 13 in South Yorkshire; educated at Westminster School, and St. John's, Cambridge U. Italian naturalist ("Founder of Modern Toxicology") Felice Fontana (d. 1805) on Aug. 14 in Pomarolo; brother of Gregorio Fontana (1735-1803); educated at the U. of Padua. French astronomer (comet hunter) Charles Messier (d. 1817) on June 26 in Badonviller, Lorraine; 10th of 12 children of catchpole Nicolas Messier. Am. Rev. War drillmaster (Freemason) Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben (d. 1794) on Sept. 17 in Magdeburg, Prussia; becomes U.S. citizen in 1784. French "Mercury" Neoclassical sculptor Augustin Pajou (d. 1809) on Sept. 19 in Paris; father of Jacques Augustin Catherine Pajou (176-1828) and Catherine Flore Pajou. Am. DOI signer Richard Stockton (d. 1781) on Oct. 1 near Princeton, N.J.; educated at Princeton U.; father of Richard Stockton (1764-1828); grandfather of Robert Field Stockton (1795-1866). Dutch physician-biologist-chemist Jan Ingenhousz (Ingen-Housz) (d. 1799) on Dec. 8 in Breda; educated at the Catholic U. of Leuven, and U. of Leiden. Scottish explorer James Bruce (d. 1794) on Dec. 14 in Stirlingshire; discoverer of the source of the Blue Nile (1770); educated at Harrow and Edinburgh U.; coiner of the word "Wonderland". Japanese painter Soga Shohaku (d. 1781) in Ise Province (Mie Prefecture). English pottery maker Josiah Wedgwood (d. 1795) in Burslem, Staffordshire; advocates turnpikes for shipping his fragile goods - give me a break? and Firmin Didot (1764-1836). Scottish North Am. colonial gov. John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (d. 1809); son of William Murray, 3rd lord of Dunmore. Brazilian architect-sculptor (mulatto) Antonio Francisco Lisboa (AKA Aleijadinho) (d. 1814). Deaths: French marshal Francois de Neufville, Duke de Villeroy (b. 1644) on July 18 in Paris. Spanish architect Leonardo de Figueroa (b. 1650) in Seville. English-born Am. Salem Witch Trials judge Samuel Sewall (b. 1652) on Jan. 1 in Boston, Mass. English philanthropist clergyman Thomas Bray (b. 1656) on Feb. 15. French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (b. 1658) on Oct. 16 in Castelsarrasin. Italian scientist Antonio Vallisnieri (b. 1661) on Jan. 18 in Padua. English historian Lawrence Echard (b. 1670). Russian field marshal Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn (b. 1675) on Dec. 10. English poet Elijah Fenton (b. 1683). English actress Anne Oldfield (b. 1683) on Oct. 23 in London; buried in Westminster Abbey; "Engaging Oldfield, who, with grace and ease, Could join the arts to ruin and to please" (Alexander Pope). French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur (b. 1692) on Mar. 20 in Paris (poisoned by rival duchesse de Bouillon?); refused Christian burial on account of failure to renounce her profession, Voltaire and friends secretly bury her at night in the Rue de Boulogne; Voltaire then composes Poem Criticizing the Church's Policy on Bitchin' Babe Lecouvreur. Russian tsar (1727-30) Peter II (b. 1715) on Jan. 30 in Moscow. English robber James Dalton (b. ?) on May 11 in Tyburn (hanged); Irish father is hanged for street robbery; framed on robbery by John Waller?
1731 On Mar. 16 the Treaty of Vienna of 1731 is signed by England (Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield), Holland, Spain, and the HRE (Count Finzendorf); Russia, Prussia, and the HRE agree to oppose Stanislas I in Poland; the Ostend East India Co. is dissolved. On Oct. 31 (214th anniv. of Martin Luther's nailing of the 95 Theses to the Wittenberg church door in 1517) the 20K Lutherans in Salzburg, Austria are expelled en masse by Roman Catholic prince-archbishop (since 1727) Leopold Anton Eleutherius von Firmian (1679-1744); they eventually migrate to North Am. via London, and in 1734 found Ebenezer, Ga. Duke Antonio of Parma and Piacenza dies, ending the Farnese male line; Charles III (Don Carlos of Bourbon) (1716-88), 2nd son of Philip V of Spain becomes duke of Parma and Piacenza> (until 1734). Benjamin Franklin joins the Freemasons and founds the Library Co. of Philadelphia, a subscription library. Ravi Varma dies, and Rama Varma (-1746) becomes ruler of Cochin (until 1746), allying with the Dutch against Travancore. The French fortify Crown Point on the W shore of Lake Champlain. Trying to get that view of that booty? French Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de La Verendrye (Vérendrye) (1685-1749) and his four sons incl. Francois de La Verendrye (Vérendrye) (1715-94) and Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Verendrye (Vérendrye) (1717-61) begin exploring French territory W of the Missouri River (until 1742), going on to discover the Dakotas, W Minn., part of Montana, Manitoba, and Western Canada, becoming the first white Euros to reach N.D. and the upper Missouri River; in 1739 Francois and Louis-Joseph discover the Saskatchewan River, and explore the Great Plains as far as Wyo. and in 1742-3 become the first white Euros to see the Rocky Mts. N of N.M.; the 253-acre Verendrye Nat. Monument in W N.D. is protected by the U.S. in 1917-56. Alexandria, Va. on the Potomac River, 7 mi. S of Washington, D.C. is founded by Scottish merchants, with George Washington helping to survey the town in 1749, when it receives its present name and is incorporated. English factory workers are prohibited from emigrating to British Am. After talking around the recent failure of his Ostend East India Co., the Swedish East India Co., based in Gothenburg (Goteborg) is founded by Scottish merchant Colin Campbell (1686-1757), along with Swedish merchants Henrik Konig (1642-1720), Niclas Sahlgren (1701-75) et al. (until 1813), obtaining more help from English merchants shut out of the British East India Co.; in order to become a dir., Campbell is naturalized as a Swede and raised to the nobility, and is appointed as Sweden's first envoy to China, although he never meets the emperor; the first voyage embarks next Mar. 7 and arrives in Canton on Sept. 19, staying 120 days and making a nice profit, getting stopped by the Dutch on the return voyage but getting released by the gov. of Batavia and returning to Sweden on Sept. 7, 1733, declaring a 75% dividend, then going on to make 20 more voyages over the next 15 years; too bad, the Swedish steel, timber and textile interests don't want to trade for tea and porcelain, or they would have made more; the Diary of Colin Campbell is pub. in 1996. After 500+ Schwenkfelders flee Silesia to Germany, 208 of them arrive in Penn. by 1737, settling down as farmers near Philly, reaching 3K by modern times - do they want to be your stage driver? Regulations and Instructions Relating to His Majesty's Service at Sea is pub. in Britain as the fundamental regs governing the org. and discipline of the British Navy, providing for each sailor to get 1 gal. of weak beer a day. Glass is made of sand, or the other way around? Rev. Samuel Madden (1686-1765) and Thomas Prior (1681-1751) found the Royal Dublin Society. Justus van Effen (1684-1735) founds Hollandsche Spectator to imitate English reviews. The only surviving Anglo-Saxon copy of Beowolf, which narrowly escaped destruction in 1536, again narrowly escapes the flames which destroy the collection of Sir Robert Cotton. Johann Adolph Hasse becomes Kapellmeister at the Dresden Opera, and his wife Faustina Bordoni becomes prima donna. Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) delivers his Harvard Lectures, showing Puritans how to loosen up enough to become Americans? Architecture: Onderdonk Farmhouse in Queens, N.Y. is built, surviving to modern times. The State House in Philadelphia (later the Independence Hall), designed by Andrew Hamilton is begun (finished 1751). The episcopal Palais de Rohan in Strasbourg is begun (finished 1741). Science: English astronomer John Bevis (1695-1771) rediscovers the Crab Nebula (M1), which was seen by Chinese astronomers in 1054. French entomologist Rene (René) Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur (Réaumur) (1683-1757) invents an alcohol thermometer with the 0-80 (freezing-boiling) Reaumur (Réaumur) Temperature Scale - he should have used the 20-80 rule and made it 0-100? Nonfiction: Dr. John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), An Essay Concerning the Nature of Ailments; recommends dieting. Thomas Bayes (1701-61), Divine Benevolence, or an Attempt to Prove That the Principal End of the Divine Providence and Government is the Happiness of His Creatures. Henri de Boulainvilliers (1658-1722), Histoire des Arabes avec la Vie de Mahomet (posth.); portrays Muhammad as a wise rational lawgiver who was a forerunner of the Age of Reason. Ralph Cudworth (1617-88), Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality (posth.). Philip Miller (1691-1771), The Gardener's Dictionary Containing the Methods of Cultivating and Improving the Kitchen Fruit and Flower Garden. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Moral Essays (1731-5); incl. An Epistle to Burlington on architecture, which gains him more enemies after they accuse him of attacking the Duke of Chandos and his Cannons Estate. Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734), Experimenta, Observationes, Aniniadversiones... Chymicae et Physicae. Jethro Tull (1674-1741), Horse-hoeing Husbandry; shows how to reduce seed requirements by 75% using his seed drill, and grow perpetual wheat crops without manure, along with a system of 13 continuous crops; used by Voltaire and George Washington; "I was so far from being inclined to the scribbling disease, that I had disused writing for above twenty years, before I was prevailed on to commit my thoughts upon Husbandry to paper... It is no wonder that the style is low as the author... but fine language will not fill a farmer's barn; neither does truth need any embellishments of art." Voltaire (1694-1778), History of Charles XII. Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Cosmologia Generalis. Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 AKA "Air". G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Poro, King of India (HWV 28) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Feb. 2); libretto adapted from Metastasio's "Alessandro nell'Indie", about Alexander the Great's clash with King Porus of India in 326 B.C.E., starring Senesino as Poro, Anna Maria Strada as his lover Cleofide, and Annibale Pio Fabri Balino as Alexander. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-36), La Conversione e Morte di San Guglielmo (first opera) (Naples). Art: William Hogarth (1697-1764), A Harlot's Progress (series of six paintings, now lost); satire of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress"; M. (Molly) Hackabout arrives in London from the country and becomes a ho in Drury Lane, ending up arrested, worked half to death in Bridewell Prison, and dying fom VD at age 23; turns them into engravings in 1732. Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743), The Dancer Camargo. Plays: Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Erasmus Montanus (comedy). George Lillo (1693-1739), The London Merchant; or, The History of George Barnwell (melodrama); an apprentice repents of his vices to win the hand of a worthy girl; known for its infamous gallows scene, showing how the propertied classes keep the rabble down; creates the new genre of domestic (bourgeois) tragedy, dumping heroes from classical and Biblical history for everyday people; too bad, it's too avant-garde for the times? Novels: Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), La Vie de Marianne (11 vols.) (1731-45); unfinished; Abbe Prevost (1697-1763), Le Philosophe Anglais, ou Histoire de Monsieur Cleveland, fils naturel de Cromwell, écrite par lui-même, et traduite de l'anglais (8 vols.) (1731-9) (Paris); English trans. pub. in 1734; Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut (Paris); vol. #7 of "Memoires et Aventures d'un Homme de Qualite"; fickle luxury-loving French babe Manon attracts brilliant student Chevalier des Grieux, and rieunx, er, ruins his career; after she is transported to America, he follows her, fights a duel with the La. gov.'s son, is imprisoned, and escapes to the desert, where she dies in his arms; turned into an opera in 1884 by Jules Massenet, and again in 1893 by Giacomo Puccini. Johann Gottfried Schabel (1692-1758), Die Insel Felsenburg; pub. under alias Gisander; coins the word "robinsonade" for imitations of Daniel Defoe's 1719 "Robinson Crusoe". Births: German Goethe's mother ("Frau Rat") Katharina Elisabeth Goethe (nee Textor) (d. 1808) on Feb. 19 in Frankfurt am Main; daughter of Johann Wolfgang Textor (1693-1771) and Anna Margaretha Lindheimer (1771-83); wife (1748-) of Johann Caspar Goethe (1710-82); mother of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). Chilean "The Coming of the Messiah in Majesty and Glory" Jesuit priest Manuel De Lacunza (d. 1801) (AKA Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra) on July 19 in Santiago. English poet-satirist Charles Churchill (d. 1764) in Feb. in Vine St., Westminster; educated at Westminster School, and Trinity College, Cambridge U. Am. Rev. War leader-jurist (DOI signer) ("the Objection Maker") Robert Treat Paine (d. 1814) on Mar. 11 in Boston, Mass.; educated at Harvard U.; not to be confused with Thomas Paine (1737-1809). Spanish "Las Tertulias de Madrid" Neoclassical dramatist Ramon de la Cruz (d. 1794) on Mar. 28. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) William Williams (d. 1811) on Apr. 23 in Lebanon, Conn.; educated at Harvard U. U.S. First Lady #1 (1789-97) (Baptist) Martha Dandridge "Patsy" Custis Washington (d. 1802) on June 2 (June 13 Old Style) in Chestnut Grove Plantation, Va.; eldest daughter of John Dandridge (1700-56) and Frances Jones (1710-85); wife (1750-7) of Daniel Parke Custis (1711-57) and (1759-) George Washington (1732-99); mother of John Parke Custis (1754-81), father of Nelly Custis (1779-1852). U.S. pres. #1 (under the Articles of Confederation) (DOI signer) Samuel Huntington (d. 1796) on July 16 (July 5 Old Style) in Windham (modern-day Scotland), Conn.; self-educated; uncle and adopted father of Samuel H. Huntington (1765-1817). English "Jennings Dog" antiquarian Henry Constantine "Dog" Jennings (d. 1819) in Aug. in Shiplake, Oxfordshire; educated at Westminster School. English chemist-physicist Henry Cavendish (d. 1810) on Oct. 10 in Nice, France; educated at St. Peter's College, Cambridge U.; never addresses strangers directly; builds a staircase in the back of his house to avoid women; drops out of school to avoid having to talk in public to get a degree; uses a torsion balance to measure the force of gravity; discovers that "water consists of dephlogisticated air [oxygen] united with phlogiston [hydrogen]", and determines the Earth's density (5.45). Am. black astronomer-mathematician Benjamin Banneker (d. 1806) on Nov. 9 near Baltimore, Md. English "John Gilpin's Ride" Romantic poet and hymnodist William Cowper (d. 1800) (pr. like Cooper) on Nov. 15 in Great Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire; educated at Westminster School; a shy, sensitive on-again off-again type who develops suicidal mania in 1763, spends two years in an asylum, moves in with Morley and Mary Unwin at Huntington, then becomes engaged to her in 1775 five years after his death, coming down with religious melancholia in 1773 and taking up poetry while she cares for him? Am. Rev. War maj. gen. William Moultrie (d. 1805) on Nov. 23 in Charleston, S.C.; builder of Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan's Island in Charleston. French Orientalist Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (d. 1805) on Dec. 7 in Paris; brother of Louis Pierre Anquetil (1723-1808). Italian Jesuit lit. critic-historian (first historian of Italian lit.) Girolamo Tiraboschi (d. 1794) on Dec. 18 in Bergamo. British maj. gen. William Phillips (d. 1781). Am. seaman-merchant, politician and Am. Rev. War maj. gen. Alexander McDougall (b. 1786) in Islay Island, Scotland; emigrates in 1738 - erin go bragh? British rear adm. Charles Inglis (d. 1791); 4th son of Sir John Inglis and Anne, daughter of Adam Cockburn, lord Ormiston (1656-1735). English historian Catharine Macaulay (Graham) (nee Sawbridge) (d. 1791) in Kent. Am. Father of U.S. Special Forces (Rangers) Maj. Robert Rogers (d. 1795) in Methuen, Mass. English physician-scientist-poet Erasmus Darwin (d. 1802) in Elton, Nottinghamshire; grandfather of Charles Darwin (1809-82) and Francis Galton (1822-1911); educated at Cambridge U., and Edinburgh U. British Capt. Sir Richard Pearson (d. 1806). Dutch "Playing Putti on Clouds" Rococo painter Dirk van der Aa (d. 1809) in The Hague; student of Johann Heinrich Keller and Gerrit Mes. Am. famous bastard William Franklin (d. 1813); illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) with another woman than his wife Deborah Read (1708-74), who adopts him anyway. Deaths: Dutch anatomist Fredrik Ruysch (b. 1638) on Feb. 22 in Amsterdam. Italian pianoforte inventor Bartolommeo Cristofori (b. 1655) on Jan. 27. English "Robinson Crusoe" writer Daniel Defoe (b. 1659) on Apr. 24. English feminist writer Mary Astell (b. 1666) on May 11 in London (breast cancer). French affinity table chemist Etienne Geoffroy (b. 1672) on Jan. 6 in Paris. English statesman Charles Boyle, 4th earl of Orrery (b. 1674) on Aug. 28 in Westminster; buried in Westminster Abbey. French diplomat-poet Jean-Francois Leriget de La Faye (b. 1674) on July 11 in Paris. English mathematician Brook Taylor (b. 1685) on Dec. 29.
1732 A worldwide influenza starts this year (ends 1733). The black slave pop. of rice-growing S.C. numbers 32K; the white pop. is 14K. In Feb. the first Mass is celebrated in St. Joseph's of Philadelphia, the only Roman Catholic church in British Colonial Am. On Apr. 2 warriors from Dahomey attack a Dutch West Indies Co. trading station in the port of Jakin, and capture three employees, causing the Dutch to send negotiators led by Jacob Elet next year to king Dossou Agadja to negotiate their release. In June George II grants a royal charter to 21 trustees to establish a colony in America between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers. In Sept. the city of Wilmington, N.C. on the Cape Fear River (modern-day pop. 117K/282K) is founded on land owned by John Watson by royal gov. George Burrington, who calls it New Carthage, then New Liverpool, then New Town (Newton); on Feb. 20, 1739 it is incorporated under the name Wilmington in honor of Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington; in the 20th cent it develops the 1-mi.-long Riverwalk; in 2003 it is designated by Congress as a Coast Guard City. On Dec. 19 Benjamin Franklin (b. 1709) begins pub. Poor Richard's Almanack (until 1758) under the alias Richard Saunders (Bonhomme Richard), becoming a bestseller (10K copies/year), making him rich enough to retire in 1748 at age 42; "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise" - read your almanack and make money from your niggars, that's the life? Persian shah (since 1722) Tahmasp II is deposed by Nadir Shah, and his 8-mo.-old son Abbas III (1732-40) becomes shah of Persia (until 1736), with Nadir Shah as viceroy and the real power. HRE Charles VI gets the Pragmatic Sanction recognized. Frederick William I of Prussia settles 12K Salzburg Protestants in East Prussia. The Hat Act bans the export of beaver felt hats from the Am. colonies, forcing Americans to buy British-made clothes at 4x the customary price - never refuse an American selling beaver? British drag queen Princess Seraphina (John Cooper) prosecutes Tom Gordon for stealing his clothes. German-Am. Seventh-Day Adventists under German-born Johann Conrad Beissel (1691-1768) found Ephrata Cloister in modern-day Lancaster County, Penn.; on July 27, 2008 Marie Kachel Bucher, its last surviving resident dies. Vitus Bering leads the massive Russian govt.-backed Great Northern Expedition to map the Arctic coast of Siberia and some parts of the North Am. coastline (ends 1743); Russian naval officer Ivan Fyodorov (Fedorov) (-1733) and Russian geodesist Mikhail Spiridonovich Gvozdev (1700-59) discover Alaska near Cape Prince of Wales, westernmost point of North Am., completing the discovery of the Bering Strait, then chart the NW coast of Alaska. French explorer Francois-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes (1700-36) founds Ft. Vincennes, becoming the first white settlement in Indiana. Ga. colony begins sericulture, producing 10K lbs. of silk per year by 1759; Conn. follows suit in 1734, becoming far more successful. The first public stagecoach line in British Am. links Burlington and Perth Amboy, N.J., which connect by water to Philly and New York City, respectively. The town of Selma, Ala. (meaning: "high seat or throne", from the poem "The Songs of Selma" by Ossian) (modern-day. pop. 21K) on the Alabama River is first explored by French explorers, who call it Ecor (Écor) Bienville; in 1815 Anglos settle it, calling it Moore's Bluff; it is incorporated in 1820 after being planned and named by future U.S. vice-pres. William R. King; during the U.S. Civil War it becomes the 2nd most important military manufacturing center after Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Va. A London theatrical co. performs for the first time in New York City on Pearl St. German-born Johann Conrad Beissel (1691-1768) founds the vegetarian mainly celibate Seventh Day Baptists (Ephrata Community) in Germantown, Penn. The Moravian Brethren start missionary work, sending their first missionaries to the slaves in the West Indies, going on to establish missions in North Am., South Am., South Africa, Greenland, and Lapland. Naples-born Italian prelate (St.) Alfonso (Alphonsus) Maria de Liguori (1691-1787) founds the Liguorian (Redemptorist) Order; in 1762 he becomes bishop of Sant' Agata dei Goti in the kingdom of Naples, where he goes on to write great Catholic crowd-pleasers. The Jews' Free School in Ebenezer Square, London is founded on Apr. 13; in 1822 it moves to Bell Lane in East End, London, going on to become the largest all-Jewish school in Europe, graduating Israel Zangwill et al. The annual Copley Medal is founded via a £100 bequest by Sir Godfrey Copley, 2nd Baronet (1653-1709) to recognize "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science", becoming the oldest medal awarded by the British Royal Society, and the oldest scientific award to survive to modern times; the first one is given to Stephen Gray for "his new Electrical Experiments". William Berriman gives the last Boyle Lecture. French engraver Huert-Francois Gravelot (Bourguignon) (1699-1773) emigrates to London, bringing the Rococo style to England and reinvigorating illustrative engraving before hiking back to France in Oct. 1745 after the Battle of Fontenoy; his students incl. Thomas Gainsborough. The South Carolina Gazette begins pub. Philadelphische Zeitung, the first German-language newspaper in America begins pub.; German-language publishing also begins flourishing in Ephrata, Penn. Sports: Architecture: The Royal Opera House in Covent Gardens in London on Bow St. opens, becoming Handel's place in 1735. St. Nikolas Church in Prague (begun 1711) is finished. After a competition is organized by Pope Clement XII, the design of Nancy-born French Baroque-Rococo sculptor Lambert-Sigisbert Adam the Elder (l'Aine) (1700-59), for the Baroque Trevi Fountain in Rome (completed in 172) is unanimously accepted by the committee, which then turns around and selects Florentine architect Alessandro Maria Gaetano Galilei (1691-1737), then after an outcry against Florentines switches to genuine Romans Nicola (Niccolo) Salvi (1697-1751) and his apprentice Luigi Vanvitelli (Lodewijk van Wittel) (1700-73), pissing-off Adam and causing him to return from Rome in 1733; it is finished in 1762 by sculptor Pietro Bracci (1700-73), who sculpts the colossal statue of Oceanus (Neptune) from a plaster model by Cassano Magnago, Lombardy-born sculptor Giovanni Battista Maini (1690-1752). Inventions: Michael Menzies invents a threshing machine consisting of fails driven by a water wheel. English clockmaker Christopher Pinchbeck (1670-1732) invents the copper-zinc alloy Pinchbeck, which becomes popular for imitation gold watches for the next 20 years until 9-carat gold and electrogilding replace it. Science: Saint-Malo-born Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759), who left the army in 1723 at age 25 after five years of spare-time study of math to become a member of the Academie Francaise in Paris introduces Newton's Theory of Gravitation to France, sparking a French nerd movement. Nonfiction: George Berkeley (1685-1753), The Minute Philosopher. Dom Augustine Calmet (1672-1757), An Historical, Critical, Geographical, Chronological, and Etymological Dictionary of the Bible. Elihu Coleman (1699-1789), A Testimony Against the Antichristian Practice of Making Slaves of Men; Quaker minister preaches for abolition, quoting the Bible selectively. Bernard de Mandeville (1670-1733), An Enquiry into an Origin of Honour; and the Usefulness of Christianity in War. Johann Jacob Moser (1701-85), Foundations of International Law. Daniel Neal (1678-1743), The History of the Puritans (5 vols.). Johann Heinrich Zedler (1706-60), Grosses, Vollstandiges Universal-Lexikon (64 vols.) (1732-50). Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748), Musik-Lexikon; first of its kind. Jakob Benignus Winslow (1669-1760), Exposition Anatomique de la Structure du Corps Human (Anatomical Structure of the Human Body). Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Psychologia Empirica; popularizes the term "psychology". Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, BWV 211 (Be still, stop chattering) AKA the Coffee Cantata (1732-5); tells an amusing tale of addiction to coffee, debuting it at the coffee house in Leipzig; "If I couldn't, three times a day, be allowed to drink my little cup of coffee, in my anguish I will turn into a shriveled-up roast goat". Lodovico Giustini (1685-1743), Sonate da Cimbalo di Piano e Forte, Op. 1; first compositions for the modern piano? Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-36), Lo Frate Innammorato (The Brother in Love) (opera) (Naples). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Ezio (HWV 29) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Jan. 15); libretto by Pietro Metastasio, based on Jean Racine's "Britannicus"; stars Senesino as Roman gen. Ezio, and Anna Maria Strada as his babe Fulvia; a flop, folding after five performances, becoming his greatest operatic failure; Sosarme, Re di Media (HWV 30) (Sosarmes, King of Media) (opera) (London); stars Senesino as Sosarme. Giovanni Battisti Sammartini (1700-75), Memet (opera). Art: Francois Boucher (1703-70), The Rape of Europa (1732-4); illustrations for an ed. of Moliere; Mercury Confiding the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs (1734-4). Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779), Kitchen Table with Shoulder of Mutton. William Hogarth (1697-1764), A Rake's Progress (series) (1732-3); sequel to "A Harlot's Progress"; satire of English manners and customs; Tom Rakewell, spendthrift son of a rich merchant goes to London, wastes his money in dissolute living, and ends up in Fleet Prison and Bethlem Hospital; turns them into engravings in 1734, which are a hit. Plays: Henry Carey (1687-1743), Betty; or The Country Bumpkins. Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-66), Der Sterbende Cato; adapted from Joseph Addison. Philippe Nericault Destouches (1680-1754), Le Glorieux (comedy). Births: Polish-Lithuanian king (last) (1764-95) Stanislas II Augustus (Stanislaw II August) Poniatowski (d. 1798) on Jan. 17 in Wolczyn, Belarus; son of Count Stanislas Poniatowski (1676-1762) and Princess Kostancja Czartoryska (1700-59). Am. statesman (DOI signer) Richard Henry Lee (d. 1794) on Jan. 20 in Stratford, Westmoreland County, Va.; son of Thomas Lee (1690-1750) and Hannah Harrison Ludwell (1701-50); great-uncle of Robert E. Lee (1807-70); brother of Thomas Ludwell Lee Sr. (1730-78), Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734-97), William Lee (1739-95), and Arthur Lee (1740-92). French dramatist and diplomat Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (d. 1799) on Jan. 24 in Paris; inventor of the escapement for wristwatches; institutes the practicing of paying playwrights royalties for performances. Am. Rev. War gen. Charles Lee (d. 1782) on Feb. 6 in Cheshire, England; noted for eccentricity, criticizing Washington, and getting court-martialed - the Lees all tend to have that problem? English dramatist-novelist Richard Cumberland (d. 1811) on Feb. 19 in the Master's Lodge, Trinity College, Cambridge U.; not to be confused with philosopher Richard Cumberland (1631-1718); basis of Sir Fretful Plagiary in Richard Sheridan's "The Critic" (1779). U.S. no-party pres. #1 (1789-97) ("Father of his Country") (Freemason) (devout Anglican, probably not a Deist?) 6'2" (6'1-1/2"?) George Washington (d. 1799) on Feb. 22 (Feb. 11, 1731/2 Old Style) in Pope's Creek Estate near modern-day Colonial Bech, Westmoreland County, Va. Colony (S of Mt. Vernon) on Pope's Creek (tributary of the Potomac); son of Augustine Washington (1694-1743) and 2nd wife Mary Ball Washington (1708-89); named after Mary's guardian George Eskridge; cold distant father never bonds with him; selfish possessive mother is a control freak, trying to turn him into her 2nd husband, and he later distances himself from her through life, refusing to attend her funeral; as a boy attends St. George's Anglican Church; no U.S. pres. is born earlier; at age 11 his father dies, and he inherits 10K acres of land and 50 slaves, his basic education in the 3 R's ending while his two half-brothers Lawrence and Augustine attend college, scarring him for life; loses his teeth by cracking walnuts with them? British Whig politician Thomas "Tommy" Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (d. 1800) on Feb. 24 in Sidcup, Kent; educated at Clare College, Cambridge U.; namesake of Sydney, Australia. Am. Rev. War brig. gen. Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion (d. 1795) on Feb. 26 in Georgetown, S.C.; of French Huguenot ancestry; born premature "not larger than a New England lobster" (Peter Horry). U.S. Supreme Court justice (1789-1810) William Cushing (d. 1810) on Mar. 1 in Scituate, Mass.; educated at Harvard U.; last U.S. judge to wear a full wig. English "Critical Pronouncing Dictionary" actor-lexicographer John Walker (d. 1807) on Mar. 18 in Colney Hatch, Middlesex. Italian composer Gian Francesco de Majo (d. 1770) on Mar. 24 in Naples; son of Giuseppe de Majo (1697-1771). Austrian composer ("Father of the Symphony") ("Father of the String Quartet") (Freemason) Franz Joseph "Papa" Haydn (d. 1809) on Mar. 31 in Rohrau (25 mi. ESE of Vienna); takes the quartet from a double duet to a full 4-part harmony; is called "Papa" even though he has no kids; his wife uses his music sheets to line pastry pans; 24 years older than his friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he outlives him by almost 20 years. French "The Swing" Rococo erotic painter Jean-Honore (Jean-Honoré) Fragonard (d. 1806) on Apr. 5 in Grasse; pupil of Jean Baptiste Chardin, Francois Boucher, and Carle Van Loo; paints jauntily-posed French aristocrats until he is put out of biz by the French Rev. Am. astronomer-mathematician David Rittenhouse (d. 1796) on Apr. 8 in Paper Mill Run (near Germantown), Penn.; first dir. of the U.S. Mint (1792-5). English PM (1770-82) ("the minister who lost America") Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (d. 1792) on Apr. 13 in Wroxton Abbey; educated at Eton College, and Trinity College, Oxford U.; his strong resemblance to George III causes rumors that the king's daddy Frederick, prince of Wales is his real daddy - no sense of direction? U.S. Supreme Court justice John Blair Jr. (d. 1800) on Apr. 17 in Williamsburg, Va.; educated at the College of William and Mary. English "The Jealous Wife" dramatist-essayist and theater mgr. George Colman the Elder (the First) (d. 1794) in Apr. in Florence, Italy; educated at Westminster School, and Christ Church, Oxford U.; father of George Colman the Younger (1762-1836). British gov. of Bental (1759-64) Henry Vansittart (d. 1770) n June 3 in Bloomsbury, Middlexec; family name comes from Sittart in Limburg, Netherlands; educated at Reading School, and Winchester College. German composer ("the Buckeburg Bach") Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (d. 1795) on June 21 in Leipzig; 9th and youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750); spends almost 20 years in London, becoming known as the "English Bach". French astronomer Joseph Jerome Lefrancais de Lalande (d. 1807) on July 11 in Bourg-en-Bresse. French statesman-financier-economist (financer minister of Louis XVI) Jacques Necker (d. 1804) on Sept. 30 in Geneva, Switzerland; husband of Suzanne Curchod (1737-94); father of Madame de Stael (1766-1817). English astronomer royal #5 (1765-1811) Rev. Nevil Maskelyne (d. 1811) on Oct. 6 in London; educated at Westminster School, and St. Catherine's College, Cambridge U.; brother of Margaret Maskelyne (1735-1817), wife of Robert Clive; father of Margaret Maskelyne (1786-1858), mother of Oxford mineralogy prof. Mervyn Nevil Story-Maskelyne (1823-1911). English piano maker John Broadwood (d. 1812) on Oct. 6 in Oldhamstocks. Austrian horn player Joseph Leutgeb (Leitgeb) (d. 1811) on Oct. 6 in Neulerchenfeld; Mozart's favorite horn player. Am. journalist and "Boston Gazette" ed. Benjamin C. Edes (d. 1803) on Oct. 14 in Charlestown, Mass. Am. lapsed Quaker patriot ("Penman of the Revolution") John Dickinson (d. 1808) on Nov. 2 in Talbot County (near Trappe), Md.; great-grandfather Walter Dickinson emigrated from England in 1754, and set up Croisadore ("golden cross") tobacco plantation. Am. Rev. War leader, gov. #1 of Md. (1777-9) and U.S. Supreme Court justice #7 (1791-3) Thomas Johnson Jr. (d. 1819) on Nov. 4 in St. Leonard, Calvert County, Md. French writer and salon hostess Julie Jean Eleanore de Lespinasse (d. 1776) on Nov. 9 in Lyon; illegitimate daughter of Madame L'Albon; shacks up with science Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717-83). English gov.-gen. #1 of India (1773-85) Warren Hastings (d. 1818) on Dec. 6 in Churchill, Oxfordshire; educated at Westminster School. Prussian Brandenburg Gate architect Carl (Karl) Gotthard Langhans (d. 1808) on Dec. 15 in Landeshut, Silesia (modern-day Kamienna Gora, Poland); educated at the U. of Halle. Francis "Franky" Folger Franklin (d. 1736); son of Benjamin Franklin and Deborah Franklin. Dutch physicist Anton Brugmans (d. 1789). French publisher Pierre Francois Didot (d. 1793); son of Francois Didot (1689-1757); brother of Francois Ambroise Didot (1730-1804); father of Henri Didot (1765-1852). Swedish physicist Johan Wilcke (d. 1796). Deaths: German sculptor Balthasar Permoser (b. 1651) on Feb. 18 in Dresden. Dutch mapmaker (in England) Herman Moll (b. 1654); leaves the immortal soundbytes "California is an island", and "I have had in my office mariners who have sailed around it." Japanese emperor #112 (1663-87) Reigen (b. 1654) on Sept. 24. English divine Francis Atterbury (b. 1663) on Feb. 22 in Paris, France. Virginia planter Robert "King" Carter (b. 1663). English-born Am. poet Ebenezer Cooke (b. 1665). Sardinian king (1720-30) Victor Amadeus II (b. 1666) on Oct. 31. English horticulturist John Laurence (b. 1668). Scottish divine Thomas Boston (b. 1676) on May 20. Hungarian-Transylvanian prince Francis II Rakoczy (b. 1676) on Apr. 8 in Rodosto (Tekirdag), E Thrace; dies in exile. Dutch mapmaker Herman Moll (b. 1678). English "T'was when the Seas Were Roaring", "William's Farewell to Black-Ey'd Susan" poet-dramatist John Gay (b. 1685) on Dec. 4; buried in Westminster Abbey. English botanist Richard Bradley (b. 1688) on Nov. 5 in Cambridge.
1733 On Feb. 1 Augustus II the Strong (b. 1670) dies, and his son Augustus III the Corpulent (1696-1763), who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1712 despite the displeasure of the Protestant Saxon aristocracy is elected elector of Saxony (until 1763), followed next year by king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania (until 1763); too bad, only a minority of Polish magnates support him, the majority electing leaner Stanislas I Leszczynsky instead, and on Aug. 14 the War of the Polish Succession, the first of three wars in the Second Thirty Years' War (ends 1738) begins when Stanislas I seeks to reascend the throne, and tsarina Anna of Russia intervenes (until 1735); on Nov. 7 the Treaty of the Escorial (First Pacte de Famille) is signed by Philip V of Spain (grandson of Louis XIV), joining up on Stanislas I's side, after which Louis XV of France and Sardinia also sign up, while Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Saxony side with Augustus III; PM Robert Walpole keeps Britain neutral despite the king screaming about his Hanoverian interests; meanwhile Heinrich von Bruhl (Brühl) (1700-63), who gained the confidence of Augustus II and used his papers and jewels to raise money to secure his election becomes the #1 confidant of Augustus III, going on to throw off the power of the old servants of the electoral house by 1739 and become the de facto head of the Saxon court, becoming PM in 1746 and using his position to gain great wealth and numerous titles, with 200 domestic servants incl. guards paid better than the king's, while bankrupting the state and shrinking the army to satisfy the demands of the effete king, to whom he controls access; "Bruhl had more garments, watches, laces, boots, shoes and slippers, than any man of the age. Caesar would have counted him among those curled and perfumed heads which he did not fear." On Feb. 2 after being granted a royal charter for the area between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers last June 9, Godalming, Surrey-born Oxford-educated Methodist Ga. gov. #1 (1732-43) James Edward Oglethorpe (1696-1785) along with some Moravian Protestants land in Savannah, and found the colony of Jaw-Jaw, er, Georgia (Ga.) (named after George II of England) as a refuge for debtors and criminals after getting the idea from English Anglican clergyman Thomas Bray (1656-1730); he leads 120 colonists to the colony, then with surveyor col. William C. Bull lays out the capital city of Savannah (modern-day pop. 136K/384K) on the coast in a geometrical pattern with 22 squares, starting with Johnson Square on Bull St. between Bryan and Congress Sts.; the colony tries to be both a military buffer against Spanish Fla. and a philanthropic experiment for the poor and persecuted. On Mar. 14 PM Robert Walpole introduces an excise bill, triggering demonstrations, incl. a procession of merchants on sheriffs on Apr. 11 bearing a petition against new taxes. On July 15 the Spanish Treasure Fleet wrecks on the Florida Keys - would you get that animal off my wife, thank you? In July 42 Jewish settlers arrive in Savannah, Ga., after which the trustees of Ga. vote to ban Jewish immigrants, and James Oglethorpe talks them into letting this batch stay, incl. the Salvador Family. In Dec. Palatine immigrant John Peter Zenger (1697-1746) founds the anti-govt. New York Weekly Journal as a rival to William Bradford's pro-govt. New York Gazette, soon editorializing against newly-appointed royal colonial N.Y. gov. (1732-6) Bill Cosby, er, Brig.-gen. Sir William Cosby (1690-1736), which gets him into hot water - every time I look around you're either in trouble, about to get in trouble, or laying out a long term plan to get into trouble? Santa Cruz in the West Indies comes under Danish control; the Molasses Act protects English planters in the British West Indies from Dutch and French competition in the French sugar islands by introducing a six pence per gallon tax on molasses; unfortunately, rum distilleries in New England need more molasses than the British sugar islands can produce, and they begin flouting the act. PM Robert Walpole gets the approval of the king and queen for his solidarity principle, whereby cabinet members are forced to keep quiet or resign if they disagree with the prime minister (him); if the PM loses the support of the house majority, he resigns. Conscription is introduced in Prussia - my, that uniform looks smart? Christian VI of Denmark promulgates the Danish Adscription Law, forcing peasants to remain in their home regions so that they can be subscribed as soldiers by the nobles; repealed in 1788. The secret Bourbon Family Compact is made, whereby the ruling houses of France and Spain agree to act together against Britain to advance their colonial and commercial interests. The Latin language is abolished in the English courts. Strong Man Lodge, the first German Freemason lodge is founded in Hamburg (until 1933); St. John's Lodge, the first officially charted Freemason lodge in North Am. is formed in Boston, Mass., with Col. Daniel Coxe (1673-1739) as grandmaster of the colonies, who goes on to spin off provincial grand lodges in N.Y., Philly, and S.C. by 1737. John Bartram (1699-1777) of Philadelphia, "the Father of Am. Botany" begins a correspondence with Europeans that results in the pawpaw, sourwood, and other European plants being introduced to North Am. Margaret Askew (1614-1702) marries English judge and MP (later a Cromwell supporter) Thomas Fell (1598-1658), owner of Swarthmoor Hall in Ulverson, Cumbria, and goes on to fall for George Fox's Quakerism and become its "nursing mother", with the hall becoming its birthplace. Swedish poet Olof von Dalin (b. 1708) founds the Swedish weekly lit. journal Svenska Argus, modeled after The Spectator in England. French painter Jean Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) is appointed dir. of the Beauvais tapestry factory, where his classical hunting designs become a big hit. Cape Girardeau, Mo. (modern-day pop. 38K/134K) at a rocky promontory overlooking the Mississippi River is founded as a trading post by French soldier Jean Baptiste de Giardot in Kaskaskia in the French colony of La Louisiane; in 1793 after it becomes kaput, French-Canadian trader Louis Lorimier establishes another trading post there; at the same time Baron Carondelet grants land to the Black Bob Band of the Hathawekela Shawnee, who are removed by the U.S. govt. in 1833; in 1799 Am. settlers found the first English school W of the Mississippi River there at Mt. Tabor; the town is incorporated in 1818, after which it becomes the biggest port on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Memphis. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1733; "The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart." Sports: The govt. of New York City authorizes the old Dutch parade ground at the S end of Broadway adjoining Ft. Amsterdam E of Battery Park to be established as a "bowling green... for the recreation and delight of the inhabitants of the city", known as Bowling Green, where ninepins (bowling) is played for the first time in New York City?; it becomes the center of the exclusive residential district and the oldest public park in New York City to survive to modern times; in 1989 it becomes host to the Charging Bull bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica (1941-), and is used as the starting point for ticker tape parades into the "Canyon of Heroes" (Broadway). Architecture: The late Baroque-style Asamkirche (Church of St. Johann Nepomuk in Munich, Germany begins construction (finished 1746) by the Asam brothers Cosmas Damian Asam (1686-1739) and Egid Quirin Asam (1692-1750). Bowling Green Park in New York City E of Battery Park is built for a bowling green, becoming the oldest public park in New York City. Gov. Oglethorpe orders the Tybee Lighthouse on the Ga. coast constructed. The 193-ton Czar Kolokol (Emperor Bell) of Moscow is cast. Inventions: British lawyer Chester Moore (Moor) (More) Hall (1703-71) builds the first Achromatic Compound Lens out of flint glass. John Kay (1704-80) of England patents the Flying Shuttle Loom for the manufacture of textiles, which uses a lever and springs to allow one weaver to throw the shuttle back and forth instead of two; too bad, while wool weavers adopt it, cotton weavers don't follow er, suit until the 1760s. Science: French chemist Charles Francois de Cisternay du Fay (1698-1739) pub. his discovery that electrical action can be repulsion as well as attraction, calling the two types "vitreous" and "resinous", noting the difference between conductors ("electrics") and insulators ("non-electrics"); he also disproves the theory of Stephen Gray that electric properties of a body depend on its color. Nonfiction: Vincent La Chapelle (1690-1745), Le Cuisinier Moderne (3 vols.) (England); first cookbook author to call his cooking modern, consisting of an expanded version of Massialot with lavish illustrations; a 4-vol. French ed. follows in 1735. Stephen Hales (1677-1761), Haemostaticks; mechanics of blood flow and blood pressure; traces reflex actions to the spinal cord. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Essay on Man (1733-4); Pt. 1 is pub. anon. to draw praise from his worst enemies, which works; "Give me again my hollow tree, a crust of bread, and liberty". Voltaire (1694-1778), Lettres sur les Anglais (Letters on England). Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Mass in B Minor (short vers. - full vers. in 1738). John Gay (1685-1732), Achilles (opera) (Covent Garden, London) (posth.). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Orlando (HWV 31) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Jan. 27); libretto adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's "L'Orlando", adapted from Ludovico Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso"; stars Senesino as Senesino; flops after 10 performances. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-36), La Serva Padrona (The Servant Mistress) (opera buffa) (Aug. 28) (Naples); "oldest opera in the standard repertoire"; incl. La Serpina Penserete, Aspettare e Non Venire. Nicola Porpora (1686-1768), Arianna in Nasso. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Hippolyte et Aricie (first opera) (Academie Royale de Musique, Paris) (Oct. 1); libretto by Abbe Simon-Joseph Pellegrin based on Racine's "Phedre"; causes a sensation with its revolutionary use of harmony, causing it to be attacked by supporters of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who lost, making him into his successor until his music goes out of style by the end of the cent.; he also becomes the leading French harpsichord composer along with Francois Couperin. John Christopher Smith (1712-95), Ulysses (first opera). Plays: Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Amalasunta (tragedy); burned after its premiere. Antonio Jose da Silva (1705-39), Life of the Great Don Quixote de la Mancha and Sancho Panza (debut). Poetry: Ebenezer Cooke (1667-1732), The Maryland Muse, Containing a Revised Edition of The Sot-Weed Factor and The History of Colonel Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Imitations of Horace (1733-8); satirizes life under George II, with Joseph Addison as Atticus and Lord Hervey as Sporus. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), On Poetry; "Hobbes clearly proves that every creature/ Live in a state of war by nature./ So, naturalists observe, a flea/Hath smaller fleas that on him prey;/ And these have smaller still to bit 'em;/ And so proceed ad infinitum./ Thus every poet, in his kind,/ Is bit by him that comes behind"; Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift; "Yet malice never was his aim;/ He lashed the vice but spared the name./ No individual could resent,/ Where thousands equally were meant./ His satire points at no defect/ But what all mortals may correct;/ For he abhorred that senseless tribe/ Who call it humor when they gibe." Novels: Samuel Madden (1686-1765), Memoirs of the Twentieth Century; a guardian angel gives the author a series of letters from English ambassadors in several countries to the British Lord High Treasurer, along with replies from the British foreign office, all from the future (1997-1998), in the time of George VI; the first time travel novel?; suppressed by Sir Robert Walpole. Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), La Vie de Marianne (11 vols.) (1731-42). Births: English naval explorer Philip Carteret, Seigneur of Trinity (d. 1796) on Jan. 22 in Jersey. Am. Rev. leader and judge (Episcopalian) James Duane (d. 1797) on Feb. 6 in New York City; mayor #1 of New York City (1784-9). English barrister (lord chancellor in 1793-1801) Alexander Wedderburn, 1st Earl of Rosslyn (d. 1805) on Feb. 3 (Feb. 13 Old Style) in East Lothian; educated at the U. of Edinburgh. Swedish botanist Daniel Charles (Carlsson) Solander (d. 1782) on Feb. 19 in Pitea, Norrland; educated at Uppsala U.; student of Carl Linnaeus; inventor of the Solander Box for storing books. English scientist (chemist) Joseph Priestley (d. 1804) on Mar. 13. German Neoclassical painter Johann Zoffany (Zauffelij) (d. 1810) on Mar. 13 in Frankfurt; painter for court of George III of England. German mathematician-anthropologist Carsten (Karsen) Niebuhr (d. 1815) on Mar. 17 in Ludingworth, Lower Saxony; father of Barthold Georg Niebuhr (1776-1831). German writer Christoph Friedrich Nicolai (d. 1811) on Mar. 18 in Berlin; son of Christoph Gottlieb Nicolai (-1752). English bone china inventor Josiah Spode Sr. (d. 1797) on Mar. 23 in Stoke-on-Trent; father of Josiah Spode Jr. (b. 1754-1827). French Borda Count scientist-sailor Jean-Charles, Chevalier de Borda (d. 1799) on May 4 in Dax, Landes. French Rococo painter Hubert Robert (d. 1808) on May 22. British col. Barry St. Leger (d. 1789) (pr. SILL-in-jur) in May in County Kildare, Ireland; of Huguenot descent; educated at Eton College, Cambridge U. Am. Rev. War gen. James Clinton (d. 1812) on Aug. 9 in Ulster County, N.Y.; brother of George Clinton (1739-1812); father of DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828). French Shakespeare-loving dramatist Jean-Francois Ducis (d. 1816) on Aug. 22 in Versailles. German writer-poet Christoph Martin Wieland (d. 1813) on Sept. 5 in Oberholzheim, Baden-Wurttemberg. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) George Read (1798) on Sept. 18 in North East, Md. Irish "The Maid of the Mill" playwright-librettist Isaac Bickerstaffe (Bickerstaff) (d. 1812) on Sept. 26 in Dublin; starts out as a page to Lord Chesterfield, lord lt. of Ireland. Am. Rev. War maj. gen. Philip John Schuyler (d. 1804) on Nov. 20 in Troy, N.Y.; father of Philip Jeremiah Schuyler (1768-1835). Finnish explorer-botanist Herman Diedrich Spoering (Spöring) Jr. (d. 1771) in Turku; son of Herman Spoering Sr. (1701-47). Palestinian rabbi Haim Isaac Carigal (d. 1777) in Hebron; becomes a rabbi at age 17 and spends 20 years traveling the world collecting funds for the Jewish community. English type designer Joseph Jackson (d. 1792); pupil of William Caslon (1692-1766). German embryologist Caspar (Kaspar) Friedrich Wolff (d. 1794); discoverer of the Wolffian body (embryonic kidney). Japanese painter Maruyama Okyo (d. 1795). Am. Rev. War gen. Benjamin Lincoln (d. 1810) in Hingham, Mass. Deaths: French chef Francois Massialot (b. 1660) in Paris. French sculptor Nicolas Coustou (b. 1658) on May 1 in Paris. Italian mathematician Girolamo Saccheri (b. 1667) on Oct. 25 in Pavia; dies after pub. Euclid Freed of Every Flaw (Euclides ab Omni Naevo Vindicatus), in which he reveals his discovery of non-Euclidean (hyperbolic) geometry, but doesn't realize it since he is trying to prove Euclid's parallel postulate true by a reductio ad absurdum proof; 50 years later J.H. Lambert also stumbles over it, and 40 years after that (1823) Bolyai and Lobachevsky finally get the brain man brownie buttons; Saccheri's book also describes the Saccheri (Khayyam-Saccheri) Quadrilateral, which has two equal sides perpendicular to the base. French composer Francois Couperin (b. 1668) on Sept. 11 in Paris; leaves 4 vols. of harpsichord music (1713-30), which became a hit with J.S. Bach, Richard Strauss, and Maurice Ravel, who in 1914-17 composed Le Tombeau de Couperin (Couperin's Memorial). German Saxon elector (1694-1733) and Polish king (1697-1704, 1709-33) Augustus II the Strong (b. 1670) on Feb. 1 in Warsaw. Dutch-born English satirist Bernard de Mandeville (b. 1670) on Jan. 21 in Hackney (influenza). Swiss mathematician Jakob Hermann (b. 1678) on July 11. English actor Barton Booth (b. 1681). French Roman Catholic Ursuline nun Marie de Tranchepain de Saint Augustine (b. ?) on Nov. 11 in New Orleans, La.; leaves Account of the Voyage of the Ursulines to New Orleans in 1727.
1734 On Feb. 22-June 30 the Siege of Danzig in Poland (first time that French and Russian troops meet as enemies on the field) ends with surrender to the Russians, after which Stanislas I flees to France. On Mar. 25 Prince Willem (William) IV of Orange-Nassau (1711-51) marries princess Anne of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick and Luneburg (1709-59), 2nd child and eldest daughter George II of England, the 2nd daughter of a British monarch to hold the Frenchie title of princess royal. On May 25 Don Carlos of the Spanish House of Bourbon (2nd son of Philip V) invades Naples and Sicily, and reconquers the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from Austria at the Battle of Bitonto, getting even for the 1713 Treaty of U-Tricked-Me; Charles III throws Austria a bone by relinquishing Parma and Piacenza, which France and Sardinia have their eye on anyway; Sicily is run by the Spic-and-Span Spanish Bourbons until 1860 (except 1806-16). On June 12 after James FitzJames, 1st duke of Berwick (son of James II of England) receives command of a French army, which occupies the duchy of Lorraine and the Hapsburg Netherlands, then crosses the Rhine River and sieges the fortress of Philipsburg (Philippsburg) (Udenheim) on the Rhine River in Germany, he is KIA by artillery on June 12, hurting their future chances; on July 18 they capture the fortress. On July 11 Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1715-85) marries the 2nd duke of Portland at Oxford Chapel in Marylebone, going on to join the Bluestockings and turn her home in Bulstrode Park in Buckinghamshire into a natural history museum, hiring a team of naturalists and collecting the largest natural history collection in England, making fans of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Horace Walpole et al. pioneering Anglo-Saxon scholar Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1756), who lost her brother and inherited his debts, causing her to have to do nanny work for a living tutors her children in 1738-56. On June 29 after a French-Sardinian army occupies Milan, the Battle of Parma with Austrian-Prussian forces under Prince Eugene of Savoy is a push. Isn't this pointless bloodbath about two centuries early? On Sept. 15 the 10-a.m.-to-5-p.m. Battle of Secchia sees king Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia escape in his nightgown; on Sept. 19 after he gets dressed, 49K French and Sardinians under Charles Emmanuel III, Francois-Marie, 1st Duc de Broglie (1671-1745), and marshal Francois de Franquetot de Coigny (1670-1759) defeat 40K Austrians and Prussians at the Battle of Guastalla (Luzzara) (waste it all, losers?)), with a total of 12K dead or wounded, incl. German gen. Frederick Louis of Wurttemberg-Winnental (b. 1690), who is KIA. On Nov. 17 New York City newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger is arrested on charges of seditious libel, and is imprisoned for 10 mo. before being brought to trial, during which time his his rival William Bradford flops to his side against the stankin' English govt. - after 35 years I am looking forward to retiring, but losing my health insurance bothers me? Turkey and Persia go to war (ends 1735). England and Russia sign a trade agreement - your caviar for my tobacco? The Hogarth (Engraving) Copyright Act of 1734, sponsored by William Hogarth is passed in England - I will protect my family? After pressure from the Manila business community, the volume of galleon trade through the Philippines is increased; too bad that only China and Mexico are allowed to trade in Manila. 8K Salzburg Protestant refugees migrate to the Am. colony of Georgia, followed by German-speaking Moravians, Highland Scots, Portuguese Jews, Welsh et al. - give this mixture a couple of centuries and out pops Scarlett O'Hara? The U. of Gottingen (Göttingen) AKA Georgia Augusta in Gottingen, Lower Saxony, Germany ("the city of science") is founded by Elector Georg August of Hanover (later English King George II); it opens in 1737. Venetian playwright Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (1707-93), who ran away as a boy to join a co. of traveling comedians, made a study of classic Greek and Latin comic poets, and came up with the idea of reforming Italian comedy by eliminating masques and buffoons and copying Moliere begins producing his first comedies, becoming the founder of modern Italian comedy. French ballet master Jean-Baptiste Lande (Landé) (-1748) gives a recital for Empress Anna in St. Petersburg, wowing her and causing her to issue an imperial decree establishing the Imperial Ballet School in the Winter Palace in St. Peterburg on May 4, 1738. Lloyd's List begins pub. in London twice-weekly to provide shipping news for underwriters and merchants' agents. John Wesley and Charles Wesley arrive in Savannah, Ga., spending three years (until 1738), and teaching the first Sunday School in North Am. Benjamin Franklin becomes Grand Master of the Philadelphia Freemasons. The Boston Weekly Postboy begins pub. in Mass. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1734. Mary Lisle, the first known "brewster" in America takes over her late father's Edinburgh Brewhouse in Philly, which she operates until 1751. Sports: On Feb. 1 the first horserace in British Am. is held in Charleston Neck, S.C. Architecture: English architect William Kent (1685-1748) designs a new Treasury in Whitehall, London. Science: Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) claims to have been given the nebular hypothesis theory for solar system formation in a seance - scrubs, all-new episodes? Nonfiction: Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752), Greek New Testament; makes use of his principle "Proclivi scriptioni praestat ardua" (The difficult reading is to be preferred to that which is easy), which is adopted by Bible scholars; too bad, he predicts Armageddon in 1836 despite Matt. 24:36 ("Of that day and hour no one knows"). Stephen Hales (1677-1761), A Friendly Admonition to the Drinkers of Gin, Brandy, and Other Distilled Spirituous Liquors; pub. anon. by a chemist for sufferers of heeby-geebies, becoming popular, reaching a 5th ed. in 1754. Charles Johnson, The Lives and Adventures of the Most Famous Highwaymen; really written by Daniel Defoe? Madame de Lambert, Avis d'une Mere a sa Fille (Advice to a Woman and Her Brood); recommends a univ. education for women. Baron Montesquieu (1689-1755), Considerations sur les Causes de la Grandeur et de la Decadence des Romains (Considerations on the Causes of the Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans). Francois Goyot de Pitaval (1673-1743), Causes Celebres et Interessantes. George Sale (1697-1736) (tr.) The Koran (Quran) in English; first trans. to English direct from Arabic after spending 25 years in Arabia to master the language; incl. a 200-page "Preliminary Discourse" explaining Islam from the viewpoint of a life member of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, calling the Quran a "manifest forgery", explaining that "It is absolutely necessary to undeceive those who, from the ignorant or unfair translations which have appeared, have entertained too favourable an opinion of the original, and also to enable us effectually to expose the imposture"; "As Mohammed gave his Arabs the best religion he could, preferable, at least, to those of the ancient pagan lawgivers, I confess I cannot see why he deserves not equal respect, though not with Moses or Jesus Christ, whose laws came really from heaven, yet with Minos or Numa, notwithstanding the distinction of a learned writer, who seems to think it a greater crime to make use of an imposture to set up a new religion, founded on the acknowledgment of one true God, and to destroy idolatry, than to use the same means to gain reception to rules and regulations for the more orderly practice of heathenism already established"; "For how criminal soever Mohammed may have been in imposing a false religion on mankind, the praises due to his real virtues ought not to be denied him; nor can I do otherwise than applaud the candour of the pious and learned Spanhemius, who, though he owned him to have been a wicked imposter, yet acknowledged him to have been richly furnished with natural endowments, beautiful in his person, of a subtle wit, agreeable behavior, showing liberality to the poor, courtesy to everyone, fortitude against his enemies, and above all a high reverence for the name of God; severe against the perjured, adulterers, murderers, slanderers, prodigals, covetous, false witnesses &c. a great preacher of patience, charity, mercy, beneficence, gratitude, honouring of parents and superiors, and a frequent celebrator of the divine praises"; in 1756 a copy is purchased by Thomas Jefferson, who fills it with marginal notes attacking and undermining it; next major English trans. is pub. in 1861 by John Rodwell. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), Prodromus Philosophiae Ratiocinantis de Infinito, et Causa Finali Creationis. Claude Louis Hector, Duc de Villars (1653-1734), Memoirs (posth.). Voltaire (1694-1778), Lettres Anglaises ou Philosophiques. Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Psychologia Rationalis. Music: Charles Simon Favart (1710-92), Les Deux Jumelles (operetta) (debut). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Six Concerti Grossi, Op. 3; Arianna in Creta (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Jan. 26); libretto adapted from Pietro Pariati's "Arianna e Teseo"; stars Anna Maria Strada as Arianna; Oreste, HWV A11 (opera) (Covent Garden Theatre, London) (Dec. 18); adapted from Giangualberto Barlocci's 1723 "L'Oreste", adapted from Euripides' "Iphigenia in Tauris"; stars Giovanni Carestini as Oreste and Cecilia Young as Ifigenia; flops after 3 perff. Art: William Hogarth (1697-1764), A Harlot's Progress (series); the popular engravings made from the paintings are another street hit; in plate 3 the wigbox of famous robber James Dalton (-1730) is being stored above the bed of Moll Hackabout. Plays: Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Belisario (tragicomedy); Rosmonda (tragedy); Griselda (tragedy). George Lillo (1693-1739), The Christian Hero. Pierre de Marivaux, Le Paysan Parvenu. Antonio Jose da Silva (1705-39), Esopaida. Novels: Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1707-77), Tanzai et Neadame, Histoire Japanoise; attacks Cardinal de Rohan and the Papal bull "Unigenitus", getting him a prison term in Vincennes. Births: Am. patriot-statesman-financier (DOI signer) Robert Morris (d. 1806) on Jan. 31 in Liverpool, England; emigrates to Am. in 1747. French (Breton) Antarctic explorer rear adm. Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec (Kerguelen-Trémarec) (d. 1797) on Feb. 13 in Landudal, Finistere. Spanish painter Francisco Bayeu y Subias (d. 1795) on Mar. 9 in Saragossa; brother-in-law of Francisco de Goya. Am. Rev. War leader (DOI signer) Thomas McKean (d. 1817) on Mar. 19 in New London Township, Chester, County, Penn.; Ulster-Scots Irish parents. Thai king (1767-82) Taksin the Great (Phraya Tak) (d. 1782) on Apr. 17 in Ayutthya; Chinese father, Thai mother. German goat roper and go-kart driver (physician and charlatan) Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer (d. 1815) on May 23 in Iznang, Swabia (Moos, Baden-Wurttemberg); educated at the U. of Vienna. English lt. gen. Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke and 7th Earl of Montgomery (d. 1794) on July 3 in Pembroke House; educated at Eton College; father of William Herbert, 1st earl of Carnarvon (1778-1847); namesake of Capt. Cook's ship HMS Endeavour, originally HMS Earl of Pembroke. Am. Rev. War gen. Thomas "the Gamecock" Sumter (d. 1834) on July 14 in Louisa County, Va.; last surviving officer of the Am. Rev. War. U.S. Army surgeon gen. #1 (1775) Benjamin Church III (d. 1778) on Aug. 24 in Newport, R.I.; educated at Boston Latin School, and Harvard U. English landscape-portrait painter Joseph Wright of Derby (d. 1797) on Sept. 3 in Derby; known for Chiaroscuro paintings of the Birth of Science based on meetings of the Lunar Society. Scottish poet William Julius Mickle (d. 1788) on Sept. 29 in Langholm, Dumfrieshire. British politician-soldier Lt. Gen. (Freemason) Ralph Abercrombie (Abercromby) (d. 1801) on Oct. 7 in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Am. statesman (DOI signer) Francis Lightfoot Lee (d. 1797) on Oct. 14 in Stratford, Westmoreland County, Va.; son of Thomas Lee (1690-1750) and Hannah Harrison Ludwell (1701-50); brother of Richard Henry Lee (1732-94), Wiliam Lee (1739-95), Arthur Lee (1740-92), and Thomas Ludwell Lee Sr. (1730-78). French "THe Perverted Peasant" novelist (Jansenist) (Communist) ("the Voltaire of the Chambermaids") Nicolas-Edme Restif (Rétif) (d. 1806) (AKA Retif de la Bretonne) on Oct. 23 in Sacy; namesake of retifism (shoe fetishism). Am. frontiersman-explorer (Quaker) Daniel Boone (d. 1820) on Nov. 2 (Oct. 22 Old Style) in Oley (near Reading), Berks County, Penn.; 6th of 11 children; son of English-born Squire Boone (1696-1765) and Sarah Morgan (1700-77); learns his stuff in the nearby Indian-infested woods; gets first rifle at age 12, and shoots a leaping panther through the heart while the other boys flee; family moves to the Yadkin River in Davie County, N.C. in 1751 after being expelled by the Quakers for marrying into "worldlings"; husband (1755-) of Rebecca Bryan (1739-1813); father of Israel Boone (1759-82) - Daniel Boone was a man, yes a b-i-i-g man? French physiologist Paul Joseph Barthez (d. 1806) on Dec. 11 in Montpellier; educated at the U. of Montpellier. English statesman John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer (d. 1783) on Dec. 19 in Althorp, Northamptonshire; ancestor of Princess Di. English portraitist George Romney (d. 1802) on Dec. 26 in Beckside, Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire; ancestor of George W. Romney (1907-95) and Mitt Romney (1947). Russian statesman Gen. (lover of Catherine II the Great) Count Grigory (Grigori) Grigoryevich Orlov (d. 1783); brother of Ivan Orlov (1733-91), Alexei Orlov (1737-1808), Fyodor Orlov (1741-96), and Vladimir Orlov (1743-1831). Am. Rev. War loyalist minister (first Church of English bishop in North Am.) Charles Inglis (d. 1816). Deaths: English physician Sir John Floyer (b. 1649) on Feb. 1. French marshal Claude Louis Hector, duc de Villars (b. 1653) on June 17 in Turin, Italy. English dramatist John Dennis (b. 1657) on Jan. 6. Italian painter Sebastiano Ricci (b. 1659) on May 15. German chemist Georg Ernst Stahl (b. 1659) on May 24 in Berlin. German composer Gottfried Reiche (b. 1667) on Oct. 6 in Leipzig (stroke). English gen. James FitzJames, 1st duke of Berwick (b. 1670) on June 12 in Philipsburg (Philippsburg), Germany (KIA). Swiss Italian architect Domenico Trezzini (b. 1670). Welsh writer Ellis Wynn o Lasynys (b. 1671). Scottish hero Rob Roy McGregor (b. 1671) on Dec. 28 in Balquhidder. English painter James Thornhill (b. 1675) on May 4. German margrave Christian Ludwig (b. 1677) on Sept. 3 in Castle Malchow. British Cornish politician Hugh Boscawen (b. 1680) on Oct. 25. Irish economist Richard Cantillon (b. 1680) in May in London; leaves Essay on the Nature of Trade in General (Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en General), the first complete treatise on economics, which is pub. in 1755, arguing that laissez-faire will lead to order and stable prices, but dissing mercantilists for tracing wealth to trade, attributing it to labor. English bare-knuckle boxing champ (1719-30) James Figg (b. 1684) on Dec. 7 in London; compiled a 269-1 record. German gen. Frederick Louis of Wurttemberg-Winnental (b. 1690) on Sept. 19 in Guastalla (KIA).
1735 There is a diphtheria epidemic in the North Am. colonies, killing thousands (ends 1737). On Apr. 13 Japanese emperor (since 1709) Nakamikado (b. 1702) abdicates in favor of his eldest son Sakuramachi (1720-50) (personal name Teruhito), who becomes Japanese emperor #115 (until June 9, 1747), going on to be said to be the reincarnation of Prince Shotoku (573-621), restoring the ricey imperial rites of rice. On May 17 margrave (since 1708) George Frederick Charles (b. 1688) dies, and his son Frederick "the Beloved" (1711-63) becomes margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (until Feb. 26, 1763), going on to promote the sciences and arts while leaving govt. affairs to his secy. Philipp Elrodt, a puppet of his Prussian wife Wilhelmine, daughter of Frederick William I of Prussia and granddaughter of George I of Britain. On June 29 the Witchcraft Act of 1604 is repealed, decriminalizing witchcraft in Britain - sorry, boys, no more strip searches? In Sept. German-born New York Weekly Journal publisher John Peter Zenger (1697-1746) is tried in New York City Hall for public criticism which fosters "an ill opinion of the government"; he is defended by aged Scottish-born atty. Andrew Hamilton (1676-1741) of Philadelphia, Penn. (no relation to Alexander Hamilton); after claiming the truth of his article as his defense, and the judge ruling it unacceptable, the jury acquits him anyway in a landmark freedom of the press case in New York which emboldens the press to criticize public officials more freely. I'm T-N-T, I win the fight, I'm T-N-T, the power of love? On Oct. 8 emperor (since Dec. 27, 1722) Yongzheng (b. 1678) dies, and his son Hong Lee (Hongli) becomes Qing (Manchu) emperor #4 of China Qian Long (Qianlong) (Ch'ien Lung) (Gao Zong) (Kao-tsung) (1711-1799) (until Feb. 9, 1796), the greatest Manchu emperor of China, forcibly uniting China and establishing a cultural orthodoxy, not to mention insulting the Beatles?; Tang Ying becomes supt. of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, developing the technique of opaque famille rose overglaze enamels and use of red carmine derived from gold. The Turko-Persian War (begun 1734) ends; meanwhile Russia pulls out of the War of the Polish Succession and begins the Fifth Russo-Turkish War, allying with Austria (ends 1739). Don Carlos of Spain is crowned as Charles IV of the Two Sicilies, and recognized by the Treaty of Vienna of 1735. William Pitt is elected MP for Old Sarum. Missouri (Mo.) is settled at St. Genevieve. The Turnpike Trusts in Britain, originally set up in 1706 are extended this year, leading to rioting. Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg (1704-92) of Herrnhut, Germany founds the Moravian Church in the North Am. colony of Georgia on the estate of George Whitefield, then after they refuse to fight against the Spanish and get evicted in 1739 make like gone with the wind and move to Philadelphia, Penn. on Whitefield's sloop; meanwhile in Ga. the sale of alcoholic spirits is prohibited (until 1742), and slavery is abolished until 1749 when rice cultivation arrives; meanwhile Count Nikolaus (Nicolaus) Ludwig von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (1700-60) attempts to stay in Saxony, being ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1734, but the orthodox Lutherans get him banished in 1736 (until 1748), causing him to travel founding new congregations in the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Germany, Estonia, Livonia, and Penn. Viscount Bolingroke gives up on getting back in power in England and returns to France, claiming retirement (until 1742). Scottish-born Presbyterian Church of Ireland revivalist William Tennent (1673-1746) sets up the Log College in Neshaminy, Penn., which turns out more of the same, incl. his son Gilbert, who becomes the leader of the New Light Schism (1741), and eventually helps raise funds for the College of New Jersey (Princeton). Jonathan Edwards discovers religious brainwashing techniques during a religious crusade in Northampton, Mass.; "Our people do not so much need to have their heads stored as to have their hearts touched." Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693-1782) of Yorkshire visits his giant estates in Va., comprising 25% of the colony, which he put in the charge of his cousin Sir William Fairfax; in 1747 he moves permanently to the Shenandoah Valley, and has his friend George Washington survey the area; too bad, he remains a loyalist during the Am. Rev. - a fairfax weather friend? The Jersey Devil is born in Pine Barrens, N.J. when pregnant Mother Leeds curses her 13th child. Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England on the Stour River begins manufacturing ingrain carpets, showing warp and filling on each side, which become famous; in 1749 a Brussels loom is imported, and they begin making Brussels carpets too. The Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg is founded. The ballad opera Flora becomes the first musical theater performed in British Am. in Charleston, S.C. The original French Coustous never got wet? Guillaume Coustou the Elder (177-1746) becomes dir. of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris, where his brother Nicolas Coustou had been rector in 1720-33; meanwhile Guillaume Coustou the Younger (1716-77) studies with his father, insuring France of a liberal supply of marble people and animals. Charles VI founds the anally-retentive (saddle, leg, and hand control only) Spanish Riding School in Lipizza (Lipica) (near Trieste), Slovenia, and begins recording the bloodlines of the Lipizzaners; he also builds the winter Riding Hall in the imperial palace in Vienna. The Boston Evening Post begins pub. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1735. Sports: The Royal Burgess Golfing Society in Edinburgh is founded. Science: On Dec. 5 28-y.-o. Swiss genius mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-83) pub. his solution to the Basel Problem, which was first proposed in 1650 by Pietro Mengoli and baffled generations of mathematicians incl. the Bernoullis, making him an instant star; the problem asks for the infinite sum of (1/n^2), which turns out to be pi squared divided by 6. On Dec. 6 French-born English surgeon Claudius Amyand (1680-1740) performs the first successful Appendectomy on 11-y.-o. Hanvil Anderson at St. George's Hospital in London, England. Spin it round, spin it round? The Paris Academie Francaise is rocked by a controversy between supporters of Isaac Newton (1643-1727), led by Pierre de Maupertuis (1698-1759), who believe that the Earth is slightly flattened at the poles, and supporters of Jacques Cassini (1677-1756), who believe it is instead flattened at the equator. Nonfiction: The Bible is trans. into Lithuanian. Arthur Collins, Peerage of England (1709-35). Benoit de Maillet (1656-1738), Telliamed; the evolutionary hypothesis. George Hadley, Concerning the Cause of the General Trade Winds. S. Hale, Vegetable Statics; tr. into French by Comte de Buffon. Carl Linnaeus (1707-78), Systema Naturae; describes his binomial nomenclature classification system for flora, extending it to fauna in the 10th ed. (1758); in the 12th ed. (1767) he pub. a classiication of five "varieties" of the human species, possessing physiognomic characteristics "varying by culture and place", incl. Americanus (red, choleric), Europeanus (white, sanguine), Asiaticus (yellow, melancholic), Africanus (Afer) (black, phlegmatic), Monstrosus (mythologic humans) incl. Homo anthropomorpha (troglodyte, satyr, hydra, phoenix). John Oldmixon (1673-1742), History of England During the Reigns of William and Mary, Anne and George I. Voltaire (1694-1778), Siecle de Louis XIV (The Age of Louis XIV) (1735-56). John Wesley (1703-91), Journals (1735-90). Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Ariodante, HWV 33 (opera) (Covent Garden Theatre, London) (Jan. 8); libretto adapted by Antonio Salvi from Ludovico Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso"; set in Scotland; stars Giovanni Carestini as Ariodante; a hit finally, getting 11 performances, and allowing Covent Garden to successfully compete against the Prince of Wales' rival Opera of the Nobility; Alcina (opera) (Apr. 16) (Covent Garden, London); based on the poem "Orlando Furioso", set in Charlemagne's day, about heroic knight Ruggiero (Giovanni Carestini), who loves Bradamante (Maria Caterina Negri), and flees with her on a hippogriff (flying horse) to an island, only to meet up with sister sorceresses Alcina (Anna Maria Strada del Po) and Morgana (Cecilia Young), who seduce every knight they can get, then turn them into stones, animals or plants after they tire of them; features dancer Marie Salle; features Tornami a Vagheggiar, Ah, Mio Cor, and Verdi Prati; a big hit, after a last performance in 1738 it costs too much for the lavish sets it is not performed again until 1928 in Leipzig. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-36), L'Olimpiade (opera) (Jan. 31) (Rome); incl. Quel Destrier Il Flaminio (opera) (Naples). Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Les Indes Galantes (opera-ballet) (Academie Royale de Musique et Danse, Paris) (Aug. 23); incl. Ouverture, Les Sauvages (The Savages of America), Les Incas du Perou (The Incas of Peru), Le Turc Genereux, Chaconne. Plays: P.C. Nivelle de La Chaussee (1692-1754), Le Prejuge a La Mode (La Préjugé à La Mode) (The Fashionable Prejudice) ("comedie larmoyante"). Antonio Jose da Silva (1705-39), Os Encantos de Medea. Poetry: Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Prologue to the Satires; full of great quotes, incl. "I was not born for courts or great affairs;/ I pay my debts, believe, and say my pray'rs"; "Beauty that shocks you, parts that none will trust,/ Wit that can creep, and pride that licks the dust"; "To laugh were want of goodness and of grace;/ And to be grave, exceeds all pow'r of face"; "Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne"; An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, containing the soundbyte "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" William Somerville (1675-1742), The Chace (Chase); his only hit. Poetry: Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Cassinus and Peter: A Tragical Elegy; "Then gave him some familiar Thumps,/ A Colelge Joke to cure the Dumps." Fiction: Johnathan Swift (1667-1745), Collected Works (vols. 1-4 of 20 vols.) (1735-72). Births: Am. Rev. patriot and silversmith (Freemason) Paul Revere (d. 1818) on Jan. 1 in Boston, Mass.; educated at North Grammar School; his home, built about 1670 becomes the oldest bldg. in downtown Boston by modern times. Am. Roman Catholic Jesuit archbishop of Baltimore John Carroll (d. 1815) on Jan. 8 in Upper Marlborough, Md.; first U.S. Roman Catholic bishop (1790). British Adm. of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of Vincent (d. 1823) on Jan. 9 in Meaford Hall, Staffordshire. Austrian Field Marshal Baron Joseph (Jozsef) Alvinczi von Borberek (d. 1810) on Feb. 1 in Alvinc (Alwintz), Transylvania; an ethnic Magyar. French scientist-mathematician Alexandre-Theophile Vandermonde (d. 1796) on Feb. 28. Swedish chemist Torbern Olaf Bergman (d. 1784) on Mar. 20 in Katharineberg; first chemist to use the A, B, C notation for chemical species; sponsor of German chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele. Am. Rev. War leader (DOI signer) Button Gwinnett (d. 1777) on Apr. 10 in Gloucestershire, England; emigrates to the U.S. in 1762. Austrian field marshal, debauchee and writer ("the Prince of Europe") Charles Joseph, 7th Prince de Ligne (d. 1814) on May 23 in Brussels, Belgium. French marshal (Freemason) Francois Christophe Kellermann (de Kellermann, 1st Duc de Valmy) (d. 1820) on May 28 in Strasbourg; born to an old Saxon family; father of Francois Etienne de Kellermann (1770-1835); grandfather of Francois Christophe Edmond de Kellermann (1802-68). Am. physician John Morgan (d. 1789) on June 10 in Philadelphia, Penn.; educated at the U. of Edinburgh, and U. of Penn. German composer Johann Christian Bach (d. 1782) on Sept. 5; youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Scottish banker (in London) Thomas Coutts (d. 1822) on Sept. 7 in Edinburgh; husband (1815-) of Harriet Mellon (1777-1837); grandfather of Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906). English scientist James Keir (d. 1820) on Sept. 20 in Stirlingshire; educated at the U. of Edinburgh. English Whig PM (1768-70) (Unitarian) Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (d. 1811) on Sept. 28; educated at Westminster School, and Peterhouse, Cambridge U. English instrument maker Jesse Ramsden (d. 1800) on Oct. 15. U.S. Federalist pres. #2 (1797-1801) and vice-pres. #1 (1789-97) ("Father of the U.S. Navy") John Adams (d. 1826) on Oct. 30 (Oct. 19, old style) at Braintree (now Quincy), Norfolk County, Mass.; born into a family of Puritan farmers; cousin of Samuel Adams (1722-1803); the next four U.S. presidents (all) born in Mass. are born in Norfolk County (John Quincy Adams, JFK, George H.W. Bush). English abolitionist leader Granville Sharp (d. 1813) on Nov. 10 in Durham; learns to read Greek and Latin, and play two flutes simultaneously, and signs his name G#. English adm. Sir Samuel Greig (d. 1788) on Nov. 30. Italian mathematician (inventor of polar coordinates) Gregorio Fontana (d. 1803) on Dec. 7 Villa di Nogaredo; brother of Felice Fontana (1730-1805). Am. Rev. War physician-scientist-politician Hugh Williamson (d. 1819) on Dec. 7 in West Nottingham Township, Chester County, Penn.; educated at the College of Philadelphia. English sculptor Thomas Banks (d. 1805) on Dec. 29 in London. British writer-traveler Elizabeth Marsh (Crisp) (d. 1785) in Jamaica; first woman to write about the Maghreb. British adm. John MacBride (d. 1800) in Scotland. Am. Black Freemasonry founder (black) Prince Hall (d. 1807) in Bridgetown, Barbados. French essayist-agriculturist Michel Guillaume Jean De Crevecoeur (AKA J. Hector St. John) (d. 1813); in America 1754-80, 1783-90. Russian painter Dmitry Levitsky (d. 1822). Deaths: English clergyman-poet Samuel Wesley the Elder (b. 1662) on Apr. 25. Greek deacon and venacular Bible champ Seraphim (b. 1670) in Orkhotsk Prison, Siberia; dies while serving a 1732 life sentence as a spy. English historian Thomas Hearne (b. 1678). Chinese Qing emperor #5 (#3) Yongzheng (b. 1678) on Oct. 8 in Beijing. Dutch writer Justus van Effen (b. 1684) on Sept. 18 in 's-Hertogenbosch. Swedish ichthyology founder Peter Artedi (b. 1705) on Sept. 27 in Amsterdam (accidental drowning); "Here lies poor Artedi, in foreign land pyx'd/ Not a man nor a fish, but something betwixt,/ Not a man, for his life among fishes he past,/ Not a fish, for he perished by water at last." (George Bernard Shaw).
1736 The number of poor receiving public assistance in Boston, Mass. rises to 4K from 500 in 1700. On Feb. 12 Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine marries Maria Theresa; as a marriage condition, and to end the war between Austria and France he exchanges his Duchy of Lorraine to Poland for the Italian state of Tuscany; Spain gains Naples and Sicily, and Sardinia gains most other Italian states. On Mar. 25 (Palm Sun.) the Chickawaw Campaign of 1736 starts with the Battle of Ogoula Tchetoka NW of modern-day Tupelo, Miss., in which 130 French forces plus 350 native warriors from Upper La. attack a fortified Chickasaw village under orders of La. gov. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in order to get at the Natchez Indians it is harboring, and get bloodily repulsed, with 21 French POWs taken, and 19 of them burned, most while still alive, incl. Francois-Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes (b. 1700); on May 26 544 French forces plus 600 Choctaws and 45 Africans try it again in the Battle of Ackia (Long Town) S of modern-day Tupelo, Miss., with the same results; the well-armed (with British weapons) Chickasaw continue to fend off attacks for the next 20 years. In Mar. Nadir (Nader) Shah (Khan) (1688-1747), the last great Asian conqueror consolidates his power, deposes infant Abbas III, and proclaims himself shah, ending the Persian Safavid Dynasty, and founding the Afsharid Dynasty (ends 1794), moving the capital to Mashhad (Mashad) (Pers. "place of martyrdom") in Razavi Khorasan Province in E Persia 500 mi. E of Tehran, going on to extend his conquests beyond the frontiers, starting with Herat and Oman this year, and going all the way to India, while bankrupting the country with taxes and trying to convert Persia to the Sunni faith by a trick of proposing that a 5th Sunni law school called the ooh-baby-baby Ja'fari School (named after Shiite imam #6 Jafar as-Sadiq) be created to combine them; too bad, it don't push good, and when he is assassinated in 1747, it's a stillborn baby? - get ready for more sales options and a more knowledgable sales staff? In Mar. Cologne-born German adventurer Theodor Stephan Freiherr von Neuhoff (1694-1756) lands in Corsica with a bunch of Corsican rebels and exiles and help from the bey of Tunis, and is elected king Theodore I of Corsica (until 1743), attempting to free Corsica from French-Genoese control, only to flee in Nov. to seek foreign assistance, landing in Spain and Naples, then Amsterdam, where he arrested for debt, returning to Corsica in 1738, 1739, and 1743, then landing in debtors' prison in London in 1749-55, paying for his freedom by signing over his kingdom, living on the charity of Horace Walpole et al. until his 1756 death, after which is alleged son Col. Frederick (1725-97) claims to be prince of Caprera, pushing himself unsuccessfully in high circles in London and dying in poverty. On Apr. 14 the Porteous Riots rock Edinburgh after ash-hole city guard capt. John Porteous (1695-1736) hangs a smuggler hero then cuts his body down against the wishes of the mob, after which he orders his men to fire above their heads, and they accidentally shoot people in high windows, causing them to ape, after which his men shoot into the mob, killing six; Porteous is tried on July 5, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to die on Sept. 8, but the British govt. lets him appeal, causing a mob of 4K to drag him from his cell in Tolbooth Prison and lynch him on Sept. 7; Scottish poet Allan Ramsay is in the original mob. In Dec. after Thomas Cresap is arrested by Md. authorities, but Cresap's War continues. The weavers of Spitalfields Market in London riot to protest the introduction of Irish weavers, forcing the military to intervene. The colony of Pennsylvania (Penn.) forms an alliance with the New York-based Six Nations of the Iroquois after the latter conquer the aboriginal tribes of Pensylvania. Tall handsome cross-eyed Oxford-educated English Methodist preacher George Whitefield (1714-70) (pr. WHIT-field) begins preaching in England at age 22, wowing huge crowds with a booming voice that doesn't need to be raised even in front of a crowd of 30K; actor David Garrick ("the George Whitefield of the stage") claims he'd pay a thousand pounds to be able to say the word "oh" as good as him; his mere pronouncing of the word "Mesopotamia" causes women to weep?; his sermons are all based on the text "be born again" (John 3:3). Chelyabinsk in Russia on the Miass River E of the Ural Mts. is founded. Moravian settlers led by bishop Peter Boehler (Böhler) (1712-75) found Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Lititz in Penn. William Boyce (1711-79) is appointed composer to the Chapel Royal in England, writing music for church services. The weekly Virginia Gazette begins pub. (until 1780). Poor Richard's Almanack for 1736. Glass manufacture begins in Venice at Murano. India rubber (hard rubber caoutchouc) is introduced to England. Mary Lisle becomes the first female brewer in the U.S., opening the Edinburgh Brewhouse Brewery in Philly (closes 1751). Architecture: Queen's Square in Bath, England (begun 1729) is finished. In 1735-40 French architect Germain Boffrand designs the interiors of the Hotel de Soubise in Paris, pioneering the Rococo (Louis XV) style. Science: Science reaches out and touches Father, er, Mother Earth? French scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine (1701-74) leads an expedition to Ecuador-Peru to measure a degree of longitude at the equator, siting the zero degree latitude line (Middle of the World) near Quito, and discovering rubber (insert gratuitous sex joke here?); meanwhile Anders Celsius and Pierre de Maupertuis lead an expedition to Lapland to measure a degree of longitude at the North Pole, and verify Isaac Newton's prediction that the Earth is an oblate spheroid - of course, it's a woman not a man? After an epidemic of diphtheria hits Boston, Mass. in 1735-6, Scottish-born physician William Douglass (1691-1752) first describes Scarlet Fever, AKA throat plague. Swiss #1 mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-83) solves the Konigsberg (Königsberg) Bridge Problem, and founds the study of Analytical Mechanics. English clockmaker John Harrison (1693-1776) completes the first accurate chronometer for determining longitude, making long-distance sea travel possible along with a global sea empire, and applies for the £20K Longitude Prize offered by the British govt.; too bad, they play games and never award it to him as he goes through five major versions H1-H5; in 1773 after George III personally intervenes, Parliament gives him a different monetary award. Nonfiction: Thomas Bayes (1701-61), An Introduction to the Doctrine of Fluxions, and a Defence of the Mathematicians Against the Objections of the Author of the Analyst; defends Isaac Newton against George Berkeley, getting him elected to the Royal Society in 1742. Joseph Butler (1692-1752), The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed; defends Anglican Christianity against English Deism, making him a pop star. Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), Histoire et description générale du Japon. Leonhard Euler (1707-83), Mechanica Sive Motus Analytice Exposita. Herman Moll (1654-1732), Map of the World (posth.); shows the trade winds. Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751), Letters on the Spirit of Patriotism, On the Idea of a Patriot King, and on the State of Parties at the Accession of King George the First. William Warburton (1698-1779), The Alliance between Church and State; or The Necessity and Equity of an Established Religion. Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Theologia Naturalis (1736-7). Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Atalanta (opera) (Covent Garden Theatre, London) (May 12); libretto based on Belisario Valeriani's "La Caccia in Etolia"; composed for the marriage of George II's eldest son Prince Frederick of Wales; the debut closes with a big fireworks display; incl. the arioso Care Selve, Ombre Beate. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-36), Stabat Mater (Mass in F); the important matter of Jesus' conversation with Mother Mary on the cross; biggest musical hit of the cent.? Art: Pompeo Batoni (1708-87), Christ with Sts. Julian, Basilissa, Celsus, and Marcionilla (1736-8). William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Good Samaritan; The Pool of Bethesda; both painted on the staircase of St. Bartholomew's Hospital; The Four Times of Day. Plays: Henry Fielding (1707-54), Pasquin (satire). Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Enrico Re di Sicilia (tragedy); Rinaldo di Montalbano (tragicomedy). George Lillo (1693-1739), Fatal Curiosity. Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Le Legs. Antonio Jose da Silva (1705-39), The Labyrinth of Crete (Nov.). Voltaire (1694-1778), Mahomet the Prophet; or, Fanaticism; "But that a camel-merchant [Muhammad] should stir up insurrection in his village; that in league with some miserable followers he persuades them that he talks with the angel Gabriel; that he boasts of having been carried to heaven, where he received in part this unintelligible book, each page of which makes common sense shudder; that, to pay homage to this book, he delivers his country to iron and flame; that he cuts the throats of fathers and kidnaps daughters; that he gives to the defeated the choice of his religion or death: this is assuredly nothing any man can excuse, at least if he was not born a Turk, or if superstition has not extinguished all natural light in him." Births: Scottish engineer and steam engine inventor James Watt (d. 1819) on Jan. 19 in Greenock. Italian mathematician-astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange (Giuseppe Luigi Lagrangia or Lagrancia) (d. 1813) on Jan. 25 in Turin, Piedmont; emigrates to France in 1787. German Prussian Hohenzollern margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1757-91) (last) Christian Frederick Charles Alexander (d. 1806) on Feb. 24 in Ansbach; son of magrave Charles William Frederick (1712-57) and Friederike Luise of Prussia, daughter of Frederick William I, and sister of Frederick II, granddaughter of George I of Britain, and niece of George II of Britain; husband of Frederica Caroline (-1791) and (1791-) Elizabeth Craven (1750-1828), daughter of the 4th earl of Berkeley, England. Am. Shakers founder Mother Ann Elizabeth Lee (d. 1784) on Feb. 29 in Manchester. English Shakespearean commentator George Steevens (Stevens) (d. 1800) on May 10 in Poplar, East London; educated at Eton College, and King's College, Cambridge U. Am. Rev. statesman-orator Patrick Henry (d. 1799) on May 29 in Studley, Hanover County, Va.; Scottish immigrant father; husband (1732-) of Sarah Winston Syme. English adm. Sir John Francis Edward Acton, 6th Baronet (d. 1811) on June 3 in Besancon, France; father of Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward Dalberg-Acton (1801-37) and Cardinal Acton (1803-47); grandfather of John Dalbert-Acton, 1st baron Acton (1834-1902). Spanish (Mexican) explorer Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (d. 1788) on July 6/7 in Fronteras (near Arizpe), Sonora. French astronomer-orator-politician ("the Benjamin Franklin of the French Rev.") Jean-Sylvain Bailly (d. 1793) on Sept. 15 in Paris; first simultaneous member of the French Academy of Science, Academie Francaise, and Academie des Inscriptions since Bernard le Bovier de Fontennlle; could hang-five with the leading scientists of his day, but gets caught up in French Rev. Fever, creates the French Nat. Assembly, and ends up getting guillotined. Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) Carter Braxton (d. 1797) on Sept. 16 in Newington Plantation, King and Queen County, Va.; educated at the College of William and Mary. Scottish "Ossian" poet James Macpherson (d. 1796) on Oct. 27 in Ruthven, Inverness; educated at the U. of Edinburgh. Swiss portraitist Anton Graff (d. 1813) on Nov. 18 in Winterthur. English mathematician Edward Waring (d. 1798). Am. Rev. War soldier Maj. Gen. Daniel Morgan (d. 1802) in Hunterdon County, N.J.; of Welsh ancestry. French physicist-philosopher Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (d. 1806) in Angouleme; inventor of the torsion balance. French painter Jean-Jacques de Boissieu (d. 1810). Am. Rev. War hero David Kennison (d. 1851) in Chicago, Ill.; longest surviving partcipant in the 1773 Boston Tea Party. Deaths: English bookseller-publisher Jacob Tonson the Elder (b. 1655) on Mar. 17. English architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (b. 1661) on Mar. 25. German architect Mattheus Daniel Poppelmann (b. 1662) on Jan. 17 in Dresden. Italian Prince Eugene of Savoy (b. 1663). Swedish gen. Friherre Carl Gustaf Armfeldt (b. 1666) on Oct. 24 in Perna, Finland. English scientist Stephen Gray (b. 1666). Ottoman sultan (1703-30) Ahmed III (b. 1673) on July 1 - no more Ahmeds for you, Turkey? English publisher Barnaby Bernard Lintot (b. 1675) on Feb. 9 in Sussex. Italian architect Filippo Juvarra (b. 1678) on Jan. 31 in Madrid. British vice-adm. James Berkeley, 3rd earl of Berkeley (b. 1680) on Aug. 17 in Aubigny, France. Portuguese historian-statesman Manuel Teles da Silva, 3rd marquis of Alegrete (b. 1682) on Feb. 9. German physicist Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (b. 1686) on Sept. 16 in The Hague, Netherlands - reached only Fahrenheit 50? English Orientalist George Sale (b. 1697) on Nov. 13 in The Strand (fever). French-Canadian explorer Francois-Marie Bissot, sieur de Vincennes (b. 1700) on Mar. 25 near Fulton, Miss.; burned by the Chickasaws. Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (b. 1710) on Mar. 16/17 in Puzzuoli (TB).
1737 On Feb. 7 Helene (Hélène) de Courtenay, Marquise de Bauffremont (1689-1768), the last female of the Courtenay line in France has her title of Princess du Sang Royal de France suppressed by the parliament of Paris. On Mar. 17 the first-ever St. Patrick's Day parade is held in Boston, Mass. by mainly Protestant Irish immigrants. In Apr. German-born English composer G.F. Handel suffers a stroke, paralyzing his right arm and messing up his eyesight, causing him to head for Aix-la-Chapelle to take hot baths; luckily, he recovers, Hallelujah. In Apr. Somerset, England-born Henry Fielding (1707-54) debuts his political satire The Historical Register for the Year 1736, which along with the anon. (Fielding?) political satire The Golden Rump, which knocks the admin. of PM (1721-42) Robert Walpole cause so much alarm among English authorities that they pass the Licensing Act of 1737, putting theatres under the direct control of the Lord Chamberlain (until 1968), ending Fielding's dramatic career; the number of London theatres is restricted; modified by the Theatres Acts of 1843 and 1934, and repealed by the Theatres Act of 1968. In May Mt. Vesuvius in Italy erupts. As Fat Albert would say, get back in the sack and hit it? On July 9 the War of the Polish Succession (begun 1733) ends when grand duke of Tuscany #7 (since Oct. 31, 1723) Gian Gastone de' Medici (b. 1671), the last of the Medicis dies, and by the terms of the 1731 Treaty of Vienna the grand duchy is given to Duke Francis III Stephen of Lorraine (later emperor Francis I) (remaining in the Lorraine family until 1859, except during the French Rev. of 1799-1814) after marrying Maria Theresa, heiress of the Austrian Hapsburg dominions; unsuccessful Polish throne claimant Stanislas Leszczynski acquires Lorraine by way of compensation (it passes to France upon his death). On July 9 George Schmidt becomes the first Protestant missionary at the South African Cape, going on to evangelize among the Khoi (until 1742). HRE Charles VI enters the Ottoman-Russian War on the Russian side. George II quarrels with his son Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales. Tsarina Anna forces the nobles of her homeland Courland (in Latvia) to accept her beau duke Ernst Johann von Biron (Biren), Duke of Courland (1690-1772) as their duke. Penn. deploys military forces against Md. Nailers from Worcester march to Birmingham to protest their beefs with iron merchants. The first copper coins in the American colonies are minted in Conn. William Penn's sons dispossess the Delawares of the Forks of Delaware by the crooked Walking Purchase (Treaty). There is an earthquake in Calcutta, India. William Byrd II (1674-1744) of Westover Plantation, Charles County, Va. founds Richmond, Va. on the James River (modern pop. 250K) on land he inherited from his daddy Col. William Byrd I (1652-1704), who came from Shadwell, London England in the late 1660s. St. Vincent de Paul (1576-1660) is canonized by Pope Clement XII. 28-y.-o. Samuel Johnson (b. 1709), former master of a school in Edial (near Lichfield, Staffordshire) he started with funds from marrying widow Mrs. Elizabeth Porter in 1735 arrives broke in London, hoping to make money via writing, and by next year is a regular contributor to Gentleman's Mag.; he is accompanied by his pupil David Garrick (b. 1717), who studies law, then sells wine, and finally becomes a stage actor; "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money" (Johnson). Yellow-green 142 proof Chartreuse Elixir is first distilled from 130 plants by the cloistered Carthusian monks in Chartreuse, France (founded 1084) from an ancient ms. given to them in 1605; for beverage use, 110 proof Green Chartreuse is also sold. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1737. William Boys begins conducting the week-long Three Choirs Festivals (1737-45). Architecture: After the Berlin Fortress is demolished in 1734, the Berlin Customs Wall is built around Berlin, Prussia, with 14 gates, each named to the city to which its road leads incl. Spandauer Tor, St. Georgen Tor, Stralower Tor, Coepenicker Tor, Leipziger Tor, and Neues Tor; in addition the Spree River is blocked with the Oberbaum and Unterbaum custom gates made of heavy tree trunks covered in metal spikes that block the river at night; in 1786-1802 the wooden stockades are replaced by 4m-high stone walls; the New Gate is built in 1832, followed by the Anhalt Gate (1840), Koepenick Gate (1842), and Water Gate (1848); in 1841 the Potsdam Station for railroad traffic is built, followed by the Anhalt Station (1842), Frankfurt Station (1842), Stettin Station (1842), Hamburg Station (1846); in 1860 the Customs Wall is removed, and on Jan. 1, 1861 Berlin amalgamates its suburbs, doubling city pop. Aberdeen, Scotland-born architect James Gibbs (1682-1754) begins the round English Palladian (neoclassical)-style Radcliffe Camera (AKA Rad Cam, Radders) bldg. at Oxford U. (opened on Apr. 13, 1749), financed with £40K bequeathed by Oxford-loving royal physician John Radcliffe (1652-1714); it ends up as extra reading rooms for the Bodleian Library - check that out that secret vampire reading room? Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, founded by Charles VII of Naples opens on Nov. 4, becoming the world's largest opera house (3.3K cap.), and going on to become the oldest opera house in Europe to survive to modern times. Inventions: Jacques de Vaucanson (1709-83) of France builds the Transverse Flute Player, a lifesize automaton that plays the pipe and tabor and has a 12-song repertoire; next year he puts skin on it so it can play the flute; the first true robot?; next year he builds the Tambourine Player and the Digesting (Defecating) Duck, with 400+ moving parts, able to flap its wings and drink, eat, and shit from a hidden container (no actual digestion) using the world's first flexible rubber tube. Nonfiction: Jean-Francois Blondel (1705-74), De la Distribution des Maisons de Plaisance, et de la Decoration des Edifices in General (1837-8); big hit, with 155 engraved plates, causing him to begin teaching architecture classes in the Ecole des Arts in Paris in 1740. Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1673-1743), Quaestiones Juris Publici. Alexander Cruden, Concordance of the Holy Scriptures; becomes std. work. Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Description of Bergen. Ignacio de Luzan Claramunt de Suelves y Gurrea, Poetica. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Nonsense of Common Sense. Johann Jacob Moser (1701-85), German Law. William Oldys (1696-1761), The British Librarian. Rene de Reaumur (1683-1757), History of the Insects. Thomas Simpson (1710-61), Treatise of Fluxions; derives Simpson's Rule for numerical approximation of definite integrals, which he gets credit for even though it was used by Galileo's student Bonaventura Cavalieri in 1639, and by Johannes Kepler. John Wesley (1703-91), Psalms and Hymns (Charleston). William Whiston (1667-1752) (tr.), The Works of Josephus. Music: G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Arminio (HWV 36) (opera) (Covent Garden Theatre, London) (Jan. 12); based on a libretto by Antonio Salvi; about German hero Arminius (Domenico Annibali), who kicked Roman butt bigtime in 9 C.E., and his wife Thusnelda (Anna Maria Strada); flops after 5 performances; Giustino (HWV 37) (opera) (Covent Garden Theatre, London) (Feb. 16); libretto adapted from Pietro Pariati's "Giustino", based on Nicolo Beregan's "Il Giustino"; stars Domenico Annibali as Giustino. Berenice, Regina d'Egitto, HWV 38 (Berenice, Queen of Egypt) (opera) (Covent Garden Theatre, London) (May 18); based on a 1709 libretto by Antonio Salvi; about Cleopatra Berenice (Anna Maria Strada), daughter of Ptolemy IX in 81 B.C.E.; flops after 4 performances, and is not restaged until 1985; incl. Si, Tra I Ceppi; Giustino (HWV 39) (opera); incl. Se Parla Nel Mio Cor. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Castor et Pollux (opera) (Academie Royale de Musique, Paris) (Oct. 24); a flop until he rewrites it in 1754, becoming one of his best works. Art: Lambert-Sigisbert Adam l'Aine (1700-59), The Triumph of Neptune Stilling (Calming) the Waves; placed in the Louvre, home of the French Academy, which he is elected to this year. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779), The Draughtsman. Louis-Francois Roubiliac (1695-1762), Handel. Plays: Henry Fielding (1707-54), The Historical Register for the Year 1736 (satire) (Little Theatre, Haymarket, London) (Mar. 21). Samuel Johnson (1709-84), Irene; based on Voltaire's 1778 play "Irene", about Sultan Mahomet II; first performed at the Theatre Royale in Drury Lane on Feb. 6, 1749, accompanied by Johnson complaining "Sir, the fellow wants me to make Mahomet run mad, that he may have an opportunity of tossing his hands and kicking his heels." Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Les Fausses Confidences. Antonio Jose da Silva (1705-39), Guerras do Alecrim et Mangerona; As Variedades de Proteo (May). Poetry: Matthew Green (1696-1737), The Spleen; poetic medicine?; "I never sick by drinking grow,/ Nor keep myself a cup too low"; "I always choose the plainest food/ To mend viscidity of blood"; "Fling but a stone, the giant dies". Births: German poet-critic Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg (d. 1823) on Jan. 3 in Tondern, Schleswig; educated at the U. of Jena. French chemist-politician Louis-Bernard Guyton, Baron de Morveau (d. 1816) on Jan. 4 in Dijon; first to create systematic chemical nomenclature, incl. naming hydrogen. Am. Rev. leader and handwriting expert (known for being cocky) (Freemason) John Hancock (d. 1793) on Jan. 23 (Jan. 12 Old Style) in Braintree (modern-day Quincy), Mass.; son of Rev. John Hancock Jr. (1702-44), who baptizes John Adams; educated at Boston Latin School, and Harvard U.; one of the wealthiest men in British Am. French "Paul et Virginie" novelist-botanist Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (d. 1814) on Jan. 19 in Le Havre. Am. Rev. "Common Sense", "Rights of Man", "The Age of Reason" writer (Deist Rationalist-Freethinker) Thomas "Tom" Paine (Pain) (d. 1809) on Jan. 29 in Thetford, Norfolk, England; Quaker parents; emigrates the U.S. in 1774. Prussian field marshal (1807-) Count Friedrich Adolf von Kalckreuth (d. 1818) on Feb. 22 in Sotterhausen (near Sangerhausen). Thai Chakri king #1 (1782-1809) Rama I (Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke) (d. 1809) on Mar. 20 in Ayutthaya; part-Chinese mother. English "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" historian (Freemason) Edward Gibbon (d. 1794) on Apr. 27 in Putney, Surrey; educated at Magdalen College, Oxford U.; capt. in the New Hampshire Grenadiers; when his father dies in 1770, he moves to 7 Bentinck St., London, living comfortably, becoming an MP in 1774-80 - the smallest ape? His portrait bears a striking resemblance to fat pudgy-cheeked Roman emperor Nero? Am. Rev. War hero Col. Christopher Greene (d. 1781) on May 12 in Warwick, R.I. German physician (to Christian VII of Denmark) Count Johann Friedrich von Struensee (d. 1772) on Aug. 5 in Halle an der Saale. English "Castor and Pollux" #1 bust sculptor Joseph Nollekens (d. 1823) on Aug. 11 in London. French chef-pharmacist (potato advocate) Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (d. 1813) on Aug. 12 in Montdidier. Italian scientist (physiologist) Luigi Galvani (d. 1798) on Sept. 9. Am. Rev. leader (richest man in the colonies) Charles Carroll of Carrollton (d. 1832) on Sept. 19 in Annapolis, Md.; only Roman Catholic to sign the DOI, and the last surviving signer. Am. Rev. War loyalist poet-minister Jonathan Odell (d. 1818); on Sept. 25 in Newark, N.J.; educated at the College of N.J. (Princeton U.); with Joseph Stansbury (1742-1809) the most prominent loyalist poets during the Am. Rev. Am. composer-writer-politician (DOI signer) Francis Hopkinson (d. 1791) on Oct. 2 in Philadelphia, Penn.; educated at the College of Philadelphia (first graduate); studies music with James Bremner; claims to design the first U.S. flag; father of Joseph Hopkinson (1770-1842). Italian composer-harpsichordist Vincenzo Manfredini (d. 1799) on Oct. 22 in Pistoia (near Florence); son of Francesco Onofrio Manfredini (1684-1762). Am. diplomat (first U.S. diplomat) Silas Deane (d. 1789) on Dec. 24 in Groton, Conn.; educated at Yale U. Spanish dramatist-poet Nicolas Fernandez de Moratin (d. 1780) in Madrid; father of Leandro Fernandez de Moratin (1760-1828). French hostess Madame Susanne Necker (nee Curchod) (d. 1794) in Crassier, Vaud, Switzerland; daughter of the pastor; marries Jacques Necker in 1764 after Edward Gibbon tries and fails; mother of Madame de Stael (1766-1817). German writer (in England) Rudolf Erich Raspe (d. 1794). Scottish horticulturist William Forsyth (d. 1804). French surgeon Bernard Peyrilhe (d. 1804). Viennese composer Michael Haydn (d. 1806); younger brother of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Russian adm. Count Alexey (Alexei) Grigoryevich Orlov (d. 1808); brother of Ivan Orlov (1733-91), Grigory Orlov (1734-83), Fyodor Orlov (1741-96), and Vladimir Orlov (1743-1831). U.S. postmaster gen. (1776-82) Richard Bache (d. 1811) in Settle, Yorkshire, England; emigrates to the U.S. in 1765; husband (1767-) of Sarah Franklin (1743-1808) (daughter of Benjamin Franklin); father of Richard Bache Jr. and Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769-98). Austrian gen. Baron Paul Davidovich (Pavle Davidovic) (d. 1814) in Buda. English actress Frances "Fanny" Abington (nee Barton) (d. 1815); in London; namesake of the Abington Cap. Hawaiian king (1782-1819) Kamehameha I (the Great) (d. 1819) (b. 1736?) in Kohala, Hawaii. Am. Rev. War financier (creator of the U.S. dollar sign in 1778) Oliver Pollock (d. 1823) in Coleraine, Ireland; emigrates to Penn. in 1760. Algerian Senussi Order founder (Sunni Muslim) Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi (d. 1859) near Mostaganem; educated at Al-Azhar U.; granfather of Idris I (1889-1983). Deaths: English historian John Strype (b. 1643) on Dec. 11. Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari (b. 1644) on Dec. 18 in Cremona, Italy; dies after making 1,116 instruments incl. 960 violins, of which 450+ survive to modern times. Austrian Gen. Guido Starhemberg (b. 1657) on Mar. 7. French mathematician Joseph Saurin (b. 1659) on Dec. 29. Tuscan grand duke (1723-37) Gian Gastone de' Medici (b. 1671) on July 9 in Florence. English poet Elizabeth Rowe (b. 1674). English queen (wife of George II) Caroline of Ansbach (b. 1683) on Nov. 20 (complications following childbirth); asks her hubby to remarry on her deathbed, to which he replies in French "No, I will have mistresses"; buried at Westminster Abbey; Handel composes The Ways of Zion Do Mourn as her funeral anthem; she is laid in a pair of matching coffins which he joins her in 23 years later. Italian architect Alessandro Galilei (b. 1691) on Dec. 21 in Rome. Japanese emperor #114 (1709-35) Nakamikado (b. 1702) on May 10.
1738 There is a famine in France (ends 1740). There is a smallpox epidemic in S.C. Some things you just can't copy, except your own birth? Born once, die twice, born twice, die once? In spring Oxford-educated itinerant evangelist George Whitefield (1714-70) visits British Am., starting in Ga., where he converts Anglican priests John Wesley and Charles Wesley, both of whom have religious experiences on May 24; in Dec. Whitefield launches the First Great Awakening in Mass. (ends 1755), reaching 10M listeners via 18K sermons after becoming the first speaker to speak in all 13 Am. colonies; his disciple Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) stages a mini spiritual awakening in Northampton, Mass. this year and next. On Apr. 28 Pope (1730-40) Clement XII issues the bull In Eminenti condemning Freemasonry, calling the movement "unprincipled". In May George II intervenes, forcing Md. and Penn. to negotiate, ending Cresap's War (begun 1730); the permanent boundary is not fixed until the 1767 Mason-Dixon Line. On Nov. 26 the Battle of Khyber (Kheibar) Pass is a decisive V for 10K Persians under Nader Shah and Nasrollah Mirza over the Mughal Empire, whose 20K-50K soldiers are wiped out; the Persians destroy Kandahar (Qandahar) in Afghanistan and occupies Ghazna, Kabul, and Peshawar. British troops are sent to the Georgia colony to settle a border dispute with Spain; PM Robert Walpole's opposition begins attacking him over failure to avenge alleged sufferings on British seamen by Spaniards, whose garda costas (patrol ships) are vigorously defending its monopoly on trade with its Am. colonies. The Turks take Orsova, and drive imperial troops back to Belgrade. Thommo Reachea II becomes king of Cambodia for the 3rd time (until 1747). French controller-gen. of finances Jean Orry (1652-1719) devises the Corvee (Corvée) system of forced labor to construct roads, which is widely hated. New Jersey is separated from New York under its own royal gov. Lewis Morris (1726-98). French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier (1705-86) begins an expedition on the ships Aigle and Marie to prove or disprove the existence of an Antarctic continent in the S Atlantic Ocean (ends 1739). Voltaire introduces Isaac Newton's ideas to France. La Condamine returns to France. Ben Franklin writes a letter to his mommy, with the soundbyteL "I would rather have it said 'He lived usefully' than 'He died rich'." The Russian Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg (Kirov Ballet) founds its ballet school. Augustus III's tobacco-smoking daughter Maria Amalia Christina of Saxony (1724-60) marries Charles of Bourbon, king of the Two Sicilies (Charles II of Spain), and moves to Naples, where she introduces procelain production and discovers relics in her hubby's garden dug up from Mt. Vesuvius before the May 1737 eruption, and commissions Spanish Cavaliere Rocco Gioacchino de Alcubierre of the Royal Engineers to go back and dig up more, after which on Dec. 11, 1738 he unearths the Theatrum Herculanense (Theater of Herculaneum) under 65 ft. of lava; it takes 35 more years before new digs begin uncovering its sister city Pompeii. French explorer La Verendrye discovers the Hidatsa (Gross Ventre), Arikara, and Mandan "ground-house" Siouan Indians at the mouth of the Heart River on the lower Missouri River in N.D. (5 mi. W of Bismarck), the Mandan being a powerful agricultural tribe who live in stockaded villages, tattoo their faces and breasts, and are fond of elaborate ceremonies with ritual tortures; by the mid 20th cent. the Mandans are down to 300, living in Ft. Berthold Rez, N.D. - you don't like poetry? Louis XV grants Remy Martin a royal license to expand his cognac production (founded 1724), causing 1738 Accord Royal to be named. Waltham, Mass. 9 mi. W of Boston (founded 1636) is incorporated, becoming the site of the first under-one-roof cotton mill in the U.S. German Moravian colonist David Zeisberger (1721-1808) migrates to the Am. colony of Georgia, then in 1745 becomes a missionary to the Iroquois, winning them to the English side during the French and Indian War. Wistarburgh Glass Manufactory near Alloway in S N.J. is founded (until 1781), becoming the first successful glass factory and manufacturing site in the U.S. The evacuation of ancient Herculaneum begins. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1738. The bronze Ficoroni Cist, an ancient Roman jewel case with a homoerotic motif is found in Palestrina, Italy by antiquarian Francisco Ficoroni (1664-1747), and dated to the 5th to 2nd cents. B.C.E.; later narrowed down to 4th cent. B.C.E. Maj. William Horton builds the first brewery in the Am. Deep South in Jekyll Island, Ga. Architecture: After the old one burns on Dec. 24, 1734, Italian architects G.B. Sacchetti and Filippo Juavarra (1678-1736) design the new 135K sq. m Baroque-Classical Royal Palace (Palacio Real) in Madrid for Philip V (finished 1755), becoming the largest royal palace in W Europe, with 2.8K rooms; Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) of Venice paints the large ceiling fresco The Apotheosis of the Spanish Monarchy for the throne room in 1762. Inventions: The first Cuckoo Clocks are produced in the Black Forest district of Germany - 200 years till Shirley Temple as Heidi? Lewis Paul invents a rolling machine for making yarn. Nonfiction: Peter Artedi (1705-35), Bibliotheca Icthyologica; Philosophia Ichtyologica (posth.). Daniel Bernoulli (1700-82), Hydrodynamica; lays the basis for the Kinetic Theory of Gases, that they consist of great numbers of molecules moving in all directions, with their impact on a surface causing gas pressure, and heat simply their kinetic energy of motion; he announces Bernoulli's Law (Principle), a pressure-velocity (PV) relationship for fluids explaining the loss of vis viva in fluid flow using the idea of conservation of energy, stating that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in the fluid's pressure or potential energy, founding the field of Hydrodynamics; derives Boyle's Law by considering a gas as a collection of atoms which collide with the container wall, but everybody overlooks it until it's rediscovered in 1859 - they still teach all that in Top Gun school? Samuel Madden (1686-1765), Reflections and Resolutions Proper for the Gentlemen of Ireland; the wretched condition of the poor. Pierre de Maupertuis (1698-1759), Sur la Figure de la Terre. Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Antiquites Italicae (1738-42). Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Polite Conversation; "A penny for your thoughts"; "Do you think I was born in a wood to be afraid of an owl?"; "The sight of you is good for sore eyes"; "I hate nobody; I am in charity with the world"; "I won't quarrel with my bread and butter"; "She's no chicken, she's on the wrong side of thirty, if she be a day"; "She looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth"; "She wears her clothes, as if they were thrown on her with a pitchfork"; "Promises and pie-crust are made to be broken"; "I mean you lie - under a mistake"; "What religion is he of? Why, he is an Anythingarian"; "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster"; "You must take the will for the deed"; "She has more goodness in her little finger, than he has in his whole body"; "Lord, I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing!"; "The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman"; "I'll give you leave to call me anything, if you don't call me 'spade'"; "She pays him in his own coin"; "May you live all the days of your life"; "I know Sir John will god, though he was sure it would rain cats and dogs"; "I thought you and he were hand-in-glove"; "Better belly burst than good liquor be lost"; "There is none so blind as they that won't see"; Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Philosophia Practica Universalis (1738-9). Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) (full vers.); his sacred magnum opus. Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Gustavo (opera). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Alessandro Severo (opera) (Haymarket Theatre, London) (Feb. 25); stars Caffarelli as Alessandro; a flop; Faramondo (HWV 39) (Pharamond) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (Jan. 3); libretto based on Apostolo Zeno's "Faramondo"; stars Caffarelli as Faramondo, king of the Franks; flops after 8 performances; Serse (HWV 40) (Xerxes) (opera) (Haymarket Theatre, London) (Apr. 15); about Xerxes I, set in Persia in 480 B.C.E.; stars Caffarelli as Serse; flops after 5 performances, but is revived in the 1980s and becomes one of his biggest hits because of its mimicry of Mozart; incl. Handel's Largo, Ombra Mai Fu (Never Has There Been A Shade) (opening aria), a love song sung by Serse to a tree. Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), 30 Exercises; for harpsichord; big hit throughout Europe. Art: Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779), La Gouvernante; Woman Cleaning Turnips. Bertholet Femalle (1614-75), The Massacre of the Innocents. Louis-Francois Roubiliac (1695-1762), Alexander Pope. Plays: Olof von Dalin (1708-63), The Envious Man (tragedy); Brynilda (tragedy). Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Il Momolo Courtesan (comedy). Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-84), London; adaptation of Juvenal's 3rd satire; pub. anon., it is a big success, and after his identity is disclosed it gets kudos from Alexander Pope. Alexis Piron (1689-1773), La Metromanie (comedy). Antonio Jose da Silva (1705-39), Precipicio de Faetonte. Poetry: Olof von Dalin (1708-63), Aprilverk (satire). John Gay (1685-1732), Fables, Vol. 2 (posth.); vol. #1 pub. in 1727. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), Universal Prayer; "Father of all! In every age,/ In ev'ry clime ador'd,/ By saint, by savage, and by sage,/ Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!"; after this he pretty much quits writing new stuff. Novels: Pierre de Marivaux (1688-1763), Le Paysan Parvenu (unfinished); poor peasant boy Jacob de Valle leaves for Paris, fends off servant Genevieve, and makes good. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversations. Births: Am. Rev. War hero Ethan Allen (d. 1789) onj Jan. 21 (Jan. 10 Old Style) in Litchfield, Conn.; brother of Ira Allen (1751-1814). Irish statesman John Beresford (d. 1805) on Mar. 14. Italian criminologist Cessare Beccaria (Bonesana-Beccaria_, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio (d. 1794) on Mar. 15 in Milan; educated at the U. of Pavia. Spanish New Spain viceroy (1789-94) Juan Vicente de Guemes (Güemes), 2nd Count of Revillagigedo (Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla y Horcasitas, segundo conde de Revillagigedo) (d. 1799) on Apr. 5 in Havana; son of Juan Francisco de Guemes, 1st count of Revillagigedo (1681-1766). Spanish Franciscan missionary Padre Francisco Hermenegildo Tomas Garces (Garcés) (d. 1781) on Apr. 12 in Morata de Jalon, Zaragoza Province, Aragon. Russian gen. Count Mikhail Fedotovich Kamensky (d. 1809) on May 8 (May 19 Old Style); father of Nikolai Kamensky (1776-1811) and Sergei Kamensky; great-x5-grandfather of Helen Mirren (1945-). English satirist-poet John Wolcot (Peter Pindar) (d. 1819) on May 9 in Devonshire. French physician-politician (guillotine pusher) (Freemason) Joseph-Ignace Guillotine (d. 1814) on May 28 in Saintes; educated at the Jesuit U. of Bordeaux, and teaches there before quitting to study medicine at the U. of Paris - the original Dr. Death, founder of govt.-assisted suicide? English "Mad King" (1760-1820) and Hanover king (1814-20) George III (George William Frederick) (d. 1820) on June 4 in Norfolk House, St. James's Square, London; son of Frederick Louis, prince of Wales (1707-51) and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719-72); grandson of George II (1683-1760); husband (1761-) of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818); father of 15 children, incl. George IV (1762-1830) and William IV (1765-1837); #3 Hanoverian monarch of Britain, and the first Hanoverian monarch to be born in England and speak English; never visits Hanover. Dutch poet-novelist Elizabeth "Betje" Wolff-Bekker (d. 1804) on July 24 in Flushing; collaborator of Aagje Deken (1741-1804). German "Ein Mann" writer Joachim Christian Nettelbeck (d. 1824) on Sept. 20 in Kolberg. Am. painter (in England) Benjamin West (d. 1820) on Oct. 10 in Springfield, Penn.; almost no schooling; co-founder of the British Royal Academy of Arts. British gov. #1 of New South Wales (1788-92) adm. Arthur Phillip (d. 1814) on Oct. 11 in London; founder of Sydney, Australia. English astronomer-composer (discoverer of Uranus and infrared radiation) Sir Frederick William (Friedrich Wilhelm) Herschel (d. 1822) on Nov. 15 in Hanover, Germany; Jewish father Isaac Hershel, Lutheran mother Anna Ilse Moritzen; emigrates to England in 1757; father of Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871). Am. Rev. War Gen. Richard Montgomery (d. 1775) on Dec. 2 in Swords County, Dublin, Ireland; serves with the British army against the French in North Am. from 1756-72, then settles in New York, and is appointed brig. gen. in the Am. Rev. army in 1775; Montgomery, Ala. is named after him. French sculptor Claude Michel (Clodion) (d. 1814) on Dec. 20 in Nancy; son of Thomas Michel and Anne Adam, sister of sculptors Lambert-Sigisbert Adam the Elder (l'Aine) (1700-59), Nicolas-Sebastian Adam the Younger (le Jeune) (1705-78), and Francois Gaspard Balthazar Adam (1710-61); student of Lambert-Sigisbert Adam. Am. Rev. War. gen. and gov. #4 of Va. (1781) (DOI signer) Thomas Nelson Jr. (d. 1789) on Dec. 26 in Yorktown, Va.; grandson of English immigrant Thomas "Scotch Tom" Nelson; educated at Eton College, and Christ's College, Cambridge U. English Yorktown-surrendering gen.-statesman Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (d. 1805) (Earl Cornwallis) (Viscount Brome) on Dec. 31 in London; educated at Eton College, and Cambridge U.; created earl in 1762, and marquess in 1793. Portuguese Baroque-Rococo architect Manuel Caetano de Sousa (d. 1802). Am.-British painter John Singleton Copley (d. 1815) in Boston, Mass.; in England after 1775; first Am.-born painter to achieve fame in Europe. Welsh Enlightenment philosopher-minister David Williams (d. 1816) in Eglwysilan (near Caerphilly); founder of the Royal Lit. Fund (1788). English poet Mary Darwall (Whateley) (d. 1825). Deaths: Danish anatomist Caspar Bartholin the Younger (b. 1655) on June 11. French well-cloaked Duc de Roquelaure (b. 1656). German architect George Bahr (b. 1666) on Mar. 16 in Dresden. Dutch physician Hermann Boerhaave (b. 1668) on Sept. 23 in Leiden. English statesman Charles Howard, 3rd earl of Carlisle (b. 1669) on May 1. English statesman-agriculturist Charles Townshend, 2nd viscount Townshend (b. 1674) on June 21. French "Fanfare-Rondeau" composer Jean-Joseph Mouret (b. 1682) on Dec. 22 in Charenton-le-Pont. German Jewish moneylender Joseph Suss Oppenheimer (Jew Suss) (b. 1698) (hanged) - the good usurers die young?
1739 500K die in Ireland this year and next because of a potato crop failure coupled with extremely cold winters - the woes of a 1-crop economy? On Jan. 1 French explorer Jean Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier discovers 49 sq. km Bouvet (Liverpool) (Lindsay) Island SSW of the Cape of Good Hope (most remote island on Earth, 1K mi. from Queen Maud Land), after which his crew falls ill and they return to France; too bad, they don't accurately locate the island, or even circumnavigate it to prove it's an island, causing English capt. James Cook to try to find it in 1772, and when he gives up it takes until 1808, when Capt. James Lindsay of the English Enderby Co. whaler Snow Swan spots it and fixes its position, after which on Dec. 10, 1825 Capt. Norris of the Enderby Co. whalers Sprightly and Lovely lands on it and names it Liverpool Island; the first party to stay on the island is a Norwegian expedition led by Lars Christensen in 1927, who claims it for Norway; on Sept. 22, 1979 the Vela Incident sees a satellite record a double flash of light (nuke or meteor) between the island and Prince Edward Islands. In Jan. the Methodists hold a conference in England to formalize Methodism. On Feb. 13 the Mughals under emperor (since 1719) Mohammed Shah are decisively defeated by the Persians under Nadir Shah at the Battle of Karnal 68 mi. N of Delhi; on Mar. 11 the Persians occupy Delhi and massacre 30K-110K, causing Mohammed Shah to beg for mercy and hand over the keys to the royal treasury, after which strutting Nadir Shah leaves on May 5 with plunder incl. the totally tacky Peacock Throne, and the Koh-i-Noor (Pers. "mountain of light") Diamond, stopping taxation in Persia for three years after he returns - stick a fork in the Mughal Empire? Three separate violent uprisings by black slaves attempting to escape to Fla. occur in South Carolina; on Sept. 9 the Stono Uprising (20 mi. W of Charleston) kills 30 whites, after which enraged planters take the slaves participating in it and "Cutt off their heads and set them up at every Mile Post", killing 44. On Sept. 18 the Fourth Russo-Turkish War (begun 1735) ends when HRE Charles VI signs the separate Treaty of Belgrade as the Turks approach Belgrade, ceding N Serbia to Turkey. In Sept. King George II integrates the Scottish Highland Black Watch into the British army; they are officially designated the 42nd (Highland) Regiment in 1751, and Royal Highlanders in 1767 after service in North Am. In the fall George Whitefield arrives in Philadelphia and preaches to record crowds of 6K, causing Benjamin Franklin to empty his pockets into his collection plate and become friends with him, then build a new bldg. just to contain his audience, which later becomes the U. of Penn.; Whitefield then goes to New England, where he releases "Gales of Heavenly Wind" to the crowds - in Boston, by any chance? On Oct. 17 the Foundling Hospital is founded in London by Capt. Thomas Coram (1668-1751) to take care of all those homeless abandoned kids. Spanish depredations on our estates, persons, and ears, oh my? If it had only been in 1738 it would have been the Take a Muff Year? On Oct. 22 Britain declares war on Spain after PM Robert Walpole's jingoistic opposition's star witness, Welsh trader Capt. Robert Jenkins (1700-?) tells Parliament how the *!?*! Spanish had cut off his ear in 1731 while searching his ship for contraband, with the soundbyte: "I recommended my soul to God and my cause to my country" as he shows it to them in a box, causing Robert Walpole to half-heartedly declare the War of Jenkins' Ear (ends Oct. 18, 1748); in actuality it had been cut off by a pirate, who was punished by the Spanish; on Nov. 22 the English capture the silver-exporting town of Puerto (Porto) Bello in Panama; meanwhile Ga. and S.C. colonists fight Spaniards. Ecuador becomes a part of New Granada. A tax revolt of 84K farmers takes place in the Japanese province of Iwaki. Christina, Del. (founded 1638) is renamed Wilmington in honor of the earl of Wilmington. The first wild red rose-like Camellias (shrubs of the Tea family) arrive in Europe from the Far East. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1739. Anne Robert Jacques Turgot finishes his draft of a Plan of Paris. The first Bible trans. in Estonian is pub. Architecture: The Karlkirche in Vienna (begun 1716) is finished. George Dance begins the Mansion House in London (finished 1752). The twin towers of Westminster Abbey are completed. Inventions: Leonhard Euler of Switzerland invents the Tonnetz (Ger. "tone network") to show tonal pitch space in 2 dims. Plunket Fleeson of Philadelphia, Penn. invents Wallpaper, stamping designs on paper with woodblocks, painting them in by hand, then advertising "paper hangings" in the Penn. Gazette - plunket and fleece 'em? Nonfiction: Anon., Standard Histories (24 Dynasties) (1739-46); another little Qing Dynasty production. Philippe Buache, Map of the World; used to bolster claims of a lost civilization in Antarctica. J.F. Gronovius, Flora Virginica. David Hume (1711-76), A Treatise of Human Nature (2 vols.) (1739-40); his magnum opous, claiming that all contents of mind are solely built from sense experiences, pioneering Logical Positivism (Empiricism); ignored by the public, causing him to call it "dead-born", until Immanuel Kant credits him with awakening him from "dogmatic slumbers" about 1770; "There is more to be learned from each page of David Hume than from the collected philosophical works of Hegel, Herbart and Schleiermacher taken together" (Arthur Schopenhauer). Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia (Frederick the Great) (1712-86) Anti-Machiavell. Elizabeth Justice, A Voyage to Russia; the first pub. travel account by an Englishwoman. William Law (1686-1761), The Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration, or the New Birth. Johann Mattheson, Der Vollkommene Kapellmeister; treatise on conducting. Joe Miller (1684-1738) Joe Miller's Jests, or the Wit's Vade Mecum (posth.); 247 jests allegedly by a London Drury Lane stage comedian; ghostwritten by John Mottley. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), History of England During the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. John Winthrop IV (1714-79), Notes on Sunspots. Music: Francisco Almeida, La Spinalba. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Giove in Argo (HWV A14) (Jupiter in Argos) (opera) (King's Theatre, London) (May 1); libretto by Lucchini; stars Gustavus Waltz as Jupiter; flops after 2 performances; Saul (HWV 53) (oratorio) (King's Theatre, London); libretto by Charles Jennens (1700-73); Israel in Egypt (HWV 54) (oratorio) (King's Theatre, London); libretto by Charles Jennens; Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (HWV 56) (The Trumpet's Loud Clangor). Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Les Fetes d'Hebe (Les Fêtes d'Hébé), ou Les Talents Lyriques (The Festivities of Hebe, or The Lyric Talents) (opera) (Paris Opera) (May 21); libretto by Antoine Gautier de Montdorge (1707-68); incl. Ouverture, Volons sur les Bords de la Seine, Gavottes, Accourez, Riante Jeunesse, Air gai pour Zephyr et les Graces; Dardanus (opera) (Academie de Musique, Paris) (Nov. 19) (26 perf.); libretto by Charles-Antoine Leclerc de la Bruere; after the sea monster scene is criticized, it is rev. in 1744 and 1760; incl. Ouverture, Tambourins. Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), Cat Fugue in G minor. Art: Francois Boucher (1703-70), The Breakfast (Morning Coffee). Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779), Return from Market; Saying Grace. Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766), Thalia, Muse of Comedy. Poetry: Peter Dass (1647-1708), Nordlands Trompet (The Trumpet of Nordland) (posth.); his most famous poem. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Verses on the Death of Doctor Swift. Births: Scottish physicist (inventor of the siren) John Robison (d. 1805) on Feb. 4 in Boghall, Stirlingshire; educated at the U. of Glasgow. German poet-musician-composer-journalist (alcoholic) Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (d. 1791) on Mar. 24 in Obersontheim, Swabia; educated at the U. of Erlangen (when not boozed-out?). English civil engineer Capt. Elias Durnford (d. 1794) on June 13 in Ringwood, Hampshire. U.S. Dem.-Repub. vice-pres. #4 (twice) (1805-13) and N.Y. gov. #1 (1777-95) and #3 (1801-4) George Clinton (d. 1812) on July 26 in in Little Britain, Ulster County, N.Y.; son of Irish immigrants; brother of Gen. James Clinton (1733-1813); uncle of DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828). British lt. col. Archibald Campbell (d. 1791) on Aug. 24 in Argyllshire, Scotland. Am. S.C. gov. #1 and #3 (1776-8), Supreme Court justice #2 (1790-1), and chief justice #2 (1795) John Rutledge (d. 1800) on Sept. 17 near Charleston, S.C..; Scots-Irish immigrant father, English descent mother; brother of Edward Rutledge (1849-1800); educated at Middle Temple, London. Russian field marshal and statesman Prince Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin (Potemkin-Tavricheski) (d. 1791) on Oct. 11 (Sept. 30 Old Style) in Khizovo (Khizov), Belarus; favorite of Catherine II the Great. Austrian composer-violinist August Karl (Carl) Ditters von Dittersdorf (d. 1799) on Nov. 2 in Laimmgrube (modern-day Mariahilf), Vienna. French playwright-critic Jean-Francois de La Harpe (Delharpe) (d. 1803) on Nov. 20 in Paris. French-Am. statesman Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (d. 1817) on Dec. 14 in Paris; emigrates to the U.S. in 1799; changes "Dupont" to "du Pont" and adds the "de Nemours" because there are so many other Duponts in France; disciple of physiocrat economist Francois Quesnay; father of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827) and Eleuthere Irenee du Pont (1711-1834). English cartographer-engraver John Spilsbury (d. 1769). Am. diplomat William Lee (d. 1795) in Stratford Hall Planation, Westmoreland County, Va.; son of Thomas Lee (1690-1750) and Hannah Harrison Ludwell (1701-50); brother of Arthur Lee (1740-92), Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734-97), and Richard Henry Lee (1732-94). French neoclassical Arc de Trimphe architect Jean Francois Therese Chalgrin (d. 1811). English naturalist William Bartram (d. 1823). Deaths: German opera composer Reinhard Keiser (b. 1674) on Sept. 12 in Hamburg. Am. Yale College founder Jeremiah Dummer (b. 1681) on May 19 in Essex, England; dies unmarried - dummer or smarter? English silk machine inventor Sir Thomas Lombe (b. 1685) on Jan. 3. German painter-architect Cosmas Damian Asam (b. 1686) on May 10 in Munich. Italian composer Benedetto Marcello (b. 1686). English dramatist George Lillo (b. 1693) on Sept. 4. French chemist Charles Francois de Cisternay Du Fay (b. 1698) on July 16 in Paris (smallpox). Brazilian-born Portuguese dramatist Antonio Jose da Silva (b. 1705) on Oct. 18; executed by the Inquisition. English highwayman Dick Turpin (b. 1706).
| Country | Leader | From | To | |
| England | George II (1683-1760) | June 22, 1727 | Oct. 25, 1760 | |
| France | Louis XV the Well-Beloved (1710-74) | Sept. 1, 1715 | May 10, 1774 | |
| Austria | HRE Charles VI (1685-1740) | Oct. 12, 1711 | Oct. 20, 1740 | |
| Russia | Tsarina Anna Ivanovana (1693-1740) | Jan. 30, 1730 | Oct. 28, 1740 | |
| Papacy | Pope Clement XII (1652-1740) | July 12, 1730 | Feb. 6, 1740 | |
1740 Pop. of the Am. colonies: 900K. In 1740-1 (Year of Slaughter) extreme winters and bad potato and grain harvests cause widespread famine in Ireland, killing 300K-480K out of 2.4M (13%-20%); too bad, the Irish only become more reliant on potatoes, setting themselves up for regular famines? On Jan. 1 English clergyman John Wesley establishes the Covenant Renewal Service, launching the tradition of New Year's resolutions? In Jan. Gen. James Oglethorpe of Georgia invades Spanish-held Florida (Fla.), captures Ft. San Francisco de Pupo and Ft. Picolata on the San Juan River, then sieges St. Augustine in May-July. On Feb. 6 Pope (since 1730) Clement XII (b. 1652) dies, and on Aug. 17 Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini is elected Pope (#247) Benedict XIV (1675-1758), becoming the greatest scholar among the popes. On May 31 Hohenzollern Prussian king (since 1713) Frederick William I (b. 1688) dies, and his son Frederick II (the Great) (1712-86) becomes king #3 of Prussia (until Aug. 17, 1786), becoming a student of Macchiavelli, creating a strong army, and trying to duplicate Versailles at Potsdam (Sans Souci Park, New Palace, Orangery, Marble Palace, etc.), attracting Voltaire, La Mettrie, Euler, and other intellectuals; he introduces freedom of press and worship in Prussia; a Francophile who prefers French to German, he creates the Pour le Merite (Mérite) (AKA the Blue Max) as the highest German award for bravery; he is an avid flutist and composer, and one of the first art patrons to recognize the virtues of the pianoforte; a dead spider in his drink saves him from poisoning?; he makes his troops wear dark green uniforms of coarse cloth and put buttons on the top side of military sleeves to keep them from wiping their faces and soiling them; he orders soldiers to shave their faces and heads so that the enemy can't grab their hair and cut off their heads; the goose-step (Stechstritt) (Ger. "piercing step") is adopted. In Sept. British Adm. Sir George Anson, 1st Baron Anson (1697-1762) sets out on a round-the-world voyage (ends 1744) after starting out with seven vessels and preying on Spanish colonies and commerce during the War of Jenkins' Ear. I just met a girl named Maria? On Oct. 20 Austrian HRE (since 1711) Charles VI (b. 1685) dies unexpectedly after eating spoiled (Death Cap?) mushrooms, leaving no male heirs, only daughters Maria Theresa (1717-80) and Maria Anna Eleanor Wilhelmina Josepha (1718-44), who marries Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine (1712-80) on Jan. 7, 1744, goes to the Austrian Netherlands as govs., then dies in childbirth on Dec. 16, leaving Maria Theresa as the Great White Hope; since he is the last male in the Hapsburg line, and money is not one to choose, and no you can't take it, no you can't take it away from me, his daughter Archduchess Maria Theresa (1717-80) becomes the first woman to inherit the lands of the hog-lipped Austrian Hapsburgs (backed by the Salic Law-bucking Pragmatic Sanction of 1713), and she takes the titles of queen of Hungary, queen of Bohemia, and archduchess of Austria, and goes in search of an emperor (being a squat-to-pee she couldn't have the title of empress without an emperor hubby?), going on to pursue a liberal policy, improve the lot of the serfs, and pump up the educational system; too bad, the idea of a female ruler doesn't go over well in Europe, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins (ends 1748) after Bavarian elector Charles Albert of Bavaria lays claim to Austria and Frederick II lays claim to Silesia, starting the First Silesian War (ends 1742), invading Silesia on Dec. 16; France seeks to ally with Prussia to help undress, er, dismember Austria; English public opinion is in favor of siding with Austria, but George II fears an attack upon his beloved Hanover, so he declares neutrality for a year. In Oct. unpopular Tsarina (since 1730) Anna Ivanovna (b. 1793) dies after naming 8-week-old infant Ivan VI (1740-64) (grandson of her sister and Ivan V) as Russian Romanov tsar #9 (until 1741), with her favorite Ernst Johann von Biron (Biren), Duke of Courland (1690-1772) as regent (until 1741), along with his unpopular mother Anna Leopoldovna (1718-46). Nadir Shah of Persia attacks the Uzbeks, invades Bukhara and Khiva, and annexes the lands up to the Oxus River; meanwhile after rumors of his death in India reach home, his son Reza-qoli Mirza orders former shahs Tahmasp II and Abbas III murdered to prevent a Safavid coup. A coalition of Arab tribes led by Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi (1710-783), leader of a Yemeni tribe drives out the Ottomans and founds the Sultanate of Oman, which continues until modern times (ends ?). The Piman-speaking Yaqui Tribe of the Yaqui River Valley in Mexico begins a revolt against the Mexican govt. (ends 1741). Dossou Agadja (ruled since 1708) dies, and his son Tegbessou (Tegbesu) (Bossa Ahadee) (-1774) becomes king #6 of Dahomey (until 1774), going on to equip his army with blunderbuses and make £250K a year selling his fellow Africans into slavery by 1750. And Mingo is his name-o? By this year the Mohawks control the land W of the Hudson River around Albany, and the Mohicans the land to the E of it; the Iroquois-related Senecas and Cayugas begin migrating from New England to the S shores of Lake Erie, where they become known as Mingos; the Russians begin trading on the British Columbia coast. Run, niggah, run? S.C. passes a law making it legal to kill runaway slaves after 50 black slaves are hanged in Charleston, accused of planning another revolt; meanwhile in this decade Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722-93), daughter of the gov. of Antigua founds the S.C. indigo industry on her father's plantation, becoming the first important Am. agriculturist; she later marries well-connected Charles Pinckney (-1758), producing a mini-dynasty of DOI signers and diplomats, and contributing to the golden age of Lily White Charleston - South Carolina white $ = indigo + rice + black muscle? There is a smallpox epidemic in Berlin. The last trial of an animal for sorcery is held in France, and the guilty cow is hanged by the neck - after his lawyers milk him for appeals? After refusing to fight against the Spanish and getting evicted from Ga. last year, Nazareth, Penn. in EC Penn. is founded by George Whitefield for German Protestant Moravian Brethren immigrants, complete with the Barony of Nazareth, a school for black children too bad, after arguing with them over predestination, Whitefield kicks the Moravians out, but falls into financial difficulties and sells it to them next July 16. In this decade the Old Lights and New Lights split over the emotionalism of the Great Awakening rivals, with 200+ congregations splitting to found their own New Light churches; in 1741 the Presbyterian New Lights split, founding their own colleges incl. Nassau Hall in Princeton, N.J. In this decade Murfree's Landing in N.C. is founded by William Murfree, growing into the town of Murfreesboro. In this decade the foul-smelling fast-growing deciduous Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is imported from China to Europe, reaching the U.S. in 1784, becoming a pest. In this decade the Mariinsky Ballet (originally the Imperial Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia; during the Soviet era it becomes the Kirov Ballet. Late in this decade in response to John Henry Newman's Oxford Movement of 1833, the (Victorian) (Neo-) (Jigsaw) (Collegiate) Gothic Revival Architecture movement begins in England, attempting to recapture the alleged religious perfection of the Middle Ages, becoming dominant in the Victorian era, with bldgs. featuring finials, scalloping, lancet windows, decorative patterns, hood mouldings, and label stops; top architects incl. Thomas Rickman (1776-1841), Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) and his sons Edward Welby Pugin (1834-75) and Peter Paul Pugin (1851-1904), William Butterfield (1814-1900), Alfred Waterhouse (1830-1905), and George Edmund Street (1824-81). Poor Richard's Almanack for 1740. The Classic Period in Western Music begins (ends 1810). Frederick II the Great founds the Berlin Academy of Science. German organ builder John Snetzler moves to England. Franz Josef Haydn enters the court chapel in Vienna as a choirboy. Domenico Scarlatti goes to London and Dublin. German lit. critic Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-66) of Leipzig U. gets into a controversy with Swiss writers Johann Jakob Bodmer and Johann Jakob Breitinger of Zurich, with Gottsched claiming that lit. should be subject to the laws of French classicism, while they tell him that artists are subject to no rules; by the time he becomes an old fart in the next decade, Gottsched loses and is considered a joke? Dublin, Ireland-born Margaret "Peg" Woffington (1720-60) makes her stage debut in Covent Garden, London as Sir Harry Wildair in George Farquhar's "The Constant Couple", and goes on to star there and at Drury Lane, specializing in female roles requiring male clothing, becoming the mistress and co-star of David Garrick. Joseph Butler (1692-1752), bishop of Bristol since 1738 becomes dean of St. Paul's (until 1750); a closet kind of guy, he was clerk of Queen Caroline's closet in 1736-7 and goes on to become clerk of King George II's closet from 1746-50 - du, du hast, du hast mich? The English Parliament introduces an act "to restrain and to prevent the excessive increase in horse racing"; it is largely ignored. Architecture: Westminster Bridge in Westminster, London is built in this decade, adding an alternative to the London Bridge for foot traffic crossing the Thames River. The Dickinson Mansion on Kitts Hummock Rd. in Dover, Del. is built by the father of Am. founding father John Dickinson. Inventions: Thomas Cole of England invents a sea quadrant. In this decade Benjamin Huntsman (1704-76) of England improves the crucible process for steel smelting. Science: Hold onto your bonnet, boys? Swiss botanist Charles Bonnet (1720-93) pub. his Dissertation on Aphids, describing parthenogenetic reproduction for the first time, winning him the honor of corresponding member of the French Academy of Science. And I owe it all to the Bissel Flipit? Emilie Du Chatelet (Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise Du Châtelet) (1706-49), a student of Pierre de Maupertuis, who attracted Voltaire to her scientific circle then became lovers and shacked up with him in her cozy chalet pub. a seminal paper in Institutes of Physics, based on experiments of Dutch scientist Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (1688-1742), backing up Gottfried Wilham von Leibniz' vis viva theory (energy is mass times speed squared, not mass times speed as Isaac Newton claims); being a woman, it is not accepted for a cent., and meanwhile she dies in 1749 at age 43 (15 years after hooking up with Volty) of an embolism 6 mo. after giving birth to a 4th child; "A great man whose only fault is being a woman." (Voltaire) French scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine (1701-74) discovers Curare. French military physician Pierre-Jean du Monchaux pub. the first known report of a Near-Death Experience (NDE) in Paris, attributing it to an increase in blood flow to the brain. Nonfiction: Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698-1783), Von dem Wunderbaren in der Poesie. Louis Castel, Optique des Couleurs. Colley Cibber (1671-1757), An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber, Comedian; an autobio. combined with a defense against critics esp. Alexander Pope, becoming a hit and going through several eds.; "Happy in his own good opinion, the best of all others; teeming with animal spirits, and uniting the self-sufficiency of youth with the garrulity of age." (William Hazlitt) Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672-1750), The Muratorian Fragment; from a ms. codex of 76 11 in. x 7. in. parchment leaves he discovered in the Ambrosian Library, produced in the Bobbio Monastery near Piacenza in N Italy in the 8th cent., then moved to the Ambrosian in the early 17th cent.; 85 lines of leaves 10-11 is the celebrated fragment, containing the oldest canon of the Christian Greek scriptures, later dated to 170-200 C.E., about the time of Rome-based Christian writer Hippolytus (170-235). Isaac Newton (1643-1727), The Method of Fluxions; tr. into French by Comte de Buffon. Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon (1675-1755), Memoires (1740-52). J.A. Scheibe (1708-76), Der Critische Musicus; against J.S. Bach. Thomas Simpson (1710-61), The Nature and Laws of Chance. William Stukeley (1687-1765), Stonehenge; links it to the Druids, helping to make them cool again; attempts to date it, coming up with 460 B.C.E., fostering a renewal of Celticism. Christian Wolff (1679-1754), Jus Naturae and Jus Gentium (1740-9). Music: Thomas Augustine Arne, Alfred (opera) (Berlin); about King Alfred of England; contains the melody for Rule, Britannia to celebrate the accession of George I. Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Oronte, Re de' Sciti (opera); Statira (opera). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Imeneo (HWV 41) (Hymen) (opera) (Lincoln's Inn Fields, London) (Nov. 22); libretto adapted from Silvio Stamiglia's "Imeneo"; stars William Savage as Imeneo. Art: Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700-59), The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite (sculpture); later (1740) cast in lead for the central fountain in the Bassin de Neptune in Versailles, establishing his rep. and insuring his income; Child Being Pinched by a Lobster. Francois Boucher (1703-70), The Triumph of Venus; Vertumnus and Pomona (1740-5); Cupids in Conspiracy; Music and Dance; Landscape Near Beauvais; Head of a Young Girl; Leda and the Swan - take a whiff of my copulins? Canaletto (1697-1768), Return of the Bucintoro. Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779), Saying Grace; Le Benedicite. Guillaume Coustou the Elder (1677-1746), Horse Tamer (1740-5); at Marly le Roi. William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Shrimp Girl; Captain Coram. Peter Scheemakers (1691-1781), William Shakespeare (statue) (Westminster Abbey). Plays: David Garrick (1717-79), Lethe; or, Aesop in the Shade (first play) (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London). Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-66), Deutsche Schaubuhne (6 vols.) (1740-5); translations of French plays to German. Novels: Samuel Richardson (1689-1761), Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded; 15-y.-o. Pamela Andrews loses her mother, and is sexually harassed by landlord Mr. B., who first tries to seduce her, then rape her, and finally proposes honorable marriage; a bestseller. Births: Swedish "Songs of Fredman", "Epistles of Fredman" lyric poet, cittern player, and composer Carl Michael (Karl Mikael) Bellmann (d. 1795) on Feb. 4 in Stockholm; son of a prof. at the U. of Uppsala. Italian printer and type designer Giambattista Bodoni (d. 1813) on Feb. 16 in Saluzzo, Piedmont; manager of a printing house in the duchy of Parma by appointment of Duke Don Ferdinand; designer of Bodoni Book Type, the first modern Roman-style type face. Swiss Alpine traveler and scientist ("Founder of Alpinism") Horace-Benedict de Saussure (d. 1799) on Feb. 17 in Conches (near Geneva); father of Nicolas de Saussure (1767-1845). Am. Rev. financier (Jewish) ("Financial Hero of the Am. Rev.") Haym (Chaim) Salomon (Solomon) (d. 1785) on Apr. 7 in Leszno (Lissa), Poland; emigrates to the U.S. in 1772. French Bastille gov. (1776-89) Bernard-Rene (Bernard-René) Jourdan, Marquis de Launay (b. 1789) on Apr. 8/9 in Paris; born in the Bastille, where his father is gov. Am. statesman-atty. Elias Boudinot Jr. (d. 1821) on May 2 in Philadelphia, Penn. Russian Gen. (Lutheran) (Freemason)) Ivan Ivanovich Michelson (Johann von Michelsohnen) (d. 1807) on May 3 in Revel, Estonia; noble parents. Italian composer Giovanni Paisiello (Paesiello) (d. 1816) on May 10 in Taranto; educated in Naples. Am. loyalist lawyer Daniel Leonard (d. 1829) (AKA Massachusettensis) on May 18 in Norton, Mass.; educated at Harvard U. French "Justine", "The 120 Days of Sodom" novelist-porno writer ("Father of Sadism") Donatien Alphonse Francois, Marquis de Sade (d. 1814) on June 2 in Conde Palace, Paris; father Jean-Baptiste Francois Joseph de Sade is cousin to the Princess of Conde; spends 32 years in prison, incl. 10 years in the Bastille and 13 years in Charenton Asylum. English "Inkle and Yarico" composer-organist Samuel Arnold (d. 1802) on Aug. 10 in London; son of Thomas Arnold and Princess Amelia. German "Death and the Maiden" poet Matthias Claudius (d. 1815) (AKA Asmus) on Aug. 15 in Reinfeld (near Lubeck), Holstein; not to be confused with Friedrich Matthias Claudius (1822-69). Russian tsar (1740-1) Ivan VI Antonovich (d. 1764) on Aug. 23 (Aug. 12 Old Style); son of Anna Leopoldovna (1718-46); grandson of Ivan V (1666-96). Am. turtle (submarine) inventor David Bushnell (d. 1824) on Aug. 30 near Saybrook, Conn.; educated at Yale U. French pastor-philanthropist Jean-Frederic Oberlin (d. 1826) on Aug. 31 in Strasbourg, France. English Radical political reformer ("the Father of Reform") Maj. John Cartwright (d. 1824) on Sept. 17 in Marnham, Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire; brother of inventor Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823). Japanese empress #117 (1762-71) Go-Sakuramachi (Toshiko) (d. 1813) on Sept. 23; 2nd daughter of Sakuramachi (1720-50); brother of Momozono (1741-62). Scottish biographer-atty. James Boswell (of Affleck) (d. 1795) on Oct. 29 in Edinburgh; descended from the Stuart kings. Am. Rev. leader-jurist (DOI signer) William Paca (d. 1799) on Oct. 31 near Abingdon, Md. English "Rock of Ages" Anglican clergyman-hymnodist (Calvinist) Augustus Montague Toplady (d. 1778) on Nov. 4 in Farnham, Surrey; Irish father; educated at Trinity College, Dublin. English sculptor John Bacon Sr. (d. 1799) on Nov. 24 in Southwark; father of John Bacon Jr. (1777-1859). Scottish encyclopedist William Smellie (d. 1795) in the Pleasance, Edinburgh; friend of Robert Burns. Am. Rev. War. maj. gen. and jurist John Sullivan (d. 1795) in Somersworth, N.H.; Irish immigrant parents; brother of James Sullivan (1744-1808). English steel puddling process inventor Henry Cort (d. 1800). French balloonist Joseph Michel Montgolfier (d. 1810) in Annonay (near Lyons); brother of Jacques Etienne Montgolfier (1745-99); son of a paper manufacturer; co-inventor of the first practical hot air balloon (paper filled with smoke). English "The Effects of Civilization" Ricardian socialist physician-writer Charles Hall (d. 1825); educated at the U. of Leiden. Am. celeb Elizabeth Cary, Lady Amherst of Holmesdale (d. 1830); daughter of Lt.-Gen. Hon. George Cary and Isabella Ingram; wife (1767-) of Field Marshal Jeffrey Amherst (1716-97). Deaths: Italian violin maker Girolamo Amati (b. 1649) on Feb. 21 in Cremona. Swedish scientist-explorer Olof Rudbeck the Younger (b. 1660). Austrian portrait painter Johann Kupetzky (b. 1667) on July 16 in Nuremberg, Germany. French-born English surgeon Claudius Amyand (b. 1680) on July 6 in London; dies from a fall in Greenwich Park. English lexicographer Ephraim Chambers (b. 1680) on May 15 in London. French Camisard leader Jean Cavalier (b. 1681) on May 18 in Chelsea, England. Russian tsarina Anna Ivanovna (b. 1693) in Oct.
1741 Famine still grips Ireland. In Mar. the Prussian army under gen. Leopold II Maximilian, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1700-51) (son of the Alte Dessauer) captures Glogow (Glogów) in Poland in a night attack, after which the Prussians change the name to Greater Glogau. On Apr. 10 the Prussians under Frederick II the Great defeat the Austrians at the Battle of Mollwitz and conquer Silesia, capturing the cities of Brieg, Neisse, Glatz, and Olmutz; in July Frederick II allies Prussia and Charles VII Albert (who claims the German Hapsburg territories after the death of Charles VI last year) allies Bavaria with France and Spain in the secret Treaty of Nymphenburg near Munich, Bavaria; nympho Maria Theresa arranges a truce mediated by England. On hot-hot-hot July 8 the Great Awakening reaches a peak as Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) delivers his Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God speech in Enfield, Mass., featuring lurid word pictures of Da Judge Bible God Jehovah, who "holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked... He looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire"; the Great Awakening splits New England Puritanism into the "Old Lights" and the "New Lights", who go over to the Baptists, Presbyterians, or Methodists; the Am. colonies are prepared for rev. by the Great Awakening? On July 17 Oxford U. dumps its policy of granting bachelor of arts degrees based on the recommendation of a tutor, and makes candidates take a written exam. On July 31 Charles VII Albert of Bavaria and the French invade Upper Austria and occupy Passau, then Linz on Sept. 15. On Sept. 11 the Diet of Pressburg offers Hungarian help to Maria Theresa, and she accepts the crown of Hungary. On Oct. 19 Hereford, England-born David Garrick (1717-79), pupil of Irish actor Charles Macklin (1697-1797) makes his acting debut in Thomas Southerne's "Oroonoko or the Royal Slave" in Ipswich, followed by the title role in Shakespeare's "Richard III" in Goodman's Fields, London, displaying a new more realistic acting style that makes him a star, appearing in 18 different roles in 6 mo. in London's Drury Lane and Covent Garden; his career raises acting to a more respected profession; Charles Fleetwood hires him for a season at the Theatre Royale in Drury Lane, London, where he remains for five years. Like taking candy from a baby? On Nov. 25 horse-loving never-married (four-lovers-at-a-time?) Elizabeth (Elizaveta) (Yelisaveta) Petrovna Romanov (1709-62) (daughter of Peter I the Great and Catherine I) stages a palace rev., overthrows the Duke of Courland, desposes baby Ivan VI, and on Dec. 6 seizes the throne as Russian Romanov tsar #10 (until Jan. 5, 1762), putting little Ivan VI into solitary confinement for life, becoming popular for her anti-Prussian policies and for not executing anybody. On Nov. 26 after planning on conquering Vienna but getting redirected to Bohemia, Charles Albert of Bavaria (1697-1745) occupies Prague with a combined force of Bavarian, French, and Saxon troops, and has himself crowned king of Bohemia on Dec. 19, followed by HRE on Jan. 24, 1742 (until Jan. 20, 1745). On Dec. 8 (Dec. 19 Old Style) Danish-Russian explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering (b. 1681) dies on Bering Island of exposure after discovering Alaska; during his expedition, German naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709-46) discovers Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) in the Commander Islands; too bad, it becomes extinct in 1768. On Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve) Bethlehem, Penn. ("America's Christmas City") next to South Mountain is founded by Moravians from Bohemia and Saxony led by David Zeisberger, later going on to hold an annual Bach Festival each May, install a 100-ft. electric star on top of South Mountain for Yuletide celebrations, and become a center for steel and cement production. Prussia seizes Wroclaw in SW Poland on the Oder River from the Hapsburgs (who held it since 1526), and it remains a part of Prussian Silesia (except for a few brief periods) under the name Breslau until 1945. British PM Robert Walpole (1676-1745) survives a confidence vote over his reluctant handling of the Spanish War (War of Jenkins' Ear), but his Whig Party loses the election over the old cry that Britain is being subordinated to Hanover in the Austrian question. William Shirley (1694-1771) becomes British gov. of Mass. (until 1759). A British expedition fails to capture heavily-fortified Cartagena in NW Colombia on the Caribbean after a 3 mo. siege. The Yaqui Revolt in Mexico (begun 1740) is quashed. The Racist Witch Hunt (New York Conspiracy)(Great Negro Plot) (Slave Insurrection) of 1741 engulfs burning New York City after 16-y.-o. white indentured servant Mary Burton is promised her freedom for her testimony, and claims that the blacks are planning to burn the town to the ground, after which 13 are burned alive, 18 are hanged, 100 "disappeared", and 154 jailed before the city is whitened up enough to please the monsterizers, after which four whites are executed and 24 imprisoned as a coverup? The original Hollywood Walk of Fame? The myth of Plymouth Rock is born when 95-y.-o. church elder Thomas Faunce (1646-1741) stops the building of a pier on the waterfront of Plymouth, Mass. for awhile with the story that his father, who arrived in 1623 had told him that a small boulder on the tide line near Town Brook is where the Pilgrims had first landed on Dec. 22, 1620 (Forefathers' Day); Hedge's Wharf is built over it in 1749 anyway, but the tip still pokes above its sandy surface, and on Dec. 22, 1774 Col. Theophilus Cotton (1716-82) and the Sons of Liberty remove it and break it in half while attempting to load it on a wagon, putting one half back in the ground and taking the other half to the town square beside a new liberty pole, symbolizing the coming you know what? Count von Zinzendorf visits North Am., pumping up the Moravian sect among whites and Indians (until 1743). Russian navigator discovers some of the Aleutian Islands, and lands in Calif. Pardon me I never promised you a what? Henry Middleton (1717-84) (later pres. #2 of the First Continental Congress) creates his famous gardens at Middleton Place in S.C. Carl Linnaeus founds the Botanical Garden in Uppsala, Sweden. Czech violinist-composer Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (Jan Vaclav Stamic) (1717-57) joins the Mannheim, Germany orchestra, rising to court kappelmeister in Mannheim in 1750, and going on to turn it into "an army of generals" (until 1770). The Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, England is founded to train artillery and engineering officers - blow them arms and legs off for your country real good, boys? Hans N. Eisenhauer, ancestor of U.S. Pres. Dwight David Eisenhower arrives in the U.S. The word "floccinaucinihilipilification" (estimating something as worthless) (invented by a student of Eton College, based on the Latin phrases "flocci facere", "nauci facere", "nihili facere", and "pili facere") is first used in a letter by William Shenstone, with the soundbyte "I loved him for nothing so much as his" you know what. Andrew Bradford's Am. Magazine becomes the first mag. pub. in North Am. Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) begins pub. The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle for All the British Plantations in America, which incl. the first North Am. magazine ads (for the Franklin stove, which looks like an open fireplace); it fails after six issues. Poor Richard's Almanack of 1741; "Beauty, like supreme dominion, is supported by public opinion". Sports: On Sept. 23 after Shock White of Ryegate uses a cricket bat as wide as the wicket against the Hambledon Club, the max. cricket bat width it set at 4.25", which becomes a std. Famine or not, horseracing begins in Ireland at the Curragh Racetrack in County Kildare, which claims to have hosted chariot races in the 3rd cent. C.E., and which becomes the center of flat racing in Ireland; in Nov. 1749 the Sportsmen of the Curragh are formed in the Rose and Bottle in Dame St., Dublin, which in 1790 becomes the Turf Club. Architecture: The Burgtheater (K.K. Theater an der Burg) ("Die Burg") is founded in Vienna as the nat. theater, becoming the 2nd oldest Euro theater after the Comedie Francaise in Paris; later, HRE Joseph II forbids curtain calls, believing the applause should be for him, not his actors, who are mere servants? Johann Joachim Quantz becomes court composer to Frederick the Great. Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-71) designs the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Jacques Germain Soufflot designs the Hotel-Dieu in Lyons (Lyon), France. Nonfiction: Thomas Betterton (1635-1710), A History of the English Stage. Johann Jakob Bodmer, Kritische Betrachtungen Ube die Poetischen Gemahlde der Dichter; pleads for freedom from straightjacket French classicism. C.W. von Borck (tr.), Julius Caesar; first German tr. of Shakespeare. Jean Hardouin (1646-1729), Commentaries on the New Testament (posth.); disses the New Testament, its chronology, etc.; placed on the Catholic Prohibited Books Index. David Hume (1711-76), Essays, Moral and Political (1741-2); his first bestseller; too bad, it doesn't get him an appointement to the U. of Edinburgh faculty, so he becomes the tutor of the lunatic marquis of Annandale, then judge advocate to an English military expedition to France, allowing him to wear a prudish white wig? Pierre de Mapertuis (1698-1759), Essai de Cosmologie; contains the first vague description of the law of the survival of the fittest in Nature. John Martyn (1699-1768) (tr.), Virgil's Georgics; follows it with a trans. of Virgil's Ecologues in 1749. Samuel Richardson (1689-1761), Familiar Letters. Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), The Goldberg Variations, BWV988; 30 variations for harpshichord; composed for Goldberg to play for insomniac Count Kaiserling of Saxony. Charles Simon Favart (1710-92), La Chercheuse d'Esprit (operetta). Christoph Gluck (1714-87), Artaserse (first opera) (Milan) (Dec. 26); a success. G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Deidamia (HWV 42) (last opera) (Lincoln's Inn Fields, London) (Jan. 10); libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli; flops after 3 performances, proving that the prudish Bible-thumping English don't go for sexy Italian opera anymore, causing Handel, who lost a fortune already to give up opera for Bible-themed oratorios. Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Pieces de Clavecin en Concert. Art: Francois Boucher (1703-70), Autumn. William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Enraged Musician; David Garrick as Richard III. Pietro Longhi (1702-85), The Dancing Lesson. Plays: Robert Dodsley, The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (drama). David Garrick (1717-79), The Lying Valet: A Peep Behind the Curtain; Or, the New Rehearsal. Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), La Donna di Garbo (The Fashionable Woman) (comedy) (Venice); Il Mercante Fallito so Sia La Bancarotta (The Bankrupted Merchant) (comedy). Voltaire (1694-1778), Mahomet the Prophet; or, Fanaticism (Le Fanatisme, ou Mohamet le Prophete) (tragedy) (Lille) (Apr. 25); dedicated to Cardinal Fleury; "Written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect to whom could I with more propriety inscribe a satire on the cruelty and errors of a false prophet"; Voltaire reads the play to Frederick II the Great of Prussia in 1740 in Belgium, and when he invades Austria this year, Voltaire interrupts a performance to announce the news, which Freddy had sent him specially; next Aug. 9 it debuts at the Comedie-Francaise in Paris, but is banned after the 3rd performance at the instigation of the Jansenists, who consider it a veiled attack on the Church. Poetry: William Collins (1721-59), Persian (Oriental) Eclogues; written in 1738 before attending Oxford U. Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827), Le Grazie (posth.); the glories of the ancient world. Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum. William Shenstone (1714-63), The Schoolmistress. William Somerville (1675-1742), Hobbinol; or The Rural Games; the Coswold Games. Novels: Henry Fielding (1707-54), The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams: An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews; an anon. parody of Samuel Richardson's 1740 "Pamela", introducing the omniscient narrator - I have a Ph.d - a pretty huge d? Births: English children's writer Sarah Trimmer (d. 1810) on Jan. 6 in Ipswich. Am. Rev. gen. and traitor ("Hero of Saratoga") (George Washington lookalike?) Benedict Arnold (d. 1801) on Jan. 14 in Norwich, Conn.; starts out as a Conn. merchant. English writer Mrs. Hester Thrale (Hester Lynch Piozzi) (nee Salusbury) (d. 1821) on Jan. 16 in Bodvel, Carnarvonshire, Wales; friend of Dr. Samuel Johnson. Swiss-English painter Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Fussli) (d. 1825) on Feb. 7 in Zurich; 2nd of 18 children; son of Johann Caspar Fuseli (1706-82); teacher of John Constable (1776-1837), Benjamin Robert Haydon et al.; likes the supernatural element; one of his paintings causes the phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" to be coined. French "Le Huron", "Zemire et Azor", "Richard Coeur de Lion" composer Andre Ernest Modeste Gretry (André Ernest Modeste Grétry) (d. 1813) on Feb. 8 in Liege, Belgium. Austrian "Well, there it is" HRE (1765-90) ("the Music King") ("the Benevolent Despot") Joseph II (d. 1790) on Mar. 13 in Vienna; eldest son of Francis I (1708-65) and Maria Theresa (1717-80). French neoclassical sculptor (Freemason) Jean-Antoine Houdon (d. 1828) on Mar. 25 in Versailles; famous for his busts of Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire, George Washington, Moliere, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau et al. Japanese Yamato emperor #116 (1747-62) Momozono (Toohito) (d. 1762) on Apr. 14; eldest son of Sakuramachi (1720-50). Am. portraitist (Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson) Charles Willson Peale (d. 1827) on Apr. 15 in Chester, Md.; father of Washington-Jefferson portraitist Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860). U.S. Supreme Court justice #8 (1796-1811) (DOI signer) (states-righter-turned-Federalist) Samuel Chase (d. 1811) on Apr. 17 in Somerset County, Md.; 1st U.S. Supreme Court justice to be impeached (until ?). Am. statesman-lawyer (DOI signer) John Penn (d. 1788) on May 17 near Port Royal, Caroline County, Va. Am. Rev. War gen. and physician (martyr-hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill) Joseph Warren (d. 1775) on June 11 in Roxbury, Mass.; educated at Harvard U. English Wilson's Theorem mathematician Sir John Wilson (d. 1793) on Aug. 6 in Applethwaite, Westmorland; educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge U.; student of Edward Waring. French explorer Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de La Perouse (Pérouse) (Laperouse) (Lapérouse) (d. 1788) on Aug. 23 near Albi. Am. statesman Joseph Reed (d. 1785) on Aug. 27 in Trenton, N.J.; gov. of Penn. (1778-81). German naturalist (in Russia) Peter Simon Pallas (d. 1811) on Sept. 22 in Berlin. French Roman Catholic priest (short hunchback?) Abbe Francois Simonet de Coulmier (d. 1818) on Sept. 30 in Dijon. Irish "The Progress of Human Culture" Neoclassical painter James Barry (d. 1806) on Oct. 11 in Cork; influences William Blake. French "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" novelist (Freemason) Gen. Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos (d. 1803) on Oct. 18 in Amiens. Swiss-Austrian Neoclassical painter Maria Anna Angelica (Angelika) Katharina Kauffmann (d. 1807) on Oct. 30 in Chur, Graubunden; grows up in Austria. Dutch Patriots leader Joan Derk, Baron van der Capellen tot den Pol (d. 1784) on Nov. 2 in Tiel. French Roman Catholic priest Pierre Joseph Georges Pigneau de Behaine (d. 1799) on Nov. 2 in Behaine, Origny-en-Thierache (Aisne); moves to South Vietnam in 1765, becoming apostolic vicar of Cochin China. British Am. Rev. Loyalist leader Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet of New York (Nee John Wysen Bergh) (d. 1830) in Amsterdam, N.Y.; son of Irish immigrant Sir William Johnson, 1st baronet (1715-774) and common-law wife Palatine German immigrant Catherine Weissenberg. Swiss poet-physiognomist (phrenology founder) Johann Kaspar Lavater (d. 1801) on Nov. 15 in Zurich. Am. Universalist clergyman ("the Father of American Universalism") John Murray (d. 1815) on Dec. 10 in Alton, Hampshire, England; emigrates to Am. in 1770. English celeb courtesan Catherine Marie "Kitty" Fisher (Fischer) (d. 1767). Dutch novelist Aagje (Agatha) Deken (d. 1804) in Nieuwer-Amstel; collaborator of Betje Wolff-Bekker (1738-1804). Am. Rev. leader (DOI signer) George Walton (d. 1804) in Prince Edward County, Va.; moves to Ga. in 1769. Am. Rev. leader John Langdon (d. 1819) in Portsmouth, N.H.; N.H. gov. (1788, 1805-11); U.S. sen. (1789-1801). Russian gen. Count Ivan Vasilyevich Gudovich (d. 1820); of Ukrainian descent. Turkish gov. (of Albania and parts of Greece incl. Janina) ("the Lion of Janina") Ali Pasha Arslan (d. 1822) in Tepeleni, Albania. Deaths: Italian scientist Francesco Torti (b. 1658). Austrian musician Johann Joseph Fux (b. 1660) on Feb. 13 - fux who? German-born British phosphorus manufacturer Ambrose Godfrey (b. 1660) on Jan. 15. French historian Charles Rollin (b. 1661) on Dec. 14 in Paris; dies leaving the unfinished Histoire Romaine (Roman History). German printmaker Jacob Christoph Le Blon (b. 1667) on May 15 in Paris. Austrian field marshal Count Wirich Philipp von Daun (b. 1669) on July 30 in Vienna. Italian red-haired composer "Il Prete Rosso" (The Red Priest) Antonio Vivaldi (b. 1678) on July 28. Danish-Russian explorer Vitus Bering (b. 1681) on Dec. 8 (Dec. 19 Old Style) in Bering Island (exposure). Austrian sculptor Georg Raphael Donner (b. 1692) on Feb. 15 in Vienna.
1742 And crown thy good with brotherhood? On Jan. 24 Charles VII Albert of Bavaria, head of the House of Wittelsbach finally gets his wish and is elected HRE Charles VII (1697-1745) (until Jan. 20, 1745), being crowned by his Wittelsbach brother Clemens (Klemens) August of Bavaria (1700-61), archibishop-elector of Cologne (who had been siding with the Austrian Hapsburg-Lorraine line until now); the only other Wittelsbach to become HRE was Louis IV way back in 1314-47; too bad, Bavaria is overrun with Austrian troops, which it takes the rest of his 3-year life to get rid of; meanwhile Karl Theodor (Charles Theodoe) (1724-99) of the Oberpfalz-Sulzbach line of the fractured Palatinate branch of the House of Wittelsbach becomes count-elector of the Palatinate (until 1799), becoming popular by supporting the arts and sciences, which positions him to inherit the how-I-met-your-mother Bavarian duchy in 1777. Put a wig and powder on white men and they all look alike? On Feb. 2 British PM (since Apr. 3, 1721) Robert Walpole resigns allegedly because of failing health (really his shrinking majority?), then on Feb. 6 accepts a peerage (earl of Orford not Oxford), and on Feb. 16 Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington (1673-1743) (whom Robert Walpole had gotten raised to the peerage in 1728 in order to move him from the Commons to the Lords) becomes English PM #2 (until July 2, 1743), although the real leader of the Whig cabinet is John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville (AKA Lord Granville) (1690-1763). On May 17 after Frederick II breaks the truce and enters Moravia "to pluck the Moravian hens", he wins a V at the Battle of Chotusitz (Czaslau), followed on May 24 by another at the Battle of Sahay (Zahájí) 10 mi. NW Budweis; on June 6 Maria Theresa agrees in the Peace of Breslau in Silesia to give Frederick the Silesian lands he has captured from her during the past 2 years in return for him recognizing her claim to the Austrian throne, ending the First Silesian War (begun 1740); she makes alliances with Savoy, Saxony and Britain; the Prussians leave Olmutz, leaving her free to turn her Austrian troops against the Bavarians and French; in June the French army led by Prince Charles occupies Prague, and becomes surrounded, then makes its escape on Dec. 16-26 - them Hessians always let their guard down around Christmas? On July 7 the Battle of Bloody Marsh (Marshes) on St. Simons Island, Ga. is a V for the British, led by Gen. James Oglethorpe over the Spanish, driving them back S to Fla. (St. Augustine) permanently. In Sept. the Ottoman gov. of Damascus sieges Arab Sheikh Daher el-Omar (1690-1775) in Tiberias for 83 days, until the departure of a Hajj caravan causes it to be lifted; he returns next July, but dies in Aug. of kidney disease, ending the threat. In Dec. the Battle of Augusta between white settlers of Va. and redskins, er, Indians leads to total white control within a couple of years. Tsarina Elizabeth sends an envoy to Finland offering measured autonomy as a Russian-controlled duchy, which only sparks nationalist sentiment. Cotton factories are first established in Birmingham and Northampton, England. The Williamite Wars over the Plantation of Ulster end; Ireland is at peace for a cent. so the rich can get richer while the poor get poorer? The ancient 440-mi. Indian Natchez Trace route between Nashville, Tenn. and Natchez, Miss. (linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers) is first used by a Euro, an unnamed Frenchman, and becomes a main Euro trade and transit route until the 19th cent. After inheriting it from an uncle when another of his nephews is disinherited for marrying, rich Huguenot Boston, Mass. merchant Peter Faneuil (1700-43) donates the 2-story (two rows of nine windows on each side, two rows of three windows on each end, and a grasshopper-shaped weather vane on top) Faneuil Hall (pr. FAN-ul) to Boston (built 1740-2); it ends up hosting so many meetings of rev. patriots that it becomes known as the "Cradle of Liberty". The Philadelphia Confession of Faith is pub. Arts-and-sciences-loving margrave (1735-63) Frederick the Beloved of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1711-63) founds a univ. in his capital of Bayreuth, but after the students grow rebellious he transfers it on Nov. 4, 1743 to Erlangen, becoming Friedrich-Alexander U. of Erlangen-Nuremberg, named for him and its benefactor margrave (1757-91) Christian Frederick Charles Alexander "the Wild Margrave" of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1736-1806); famous students incl. Johann Ludwig Tieck, Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, and Emmy Noether. Ex-German jurist Georg Heinrich Zincke (Zincken) (1692-1769) founds the economics periodical Leipziger Sammlungen von Wirthschafflichen-Policy-Cammer- und Finantz-Sachen (Leipzig Papers on Police, Economic, and Finance Matters) (until 1767). Peter Boehler is appointed bishop of the Moravian churches of Am., England, Ireland, and Wales. Viscount Bolingbroke returns to England, settling at Battersea (until 1751). Milan establishes a scale for accountants' fees. 17-y.-o. Jacques Casanova (1725-98) returns to Venice to find that his 14-y.-o. lover Lucia has run away and betrayed him; 16 years later (1758) he encounters her in an Amsterdam brothel and finds that she had contracted smallpox, which horribly disfigured her face, and ran away to spare him? - a new interview with Tonya Harding, the tough as nails skater? James Bradley (1693-1762) is appointed astronomer royal at Greenwich Observatory, succeeding Edmund Halley (b. 1656), who dies on Jan. 14. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (b. 1712) moves to Paris to promote a new system of musical notation he invented, but the Academie des Sciences rejects it - did you just say O snap? French-Canadian fur trader brothers Francois de La Verendrye (Vérendrye) (1715-94) and Francois Louis Joseph Gaultier de La Verendrye (Vérendrye) (1717-61) explore South Dakota (S.D.) (1742-3), and found the first white settlement there. Porto Alegre in Brazil is founded by settlers from the Azores (modern pop. 1.4M). The mango is introduced to Barbados from Rio de Janeiro. The first indoor swimming pool is opened in London. A canal linking Elbe and Havel is constructed. Cotton factories are established in Birmingham and Northampton. Kosta Boda glassworks in Swedens opens. Friedrich-Alexander U. is founded in Bayreuth, Bavaria, then moves to Huguenot-dominated Erlangen next year and becomes Erlangen U. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1742. William Kent (1685-1748) designs the Palladian-style Horse Guards Parade at Whitehall, London, which is built in 1751-3 by John Vardy. Inventions: English quaker Benjamin Huntsman (1704-76) invents the crucible process for casting steel. Science: Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701-44) proposes the 0-100 Celsius (Lat. "centigrade" = 100 steps) temperature scale for use in lab work to the Royal Swedish Society, with 0 for the boiling point and 100 for the freezing point; in 1745 Carolus Linnaeus inverts it. On June 7 Prussian-born mathematician Christian Goldbach (1690-1764) proposes the Goldbach Conjecture, that every natural number greater than two can be expressed as the sum of two primes, and every natural number greater than five can be written as the sum of three primes; it is solved in ?. Nonfiction: Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751), A Letter on the True Use of Retirement; Letters on the Study of History. John Campbell, Lives of the Admirals. Etienne Fourmont, Grammatica Sinaica. Edmond Hoyle (1672-1769), A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist; becomes a hit, causing pirates to sell unauthorized eds., which Hoyle tries to override by autographing each copy for twopence, paid by his publisher Francis Cogan, who already paid him 100 guineas; it becomes the authoritative treatise on Whist until John Loraine Baldwin's work pub. in 1864; Hoyle follows with "A Short Treatise on the Game of Backgammon" (1743), "An Artificial Memory for Whist" (1744), "Treatise on Piquet" (1744), "Treatise on Chess" (1744), "Treatise on Quadrille" (1744), "Treatise on Brag" (1751), "Treatise on Probability Theory" (1754), and "Treatise on Chess" (1761), superseding "The Compleat Gamester" (1674); Cogan goes bankrupt in 1745, selling-out to Thomas Osborne, who pub. "Mr. Hoyle's Treatises of Whist, Quadrille, Piquet, Chess, and Back-Gammon" in 1748, calling it the 8th ed., becoming he std. English work on games, causing the phrase "According to Hoyle" to be launched. Colin Maclaurin (1698-1746), Treatise on Fluxions. Pierre de Maupertuis, Elements de la Geographie. John Oldmixon (1673-1742), Memoirs of the Press 1710-1740 (posth.). Thomas Simpson (1710-61), The Doctrine of Annuities and Reversions. Charles Viner, Legal Encyclopaedia (23 vols.) (1742-53). I. Walsh, Harmonia Anglicana; Or, The Musick of the English Stage: Containing six sets of ayers and tunes in 4 parts made for the operas, tragedys and comedyes of the Theater Royal; incl. "My Country 'Tis of Thee". Music: Karl Heinrich Graun (1704-59), Caesar and Cleopatra (July 12); introduces Italian opera to Berlin's new opera house. George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), The Messiah (oratorio) (New Muck Hall, Dublin) (Apr. 13); composed in 24 days to save his flagging career, and performed by 26 boys and 5 men; this time he finds an audience of eager Bible-thumpers, Hallelujah, God save the king; the 1743 London debut is attended by George II, who stands up during the Hallelujah Chorus, leading some to surmise that he wasn't so moved by the music as tired and needing to stretch his legs; the first 7th-inning stretch? Art: Francois Boucher (1703-70), Diana Leaving Her Bath. William Hogarth (1697-1764), The Graham Children. Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), The Gardens of Arcueil. Poetry: Thomas Gray (1716-71), Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College; "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise". William Somerville (1675-1742), Field Sports; poem on hawking. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), The Dunciad, Book 4; pub. with a complete rev. of the 1st ed. (1728); Colley Cibber is the new King of Dunces. Edward Young (1683-1765), The Complaint; or Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality (1742-5); took holy orders at age 50 after giving up his foolish youth, and finally this "melancholy and moonlight" pub. makes him an internat. star.; "By Nature's law, what may be, may be now;/ There's no prerogative in human hours. In human hearts what bolder thought can rise,/ Than man's presumption on to-morrow's dawn?/ Where is to-morrow? In another world"; "At thirty man suspects himself a fool,/ Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan;/ At fifty chides his infamous delay,/ Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve;/ In all the magnanimity of thought/ Resolves, and re-resolves, then dies the same." Novels: Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (1707-77), La Sopha, Conte Moral. Henry Fielding (1707-54), Abraham Adams. Births: German scientist and satirical writer, critic and aphorist George Christoph Lichtenberg (d. 1799) on July 1. Am. Cincinnati, Ohio co-founder John Cleves Symmes (d. 1814) on July 21 in Riverhead, Long Island, N.Y.; uncle of John Cleves Symmes Jr. (1780-1829); father-in-law of Pres. William Henry Harrison. Am. Rev. War Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene (d. 1786) on Aug. 7 in Warwick, R.I.; namesake of Greensboro, N.C. Italian pope #251 (1800-23) Pius VII (Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti) (d. 1823) on Aug. 14 in Cesena. U.S. supreme court justice (1789-98) (Presbyterian) James Wilson (d. 1798) on Sept. 14 in Carskerdo, Scotland; educated at the U. of St. Andrews, U. of Glasgow, and U. of Edinburgh; emigrates to the U.S. in 1766. French historian-mathematician Charles Francois Dupuis (d. 1809) on Oct. 26 in Trie-Chateau, Oise. English geographer-historian (oceanography pioneer) Maj. James Rennell (d. 1830) on Dec. 3 near Chudleigh, Devon. French Leblanc Process chemist Nicolas Leblanc (d. 1806) on Dec. 6 Issoudun, Indre. Prussian field marshal Prince Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher (Blücher) (d. 1819) on Dec. 16 in Rostock, Mecklenburg. German-Swedish chemist Karl (Carl) Wilhelm Scheele (d. 1786) on Dec. 19 (Dec. 9 Old Style) in Stralsund, W Pomerania. Persian Qajar shah #1 (1794-7) Agha Mohammad Khan (d. 1797); uncle of Fath Ali (1771-1834); castrated at age 6 by orders of Adil Shah in hopes of preventing him becoming a political rival, but it only makes him more calm, cool and collected? Mohwak Indian Chief (British ally) Joseph Brant (d. 1807), AKA Thayendanegea; son of Mohawk chief Niklaus Brant; grandson of Sa Ga Yean Qua Prah Ton, one of four Indian leaders to visit London in 1810; grows up in the Amsterdam, N.Y. household of fur trader Sir William Johnson (1715-74), supt. of Indian affairs N of the Ohio River 1755-74; his sister Molly becomes Johnson's common-law wife and bears him eight children. French hot air balloon pioneer Marquis Francois Laurent le Vieux d'Arlandes (d. 1809) in Anneyron, Duphine. Scottish pro-Vortigern antiquarian-writer George Chalmers (d. 1825) in Fochabers, Moray. Am. dentist John Woofendale (d. 1828) in England. Deaths: English astronomer Edmund Halley (b. 1656) on Jan. 14; his comet returns as predicted on Christmas Day, 1758 - wait, there's more, how about 1835 and 1910? German physician Friedrich Hoffmann (b. 1660) on Nov. 12 in Halle. English scholar-critic Richard Bentley (b. 1662). English South sea Bubble politician John Aislabie (b. 1670) on June 18. English historian John Oldmixon (b. 1673) on July 9. Italian composer-violinist Evaristo Felice dall'Abaco (b. 1675) on July 12. English poet William Somerville (b. 1675) on July 19 in Edstone, Worcestershire. Am. publisher Andrew Sowles Bradford (b. 1686). Dutch physicist Willem Jacob 's Gravesande (b. 1688) on Feb. 28. English poet John Hammond (b. 1710).
1743 On Jan. 1 the Verendrye brothers discover the Rocky Mts., and explore Wyoming (Wyo.); on their return they bury a lead plaque in Ft. Pierre, S.D., which is unearthed in 1913. On Mar. 14 the first recorded town meeting in America is held at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Mass. In May Maria Theresa retakes Bohemia and is crowned queen at Prague. On June 27 (June 16 Old Style) the 35K-man Pragmatic army of British, Hanover and Hesse troops under George II of Britain, Scottish field marshal John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair (1673-1747), and French-born Huguenot maj. gen. John (Jean Louis) Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier (1680-1770) (former gen. under Marlborough) (incl. Lord Jeffrey Amherst's First Regiment of Foot Guards)defeats 23K French troops under Adrien Maurice, 3rd Duc de Noailles (1678-1766) at the crummy Battle of Dettingen on the 18 mi. E of Frankfurt Main River on the Hesse-Bavaria border (modern-day Karlstein am Main), becoming the last time that a British sovereign personally leads his troops on the field (until ?), and won only by Ligonier's courageous improvisations and discipline; total casualties are 2K-3K British 4K-4.5K French; the HRE becomes a fugitive in Frankfurt; Frederick II the Great breaks the truce with Maria Theresa, allies with France and invades Bohemia; Austria allies with Saxony. On July 2 British PM (since Feb. 16, 1742) Spencer Compton, 1st earl of Wilmington (b. 1673) dies, and on Aug. 27 he is succeeded (until Mar. 6, 1754) as British PM by Whig Henry Pelham (1694-1754), younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle (1693-1768), with whom he shares power; Henry Pelham forces John Carteret to resign; quite quotable dude Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773), known as Geffery Broadbottom in his press articles forms the Broadbottom Party, a coalition of anti-Walpole anti-George II cabinet members under Pelham. On Aug. 7 the Peace of Turku (Abo) gives control of all Finnish lands E of the Kymi River to Russia. The 1729 Gin Act raising the price of gin in a country where every sixth house is a saloon leads to the Gin Riots, after which the govt. backs off and lowers prices again; consumption soon rises to 8M gal. a year and the govt. gets antsy? - what they need now is a religious revival? Jewish pogroms begin in Russia. Scottish Covenanter minister Richard Cameron (1648-80) and his followers form the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Christopher Sower (Sauer) (Saur) (1695-1758) prints the first German Bible in Am. in Germantown, Penn. Indian yarns for the manufacture of fine textiles are first imported to Lancashire, England. The term "Tommy Atkins" is first used for a British soldier in a letter from Jamaica about a British troop mutiny: "Except for those from North America (mostly Irish Papists) ye Marimes and Tommy Atkins behaved splendidly". The 1729 Gin Act raising the price of gin in a country where every sixth house is a saloon leads to the Gin Riots, after which the govt. backs off and lowers prices again; consumption soon rises to 8M gal. a year and the govt. gets antsy? - what they need now is a religious revival? The city of Magnitogorsk (modern-day pop. 408K) is founded on the E side of the S Urals by the Ural River, named after 60%-iron-containing Mount Magnitnaya, launching iron ore production in 1759; in 1928 the Soviets travel to Cleveland, Ohio to meet with consulting co. Arthur G. McKee to discus plans to copy the U.S. Steel mill in Gary, Ind., also modeling their Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works after Pittsburgh, Penn.; in 1931 it is granted city status ; Motto: "The place where Europe and Asia meet". Newark Academy in Newark, Del. is chartered by William Penn's sons Thomas and Richard, changing its name to New Ark College in 1833, Delaware College in 1870, and Delaware U. in 1921. German immigrant Christopher Saur pub. a German language Bible, becoming the first Euro language Bible printed in North Am.; in 1763 he pub. the first Bible using paper manufactured in North Am.; in 1776 he pub. the first Bible printed from type manufactured in North Am. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1743. Sports: On Aug. 16 Broughton's Rules of Boxing are established in London by boxing champ Jack Broughton, with a 30-sec. knockout rule and no hitting or grasping below the waist; Broughton invents "mufflers", padded gloves for boxing. Architecture: A hand-operated elevator is installed in the palace of Versailles to allow Louis XV to go from his private apts. to those of mistress Marie Anne de Mailly, Madame de Chateauroux (1717-44) on the floor above him. The Frauenkirche in Dresden (begun 1726) finishes construction. Lawrence Washington (1718-52), elder half-brother and mentor of George Washington builds the 2-story 96-ft.-long 30-ft.-deep Mount Vernon mansion in Fairfax County, Va. on the Potomac River, named after his former boss British Adm. Edward "Old Grog" Vernon (1684-1757), who in 1740 ordered that sailor's rum should be watered-down, causing it to be called grog, from his habitual wearing of a grogram (silk-wool-gum taffeta) coat. Inventions: English mechanic John Wyatt of Birmingham designs the Compound Lever Weighing Machine for carts. Science: French mathematician-astronomer Alexis Claude Clairaut (1713-65) pub. a confirmation of Isaac Newton's prediction that the Earth is slightly oblate (flattened at the poles). The Klinkenberg-De Cheseaux Comet (Great Comet of 1744) is discovered on Dec. 9 by Dirk Klinkenberg (1709-99) of Haarlem, Netherlands, and again on Dec. 13 by Jean-Philippe Loys de Cheseaux (Chéseaux) (1718-51) of Lausanne, Switzerland; next Mar. it exhibits 6-7 tails and becomes brighter than Jupiter, becoming the largest recorded comet since the birth of modern astronomy (0.5 absolute magnitude), although the ancients saw a bigger 10-tailed comet in -1486. Nonfiction: Jean d'Anville (1697-1782), Map of Italy; corrects numerous errors, accompanied by a memoir showing his sources. Jean-Antoine Nollet (1700-70), Lecons de Physique Experimentale. Thomas Simpson (1710-61), Mathematical Dissertation on a Variety of Physical and Analytical Subjects. Music: Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), La Contessina (The Young Countess) (opera bouffe); music by Maccari. Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), Samson (oratorio) (Feb. 18) (Covent Garden, London); libretto by Newburgh Hamilton; based on John Milton's "Samson Agonistes", which is based on Judges ch. 16. Art: Francois Boucher (1703-70), Madame Boucher; leaves her clothes on?; The Triumph of Venus; The Toilet of Venus; Daphnis and Chloe (1743-5). William Hogarth (1697-1764), Marriage a la Mode (6 scenes) (1743-5); his magnum opus?; the disastrous results of a marriage for money; incl. The Marriage Contract. Plays: Henry Carey (1692-1743), Chrononhotonthologos; "The most tragical tragedy that ever was tragediz'd by any company of tragedians"; opening line: "Aldiborontiphoscophornio! Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?" Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), La Donna di Garbo (The Fashionable Woman) (comedy). Voltaire (1694-1778), Merope (Mérope) (drama); "Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors." Novels: Henry Fielding (1707-54), Miscellanies (3 vols.); incl. The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great, A Journey from This World to the Next. Births: French mystical philosopher (Freemason) Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (d. 1803) (AKA Le Philosophe Inconnu or the Unknown Philosopher) on Jan. 18 in Amboise. Am. steamboat inventor John Fitch (d. 1798) on Jan. 21 in Windsor, Conn. English botanist (Freemason) Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet (d. 1820) on Feb. 13 in London; educated at Harrow School, Eton, and Christ Church, Oxford U. Italian "The Celebrated Minuet" cellist-composer Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini (d. 1805) on Feb. 19 in Lucca. French mineralogist Abbe Rene Just Hauy (Haüy) (d. 1822) on Feb. 28 in Saint-Just-en-Chaussee, Oise; brother of Valentin Hauy (1745-1822). Swiss "Swiss Family Robinson" novelist Johann David Wyss (d. 1818) on Mar. 4. English "The Belle's Strategem" dramatist-poet Hannah Cowley (nee Parkhouse) (d. 1809) on Mar. 14 in Tiverton, Devonshire; daughter of a bookseller; wife of a Stamp Office official who abandons her in 1783 to join the British East India Co. U.S. 6'-2.5" Repub. pres. #3 (1801-9) and vice-pres. #2 (1797-1801) and inventor-architect and philosopher-writer-statesman and chocaholic (author of the DOI, co-creator of the 2-party system, founder of the U. of Va.) (Deist) Thomas Jefferson (d. 1826) on Apr. 13 [Aries] in Shadwell, Goochland (modern-day Albermarle County), Va.; has siblings who are fraternal twins; descendant of William Randolph; likes to write standing up; inventor of the dumbwaiter. English clergyman and power loom inventor Edmund (Edward) Cartwright (1743-1823) on Apr. 24 in Marham, Norfolk; educated at University College, Oxford U.; brother of John Cartwright (1740-1824). French physician and radical French Rev. leader Jean-Paul Marat (d. 1793) on May 24 in Boudry, Neuchatel, Switzerland; Calvinist father, Huguenot mother. Italian adventurer-occultist (Freemason) Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (Giuseppe Balsamo) (d. 1795) on June 2 in Palermo; the original snake oil salesman? German elector Wilhelm I of Kassel, Elector of Hesse (d. 1821) on June 3; eldest son of Frederick II (1720-85) and Princess Mary of Britain (1723-72) (daughter of George II); daddy converts to Roman Catholicism in 1747 and leaves mommy, who moves with her son to Denmark; sponsors Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Am. Rev. jurist-statesman-diplomat Francis Dana (d. 1811) on June 13 in Charlestown, Mass.; educated at Harvard U.; grandfather of Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1815-82). Am. jurist ("the Old Judge") John Lowell (d. 1802) on June 17 in Newburyport, Mass.; patriarch of the Boston Lowells; educated at Harvard U. English Romantic poet-writer Anna Laetitia Aikin Barbauld (d. 1825) on June 20. English utilitarian theologian-philosopher William Paley (d. 1805) on July ? in Peterborough; educated at Christ's College, Cambridge U. French mistress (of Louis XV) Comtesse du Barry (Marie Jeanne Bécu) (d. 1793) on Aug. 19 in Vaucouleurs, Lorraine; illegitimate daughter of Anne Becu and friar "Brother Angel". French chemist ("Father of Modern Chemistry") Antoine (Antoine-Laurent de) Lavoisier (d. 1794) on Aug. 26 in Paris; educated at the College Mazarin. Danish "The Wounded Philoctetes" neoclassical painter Nicolai (Nikolaj) Abraham Abildgaard (d. 1809) on Sept. 11 in Copenhagen; son of Soren Abildgaard (1718-91). French scientist-mathematician-biographer-encyclopedist-politician Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (d. 1794) on Sept. 17. Italian opera buffa composer Giuiseppe Gazzaniga (d. 1818) on Oct. 5 in Verona; pupil of Niccolo Piccinni and Nicola Porpora. Danish poet (alcoholic) Johannes Ewald (d. 1781) on Nov. 18. German chemist-apothecary Martin Heinrich Klaproth (d. 1817) on Dec. 1 in Wernigerode; father of Julius Heinrich Klaproth (1783-1835). German lit. critic-historian Johann Joachim Eschenburg (d. 1820) on Dec. 7 in Hamburg; educated at the U. of Leipzig, and U. of Gottingen. French dancer Marie-Madeleine Guimard (d. 1816) on Dec. 27 in Paris. Am. Rev. War Col. Abram (Abraham) Penn (d. 1801) on Dec. 27 in Caroline County, Va.; ancestor of Robert Penn Warren (1905-89). Am. celeb Sarah "Sally" Franklin (Bache) (d. 1808); only daughter of Benjamin and Deborah Read Franklin (1705-74) (common-law marriage since 1730). Am. Shawnee chief Blue Jacket ((Wehyehpiherhsehnwah) (Weyapiersenwah) (d. 1810) in modern-day Ross County, Ohio. Scottish physician William Saunders (d. 1817). Am. Rev. War col. Charles McDowell (d. 1815) in Winchester, Va.; grows up in Burke County, N.C. Deaths: French cardinal and PM (1726-43) Andre Hercule de Fleury (b. 1653) on Jan. 29 in Issy-les-Moulineaux. French painter Hyacinthe Rigaud (b. 1659) on Dec. 29 in Paris. French painter Alexandre Francois Desportes (b. 1661). Italian celeb Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (b. 1667) on Feb. 18 in Florence; last member of the Medici family of Florence; signs the Family Pact, bequeathing the Medici art collection to Tuscany; her bones are exhumed during the 1966 Florence Flood. English architect Thomas Archer (b. 1668). Italian violin maker Francesco Stradivari (b. 1671) on May 11. Dutch jurist Cornelius van Bynkershoek (b. 1673) on Apr. 16 in The Hague. English PM #2 (1742-3) Spencer Compton, 1st earl of Wilmington (b. 1673) on July 2 in St. James's Square, London; dies without heirs, making the Wilmington title extinct, although Del. and N.C. name cities in his honor. Italian composer Lodovico Giustini (b. 1685) on Feb. 7 in Pistoia. English poet-dramatist Henry Carey (b. 1687) on Oct. 5 in London (suicide after his son Charles dies). French painter Nicolas Lancret (b. 1690) on Sept. 14; produced 800 paintings - stay awake stay alive? English poet-musician Henry Carey (b. 1692). English poet Richard Savage (b. 1697) on Aug. 1 in Bristol.
1744 In Jan. 15-y.-o. Sophie Auguste Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst (later known as Catherine II the Great), daughter of a petty German prince leaves her home in Stettin to travel to Russia on the invitation of Empress Elizabeth, and is betrothed to her creepy cousin Grand Duke Peter, heir to the Russian throne. On Apr. 6 (Easter weekend) after turning spiritual in 1741, Stockholm, Sweden-born Emanuel Swedenborg (Swedberg) (1688-1772) has his big spiritual awakening, claiming to be appointed by Jesus Christ to write "The Heavenly Doctrine" to reform Christianity and create a New Church by freely visiting Heaven and Hell to talk with angels and demons; he goes on to pub. 18 works which his Swedenborgian followers believe are divinely-inspired, incl. Heaven and Hell and its Wonders and Hell From Things Heard and Seen (1758), which claims that the last Judgment occurred in 1757. On May 30 after receiving Roman Catholic last rites, Alexander Pope (b. 1688) dies, along with all his many feuds, ending the Age of Pope and causing a reaction against poetry among the new-kid-on-the-block Romantics. On June 25-July 4 the Iroquois (Six Nations) negotiate the Treaty of Lancaster with Virginia Colony and Md. Colony in Lancaster, Penn., giving Va. to the whites up to the Blue Ridge Mts. In June Sir George Anson returns from his voyage around the world begun in 1740 after 3 years 9 mo. with only one ship and $2.5M worth of Spanish booty; for this loot, er, achievement he is promoted to rear adm. In Aug. Louis XV, who took personal command of the army in the spring offensive in the War of Succession and takes his babe Madame de Chateaureoux (b. 1717) along with him becomes seriously ill, sending her packing, allowing the French mobs to show their hatred for her by throwing rotten veggies at her carriage and hissing her, making her ill, and when he recovers and calls her back in Dec., she rises too quickly from her sickbed and dies of pneumonia; he vows to replace the ruined church of the Abbey of St. Genevieve in the Latin Quarter of Paris, entrusting Abel-Francois Poisson, Marquis de Marigny with the task, and in 1755 he commissions French architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot (1713-80) to design a new church, which begins construction in 1758, and is finished in 1790 in neo-classical style, with a facade modeled on the Pantheon in Rome, and a Bramante-style dome; in 1793 the U. of Douai is confiscated by the French revolutionaries, who turn the Church of St. Genevieve in Paris (built 1758-90) into the Pantheon (Panthéon). The Second Silesian War begins when Frederick the Great invades Bohemia; he takes Prague but is driven back to Saxony. King Louis XV of France declares war on George II of Great Britain and on Maria Theresa; King George's War in North Am. begins; the French briefly occupy Annapolis, Nova Scotia. Bagrationi monarch Erekle (Heraclius) (Erekli) (Irkaly) II (1720-98) becomes next-to-last king of Kakheti (until 1762), followed by king of Kakheti and Kartlin in E Georgia in 1762-98, fighting a long losing battle to stave off Persian invasion by allying with Russia. Adolphus Frederick, heir to the Swedish throne marries Princess Ulrica, daughter of Frederick II the Great. Mohammed Ibn Saud and his Sa-Udi family are won over by Najd-born radical unitarian Sunni Arab theologian Wahhabism founder Muhammad (Mohammed) ibn Abd al-Wahhab at-Tamimi (1703-92), and found the First Saudi State in Arabia. After Jesuit priest Gaspar Morales refuses to give a Christian burial to his brother for specious reasons, Francisco Dagohoy (Sendrijas) ("Dagon Sa Hoyohoy" = talisman of the breeze) of Bohol kills Italian Jesuit curate Father Giuseppe Lamberti and Father Morales, beginning the Dagohoy Rebellion in the Philippines against the Spanish govt. (ends 1829), holing up with 3K-20K followers in the trick (underwater passage to the outside) Francisco Dagohoy Cave in the mountains in the town of Danao, and holding on for a record 20 Spanish govs.-gens. and 85 years. Future "British conqueror of India" Robert Clive (1725-74) arrives in India at age 18 broke and rejected by his father (who calls him the Booby), and takes a job as a clerk for the British East India Co.; one day fellow clerk Edmund Maskelyne enters his room to find him holding a pistol; Clive asks him to fire it out the window, and when he does, remarks "I must be reserved for something. That pistol I have twice snapped at my own head." Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador erupts again (last time 1698), the noise heard 500 mi. away at Honda, Colombia. Eliza Haywood (Fowler) (1693-1756) begins pub. The Female Spectator, the first women's periodical to be edited by a woman; predictably, all her stuff is icily received by the male establishment, Alexander Pope calling her a "shameless scribbler", and Jonathan Swift calling her a "stupid, infamous, scribbling woman". The Madrigal Society is founded in London, holding weekly meetings in taverns. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1744. Sports: The Honorable Co. of Edinburgh Golfers, the world's first golf club is founded. The first recorded Cricket match pits Kent vs. All England at the Artillery Ground in London, with the first known code of cricket drawn up by "Noblemen and Gentlemen", who bet large sums on the former kiddie game; the pitch is set at 22 yards, the distance between bowling crease and popping crease at 46", the wicket at 22" tall and 6" wide, and the ball at 5-6 oz. Inventions: Benjamin Franklin invents the cast-iron Franklin Stove, which stands away from the walls and looks like a chimney; it is redesigned in 1790 by David R. Rittenhouse so that it actually works. Science: Spanish scientists slash naval officers Antonio de Ulloa (1716-95) and Jorge Juan y Santacilia (1713-73), who went on the La Condamine expedition to South Am. in 1736 then remained, discover sizable stores of the element Platinum (Pt) (#78) (Sp. "platina" = little silver), and take some back to Europe with them on separate ships; too bad, Ulloa's ship is captured by the Brits, but after the scientists pull their increasingly powerful internat. strings he ends up a fellow of the Royal Society of London - what's it good for, doorstops? Jean Philippe Loys de Cheseaux (Chéseaux) (1718-51) of Lausanne, Switzerland first states Olbers' Paradox, that the night sky can't be dark if the Universe is infinite. Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-83) discovers the Calculus of Variations. Nonfiction: Anon., Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book; earliest surviving collection of English nursery rhymes; incl. Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hickory Dickory Dock, Ladybird Ladybird, Little Robin Redbreast, Little Tommy Tucker, London Bridge is Falling Down (My Fair Lady), Mary Mary Quite Contrary, Sing a Song of Sixpence, Who Killed Cock Robin?. Jean Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (1717-83), Traite de l'Equilibre et du Mouvement des Fluides (Treatise on the Equilibrium and Movement of Fluids); introduces the components of fluid velocity and acceleration, differential requirements for continuity, and complex numbers, deriving the paradox of zero longitudinal force on the body. George Berkeley (1685-1753), Siris: A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries Concerning the Virtues of Tar-Water and Divers Other Subjects Connected Together Arising One from Another. Benjamin Franklin (ed), Cicero's 'Cato Major' (Phila.). Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), Histoire et description generale de la Nouvelle France, avec le journal historique d'un voyage fait par ordre du roi dans l'Amérique septentrionnale (3 vols.). Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Moral Reflection. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-84), An Account of the Life of Mr. Richard Savage, Son of the Earl Rives; pub. anon.; his first major bio.; about his London poet friend, who just died; claims that he was the illegitimate child of a noble family that disowned him; throws light on Johnson's own hardships. Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Annali d'Italia (1744-9). The first Eskimo Trans. of the Bible is pub. in Copenhagen. Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), The Well-Tempered Clavier, Pt. 2 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier). Christoph Gluck (1714-87), Iphigenie en Aulide (opera) (Paris); not to be confused with "Iphigenie et Tauride" (1779). G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Semele (HWV 58) (oratorio) (Theatre Royal, London) (Feb. 10); stars Elisabeth Duparc as Semele, Esther Young as Juno, and John Beard as Jupiter; tries to push an opera over as an oratorio, but the audience isn't fooled, getting pissed off at its amorous pagan theme instead of a prudish Biblical theme for Lent, rubbed in by being in English instead of Italian, causing it to flop after 4 performances, after which he gets two more in Dec. by censoring it - that's right, it flops for having sex in it? Art: John Michael Rysbrack, Dr. Radcliffe of Oxford (sculpture); ends up in the Radcliffe Camera library at Oxford U. Novels: John Newbery (1713-67) and M.F. Thwaite, A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, Intended for the Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly with Two Letters from Jack the Giant Killer; the first children's book; sold with a ball for boys and a pincushion for girls; a bestseller, launching his career in children's lit., causing him to be called "the Father of Children's Literature"; printed in Colonial Am. in 1762; the first reference to rounders ("base-ball"). Births: Am. engineer-soldier Col. ("Father of Am. Civil Engineering") Loammi Baldwin (d. 1807) on Jan. 10 in Woburn, Mass.; educated at Harvard U.; promoter of the Baldwin apple. Am. Penn. gov. #1 (1790-9) Thomas Mifflin (d. 1800) on Jan. 10 in Philadelphia, Penn.; educated at the College of Philadelphia. German archbishop of Mainz (1802-17) Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (d. 1817) on Feb. 8 in Herrnsheim. English historian William Mitford (d. 1827) on Feb. 10 in Exbury (near Beaulieu); educated at Queen's College, Oxford U.; friend of Edward Gibbon (1737-94). English poet laureate (1790-1813) Henry James Pye (d. 1813) on Feb. 10 in London. Am. Rev. leader and atty. Josiah Quincy II (d. 1775) on Feb. 23 in Boston, Mass.; son of Josiah Quincy Sr. (1709-84); father of Josiah Quincy III (1772-1864); educated at Harvard U. German trader-banker (Jewish) ("Founding Father of International Finance") Mayer (Meyer) Amschel (de) Rothschild (Ger. "red shield") (Bauer) (d. 1812) on Feb. 23 in Frankfurt; founder of the Rothschild internat. banking house; father of five sons incl. Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836), whom he places in key positions to set up banks in Frankfurt, Vienna, London, Naples, and Paris, dominating the banking industry by the mid-1800s after making a fortune by financing the Napoleonic Wars; secret founder of the Illuminati?; the Red Shield is actually the origin of the Star of David? Am. Dem.-Repub. Mass. gov. #7 (1807-8) James Sullivan (d. 1808) on Apr. 22 in Berwick, Mass. (modern-day Maine); brother of John Sullivan (1740-95). French gen. Henri Christian Michel de Stengel (d. 1796) on May 11 in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Bavaria. British queen consort (1761-1818) and breed mare Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1818) on May 19 in Mirow, Meclenburg-Strelitz; youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1707-52) and Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen, duchess of Saxony (1713-61); wife (1761-) of George III (1738-1820); of a ducal-princely not royal line; mother of 15 children, incl. George IV (1762-1830), Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), William IV (1765-1837), Charlotte of Wurttemberg (1766-1828), Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767-1820), Augusta Sophia (1768-1840), Ernest Augustus I (1771-1851), Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1771-1843), Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), Sophia (1777-1848). English engraver-writer Samuel Ireland (d. 1800) on May 21 in London; father of "Vortigern" William Henry Ireland (1775-1835). British army maj. Patrick Ferguson (d. 1780) one June 4 (May 25 Old Style) in Edinburg, Scotland. Am. Repub. gerrymandering politician (Gov. of Mass.), statesman, DOI signer and vice-pres. #5 (1813-14) Elbridge Gerry (d. 1814) (pr. with hard g) on July 17 in Marblehead, Mass.; educated at Harvard U. grandfather of Elbridge Thomas Gerry (1837-1927). French naturalist (invertebrate zoologist and taxonomist) Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de Lamarck (d. 1829) on Aug. 1 in Bazentin, Picardy; an 11th child; coiner of the terms "invertebrates" and "biology"; founder of Lamarckism, the theory of organic evolution that acquired characteristics can be inherited - e.g., Ahnuld's kids should be born with big biceps? German Volksgeist nationalist Sturm und Drang poet-philosopher and Lutheran pastor Johann Gottfried von Herder (d. 1803) on Aug. 25 in Mohrungen, East Prussia (modern-day Morag, Poland); educated at the U. of Konigsberg (Kalingrad); student of Immanuel Kant; protege of Johann George Hamann; inspiration for Goethe to launch the Sturm und Drang movement in 1771; preaches that every nat. group has its own particular spirit and genius - is its own god-freed herd? French Palladian architect (in Italy) Giacomo Quarenghi (d. 1817) on Sept. 20/21 in Rota d'Imagna (near Bergamo); student of Anton Raphael Mengs, Stefano Pozzi, and Paolo Posi (1708-76). Prussian king #4 (1786-97) Frederick William II (d. 1797) on Sept. 25 in Berlin; son of Prince Augustus William (1722-58) (2nd son of Frederick William I). Canadian businessman (founder of McGill U.) James McGill (d. 1813) on Oct. 6 in Glasgow, Scotland; educated at the U. of Glasgow; emigrates to Canada in 1766. U.S. First Lady #2 (1797-1801) (fashion and society trend-setter) Abigail Smith Adams (d. 1818) on Nov. 11 in Weymouth, Mass.; daughter of Congregational Rev. William Smith and Elizabeth Quincy, descendant of Puritan preacher Thomas Shepard of Cambridge, and English king Edward I Longshanks (1239-1307); wife (1764-) of pres. John Adams (1735-1826). Am. politician-jurist Richard Peters Jr. (d. 1828) on June 22 in Philadelphia, Penn.; son of William Peters (1702-86); nephew of Richard Peters (1704-76); educated at the U. of Penn. Deaths: English queen's blackbottom girl (bedchamber reject) Sarah Churchill (b. 1660). Italian philosopher Giovanni Battista Vico (b. 1668) on Jan. 23 in Naples. English MP James Brydges, 1st duke of Chandos (b. 1673) on Aug. 4; dies heavily in debt, causing his Cannons estate to be demolished in 1747 and the contents auctioned. Am. Va. planter William Byrd II (b. 1674) on Aug. 26. German prince-archbishop of Salzburg (1727-44) Count Leopold Anton von Firmian (b. 1679) on Oct. 22 in Salzburg, Austria. English poet Alexander Pope (b. 1688) on May 30 in Twickenham: "A little learning is a dangerous thing;/ Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,/ And drinking largely sobers us again" [Pieria, Macedonia was home to the Muses]; "What mighty contests rise from trivial things"; "To err is human, to forgive divine"; "The proper study of mankind is man"; "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"; "Hope springs eternal in the human breast"; "True wit is nature to advantage dressed;/ What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed"; "The great moral poet of all times, of all climes, of all feelings, and all stages of existence." (Lord Byron) English playwright Lewis Theobald (b. 1688) on Sept. 18. Italian violin maker Giuseppe Guarneri (b. 1698) on Oct. 17. Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (b. 1701) on Apr. 25 in Uppsala (TB). Indian sage Thayumanavar (b. 1706).
1745 On Jan. 20 HRE Charles VII (b. 1697) dies, and his eldest son Maximilian III Joseph (1727-77) becomes elector of Bavaria (until 1777), but is in no position to fuss with the the Austrian armies invading his country, and abandons all fussy imperial pretentions for the House of Wittelsbach, signing on Apr. 22 the Treaty of Fussen (Füssen) in Bavaria; on Sept. 13 Maria Theresa's husband Francis Stephen is elected at Frankfurt am Main, and crowned HRE Francis I (1708-65) on Oct. 4, founding the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine as the imperial house of Austria (and later Hungary), which goes on to produce such credit-cards-that-got-no-limit-dress-my-ass-with-the-latest-fashion big rock stars as his daughters (by Maria Theresa) Marie Antoinette (wife of Louis XVI of France), Maria Luise (wife of Napoleon I), and Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. On May 11 the French under marshal Maurice, Comte de Saxe (Moritz von Sachsen) (Marechal de Saxe) (1696-1750) defeat the British, Dutch, and Austrians under the command of George II's incompetent younger son William (Wilhelm) Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-65) at the Battle of Fontenoy in Flanders, after whiskey-guzzling Scot Lord Charles Hay (1705-60) of the First Foot Guards first dashes forward and drinks a toast, shouting to the Gardes Francaises, "Gentlemen of France, fire first", the humiliation getting rubbed in when their lines are broken by the Irish Brigade, after which he ends up in an asylum by next year, then becomes George II's aide-de-camp in 1749, finally getting arrested in 1757 for criticizing his superiors; Saxe, who was naturalized as a French subject in Apr. is carried in a wicker chariot because he has edema and can't sit on a horse; the French then go on to conquer the Austrian Netherlands, becoming France's last great military V before the French Rev. In May Bavaria, Saxony, and Austria agree to reduce Prussia to its former condition as the electorate of Brandenburg; too bad, Frederick II has other ideas, and on June 4 he wins a V at the bloodbath Battle of Hohenfriedberg, and another in Sept. at the Battle of Soor-Trautenau, and one more on Dec. 14-15 at the Battle of Kesselsdorf. On June 16 a British force of 4.2K under Mass. gov. William Shirley and Kittery merchant Sir William Pepperell, 1st Baronet (1696-1759) (who also finances the expedition) takes supposedly impregnable Ft. Louisburg in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada after a 49-day siege, but three years later at Aix-la-Chapelle the fort is stupidly returned under a peace treaty in exchange for Madras, because the British need Quebec for firewood; Nathaniel Hawthorne later eulogizes Pepperell as "The mighty man of Kittery". On July 25 Roman Catholic "Young Pretender" Charles Edward Stuart (Stewart) (Bonnie Prince Charlie) (1720-88) (grandson of James II) lands on Eriskay Island in Scotland, proclaims his father as James VIII of Scotland and James III of England, and raises the Highlanders, beginning the Second Jacobite Rebellion (Jacobite Rising of 1745); on Sept. 17 the Scots win a V over royalist John Campbell, duke of Argyll (Argyle) at the Battle of Prestopans near Edinburgh; the Scottish army advances as far S as Derby but retreats when no English come to their aid; Bonnie Prince Charlie's landing in Scotland popularizes the song God Save the King/Queen. On Aug. 25 Grand Duke Peter of Russia marries Princess Catherine (future Catherine II the Great), previously known as Sophia (Sophie). On Sept. 15 Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame (Marquise) de Pompadour (1721-64) becomes Louis XV's official mistress; she lasts 19 years even though she is frigid, because she combines the brains of a diplomat, the conversational abilities of a raconteur, and the entertainment sense of a Martha Stewart, plus she is good at finding the king young, nubile bed partners who have none of these qualities? On Dec. 25 after the French fail to aid Prussia as promised, causing Frederick II to retreat to Silesia, while the English subsidize Maria Theresa and provide her with troops, then withdraw, the Peace (Treaty) of Dresden is signed in Dresden, Saxony, confirming Austrian secession of Silesia to Prussia, while Prussia recognizes the Pragmatic Sanction, ending the Second Silesian War. Shogun (since 1716) Tokugawa Yoshimune (b. 1684) dies, and Tokugawa Iyeshige (Ishege) (-1760) (a paralytic who has trouble speaking) becomes Tokugawa shogun #9 of Japan (until 1760). Ngwane III (-1780) becomes the first king of modern Swaziland (until 1780), which is called Kangwane. Lord Chesterfield becomes lord lt. of Ireland (until 1746), and his admin. becomes known for tolerance. Lord Jeffrey Amherst is promoted to lt. col., and appointed aide to the duke of Cumberland. Frederick, Md. (Frederick Town), named after Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore (Frederick II the Great?) is settled by German Rhineland Palatinate immigrants, later becoming the initial stop for the Pennsylvania Dutch, after which they migrate through the Shenandoah Valley to W Piedmont in N.C. After sailing to Bering Island in 1743, Russian Cossack explorer Emelian Basov explores the Aleutian Islands. In England the Co. of Barbers and Surgeons (formed 1540) splits up as the surgeons seek to distance themselves from their lowly "basin barber" brethren, and establish the Co. of Surgeons in London (until 1800); the barbers get the pole, which represents bloody rags hung out to dry, topped by a brass basin to catch the blood during bloodletting; in 1800 it becomes the Royal College of Surgeons of England. After young British lt. Baker Phillips is court martialed and shot for surrendering a ship after his captain brings it into battle unprepared and is killed, the double standard causes a public outcry leading to the Articles of War being amended to make "failure to do one's utmost" a capital crime for officers of all ranks. Benjamin Franklin founds the Am. Philosophical Society "for the promotion of useful knowledge among the British plantations in America", becoming the oldest learned society in Am.; its members later incl. 15 DOI signers, 18 members of the Constitutional Convention, and 13 U.S. presidents. Gaming is prohibited in Bath, England, ruining big dandy MC Richard "Beau" Nash (1674-1761), who ends up living on a pathetic pension. Benjamin Franklin pub. Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress, claiming that marriage is "the proper remedy" for sexual urges, but that if a man finds "sex inevitable", he should "prefer old women to young ones" for eight reasons, the final one being "they are so grateful". The number of newspapers in British America reaches 22: 7 in New England, 10 in the middle colonies, and 5 in the south. Poor Richard's Almanack for 1745. Gerard van Swieten (1700-72), founder of the Viennese School of Medicine becomes court physician to Maria Theresa. In the marriage of the year, French playwright Charles Simon Favart (1710-92) marries Opera-Comique singer-dancer Justine Benoite Duronceray (1727-72), and they go to Flanders to perform for the troops of Marshal de Sax fighting in the War of Austrian Succession, where they are so popular that enemy troops are granted leave to attend; they go on to produce over 100 comedies and operettas at the Opera-Comique, usually written by him and starring her. Middlesex Hospital in London, England is founded, causing great controversy over the idea of lying-in? The first Oddfellows (Odd Fellows) Lodge in England is founded at the Globe Tavern in Hatton Garden. The quadrille becomes a fashionable dance in France. Yale College in Conn. receives a new royal charter. Architecture: The Georgian Leinster House (originally Kildare House) in Dublin, Ireland is begun by James Fitzgerald, earl of Kildare, and designed by Kassel, Germany-born Irish architect Richard Castle (Cassels) (1690-1751) (finished 1747); it is later used as the model for the U.S. White House. The Rococo Sanssouci (Fr. "without a care") Palace in Potsdam (near Berlin), Prussia is begun by Frederick II the Great to rival Versailles as his summer home, designed by Prussian architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (1699-1753) and Dutch architect Jan Bouman (1706-66) (finished May 1, 1747); it ends up as a 1-story 10-room villa that rivals Chateau de Marly not Versailles, causing his successors to enlarge it. Inventions: French robot toy whiz Jacques de Vaucanson (1709-82), who was appointed by Cardinal Fleury in 1741 as French inspector of silk manufacture invents a Punch-Card Controlled Drawloom (the first completely automated loom) in an effort to help French industry catch up with England and Scotland; too bad, the Luddites shut him down, and he gives up on robots. Science: English farmer Robert Bakewell (1725-95) of England pioneers Systematic Stock Breeding (Animal Husbandry) - good stock we must bake well? The Leyden Jar, the biggest electrical breakthrough of the 18th cent. is discovered independently by Canon Ewald Georg von Kleist (1700-48) of Kamin, Pomerania (Oct. 11, 1745) and Cornelius Pieter (Petrus) van Musschenbroek of the U. of Leyden in Holland (Jan. 1746), giving it its name. Nonfiction: Germain Boffrand (1667-1754), Livre d'Architecture; attempts to strike a balance between French academic classicism, Italian Baroque, and his new Louis XV Rococo. Charles Bonnet (1720-93), Traite d'Insectologie. Denis Diderot (1713-84), Essai sur le Merite de la Vertu; "From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step." Philip Doddridge, The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-84), Observations on the Tragedy of Macbeth. James Logan, The Clans of the Scottish Highlands. Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759), Venus Physique (The Earthly Venus); challenges the preformation theory of genetics, proposing development of life from a common ancestor, and announcing the take-a-chance-on-me Principle of Least (Stationary) Action. Thomas Simpson (1710-61), A Treatise of Algebra. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Directions to Servants in General; Further Thoughts on Various Subjects; "Vision is the Art of seeing Things invisible." William Whiston (1667-1752), Primitive New Testament. Music: J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Cantata 191); composed to celebrate the Peace of Dresden, and performed on Christmas Day, the date of the treaty. William Boyce (1710-79), Lyra Britannica (6 vols.) (1745-). The Scottish nat. song The Campbells Are Coming (Baile Inneraora) is pub. Art: Pompeo Batoni (1708-87), Achilles at the Court of Lycomedes. Francois Boucher (1703-70), Spring (La Toilette Pastorale); Bacchus and Erigone. William Hogarth (1697-1764), Self-Portrait with Pug Dog. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), Antony and Cleopatra (Labia Palace, Venice). Plays: Carlo Goldoni (1707-93), Arlecchino Servitore di Due Padroni (Harlequin Servant of Two Masters) (comedy); I Due Gemelli Veneziani (The Two Venetian Twins) (comedy). James Thomson (1700-48), Tancred and Sigismunda (tragedy). Births: Am. Rev. War Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne (d. 1796) on Jan. 1 in Chester County, Penn. Danish entomology pioneer Johan Christian Fabricius (d. 1808) on Jan. 7 in Tonder, Schleswig; educated at the U. of Copenhagen; student of Carl Linnaeus. Dutch surgeon-scholar-Japanologist Isaac Titsing
