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1701
War of the Spanish Succession begins-the last of Louis XIV's wars for domination of the continent. The Peace of Utrecht (1714) will end the conflict and mark the rise of the British Empire. Called Queen Anne's War in America, it ends with the British taking New Foundland, Acadia, and Hudson's Bay Territory from France, and Gibraltar and Minorca from Spain. -
1704
Deerfield (Mass.) Massacre of English colonists by French and Indians. Johann Sebastian Bach's first cantata. Boston News Letter-first newspaper in America. -
1707
Giovanni da Verrazano explores the coast from Carolina north to Nova Scotia, enters New York harbor. -
1729
Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Isaac Newton's Principia translated from Latin into English. -
1732
Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Isaac Newton's Principia translated from Latin into English. -
1735
John Peter Zenger, New York editor, acquitted of libel in New York, establishing freedom of the press. -
1752
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod. The Liberty Bell was ordered from an English bell foundry to celebrate Pennsylvania's 50th anniversary. -
1755
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary first published. U.S. postal service established. -
1756
Seven Years' War (French and Indian Wars in America) (to 1763), in which Britain and Prussia defeat France, Spain, Austria, and Russia. France loses North American colonies; Spain cedes Florida to Britain in exchange for Cuba. -
1765
James Watt invents the steam engine. Britain imposes the Stamp Act on the American colonists. -
1770
Boston Massacre: English troops fire on a group of people protesting English taxes. -
1773
Boston Tea Party: English tea is thrown into the harbor to protest a tax on tea. -
1775
Fighting at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, marks the beginning of the American Revolution. -
1776
The Declaration of Independence is approved July 4 by the Continental Congress (made up of representatives from the American colonies). -
1789
The French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille. In U.S., George Washington elected president with all 69 votes of the Electoral College, takes oath of office in New York City. -
1791
U.S. Bill of Rights ratified. -
1796
Napoléon Bonaparte defeats Austrians. In the U.S., George Washington's Farewell Address (Sept. 17); John Adams elected president; Thomas Jefferson, vice president. Edward Jenner introduces smallpox vaccination.