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Yale University
An Act for Liberty to Erect a Collegiate School in Saybrook is passed by the Colony of Connecticut. It would become Yale University. -
New Jersey
Royal Colony of New Jersey established by Queen Anne from separate provinces of East New Jersey and West New Jersey. -
Massachusetts Under Attack
During Queen Anne's War, Deerfield, Massachusetts is attacked by French and Indian forces with fifty-six killed and over one hundred captured and carried off. -
The News-Letter
The first regular newspaper publishes its initial edition in Boston, the News-Letter. It was begun by John Campbell, the postmaster. -
New York Slave Revolt
New York slave revolt results in six suicides and twenty-one executions. -
End of Queen Anne's War
The Queen Anne's War ends with the French signing a treaty in the series of Treaties of Utrecht to give Nova Scotia to the British. -
The First theater
The first theater in the colonies to open for business in Williamsburg, Virginia when the contract is signed to build the theater. -
City of New Orleans
French colonists under the governor of the French colony of Louisiana, Jean-Baptiste le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, with the French Mississippi Company found the City of New Orleans, named after the Regent of France, Philip II, the Duke of Orleans. It is located on the lands of the Chitimacha tribe. -
The Villasur Expedition
The Villasur expedition of Spanish troops leaves Mexico on a mission to control the increasing presence of the French in the Great Plains. It would end with a defeat by the Pawnee on August 14 near the Loup and Platte Rivers, near Columbus, Nebraska. -
Declaration of War
Declaration of war occurs in Dummer's War after skirmishes earlier in the year between New England colonists and the Wabanaki Confederacy, backed by New France. Lasted three years until December 15, 1725. -
Crown Colony
Lord proprietors sell out their interests in North Carolina to British Crown, establishing North Carolina as a Crown Colony. -
Birth of George Washington
George Washington is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. -
Western border of the Pacific Ocean
Province of Georgia corporate charter granted to General James Oglethorpe by British King George II with the original western border of the Pacific Ocean and settlers who had been imprisoned for their debts. -
Poor Richard's Almanac
Poor Richard's Almanac is published for the first of its twenty-six annual editions by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. It would sell as many as 10,000 copies per year. -
Freedom of Press
Freedom of the Press became recognized in New York after the trial of John Peter Zenger, who had been accused of libeling the British Government in his Weekly Journal. Zenger was acquitted on that date. -
George Whitefield Arrives in US
Anglican minister George Whitefield arrives for his first of seven visits to North America and becomes the predominant preacher in the First Great Awakening movement throughout the colonies. -
Second Revolt of Slaves
Twenty-nine years after the first revolt of slaves in New York, a second uprising occurs. Seventeen slaves were hanged after the revolt, thirteen burned, and seventy deported. -
The Beginning of King George's War
The first battle of King George's War begins with a raid by New French against the British port of Canso. The four-year conflict against northern British colonies takes a heavy toll after battles in Maine, at Fort Massachusetts, and in Saratoga, New York. -
The First Encyclopedia
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Lighting Rod
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod after earlier in the year proving that lightning was electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm. -
Attack on Fort Duquesne
George Washington and his troops attack Fort Duquesne, an initial action of the French and Indian War between the English and French which began when French forces built and occupied Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh and did not heed warnings to leave Virginia territory. -
Battle of Fort Necessity
Battle of Fort Necessity occurs in southwestern Pennsylvania in a small fort built for supplies. That battle of the French and Indian War ends in a peace document, allowing Washington's withdrawal and surrender of the fort. -
The Capture of Fort William Henry
French capture Fort William Henry (New York) after a six-day siege. This is the battle described in James Fenimore Cooper's book, the Last of the Mohicans. -
France Cedes Louisiana to Spain
France cedes Louisiana to Spain. This started a contentious period of thirty-eight years of Spanish rule before Spain returned Louisiana back to France. -
French and Indian War Ends
French and Indian War ends with a peace treaty that cedes Canada and the American midwest to English. This signals and effectively tightens the control of Great Britain's colonial administration of North America. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act places a duty on various commodities, including lumber, food, molasses, and rum in the British colonies. -
Steam Engine & Stamp Act
James Watt invents the steam engine. Britain imposes the Stamp Act on the American colonists. -
Declaration of Rights
After the establishment of the Stamp Act by the British Government on March 22, which required revenue stamps, taxes, to pay for British troops, nine American colonies hold a Stamp Act Congress in New York and adopted a Declaration of Rights against taxation without representation. -
No More Stamp Act
Stamp Act is repealed. -
Levies on Goods
Additional levies are put on goods in American colonies by the British Government when the Townshend Acts are enacted, including levies on glass, painter's lead, paper, and tea. All would be repealed in three years, except for the tax on tea. -
Jose de Galvez
Jose de Galvez sends Spanish missionaries into California to begin the establishment of missions at San Diego and Monterey. There would be twenty-one missions established and maintained over the next sixty-four years of the mission period in Spanish California history. -
Boston Massacre
English troops fire on a group of people protesting English taxes. -
Boston Tea Party
English tea is thrown into the harbor to protest a tax on tea. -
Fighting at Lexington and Concord
Massachusetts marks the beginning of the American Revolution. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is approved July 4 by the Continental Congress -
Surrendering of British General Cornwallis
British General Cornwallis surrenders to the Americans at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the fighting in the Revolutionary War. William Herschel discovers Uranus. -
The Revolutionary War Ends
Revolutionary War ends with the Treaty of Paris. -
The Constitution of The United Sates
The Constitution of the United States signed. -
The French Revolution Begins
The French Revolution begins with the storming of the Bastille. In the U.S., George Washington elected president with all 69 votes of the Electoral College, takes an oath of office in New York City. -
Philadelphia becomes temporary capital of the U.S.
Philadelphia temporary capital of the U.S. as Congress votes to establish a new capital on Potomac. -
U.S. Bill of Rights ratified.
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Napoléon Bonaparte, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Edward Jenner
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.
