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The Act of Union merges Scotland and England together
This merger of Scotland and England that occurred over a century after the union of the crowns shows that the European identities of national pride continued to grow stronger into the 18th century as the various colonial presence of each European power continued to increase. Throughout this century the national unity of many nations increased. -
Thomas Newcomen invents the piston steam engine
The creation of the steam engine was scientific invention that led to a lot greater industrialization as more factories could be built not having to rely on waterways to supply power to machines. The continued advancement of science provided better and better ways for industrialization to commence across all European nations. -
Austria-Hungary is decided to be ruled by two families by Charles VI
The Austria-Hungary Empire is decided that to meet with the growing divide of the nation across racial lines that the Austrian area of the empire containing many ethnic Germans and other groups will be ruled by a separate king to facilitate better governmental control on the diverse empire. This was a result of the enlightenment ideas influence Charles IV to create a more functional government for the people. -
John Hadley creates a telescopic instrument that became the Sextant
This new instrument created as a result of several of the principles discovered during the scientific revolution increased the efficiency of trade across all nations. This tool allowed ships to be far more accurate in determining their position therefore decreasing time to cross oceans making colonial ventures of European nations more efficient because they could get resources from them far more quickly. -
France officially declares war on Britain - King George's War
This war began a long a arduous power struggle for colonial territories in the Americas. The result of this war was a truce that demanded all land be returned to their 'rightful' owners, neither side could agree who that was. This began to long suffering squabble between France and Britain over American colonial territories that culminated in the French and Indian war. -
William Smellie introduces scientific midwifery
William Smellie introduced the medical practice of actually having trained medical professionals present during births to prevent complications. He also set about creating teaching programs to teach obstetrics and gynecology scientifically as opposed to the more local knowledge based style of midwifes that were present for a long time. He even taught midwifes update scientific principles to improve their capabilities as midwifes. -
Frederick the Great Launches an invasion into Saxony starting the Seven years war
This was the beginning of the final war between all the great colonial powers of the era. This was when the national pride of every nation within Europe clashed. This was when the two great colonial powers of France and Great Britain fought across the world ending up with Great Britain becoming the dominate colonial power in America through the territory they won during the war. -
Edmund Halley precisely predicts when a comet would return
He was a great scientist and mathematician of his time, he helped in the publication of the Principia Mathematica. He took massive amounts of data and used it to create functional information, he created the first functional meteorological charts of the ocean showing the prevailing winds allowing for shipping routes to be better optimized. -
Treaty of Paris is signed ending the Seven Years war.
This treaty ended the seven years war and also France's colonial power in the Americas. Great Britain gained control of Frances territories in the Americas becoming the greatest colonial power. While Prussia became a contender within Europe as one of the great powers. -
The Encyclopedia Britannica first published
The Society of Gentleman in Scotland begin publishing editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica, This demonstrated how society was shifting towards trying to increase the education of the common man. The Encyclopedia Britannica embodied the ideas of the sharing of knowledge of the scientific revolution and helped to change European society.
