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Invention
Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano. -
Invention
French C. Hopffer patents the fire extinguisher. -
Invention
Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the first mercury thermometer. -
The Great Awakening
The Great Awakening was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its Thirteen Colonies between the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affected Protestantism as adherents strove to renew individual piety and religious devotion. -
Invention
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod. -
Seven Years’ War
The Seven Years’ War, also known as the French and Indian War, began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war’s expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga served as a key point of access to both Canada and the Hudson River Valley during the French and Indian War. It was a small-scale conflict. The Battle of Fort Ticonderoga was the first American victory of the Revolutionary War, and would give the Continental Army much-needed artillery to be used in future battles. -
Pontiac War
Pontiac’s War begins when a confederacy of Native American warriors under Ottawa chief Pontiac attacks the British force at Detroit. After failing to take the fort in their initial assault, Pontiac’s forces, made up of Ottawas and reinforced by Wyandots, Ojibwas, and Potawatamis, initiated a siege that would stretch into months. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France, as well as their respective allies. In the terms of the treaty, France gave up all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a law that attempted to curb the smuggling of sugar and molasses in the colonies by reducing the previous tax rate and enforcing the collection of duties. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed by the British government on the American colonies in 1767. They placed new taxes and took away some freedoms from the colonists including the following: New taxes on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts also known as Intolerable Acts were a package of five laws implemented by the British government with the purpose of restoring authority in its colonies. The first four Acts were passed as reprisal for the rebellion against the 1773 Tea Act that led to the Boston Tea Party Protest. -
Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War, also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. After French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, the Americans had effectively won their independence, though fighting would not formally end until 1783. -
Invention
Alexander Cummings invents the flush toilet. -
Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It explained why the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” by the votes of 12 colonies (with New York abstaining) had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.” -
Washington Crosses the Delaware
Washington crossed the Delaware River so that his army could attack an isolated garrison of Hessian troops located at Trenton, New Jersey -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first written constitution of the United States. Written in 1777 and stemming from wartime urgency, its progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states. It was not ratified until March 1, 1781. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays’ Rebellion was a series of violent attacks on courthouses and other government properties in Massachusetts that began in 1786 and led to a full-blown military confrontation in 1787. -
French Revolution
The French Revolution was a watershed event in modern European history that began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. During this period, French citizens razed and redesigned their country’s political landscape, uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absolute monarchy and the feudal system. -
President
George Washington was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. -
Invention
The guillotine is invented. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion was a 1794 uprising of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania in protest of a whiskey tax enacted by the federal government. Following years of aggression with tax collectors, the region finally exploded in a confrontation that resulted in President Washington sending in troops to quell what some feared could become a full-blown revolution. -
Invention
Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin. -
Jay’s Treaty
Jay's Treaty was an agreement that assuaged antagonisms between the United States and Great Britain. It established a base upon which America could build a sound national economy, and assured its commercial prosperity. Negotiations were undertaken because of the fears of Federalist leaders that disputes with Great Britain would lead to war. -
President
John Adams, a remarkable political philosopher, served as the second President of the United States after serving as the first Vice President under President George Washington.
