Events from the 1700s

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1700s

350 events
1700 - 1799 AD
1800s →

1700s (34 events)

1700 ID: 452
Michel Rolle launches sustained attack on infinitesimal calculus at French Academy, calling it 'a collection of ingenious fallacies' with 'impossibilities and contradictions'
ID: 452
1700 ID: 467
Double-entry bookkeeping becomes standardized across European merchant houses, providing mathematical proof that books balance and reducing fraud
ID: 467
1700 ID: 469
St. John Baptist de La Salle founds teaching method for Christian Brothers to educate poor, countering Enlightenment elitism
ID: 469
1700 ID: 2238
Act of Settlement - Protestant succession secured, judges removable only by Parliament, judicial independence
ID: 2238
1700 ID: 5698
Mexico maintains vanilla monopoly - only place where natural pollinators (Melipona bees) exist
ID: 5698
Veracruz
1700 ID: 5721
Chinese begin mixing tobacco with opium for smoking - creates more addictive combination, accelerates opium crisis
ID: 5721
China
1700 ID: 5722
Hunan province develops distinct chili cuisine - 'gan la' (dry spicy) style using chilies for preservation and flavor
ID: 5722
China
1700 ID: 5728
Thai bird's eye chili developed through selection - extremely hot small chilies spread through Southeast Asia
ID: 5728
Thailand
1700 ID: 5731
Most Asian societies prohibit women from smoking tobacco - creates gendered smoking culture that persists centuries
ID: 5731
China
1700 ID: 5779
Cider becomes colonial America's national beverage - safer than water, children drink diluted cider daily, used as currency
ID: 5779
Boston
1700 ID: 5988
Great Northern War begins - Peter the Great challenges Swedish supremacy, initially defeated at Narva
ID: 5988
Narva
1701 ID: 470
Frederick III crowns himself King Frederick I in Prussia with Pietist theological justification from Spener
ID: 470
1701 ID: 2239
Yale College charter - corporation for education with self-perpetuating board, academic corporation model
ID: 2239
1702 ID: 4193
Flying serpents seen over Pembrokeshire - multiple witnesses report winged serpents in daylight (Welsh newspaper accounts)
ID: 4193
1703 ID: 436
Leibniz publishes 'Explication de l'Arithmétique Binaire', describing binary number system with implications for logic
ID: 436
1703 ID: 2240
Ashby v. White - right to vote is property right enforceable at law, expanding property concept
ID: 2240
1703 ID: 2307
Scottish bankruptcy law allows discharge after 5 years - more liberal than English law, reflecting Roman cessio bonorum tradition
ID: 2307
Edinburgh
1703 ID: 5562
Francis II Rákóczi's War of Independence begins against Habsburg rule, lasts 8 years
ID: 5562
Pannonia
1703 ID: 5989
May 27, 1703
Peter the Great founds St. Petersburg on swampland - 'Window to Europe' built at cost of thousands of lives
ID: 5989
St. Petersburg
1704 ID: 453
Isaac Newton publishes Opticks, including method of fluxions and mathematical analysis of light
ID: 453
1704 ID: 471
Louis-Armand de Lom d'Arce publishes 'New Voyages' featuring Adario (based on Kondiaronk) critiquing European society
ID: 471
1705 ID: 454
Edmund Halley uses Newton's gravitational theory to predict return of Halley's Comet, demonstrating mathematical laws can predict future
ID: 454
1705 ID: 2241
Lord Chief Justice Holt modernizes commercial law - negotiable instruments recognized at common law
ID: 2241
1705 ID: 2308
English statute makes bankruptcy discharge permanent - previously could be revoked if debtor acquired new property
ID: 2308
Westminster
1706 ID: 472
St. Louis de Montfort prophesies apostles of latter times: 'like clouds thundering and flying through the air'
ID: 472
1707 ID: 455
Abraham de Moivre develops De Moivre's theorem: (cos θ + i sin θ)ⁿ = cos(nθ) + i sin(nθ)
ID: 455
1707 ID: 2242
Act of Union creates Kingdom of Great Britain - Scotland retains separate legal system, legal pluralism
ID: 2242
1708 ID: 429
Pierre Rémond de Montmort publishes 'Essay d'analyse sur les jeux de hazard', early work on combinatorics and probability
ID: 429
1708 ID: 473
Chester Moor Hall applies Newton's chromatic aberration calculations to develop first achromatic lens
ID: 473
1709 ID: 474
Gabriel Fahrenheit creates first alcohol thermometer using mathematical temperature scale
ID: 474
1709 ID: 475
Abraham Darby I uses coke instead of charcoal to smelt iron at Coalbrookdale, revolutionizing metallurgy
ID: 475
Coalbrookdale
1709 ID: 3766
Denmark defeats Swedish invasion - failed attempt by Charles XII to knock Denmark out of war
ID: 3766
1709 ID: 5944
Herculaneum accidentally rediscovered - well digger finds ancient theater, perfectly preserved by volcanic material
ID: 5944
Herculaneum
1709 ID: 5990
July 8, 1709
Battle of Poltava - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden, Russia becomes European great power
ID: 5990
Poltava

1710s (23 events)

1710 ID: 456
Bishop Berkeley publishes idealist philosophy - 'To be is to be perceived' - attempting to save God by denying matter
ID: 456
1710 ID: 2243
Statute of Anne - first copyright statute, authors' rights for 14 years renewable, birth of copyright
ID: 2243
1711 ID: 2244
South Sea Company chartered - joint-stock company for government debt conversion, financial innovation
ID: 2244
1712 ID: 476
June 28, 1712
Jean-Jacques Rousseau born in Geneva; mother dies in childbirth, father abandons him at age 10
ID: 476
Geneva
1713 ID: 430
Jakob Bernoulli's 'Ars Conjectandi' published posthumously, containing combinatorial analysis and Bernoulli numbers
ID: 430
1713 ID: 438
Christian Wolff begins publishing his systematic philosophy, formalizing and extending Leibnizian logic
ID: 438
1713 ID: 457
Jacob Bernoulli's Ars Conjectandi published posthumously, establishing probability theory and systematic combinatorics
ID: 457
1713 ID: 477
Frederick William I 'Soldier King' takes Prussian throne, implements Pietist discipline: 'Prussia must be governed like a regiment'
ID: 477
1714 ID: 437
Leibniz's mature work on characteristica universalis and calculus ratiocinator, envisioning mechanical reasoning
ID: 437
1714 ID: 458
Brook Taylor develops Taylor series expansion for expressing functions as infinite series
ID: 458
1714 ID: 459
Brook Taylor develops systematic theory of finite differences for numerical approximation between data points
ID: 459
1714 ID: 460
John Arbuthnot applies probability theory to birth rate statistics, arguing for divine design in equal male/female births
ID: 460
1714 ID: 5991
Peter the Great issues decree on primogeniture - reforms succession law, forces nobility into state service
ID: 5991
St. Petersburg
1715 ID: 461
Leibniz-Newton calculus controversy peaks; Royal Society declares Newton inventor, creating first major international mathematical scandal
ID: 461
1715 ID: 2245
Riot Act - reading proclamation makes assembly unlawful, expanding state power over public order
ID: 2245
1717 ID: 479
John Toland founds Ancient Druid Order, attempting to revive pre-Christian Celtic spirituality
ID: 479
1717 ID: 480
Frederick William I makes education compulsory in Prussia with Pietist pedagogy: 'breaking of natural will is primary purpose'
ID: 480
1717 ID: 481
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduces variolation (smallpox inoculation) from Ottoman Empire; 2-3% death rate
ID: 481
1717 ID: 478
June 24, 1717
Formation of first Grand Lodge in London at Goose and Gridiron alehouse, beginning modern organized Freemasonry
ID: 478
1718 ID: 431
Abraham de Moivre publishes 'The Doctrine of Chances', advancing combinatorial probability theory
ID: 431
1718 ID: 462
London Assurance Company becomes first to use Bernoulli's probability calculations for life insurance premiums
ID: 462
1718 ID: 2309
English partnership law recognizes implied partnership - acting as partners creates legal partnership even without agreement
ID: 2309
Prouille
1719 ID: 2246
Transportation Act - systematic deportation of convicts to colonies as criminal punishment
ID: 2246

1720s (27 events)

1720 ID: 463
South Sea Bubble demonstrates early application of probability mathematics in finance - first financial crisis analyzed using mathematical risk models
ID: 463
1720 ID: 468
South Sea Bubble collapse exposes financial manipulation, creating first major calls for transparent financial reporting and standardized accounting
ID: 468
1720 ID: 483
St. Paul of the Cross founds Passionists after visions of Church's coming passion
ID: 483
1720 ID: 2247
South Sea Bubble collapse - speculation scandal leads to Bubble Act restricting joint-stock companies
ID: 2247
1720 ID: 2248
Bubble Act - prohibits joint-stock companies without charter, reaction to South Sea Bubble
ID: 2248
1721 ID: 484
Montesquieu publishes 'Persian Letters' using exotic outsider to critique European society
ID: 484
1721 ID: 2310
Law of Copartnership by Giles Jacob published - first English treatise on partnership law, attempts to systematize common law rules
ID: 2310
Prouille
1721 ID: 5992
Treaty of Nystad ends Great Northern War - Russia gains Baltic provinces, Peter proclaimed Emperor of All Russia
ID: 5992
St. Petersburg
1722 ID: 485
Count Zinzendorf establishes Herrnhut community for Moravian Brethren, develops 24/7 prayer watches lasting 100 years
ID: 485
Herrnhut
1722 ID: 5993
Peter the Great introduces Table of Ranks - creates meritocratic nobility, service determines status not birth
ID: 5993
St. Petersburg
1723 ID: 486
James Anderson publishes Constitutions of Free-Masons establishing Deist principles and religious universalism
ID: 486
1723 ID: 487
Francke's schools have 2,000+ students with strict schedule: 'Breaking the will' as central pedagogical principle
ID: 487
Halle
1723 ID: 488
Reportedly first Masonic lodge 'Fidelitas' founded at Girifalco in Calabria (documentation sparse)
ID: 488
Girifalco
1723 ID: 2249
Waltham Black Act - creates 50 new capital crimes, harsh criminal law for property protection
ID: 2249
1723 ID: 5563
Hungarian Diet accepts Pragmatic Sanction, allowing Maria Theresa to inherit Hungarian throne
ID: 5563
Esztergom
1724 ID: 464
Daniel Bernoulli begins work on fluid mechanics leading to Bernoulli's principle, driven by need to drain deeper mines
ID: 464
1724 ID: 465
Lloyd's of London begins using de Moivre's probability calculations for marine insurance
ID: 465
1725 ID: 466
Edmond Halley creates first actuarial life table using de Moivre's mortality probability formulas
ID: 466
1726 ID: 2250
Lord Hardwicke becomes Lord Chancellor - begins 20-year transformation of equity into systematic jurisprudence
ID: 2250
1726 ID: 2311
Lex Mercatoria by Gerard Malynes establishes partnership principles - mutual agency, fiduciary duties, profit sharing presumptions
ID: 2311
Prouille
1727 ID: 490
Pietist 'Collegium' system implemented in Prussian government - small groups personally accountable to king with moral supervision
ID: 490
1727 ID: 5700
Coffee smuggled to Brazil from French Guiana - hidden in bouquet, becomes world's largest producer by 1850
ID: 5700
Brazil
1727 ID: 489
August 13, 1727
Moravian Pentecost at Herrnhut - intense emotional outpouring during communion with speaking in tongues, but strict regulations imposed
ID: 489
Herrnhut
1728 ID: 491
Rousseau's wandering years begin - converts to Catholicism in Turin, becomes lover of Madame de Warens
ID: 491
Turin
1729 ID: 492
Thomas Newcomen improves steam engine design using Bernoulli's fluid pressure calculations
ID: 492
1729 ID: 493
St. Alphonsus Liguori ordained - will combat Jansenism with 111 works defending God's mercy
ID: 493
1729 ID: 2251
Lord Hardwicke establishes modern mortgage law - equity of redemption protected, 'once a mortgage always a mortgage'
ID: 2251

1730s (28 events)

1730 ID: 494
Crown Prince Frederick attempts escape from Prussia with von Katte; forced to watch friend's execution and undergo Pietist re-education
ID: 494
Küstrin
1730 ID: 495
Abraham de Moivre develops generating functions for solving recurrence relations
ID: 495
1731 ID: 496
February 1731
Benjamin Franklin initiated into St. John's Lodge Philadelphia at age 24
ID: 496
Philadelphia
1732 ID: 497
Lord Charles Sackville establishes first English Masonic Lodge in Italy - 'La Loggia degli Inglesi' in Florence
ID: 497
Florence
1732 ID: 2252
Georgia charter - trusteeship model for colony, charitable corporation for debtors and poor
ID: 2252
1732 ID: 2312
English Bankruptcy Act reforms - Lord Chancellor gains supervisory power over commissioners, beginning of judicial control
ID: 2312
Westminster
1732 ID: 4954
St. Alphonsus Liguori founds Redemptorists - congregation for evangelizing the poor and abandoned
ID: 4954
Naples
1733 ID: 498
De Moivre discovers normal distribution approximation to binomial distribution (early central limit theorem)
ID: 498
1733 ID: 499
Giovanni Saccheri explores non-Euclidean geometry while trying to prove Euclid - accidentally discovers hyperbolic geometry
ID: 499
1734 ID: 500
Franklin elected Grand Master of Pennsylvania Masons at 28 - youngest in Masonic history
ID: 500
1734 ID: 501
Johann Albrecht Bengel publishes apocalyptic calculations predicting Christ's return for 1836
ID: 501
1734 ID: 502
George Berkeley publishes The Analyst criticizing calculus: 'ghosts of departed quantities'
ID: 502
1735 ID: 503
Bernoulli's principle applied in designing efficient water pumps for Cornish tin mines
ID: 503
1735 ID: 504
La Condamine's Amazon expedition returns with accounts of indigenous life - Rousseau reads avidly
ID: 504
1735 ID: 2253
John Peter Zenger trial - truth as defense to seditious libel, foundation of press freedom
ID: 2253
1736 ID: 403
Euler solves the Seven Bridges of Königsberg problem, founding graph theory and topology
ID: 403
Königsberg
St. Petersburg Academy
1736 ID: 505
Leonhard Euler solves Seven Bridges of Königsberg problem, founding graph theory
ID: 505
Königsberg
1736 ID: 2254
Porteous Riots in Edinburgh - crowd justice against captain who fired on smugglers, legitimacy crisis
ID: 2254
Edinburgh
1736 ID: 5699
Charles de La Condamine studies rubber in Amazon - sends samples to Europe, describes waterproofing properties
ID: 5699
Amazon Basin
1737 ID: 507
Euler introduces notation f(x) for functions and e for base of natural logarithms
ID: 507
1737 ID: 2255
Lord Hardwicke develops doctrine of part performance - oral trusts of land enforceable if relied upon
ID: 2255
1737 ID: 2313
Stop of the Exchequer cases establish partnership by estoppel - holding out as partner creates liability to third parties
ID: 2313
Prouille
1737 ID: 506
June 1737
Inquisition condemns Florence Masonic lodge; Tommaso Crudeli arrested, tortured, dies from treatment
ID: 506
Florence
1737 ID: 5174
July 9, 1737
Death of Gian Gastone de' Medici - last male Medici, Grand Duchy passes to House of Lorraine
ID: 5174
Florence
1738 ID: 509
Daniel Bernoulli applies fluid principle to explain blood circulation in Hydrodynamica
ID: 509
1738 ID: 2256
Lord Hardwicke's rule in Gee v. Pritchard - equity acts in personam, foundation of equitable remedies
ID: 2256
1738 ID: 508
April 28, 1738
Pope Clement XII issues 'In Eminenti' - first papal condemnation of Freemasonry, threatening excommunication
ID: 508
1739 ID: 510
David Hume's 'Treatise of Human Nature' destroys rational foundation: 'Reason is slave of passions'
ID: 510

1740s (34 events)

1740 ID: 511
Frederick the Great takes throne, rejects Pietism for French Enlightenment but maintains Pietist administration
ID: 511
1740 ID: 512
Zinzendorf's 'Blood and Wounds' theology period begins - extreme focus on Christ's wounds with 17 daily meditation periods
ID: 512
1740 ID: 513
Anders Celsius develops mathematical temperature scale based on decimal divisions
ID: 513
1740 ID: 514
Benjamin Huntsman produces crucible steel commercially in Sheffield, England
ID: 514
Sheffield
1740 ID: 2257
Frederick the Great abolishes torture in Prussia - Enlightenment reforms of criminal procedure
ID: 2257
1742 ID: 515
Christian Goldbach proposes conjecture: every even integer >2 is sum of two primes
ID: 515
1742 ID: 516
Rousseau arrives in Paris with musical notation system, enters salons through Diderot and d'Alembert
ID: 516
Venice
Paris
1743 ID: 518
Moravian 'Sifting Time' crisis - antinomian excesses and sexual scandals in communities
ID: 518
Herrnhut
1743 ID: 519
Benjamin Franklin begins electrical experiments developing mathematical conservation principle for charges
ID: 519
1743 ID: 2258
Lord Hardwicke decides Penn v. Lord Baltimore - equity enforces agreements between sovereigns, expanding jurisdiction
ID: 2258
1743 ID: 4165
Vierzehnheiligen Basilica begun by Balthasar Neumann - masterpiece of German Baroque, shrine to Fourteen Holy Helpers
ID: 4165
1743 ID: 5645
Mark Catesby includes illustrated skunk entry in 'Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'
ID: 5645
Carolina Colony
1743 ID: 5175
February 18, 1743
Death of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici - last Medici, leaves art collection to Florence 'in perpetuity'
ID: 5175
Florence
1743 ID: 517
April 1743
Emanuel Swedenborg's spiritual crisis begins Easter weekend in London - claims Christ appeared to him
ID: 517
London
1744 ID: 520
Euler develops calculus of variations; Johann Bernoulli uses for brachistochrone challenge
ID: 520
1744 ID: 521
Rousseau reads Lafitau's comparison of Native Americans to ancient Greeks, notes: 'See here the childhood of the world'
ID: 521
1744 ID: 2314
Prussian bankruptcy code allows rehabilitation after 10 years - bankrupt can return to full civil rights, influenced by Enlightenment
ID: 2314
1744 ID: 5259
Louis XV vows new church to St. Genevieve - promises church if cured of illness, becomes the Pantheon
ID: 5259
Paris
1744 ID: 5626
Francisco Dagohoy leads the longest revolt in Philippine history against Spanish rule in Bohol, lasting 85 years until 1829
ID: 5626
Philippines
Bohol
Spain
1745 ID: 522
Rousseau begins affair with illiterate laundress Thérèse Levasseur; will abandon five children to foundling hospital
ID: 522
1745 ID: 523
St. Benedict Joseph Labre born - future 'Beggar Saint' who chooses radical poverty
ID: 523
1746 ID: 524
Pieter van Musschenbroek invents Leyden jar, early electrical capacitor
ID: 524
1746 ID: 525
John Roebuck develops lead chamber process for sulfuric acid production in Birmingham
ID: 525
Birmingham
1746 ID: 526
Paris maternity hospital documents over 50% maternal mortality from puerperal fever
ID: 526
Paris
1747 ID: 527
Frederick the Great's artillery officers apply Euler's variational calculus to optimize cannon trajectories
ID: 527
1747 ID: 2259
Lord Hardwicke's decision in Burgess v. Wheate - trustee holds legal title but no beneficial interest, modern trust structure
ID: 2259
1748 ID: 528
Euler publishes 'Introductio in analysin infinitorum', systematically developing mathematical analysis
ID: 528
1748 ID: 529
Leonhard Euler develops theory of polyhedra and Euler's formula V - E + F = 2
ID: 529
1748 ID: 530
La Mettrie's 'Man a Machine' - pure materialism: 'The soul is but an empty word'
ID: 530
1748 ID: 531
Hume's 'Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding' - miracles impossible, 'commit it to the flames'
ID: 531
1748 ID: 2260
Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws - separation of powers doctrine, profoundly influences constitutional design
ID: 2260
1748 ID: 5945
Pompeii rediscovered and excavated - Spanish engineer finds city, plaster cast technique reveals victims' final moments
ID: 5945
Pompeii
1749 ID: 532
Franklin appointed Provincial Grand Master by Thomas Oxnard with authority over all Pennsylvania lodges
ID: 532
1749 ID: 533
Rousseau's 'illumination' on road to Vincennes visiting imprisoned Diderot - vision that civilization corrupts
ID: 533
Vincennes

1750s (37 events)

1750 ID: 424
Euler discovers the polyhedron formula V - E + F = 2, relating vertices, edges, and faces of convex polyhedra
ID: 424
1750 ID: 534
Prussian Military Chaplain's Manual: 'Drill is prayer made visible; parade formation is theology in space'
ID: 534
1750 ID: 535
Height of Pietist control in Prussia - every government position requires Halle connections
ID: 535
Halle
1750 ID: 536
Pierre-Simon Laplace uses variational calculus to design more efficient windmill blade shapes
ID: 536
1750 ID: 537
Benjamin Robins uses Euler's trigonometric methods to improve British naval gunnery calculations
ID: 537
1750 ID: 2261
Iron Act restricts colonial manufacturing - mercantile system using law to control colonial economy
ID: 2261
1751 ID: 538
Diderot's Encyclopedia begins - systematic replacement of Christian worldview with hidden materialism
ID: 538
1751 ID: 539
Valentin Löscher critiques Pietism: 'replaced Pope's authority with worse - tyranny of awakened over sleeping'
ID: 539
1751 ID: 541
Euler begins 'Institutiones calculi differentialis', systematizing differential calculus
ID: 541
1751 ID: 542
Axel Fredrik Cronstedt discovers nickel in Sweden
ID: 542
1751 ID: 543
St. Paul of the Cross in ecstasy warns: 'The devil rages because his time is short'
ID: 543
1751 ID: 2262
Murder Act - denying burial to murderers, bodies given for dissection, exemplary punishment
ID: 2262
1751 ID: 2315
English courts develop doctrine of partnership dissolution by death - partnership automatically ends on partner's death unless agreed otherwise
ID: 2315
1751 ID: 540
May 28, 1751
Pope Benedict XIV issues 'Providas Romanorum' strengthening condemnation of Freemasonry
ID: 540
1752 ID: 425
Euler investigates the Knight's tour problem on a chessboard, an early graph traversal problem
ID: 425
1752 ID: 544
Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment demonstrates electrical nature of lightning
ID: 544
1752 ID: 545
Tobias Mayer applies Euler's analysis to create accurate lunar tables for navigation
ID: 545
1753 ID: 546
Daniel Bernoulli applies probability to smallpox inoculation - first mathematical analysis of medical intervention
ID: 546
1753 ID: 2263
Jewish Naturalization Act passed then repealed - religious minorities and citizenship rights debated
ID: 2263
1754 ID: 547
Baron von Hund establishes Rite of Strict Observance claiming Templar descent with occult elements
ID: 547
1754 ID: 548
John Smeaton uses Euler's principles in designing third Eddystone Lighthouse
ID: 548
1754 ID: 549
Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality: 'first person who fenced plot and said mine was founder of civil society'
ID: 549
1754 ID: 2264
Lord Mansfield appointed Chief Justice - begins modernizing commercial law with law merchant principles
ID: 2264
1755 ID: 550
Kant publishes Universal Natural History, applying Newton's mathematics to cosmic evolution
ID: 550
1756 ID: 551
Samuel Morse develops telegraph using mathematical analysis of electrical signals
ID: 551
1756 ID: 552
John Smeaton develops hydraulic cement for Eddystone Lighthouse
ID: 552
1756 ID: 2265
Lord Mansfield establishes marine insurance law in Carter v. Boehm - uberrimae fidei (utmost good faith) doctrine
ID: 2265
1756 ID: 5675
Potatoes save Prussia from famine - Frederick the Great orders cultivation, prevents starvation during Seven Years' War
ID: 5675
Prussia
1757 ID: 553
Alexis Clairaut uses perturbation theory to predict Halley's Comet return 618 days late
ID: 553
1757 ID: 2316
Lord Mansfield begins reforming commercial law - treats partnership as mercantile institution, applies law merchant principles
ID: 2316
Prouille
1758 ID: 554
Halley's Comet returns exactly as Clairaut predicted, validating mathematical astronomy
ID: 554
1758 ID: 555
St. Gerard Majella dies - Redemptorist wonder-worker with bilocations and prophecies
ID: 555
1758 ID: 2266
Emerigon publishes Traité des Assurances - systematizing maritime insurance law, international influence
ID: 2266
1758 ID: 5646
Carl Linnaeus formally names the striped skunk Viverra mephitis in Systema Naturae, 10th edition
ID: 5646
Uppsala
1759 ID: 426
Euler solves the problem of the 36 officers, proving impossibility of certain Latin squares
ID: 426
1759 ID: 556
Voltaire's Candide: 'If this is best of all possible worlds, what are others?' - mocks philosophical optimism
ID: 556
1759 ID: 2317
Grace v. Smith - Lord Mansfield rules partnership property held in trust for partnership purposes, not individual partners
ID: 2317

1760s (32 events)

1760 ID: 557
Franklin's London Masonic activities - visits lodges as colonial agent, made honorary member in Edinburgh
ID: 557
London
1760 ID: 558
Industrial Revolution transforms accounting - shift to mechanized factories creates need for cost accounting systems
ID: 558
1760 ID: 2267
Lord Mansfield modernizes consideration doctrine - moral obligations can support contracts in some cases
ID: 2267
1761 ID: 439
Euler introduces Euler diagrams for visualizing syllogistic reasoning, improving on medieval methods
ID: 439
1761 ID: 559
Johann Lambert proves π is irrational - first rigorous proof π cannot be expressed as ratio of integers
ID: 559
1761 ID: 560
Euler develops theory of partitions in number theory using generating functions
ID: 560
1761 ID: 561
Rousseau's 'Julie, or the New Heloise' creates cult of sentiment prefiguring Romanticism
ID: 561
1762 ID: 562
Joseph-Louis Lagrange develops calculus of variations into systematic theory
ID: 562
1762 ID: 565
Rousseau's paranoid flight across Europe begins - arrest warrant, develops persecution mania
ID: 565
1762 ID: 2268
Rousseau's Social Contract - general will theory, law as expression of popular sovereignty
ID: 2268
1762 ID: 563
April 1762
Rousseau's Social Contract: 'Man is born free, everywhere in chains' - 'forced to be free'
ID: 563
1762 ID: 564
May 1762
Rousseau's Emile - revolutionary educational treatise, child isolated from society, manipulated by tutor
ID: 564
1762 ID: 5994
July 9, 1762
Catherine II seizes throne in palace coup - deposes husband Peter III with Guard support, he dies mysteriously days later
ID: 5994
St. Petersburg
1763 ID: 566
General School Regulations after Seven Years' War intensify Pietist education with conduct books
ID: 566
1763 ID: 567
Thomas Bayes' work published posthumously - Bayes' theorem for updating probability with evidence
ID: 567
1764 ID: 440
Johann Heinrich Lambert develops linear diagrams for logic and improved logical notation
ID: 440
1764 ID: 2269
Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments - proportionality, deterrence, opposing torture and death penalty
ID: 2269
1764 ID: 2318
Amsterdam creates eerste kamer (first chamber) for bankruptcy - specialized commercial court with merchant judges
ID: 2318
Amsterdam
1765 ID: 568
Euler publishes 'Institutiones calculi integralis', completing foundations of integral calculus
ID: 568
1765 ID: 569
Euler introduces beta and gamma functions essential for advanced analysis
ID: 569
1765 ID: 2270
Stamp Act triggers colonial resistance - 'no taxation without representation' as legal principle
ID: 2270
1765 ID: 2271
Blackstone's Commentaries begin publication - systematic exposition of English law, enormous influence
ID: 2271
1766 ID: 427
Euler publishes complete solution to Knight's tour problem using a systematic method
ID: 427
1766 ID: 570
Henry Cavendish discovers hydrogen gas using mathematical analysis
ID: 570
1766 ID: 2272
Declaratory Act - Parliament claims right to legislate for colonies 'in all cases whatsoever'
ID: 2272
1767 ID: 571
Franklin's first Paris visit as colonial agent - cultivates 'Philosopher from the Woods' image
ID: 571
Paris
1767 ID: 5995
Catherine the Great convenes Legislative Commission - attempts Enlightenment legal reform, writes Nakaz instruction
ID: 5995
Moscow
1768 ID: 572
Diderot's 'Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage' portrays sexual freedom of 'natural' Tahitian society
ID: 572
1768 ID: 5996
Russo-Turkish War begins - Catherine the Great seeks Black Sea access and protection of Orthodox Christians
ID: 5996
Tomis
1769 ID: 573
James Watt patents improved steam engine using mathematical analysis - 75% efficiency increase
ID: 573
1769 ID: 574
St. Paul of the Cross vision: Christ warns 'Church will suffer greatly from reason alone'
ID: 574
1769 ID: 2273
Lord Mansfield protects customary rights in Millar v. Taylor - early intellectual property theory
ID: 2273

1770s (47 events)

1770 ID: 575
Lagrange proves every positive integer expressible as sum of four perfect squares
ID: 575
1770 ID: 576
D'Holbach's 'System of Nature' - pure mechanistic atheism: 'universe presents only matter and motion'
ID: 576
1770 ID: 577
St. Benedict Joseph Labre begins life as pilgrim beggar visiting every major European shrine
ID: 577
1770 ID: 578
Josiah Wedgwood implements revolutionary cost accounting at pottery factory - uses accounting for management decisions
ID: 578
1770 ID: 579
Rousseau returns to Paris, writes Confessions justifying child abandonment as 'member of Plato's Republic'
ID: 579
Paris
1770 ID: 2274
Lord Mansfield decides Somerset's Case - slavery has no support in common law, must be established by positive law
ID: 2274
1770 ID: 5750
Pierre Poivre smuggles clove seedlings from Moluccas - French break Dutch monopoly, plants cloves in Mauritius
ID: 5750
Moluccas
1771 ID: 428
Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde analyzes the Knight's tour problem using what would later be called graph-theoretic ideas
ID: 428
1771 ID: 2319
English Bankruptcy Act allows trading debtor to petition for own bankruptcy - previously only creditors could initiate
ID: 2319
Westminster
1772 ID: 580
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick begins organizing Wilhelmsbad Convention - attempt at unified 'Super-Masonry'
ID: 580
1772 ID: 581
Lagrange develops 'Mécanique analytique' - replaces geometric proofs with pure algebraic analysis
ID: 581
1772 ID: 582
Lagrange develops systematic theory of continued fractions for Diophantine analysis
ID: 582
1772 ID: 2275
Somerset v. Stewart decided - slave freed on English soil, 'the air of England is too pure for a slave to breathe'
ID: 2275
1772 ID: 5997
First Partition of Poland - Catherine the Great takes eastern territories with 1.8 million new subjects
ID: 5997
Warsaw
1773 ID: 2276
Boston Tea Party - property destruction as political protest, challenging legal authority
ID: 2276
1773 ID: 5998
Pugachev's Rebellion erupts - Cossack pretender claims to be Peter III, Catherine crushes massive peasant uprising
ID: 5998
1773 ID: 583
July 21, 1773
Pope Clement XIV suppresses Jesuits - many ex-Jesuits join Masonic lodges bringing organizational skills
ID: 583
1774 ID: 584
Pierre-Simon Laplace begins work on celestial mechanics to prove solar system stability
ID: 584
1774 ID: 585
Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovers chlorine in Sweden
ID: 585
1774 ID: 586
Benjamin Jesty performs first cowpox experiment on family using darning needle
ID: 586
1774 ID: 2277
Quebec Act - French civil law preserved in Quebec, legal pluralism in British Empire
ID: 2277
1774 ID: 5780
John Chapman born in Leominster, Massachusetts - future 'Johnny Appleseed' begins life during Revolutionary War
ID: 5780
Leominster
1774 ID: 5999
Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji - Catherine gains Crimean independence from Ottomans, Black Sea ports, protectorate over Orthodox
ID: 5999
Tomis
1775 ID: 588
Boston smallpox epidemic begins, becomes severe after 1774 isolated incidents
ID: 588
1775 ID: 589
Revolutionary War begins - Washington orders smallpox quarantine; Thompson uses Euler's ballistics for cannon placement
ID: 589
1775 ID: 590
French Academy offers prize for producing soda ash from salt, spurring industrial chemistry research
ID: 590
1775 ID: 2278
American Revolution begins - fundamental challenge to legal authority, natural rights versus positive law
ID: 2278
1775 ID: 587
December 25, 1775
Pope Pius VI begins pontificate with 'Inscrutabile': 'Catholic Church alone is city of God'
ID: 587
1776 ID: 592
Smallpox epidemic affects Revolutionary War - soldiers refuse reenlistment, Washington restricts Boston access, Adams family inoculated
ID: 592
Boston
Quebec
1776 ID: 593
Adam Smith publishes Wealth of Nations using mathematical analysis - 'invisible hand' as mathematical self-regulation
ID: 593
1776 ID: 594
Nine confirmed Freemasons among 55 Constitutional Convention delegates - Masonic principles influence founding documents
ID: 594
1776 ID: 2320
Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations criticizes limited liability - argues unlimited liability ensures prudent management
ID: 2320
1776 ID: 591
May 1, 1776
Adam Weishaupt founds Illuminati on Walpurgisnacht - order to promote rationalism and destroy 'superstition' and 'despotism'
ID: 591
Ingolstadt University
1776 ID: 2279
July 4, 1776
Declaration of Independence - natural rights philosophy becomes revolutionary legal document, government by consent
ID: 2279
1777 ID: 441
Lambert's 'Neues Organon' published posthumously, advancing symbolic logic and anticipating Boolean algebra
ID: 441
1777 ID: 595
Washington orders mass inoculation of Continental Army - first mass immunization policy in American history
ID: 595
1777 ID: 596
Comte de Buffon poses Buffon's needle problem - first geometric probability connecting π to random processes
ID: 596
1777 ID: 597
Condorcet writes Americans 'are what Rousseau wished us to become' - free from old prejudices
ID: 597
1777 ID: 2321
French establish juridiction consulaire - merchant courts for bankruptcy with elected merchant judges
ID: 2321
1778 ID: 598
Franklin's fur cap becomes Paris fashion sensation - 'coiffure à la Franklin' - cultivates frontier image
ID: 598
Paris
1778 ID: 599
Franklin joins Lodge of Nine Sisters Paris - most prestigious Enlightenment lodge with Voltaire, Condorcet, Danton
ID: 599
Paris
1778 ID: 600
Franklin meets Voltaire at Academy of Sciences - theatrical embrace as 'Solon and Sophocles'
ID: 600
1778 ID: 601
Young Robespierre visits aging Rousseau - later implements Social Contract ideas in Revolutionary Terror
ID: 601
1778 ID: 602
Smallpox devastates Plains Indians - Oglala Lakota designate 1780-81 as 'Many died of smallpox'
ID: 602
1779 ID: 603
Franklin becomes Venerable Master of Nine Sisters - first American to lead major European lodge
ID: 603
1779 ID: 604
Turgot's epigram on Franklin: 'He snatched lightning from heaven and scepter from tyrants'
ID: 604
1779 ID: 605
Euler posthumously develops systematic approach to number theory congruences
ID: 605

1780s (41 events)

1780 ID: 606
Cagliostro establishes Egyptian Rite Masonry in Strasbourg - promises eternal youth, alchemy, spirit contact
ID: 606
Strasbourg
1780 ID: 607
Luigi Galvani begins experiments with frog legs and 'animal electricity'
ID: 607
1780 ID: 608
Nine Sisters Lodge coordinates American support - Lafayette uses Masonic connections for French military aid
ID: 608
1781 ID: 609
Kant's Critique of Pure Reason: 'deny knowledge to make room for faith' - phenomena vs noumena
ID: 609
1781 ID: 610
William Herschel discovers Uranus using mathematical predictions - first planet found by calculation
ID: 610
1781 ID: 611
Euler's Institutiones calculi integralis introduces elliptic integrals - foundation for complex analysis
ID: 611
1781 ID: 5677
Thomas Jefferson grows tomatoes at Monticello - helps popularize tomatoes in America despite lingering poisonous reputation
ID: 5677
New York
1782 ID: 433
Euler introduces generating functions to solve partition problems, powerful tool for combinatorics
ID: 433
1782 ID: 613
Gaspard Monge develops differential geometry for engineering - mathematical description of curved surfaces
ID: 613
1782 ID: 614
Crèvecoeur's 'Letters from an American Farmer' - creates pastoral fantasy confirming Rousseauian prejudices
ID: 614
1782 ID: 612
July 16, 1782
Congress of Wilhelmsbad at Rothschild's castle - Illuminist rationalism infiltrates Masonic lodges
ID: 612
Wilhelmsbad
1783 ID: 615
Leonhard Euler dies - over 800 papers and books - 'calculated as men breathe'
ID: 615
1783 ID: 616
St. Benedict Joseph Labre dies in Rome - 136 miracles verified immediately
ID: 616
Rome
1783 ID: 2322
Fox's India Bill proposes partnership model for empire - East India Company as partnership between Crown and Company
ID: 2322
Westminster
1783 ID: 6000
Catherine the Great annexes Crimea - Potemkin organizes incorporation, Russia becomes Black Sea power permanently
ID: 6000
Crimea
1784 ID: 617
Franklin's 'Savages' speech - argues Native Americans more civilized than Europeans
ID: 617
1784 ID: 619
Monge develops descriptive geometry for military engineering and technical drawing
ID: 619
1784 ID: 5537
Yi Seung-hun baptized in Beijing, returns to establish Catholic Church in Korea
ID: 5537
Seoul
1784 ID: 618
March 1784
Illuminati reach peak 2000-3000 members including Goethe, Herder, government officials
ID: 618
1785 ID: 621
Adrien-Marie Legendre begins work on number theory and elliptic integrals for physics
ID: 621
1785 ID: 5676
Parmentier promotes potatoes in France - pharmacist publishes treatise, hosts potato dinners, plants guard-protected fields as publicity stunt
ID: 5676
Parmentier Garden
1785 ID: 6001
Charter to the Nobility - Catherine the Great confirms noble privileges, exempts from service and corporal punishment
ID: 6001
St. Petersburg
1785 ID: 620
July 10, 1785
Lightning kills Illuminati courier Lanz - Bavarian authorities find documents revealing infiltration plans
ID: 620
1786 ID: 622
Caroline Herschel becomes first woman to discover comet using mathematical orbital calculations
ID: 622
1786 ID: 623
Bavarian government publishes seized Illuminati documents - Weishaupt flees to Gotha
ID: 623
Gotha
1787 ID: 625
France faces financial crisis from wars - Assembly of Notables refuses new taxes on nobility
ID: 625
1787 ID: 626
Jacques Charles develops mathematical gas laws - relationship between gas volume and temperature
ID: 626
1787 ID: 627
St. Alphonsus Liguori dies at 91 - founded Redemptorists, wrote 'Glories of Mary'
ID: 627
1787 ID: 2323
French Royal Edict allows société en commandite par actions - limited partnership with tradeable shares, hybrid of partnership and corporation
ID: 2323
1787 ID: 4955
August 1, 1787
Death of St. Alphonsus Liguori - Doctor of the Church, wrote 'Moral Theology' and 'The Glories of Mary'
ID: 4955
Naples
1787 ID: 624
September 17, 1787
U.S. Constitution signed - 9 Freemasons among 55 delegates, Masonic principles influence document
ID: 624
1788 ID: 628
French judicial revolt - Parlements refuse royal edicts, Louis XVI announces Estates-General for 1789
ID: 628
1788 ID: 629
Lagrange publishes completed Mécanique analytique - unifies all mechanics under algebra
ID: 629
1788 ID: 630
Kant's Critique of Practical Reason - categorical imperative creates secular ethics
ID: 630
1789 ID: 631
French Revolution begins - Estates-General convenes, Third Estate declares itself National Assembly
ID: 631
Versailles
1789 ID: 634
French Revolutionary clubs' occult origins - Jacobin Club evolves from Masonic Breton Club
ID: 634
1789 ID: 635
Cagliostro arrested by Roman Inquisition - papers reveal occult-revolutionary networks
ID: 635
Rome
1789 ID: 636
Lavoisier proves conservation of mass using mathematical balance: 'Nothing is lost, nothing created'
ID: 636
1789 ID: 637
St. Alphonsus vision: Christ warns 'enemies believe they'll destroy My Church but new flowering will spring'
ID: 637
1789 ID: 632
July 14, 1789
Storming of the Bastille - symbolic start of French Revolution
ID: 632
Paris
1789 ID: 633
August 1789
National Assembly abolishes feudalism and adopts Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen
ID: 633

1790s (47 events)

1790 ID: 639
Civil Constitution of Clergy passed - reorganizing Catholic Church under state control
ID: 639
1790 ID: 640
French Revolution adopts metric system - mathematical decimal principles 'for all people, for all time'
ID: 640
1790 ID: 2324
First U.S. partnership case - Willet v. Willet establishes American partnership law follows English common law
ID: 2324
New York
1790 ID: 5452
Abbey of Cluny suppressed during French Revolution; monks expelled and buildings begin to be sold as national property
ID: 5452
Cluny
1790 ID: 638
April 17, 1790
Franklin dies - largest funeral in American history, 20,000 mourners, Masonic procession leads
ID: 638
Philadelphia
1791 ID: 641
Pope Pius VI condemns Civil Constitution of Clergy with Quod Aliquantum and Charitas
ID: 641
1791 ID: 642
Flight to Varennes - Louis XVI attempts to flee France but is captured and returned
ID: 642
1791 ID: 643
Galvani publishes De Viribus Electricitatis in Motu Musculari on animal electricity
ID: 643
1791 ID: 644
Nicolas Leblanc patents process for producing sodium carbonate - first major chemical industry
ID: 644
1792 ID: 645
France declares war on Austria; crowd invades Tuileries; monarchy overthrown
ID: 645
Paris
1792 ID: 646
September Massacres - 300+ priests murdered; Blessed Pierre-Rene Rogue arrested
ID: 646
1792 ID: 647
Mary Wollstonecraft Vindication of Rights of Woman - applies but critiques Rousseau on women
ID: 647
1792 ID: 3767
Denmark first to ban slave trade - becomes first European nation to abolish transatlantic slave trade
ID: 3767
1793 ID: 648
Execution of Louis XVI by guillotine
ID: 648
1793 ID: 649
The Terror begins - Robespierre implements Rousseau ideas through Committee of Public Safety
ID: 649
1793 ID: 650
Execution of Marie Antoinette
ID: 650
1793 ID: 2325
Lord Loughborough establishes modern partnership accounting - partners entitled to full accounting on dissolution
ID: 2325
Prouille
1793 ID: 5260
Revolutionaries burn St. Genevieve's relics - remains publicly burned at Place de Grève, ashes thrown in Seine, some relics hidden
ID: 5260
Paris
1793 ID: 6002
Second Partition of Poland - Catherine the Great takes vast Lithuanian and Ukrainian lands, 3 million new subjects
ID: 6002
Warsaw
1794 ID: 432
Gaspard Monge develops descriptive geometry, connecting geometric and combinatorial ideas
ID: 432
1794 ID: 651
Slavery abolished in French colonies
ID: 651
1794 ID: 652
Festival of Supreme Being organized by Robespierre - civil religion implementation
ID: 652
1794 ID: 653
9 Thermidor - Fall and execution of Robespierre, ending Reign of Terror
ID: 653
1794 ID: 654
Martyrdom of 16 Carmelites of Compiegne - sing Te Deum mounting scaffold, Terror ends within days
ID: 654
Compiegne
1794 ID: 655
Ecole Polytechnique founded Paris - first technical university requiring advanced mathematics for engineers
ID: 655
Paris
1794 ID: 2326
Jay Treaty includes bankruptcy provisions - reciprocal recognition of bankruptcy proceedings between Britain and United States
ID: 2326
1795 ID: 656
James Watt conducts first modern audit at Soho Manufactory - model for business verification
ID: 656
1795 ID: 657
Edward Jenner performs cowpox experiment on 8-year-old James Phipps using Sarah Nelmes' cowpox
ID: 657
1795 ID: 5647
Georges Cuvier and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire begin reclassifying skunks as distinct from civets
ID: 5647
Paris
1795 ID: 6003
Third Partition of Poland - Poland disappears from map, Catherine the Great takes remaining eastern territories
ID: 6003
Warsaw
1796 ID: 658
Napoleon's Italian Campaign begins - rise to power
ID: 658
1796 ID: 659
19-year-old Gauss proves constructibility of regular 17-gon - decides to become mathematician
ID: 659
1796 ID: 660
St. Julie Billiart paralyzed 22 years has vision: 'I need victims for My Church' - founds Notre Dame Sisters
ID: 660
1797 ID: 661
Abbe Barruel publishes Memoirs Illustrating History of Jacobinism - claims Revolution was Illuminati conspiracy
ID: 661
1797 ID: 662
John Robison publishes Proofs of a Conspiracy - sparks Illuminati panic in Britain and America
ID: 662
1797 ID: 663
Lazare Carnot attempts rigorous foundations for calculus - develops compensation of errors theory
ID: 663
1797 ID: 664
Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin discovers chromium - new possibilities in steel alloys and pigments
ID: 664
1797 ID: 2327
Robert Morris imprisoned for debt - financier of American Revolution spends 3 years in debtors' prison, sparking bankruptcy law debate
ID: 2327
Philadelphia
1797 ID: 5123
Napoleon conquers Venice - thousand-year republic ends without a fight, last Doge Ludovico Manin abdicates
ID: 5123
Venice
1797 ID: 5124
Venice given to Austria - Treaty of Campo Formio transfers Venice to Habsburgs, begins Austrian occupation
ID: 5124
Venice
1797 ID: 5781
Johnny Appleseed begins planting apple nurseries - travels Ohio River valley with apple seeds from cider presses
ID: 5781
Ohio River Valley
1798 ID: 665
Napoleon Egyptian Campaign begins; French occupy Papal States, Pope Pius VI taken prisoner
ID: 665
1798 ID: 666
Edward Jenner publishes vaccination research claiming lifelong immunity despite contrary evidence
ID: 666
1798 ID: 667
New England Illuminati panic - Morse and Dwight use fears to attack Jefferson and justify Alien and Sedition Acts
ID: 667
1798 ID: 5453
Systematic demolition of Cluny Abbey begins; locals use it as stone quarry - eventually only 10% of original structure survives
ID: 5453
Cluny
1799 ID: 668
Pope Pius VI dies in French captivity at Valence - symbolically ends century of Church weakening
ID: 668
Valence
1799 ID: 669
18-19 Brumaire - Napoleon coup overthrows Directory, establishes Consulate
ID: 669