18th century





Purely as a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th Century was
that century which lasted from 1701-1800; however, historians will sometimes
specifically refer to the 18th Century as 1715-89; which denotes the period
of time between the death of King Louis XIV and the start of the French
Revolution. In Europe, the primary nations of this period (in terms of
industrial capacity) were: Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia.
This was the period of the so-called "enlightened absolutism".

Events

   * 1707 - The Kingdom of Great Britain is formed
   * 1715 - Louis XIV dies
   * 1750 -- peak of the Little Ice Age
   * 1770s - James Cook explorations
   * 1788 - First European settlement established in Australia
   * 1789 - The French Revolution
   * The Enlightenment
   * Scientific discovery and early Industrial Revolution. See the History
     of Science and Technology.

   * American Revolution leading to United States declaration of
     independence in 1776 and Constitution in 1789.

   * Rosetta stone is found by Napoleon's troops in 1799.
   * Wars of Empire between Great Britain, France, Spain, Austria.
        o See the War of the Spanish Succession (or Queen Anne's War), War
          of the Austrian Succession (or King George's War), War of Jenkins
          Ear, Seven Years' War (or French and Indian War)

Significant people

   * Johann Sebastian Bach (composer)
   * Catherine the Great (Russian Tsarina)
   * James Cook (British navigator)
   * Denis Diderot (French writer and philosopher)
   * Leonhard Euler (mathematician)
   * Benjamin Franklin (inventor and diplomat)
   * Thomas Gainsborough (painter)
   * Thomas Gray (British writer)
   * William Hogarth (painter and engraver)
   * David Hume (philosopher)
   * Thomas Jefferson (American politician)
   * Samuel Johnson (British writer)
   * Immanuel Kant (philosopher)
   * Louis XIV of France (monarch)
   * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer)
   * Sir Joshua Reynolds (painter)
   * Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French writer and philosopher)
   * Friedrich Schiller (German writer)
   * Jonathan Swift (British writer)
   * Voltaire (French writer and philosopher
   * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German writer)

Inventions, Discoveries, Introductions

   * Cotton gin by Eli Whitney
   * The marine chronometer of John Harrison solves the latitude problem for
     navigation.
   * Improved Steam Engines by Thomas Newcomen and James Watt

Notorious People

   * Benedict Arnold, considered a traitor by many people on both sides
     (United States and Britain) of the American revolutionary war.