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War of the Spanish Succession begins, the last of Louis XIV's wars for domination of the continent. The Peace of Utrecht will end the conflict and mark the rise of the British Empire. Called Queen Anne's War in America, it ends with the British taking New Foundland, Acadia, and Hudson's Bay Territory from France, and Gibraltar and Minorca from Spain.
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England, Wales, and Scotland joined by the parliamentary Act of Union.
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British defeat Scots under Stuart Pretender Prince Charles at Culloden Moor. The last battle fought on British soil.
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French and Indian Wars in America, in which Britain and Prussia defeat France, Spain, Austria, and Russia. France loses North American colonies; Spain cedes Florida to Britain in exchange for Cuba. In India, over 100 British prisoners die in “Black Hole of Calcutta.”
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An incident in which 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company were thrown from ships into Boston Harbor by American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians.
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In April 1775 British soldiers, called lobsterbacks because of their red coats, and minutemen, the colonists' militia, exchanged gunfire at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. Described as "the shot heard round the world," it signaled the start of the American Revolution and led to the creation of a new nation.
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By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain.
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Ancien Régime was abolished in favor of a constitutional monarchy. Its replacement in September 1792 by the First French Republic led to the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793 and an extended period of political turmoil.
