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Northern War Begina
Poland, Russia and Denmark attack Sweden, beginning the 21-year Northern War -
Britain Fights Spain
Britain declares war on Spain, partly in a mood of indignation over Captain Jenkins' ear -
France Declared War During Other War
France formally declares war on Britain half way through the War of the Austrian Succession -
Franklin Designs Stove
Franklin publishes his design for an improved stove in Account of the New Invented Pennsylvania Fire Place -
Seven Years War
Frederick the Great again precipitates a European conflict, marching without warning into Saxony and launching the Seven Years' War -
Seven Years War Ends
A treaty signed in Paris ends the Seven Years' War between Britain, France and Spain -
Condensor Invented
James Watt ponders on the inefficiency of contemporary steam engines and invents the condenser -
First Steam Wagon
French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully tests a steam wagon, probably the first working mechanical vehicle -
Paul Revere Captured
Paul Revere is one of the US riders taking an urgent warning to Concord, but he is captured on the journey -
Washington Defeats British
George Washington defeats the British at Trenton at a psychologically important moment in the course of the war -
George Washington First President
George Washington, unanimously elected first president of the United States, is inaugurated on Wall Street in New York -
Hilltop Signals and More
French inventor Claude Chappe develops a hilltop signalling system, for which he coins the words telegraph and semaphore -
Cottin Gin Invented
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, enormously speeding up the process of separating cotton fibres from the seeds -
John Adams Second President
The election in the USA brings in a Federalist president (John Adams) and a Republican vice-president (Thomas Jefferson)