istoryworld
All Events
William Pitt the Elder becomes secretary of state and transforms the British war effort against France in America
After the death of Prince Frederick in 1751, his widow Princess Augusta establishes the botanical gardens at Kew.
John Robartes dies and Radnor House passes through various ownerships.
English painter Joseph Wright sets up a studio in his home town, Derby
Joshua Reynolds, by now the most fashionable portrait painter in London, copes with as many as 150 sitters in a year
Garrick commissions from Roubiliac a statue of Shakespeare for a large niche in the Temple at Hampton. The original is now in the British Museum and an exact is replica in Garrick's Temple
A comet returns exactly at the time predicted by English astronomer Edmond Halley, and is subsequently known by his name
Stanhope remodels and extends Pope's Villa.
James Woodforde, an English country parson with a love of food and wine, begins a detailed diary of everyday life
Liverpool-born artist George Stubbs sets up in London as a painter, above all, of people and horses
Portrait-painter Thomas Gainsborough moves from Suffolk to set up a studio in fashionable Bath
Voltaire publishes Candide, a satire on optimism prompted by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755
British general James Wolfe sails up the St Lawrence river with 15,000 men to besiege Quebec
The Portuguese expel the Jesuits from Brazil, beginning a widespread reaction against the order in Catholic Europe
Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood sets up a factory of his own in his home town of Burslem
Frederick the Great suffers his first major defeat, by a Russian and Austrian army at Kunersdorf
The first (wooden) toll bridge at Kew, built by Robert Tunstall, is inaugurated by the Prince of Wales (later George III).. At this time it is the only bridge between Fulham and Kingston
Laurence Sterne publishes the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy, beginning with the scene at the hero's conception
Wolfe defeats Montcalm and captures Quebec, but both commanders die in the engagement
A British defeat of the French in Quiberon Bay prompts David Garrick to write Heart of Oak
A succession of victories cause 1759 to be known in Britain as annus mirabilis, the wonderful year
Asgill House, designed by Robert Taylor, is completed for Sir Charles Asgill, recently the Lord Mayor of London (1757-8)
A new theatre opens in Richmond, with a prologue written for the occasion by David Garrick
German painter Johann Zoffany moves to England to find work as a painter of conversation pieces and portraits
Cricket is played on Broadhalfpenny Down in Hampshire
