By Tim Lambert
1701
The Act of Settlement is passed
Jethro Tull invents the seed drill
1702 William dies. Anne becomes queen.
1704
The Duke of Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of Blenheim
The British capture Gibraltar
1706 The Duke of Marlborough defeats the French army at Ramillies
1707 The Act of Union joins England and Scotland
1708 The Duke of Marlborough defeats the army of Louis XIV at Oudenarde
1709
Abraham Darby uses coke instead of charcoal to smelt iron
The Duke of Marlborough wins the battle of Malplaquet against the French
1712 A man named Newcomen makes steam engines for pumping water out of mines
1714 Queen Anne dies. George I becomes king
1715 The first Jacobite uprising. The Highlanders rise but the uprising ends in an indecisive battle near Stirling.
1719 Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe
1720
The South Sea Bubble (stocks in the South Sea Company suddenly fall in price and many people lose huge sums of money.)
1721
Robert Walpole becomes the king’s main minister. People call him the Prime Minister. (Originally it was a term of abuse).
1723 The great architect Christopher Wren dies.
1727
George I dies. George II becomes king.
Isaac Newton dies
1733 John Kay invents the flying shuttle
1735 The Prime Minister moves into 10 Downing Street
1739
The highwayman Dick Turpin is hanged
1742 Prime Minister Robert Walpole resigns
1745 The second Jacobite uprising. The Jacobites invade England and reach as far as Derby but then turn back.
1746 The Jacobites are crushed at the Battle of Culloden
1756 The Seven Years War against France begins
1759 General Wolfe captures Quebec but is killed. His victory ensures Canada will be a British colony not a French one.
1761 The Bridgwater canal opens
1763 The Seven Years War ends
1769 James Watt patents an improved steam engine
1771 Richard Arkwright introduces a loom powered by a water mill
1773 The Stock Exchange is founded
1775 Jane Austen is born
1779
The world’s first iron bridge is built in Shropshire
Samuel Crompton invents the spinning mule
C. 1780
The Industrial Revolution begins to transform Britain
Lord George Gordon leads anti-Catholic riots in London
1783 Britain signs a treaty recognizing the independence of the American colonies
1784
Henry Cort invents the ‘puddling’ process. A new way of making wrought iron. As a result iron production booms.
1785
Edmund Cartwright invents the power loom (one worked by a steam engine). Cotton production grows very rapidly.
1787 The first convicts leave Britain from Portsmouth for Australia
1788 Lord Byron is born
1792 Gas light is invented
1796 Edward Jenner introduces vaccination against smallpox
1799 Income tax is introduced to pay for the war against France