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1726 In Great Britain
Events from the year 1726 in Great Britain. Incumbents * Monarch – George I * Prime Minister – Robert Walpole ( Whig) * Parliament – 6th Events * May – Voltaire begins an exile in England which lasts three years. * 25 May – Britain's first circulating library is opened in Edinburgh by poet and bookseller Allan Ramsay. * 27 June – the Grand Allies, a cartel of coalowning families in the Northumberland and Durham Coalfield, is formed by George and Henry Liddell, George Bowes and Sidney and Edward Wortley. * 20 October – dedication of St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London as designed by James Gibbs. * October–December – Mary Toft from Godalming causes a sensation by purporting to give birth to rabbits. Undated * Invention of the gridiron pendulum by John Harrison. * General George Wade begins an 11-year program of road improvement and bridge building in Scotland. Publications * Jonathan Swift's anonymous novel ''Gulliver's Travels''. Births ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1726
Events January–March * January 23 – (January 12 Old Style) The Conventicle Act (''Konventikelplakatet'') is adopted in Sweden, outlawing all non-Lutheran religious meetings outside of church services. * January 26 – The First Treaty of Vienna is signed between Austria, the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, creating the Austro-Spanish Alliance in advance of a war against Great Britain. * January 27 – On its maiden voyage, the Dutch East India Company frigate ''Aagtekerke'' departs from the Dutch Cape Colony on the second leg of its journey to the Dutch East Indies and is never seen again. ''Aagtekerke'' had carried with it a crew of 200 men and was lost somewhere in the Indian Ocean. * February 8 – The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia. * February 13 – The Parliament of Negrete (between Mapuche and Spanish authorities in Chile) brings an end to the Mapuche uprising of 1723–26. * March 10 – China's Emperor Yongzhen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bowes (MP For County Durham)
Sir George Bowes (21 August 1701 – 17 September 1760) was an English coal proprietor and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for 33 years from 1727 to 1760. George Bowes was baptized on 4 September 1701, the youngest son of Sir William Bowes, MP, and Elizabeth Bowes (née Blakiston). The Bowes family had been prominent in County Durham, with their ownership of the estate and castle of Streatlam but in 1713, George's father acquired (from his wife's family) the Gibside estate which included some of the area's richest coal seams and led to the family becoming immensely wealthy through the coal trade. George Bowes inherited the family estates in 1721, including Gibside. Although he was the youngest son, his elder brothers had died young. In October 1724 he married the fourteen-year-old Eleanor Verney, but she died in December of that year. Her death was commemorated in a poem, written by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Horace Walpole, years later, implied that she had died ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1799 In Great Britain
Events from the year 1799 in Great Britain. Incumbents * Monarch – George III * Prime Minister – William Pitt the Younger ( Tory) * Foreign Secretary – Lord Grenville * Parliament – 18th Events * 9 January – Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * 20 March–21 May – British troops lend aid to the Ottoman defenders against the French Siege of Acre. * 4 May – Battle of Seringapatam: British forces defeat the Sultan of Mysore; his kingdom is divided between the Honourable East India Company and Hyderabad. * 1 July – Britain allies with Russia, Austria, Portugal, Naples, and the Ottoman Empire against France. * 12 July – Parliament passes: ** The Combination Act to outlaw trade unions. ** Unlawful Societies Act to outlaw clandestine radical societies and require a printer's imprint on all published materi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a British naval officer. After serving throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations against the French coast as part of Britain's policy of naval descents during the Seven Years' War. He also took part, as a naval captain, in the decisive British naval victory at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759. In North America, Howe is best known for his service during the American Revolutionary War, when he acted as a naval commander and a peace commissioner with the American rebels; he also conducted a successful relief during the Great Siege of Gibraltar in the later stages of the War. Howe later commanded the victorious British fleet during the Glorious First of June in June 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Early career Howe was born in Albemarle Street, London, the second son of Emanuel Howe, 2nd Viscount Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1777 In The United States
Events from the year 1777 in the United States. Incumbents *President of the Continental Congress, President of the Second Continental Congress: John Hancock (until October 29), Henry Laurens (starting November 1) Events January–March * January 2 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton: American forces under the command of George Washington repulse a British attack near Trenton, New Jersey. * January 3 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Princeton: American general George Washington defeats United Kingdom, British General officer, general Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis. *January 12 – Mission Santa Clara de Asís founded in what is now Santa Clara, California. * January 15 – Vermont declares its independence from New York (state), New York, becoming the Vermont Republic, an independent country, a status it retains until it joins the United States as the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer (16 January 1726 – 12 January 1777) was a Scottish-born American military officer and physician who participated in the Seven Years' War and Revolutionary War. Born in Pitsligo, Scotland, he studied medicine in his home country and served with the Jacobite forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie, participating in the Battle of Culloden in 1746. With the failure of the Jacobite rising, Mercer escaped to Pennsylvania. There, he served alongside a young George Washington in the British colonial forces during the French and Indian War, and was seriously wounded during an engagement in September 1756. Mercer settled in Virginia, continued his work as a physician, and later became a brigadier general in the American Continental Army and close friend to George Washington. Mercer died as a result of wounds received at the Battle of Princeton in January 1777, becoming a fallen hero and rallying symbol of the American Revolution. Early life and career Mercer was born 16 Januar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gulliver's Travels
''Gulliver's Travels'', or ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'' is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, satirising both human nature and the "travellers' tales" literary subgenre. It is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature. Swift claimed that he wrote ''Gulliver's Travels'' "to vex the world rather than divert it". The book was an immediate success. The English dramatist John Gay remarked: "It is universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery." In 2015, Robert McCrum released his selection list of 100 best novels of all time in which ''Gulliver's Travels'' is listed in third place as "a satirical masterpiece". Plot Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput The travel begins with a short preamble in which Lemuel Gulliver gives a brief outline of his life and history before his voyages. ;4 May ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean (Christianity), Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, hence his common sobriquet, "Dean Swift". Swift is remembered for works such as ''A Tale of a Tub'' (1704), ''An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity'' (1712), ''Gulliver's Travels'' (1726), and ''A Modest Proposal'' (1729). He is regarded by the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M. B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Satire#Classifications, Horatian and Juvenalian styles. His deadpan, ironic writing style, partic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Wade
Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Alliance before leading the construction of barracks, bridges and proper roads in Scotland. He went on to be a military commander during the War of the Austrian Succession and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Early career Born the son of Jerome Wade in Killavally, County Westmeath, Ireland, he spent his early years in English Tangier, where his father was a member of the Tangier Garrison. Wade was commissioned into the Earl of Bath's Regiment on 26 December 1690Heathcote, p. 285 and served in Flanders in 1692, fighting at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 during the Nine Years' War and earning a promotion to lieutenant on 10 February 1693. He transferred to Sir Bevil Granville's Regiment on 19 April 1694 and was promoted to captain on 13 June ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English Carpentry, carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of calculating longitude while at sea. Harrison's solution revolutionized navigation and greatly increased the safety of long-distance sea travel. The problem he solved was considered so important following the Scilly naval disaster of 1707 that the Parliament of Great Britain, British Parliament offered financial rewards of up to £20,000 (equivalent to £ in ) under the 1714 Longitude Act. In 1730, Harrison presented his first design, and worked over many years on improved designs, making several advances in time-keeping technology, finally turning to what were called sea watches. Harrison gained support from the Board of Longitude, Longitude Board in building and testing his designs. Toward the end of his life, he received recognition and a reward from Parliament. Harri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gridiron Pendulum
The gridiron pendulum was a temperature-compensated clock pendulum invented by British clockmaker John Harrison around 1726 and later modified by John Ellicott. It was used in precision clocks. In ordinary clock pendulums, the pendulum rod expands and contracts with changes in temperature. The period of the pendulum's swing depends on its length, so a pendulum clock's rate varied with changes in ambient temperature, causing inaccurate timekeeping. The gridiron pendulum consists of alternating parallel rods of two metals with different thermal expansion coefficients, such as steel and brass. The rods are connected by a frame in such a way that their different thermal expansions (or contractions) compensate for each other, so that the overall length of the pendulum, and thus its period, stays constant with temperature. The gridiron pendulum was used during the Industrial Revolution period in pendulum clocks, precision clocks employed as time standards in factories, laborato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Toft
Mary Toft (née Denyer; c. 1701–1763), also spelled Tofts, was an English woman from Godalming, Surrey, who in 1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she tricked doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. In 1726, Toft became pregnant, but following her reported fascination with the sighting of a rabbit, she miscarried. Her claim to have given birth to various animal parts prompted the arrival of John Howard, a local surgeon, who investigated the matter. He delivered several pieces of animal flesh and duly notified other prominent physicians, which brought the case to the attention of Nathaniel St. André, surgeon to the Royal Household of King George I. St. André concluded that Toft's case was genuine but the king also sent surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers, who remained skeptical. By then quite famous, Toft was brought to London where she was studied in detail; under intense scrutiny and producing no more rabbits she confessed to the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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