Events from the year

1768 Events January–March * January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London. * February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...

in Great Britain.

Incumbents

* Monarch – George III * Prime Minister – William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ( Whig) (until 14 October); Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton ( Whig) (starting 14 October) * Parliament –

12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...

(until 11 March),

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

(starting 10 May) Augustus-Henry-FitzRoy-3rd-Duke-of-Grafton

Events

* 9 January –

Philip Astley Philip Astley (8 January 1742 – 20 October 1814) was an English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the " father of the modern circus". Modern circus, as an integrated entertainment experience that includes music, domes ...

stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses in London. * 27 February – the first

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies. Histor ...

is appointed, the

Earl of Hillsborough Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

. * March –

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

; Whigs remain in power. * 17 March ** The Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Sir William Johnson, concludes a peace agreement with the leaders of the Six Nations of the

Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

(the Mohawk,

Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capita ...

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida Na ...

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada * Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...

, Seneca and

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

tribal nations) of the northern American lands, and with Chiefs Oconostota and Attakullakulla of the Cherokee nation in the southern American lands. **

William Cookworthy William Cookworthy (12 April 170517 October 1780) was an English Quaker minister, a successful pharmacist and an innovator in several fields of technology. He was the first person in Britain to discover how to make hard-paste porcelain, like t ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

is granted a patent for the manufacture of true porcelain. * 10 May – John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for '' The North Briton'' severely criticising King George III. This action provokes protesters to riot; in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, troops fire on the mob, killing seven, the

Massacre of St George's Fields The Massacre of St George's Fields occurred on 10 May 1768 when government soldiers opened fire on demonstrators that had gathered at St George's Fields, Southwark, in south London. The protest was against the imprisonment of the radical Member ...

. * 26 August –

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

departs from

aboard on his first voyage of discovery. * September – first

Birmingham Music Festival The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. It last took place in 1912. History The first music festival, over three days in September 176 ...

held. * 22–29 September – The

Massachusetts Convention of Towns The Massachusetts Convention of Towns (September 22–29, 1768) was an extralegal assembly held in Boston in response to the news that British troops would soon be arriving to crack down on anti-British rioting. Delegates from 96 Massachusetts tow ...

, assembling in Boston, resolves on a written objection to the impending arrival of British troops rather than more militant action but causes panic in London. * 14 October – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, succeeds William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, as Prime Minister after Pitt's resignation due to ill health. * 10 December –

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

founded in London, with

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

as its first President.

Undated

* Citizens of Boston, Massachusetts, refuse to quarter British troops. * Frederick Cornwallis enthroned as

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. * The Theatre Royal, Bath, and Theatre Royal, Norwich, assume these titles having been granted Royal Patents, making them officially England's only legal provincial

patent theatre The patent theatres were the theatres that were licensed to perform "spoken drama" after the Restoration of Charles II as King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1660. Other theatres were prohibited from performing such "serious" drama, but w ...

s. * Foundation of the

Leeds Library The Leeds Library is the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK. It was founded in 1768, following an advertisement placed in the ''Leeds Intelligencer'' earlier that year. The first secretary was Joseph Priestley. In 1779 ...

, the oldest surviving

subscription library A subscription library (also membership library or independent library) is a library that is financed by private funds either from membership fees or endowments. Unlike a public library, access is often restricted to members, but access rights c ...

of its type in Britain. *

Joseph Wright of Derby Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". Wr ...

's painting ''

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump ''An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump'' is a 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, one of a number of candlelit scenes that Wright painted during the 1760s. The painting departed from convention of the time by depicting a ...

''.

Publications

* First of the weekly numbers of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica'', edited by William Smellie, are published in Edinburgh (10 December); one hundred are planned. * ''An Essay upon Prints, containing remarks upon the principles of picturesque beauty'' by William Gilpin. * '' A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'' by Laurence Sterne. * ''A Six Weeks Tour, through the southern counties of England and Wales'' by Arthur Young. * '' The Complete Farmer: Or, a General Dictionary of Husbandry'', by "A Society of Gentlemen", a group of members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, concludes publication in weekly numbers and first published in book form

Births

* 22 March – Bryan Donkin, engineer and inventor (died 1855) * 17 May ** Caroline of Brunswick, queen of George IV (died 1821) **

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member ...

, general (died 1854) * 9 June – Samuel Slater, "father of the American Industrial Revolution" (died 1835 in the United States) * 23 August – Astley Cooper, surgeon and anatomist (died 1841) * 24 September –

Sharon Turner Sharon Turner (24 September 1768 – 13 February 1847) was an English historian. Life Turner Was born in Pentonville, the eldest son of William and Ann Turner of Yorkshire, who had settled in London upon marrying.H. R. Loyn,Turner, Sharon (1 ...

, historian (died 1847) * 2 October – William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, general and politician (died 1854)

Deaths

* 1 February – Sir Robert Rich, cavalry officer (born 1685) * 2 February – Robert Smith, mathematician (born

1689 Events January–March * January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated th ...

) * 8 February – George Dance the Elder, architect (born

1695 It was also a particularly cold and wet year. Contemporary records claim that wine froze in the glasses in the Palace of Versailles. Events January–March * January 7 (December 28, 1694 O.S.) – The United Kingdom's last joint monarch ...

) * 17 February – Arthur Onslow, politician (born

1691 Events January–March * January 6 – King William III of England, who rules Scotland and Ireland as well as being the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, departs from Margate to tend to the affairs of the Netherlands. * January 14 – A ...

) * 18 March – Laurence Sterne, Irish-born English novelist (born

1713 Events January–March * January 17 – Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore leads the Carolina militia out of Albemarle County, North Carolina, in a second offensive against the Tuscarora. Heavy snows force the troops to take ref ...

) * 15 June – James Short, mathematician and optician (born

1710 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin b ...

) * 24 July –

Nathanial Lardner Nathaniel Lardner (6 June 1684 – 24 July 1768) was an English theologian. Life Lardner was born at Hawkhurst, Kent in 1684. He was the elder son of Richard Lardner (1653–1740), an independent minister, and of a daughter of Nathaniel Collye ...

, theologian (born

1684 Events January–March * January 5 – King Charles II of England gives the title Duke of St Albans to Charles Beauclerk, his illegitimate son by Nell Gwyn. * January 15 (January 5 O.S.) - To demonstrate that the River Thames, froz ...

) * 3 August –

Thomas Secker Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. Early life and studies Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, D ...

(born

1693 Events January–March * January 11 – 1693 Sicily earthquake: Mount Etna erupts, causing a devastating earthquake that affects parts of Sicily and Malta. * January 22 – A total lunar eclipse is visible across North and South Ameri ...

) * 1 October – Robert Simson, mathematician (born

1687 Events January–March * January 3 – With the end of latest of the Savoyard–Waldensian wars in the Duchy of Savoy between the Savoyard government and Protestant Italians known as the Waldensians, Victor Amadeus III of Sardi ...

) * 17 November –

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, (21 July 169317 November 1768) was a British Whig statesman who served as the 4th and 6th Prime Minister of Great Britain, his official life extended ...

, Prime Minister (born

) * 26 November – Edward Stone, polymath (born

1702 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Wednesday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 2 – A total solar eclipse is visible from the southe ...

) * ''date unknown'' –

Mary Hervey Mary Hervey, Lady Hervey (''née'' Lepell; c.1700 – 2 September 1768) was an English courtier. Family and early life Born around 1700, Mary Lepell was the daughter of Brigadier-general Nicholas Wedig Lepell and his wife, Mary Brooke, daughte ...

(born

1700 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 19), where then Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 11 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 17 ...

)

References

{{Year in Europe, 1768 Years in Great Britain