Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Spaceopoly The Countdown to locking thread...

1775 - American Revolutionary War, anyone?

1774 - Louis XVI becomes King of France following the death of his grandfather, Louis XV.

1773 - The Boston Tea Party (the real one).

1772 - The Watauga Association (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Watauga) was created. It was a semi-autonomous government created by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now present day Elizabethton, Tennessee. Although it lasted only a few years, the Watauga Association provided a basis for what later developed into the state of Tennessee and likely influenced other western frontier governments in the trans-Appalachian region.

While there is no evidence that the Watauga Association ever claimed to be outside the sovereign territory of the British Crown, historians have often cited the Association as the earliest attempt by American-born colonists to form an independent democratic government.

1771 - The first recorded town cricket match is played at Horsham.

1770 - Marie Antoinette marries the French Dauphin, Louis-Auguste.



She likes cake.

1769 - James Cook lands in New Zealand at Poverty Bay.

1768 - In London, Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses.

1767 - Birth of "Ole Hickory," Andrew Jackson, 7th U.S. president, in the Waxhaws settlement of either North Carolina or South Carolina.

1766 - Sweden introduces its Freedom of the Press Act, becoming the first country of the world to protect freedom of the press in the Constitution, and the first country in the world to grant a wide-ranging freedom of information.

1765 - The first chocolate factory in the United States is established by Dr. James Baker at Dorchester, Massachusetts.

1764 - The English-language Quebec Gazette is established in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. As of 2008, it was the oldest surviving newspaper in North America.

1763 - The Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War!

1762 - Prince George Augustus Frederick is born to King George III and Queen Charlotte. In 1820, he would ascend the British throne as George IV.

1761 - June 6 – A transit of Venus occurs, and is observed from 120 locations around the Earth *raising eyebrow* never knew that we can see Venus...hmmmm.

1760 - The Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings.

1759 - British Museum opens in London

1758 - Halley's Comet appears for the first time after Halley's discovery of it.

1757 - Robert-François Damiens makes an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Louis XV of France.

1756 - The Burmese sack the capital of the Thai kingdom Ayutthaya, which at that time was an amazingly large and sophisticated city. Its ruins and temples are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site (one which I plan to visit March 2012).

1755 - – French and Indian War – Braddock Expedition: British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat inflicted by French and Indian forces. During the battle, British General Edward Braddock is mortally wounded. Colonel George Washington survives.

1754 - Hudson's Bay Company Anthony Hendry to upper South Saskatchewan River, to Ft. La Jonquierre region with presents and trade goods.

1753 - Species Plantarum is published by Linnaeus (adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature as the formal start date of the scientific classification of plants).

1752 - Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity, using a kite and a key.

1751 - The Academy and College of Philadelphia, now known as the University of Pennsylvania, is founded.