-
London theaters reopen; actresses appear onstage for the first time.
Novelty of having women on stage created something of a stir, but for the most part the reaction of the public was positive, especially that of the young men who regularly chose their mistresses from the ranks of the new professionals. Many of the new actresses were women who intentionally used their position to achieve liaisons with titled gentlemen and thus increase their meager income. One of the most famous was of course Nell Gwyn, who became the mistress of Charles II. Another, Elizabeth -
Charles II is proclaimed king of England (crowned in 1661)
After the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, Charles's chances of regaining the Crown seemed slim. Oliver Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son, Richard Cromwell. However, the new Lord Protector, with no power base in either Parliament or the New Model Army, was forced to abdicate in 1659. For the first time in almost 20 years, the members of Parliament faced a general election. -
Plague claims more than 68,000 people in London
By September 1665, the death rate had reached 8,000 per week. Helpless municipal authorities threw their earlier caution to the wind and abandoned quarantine measures. Houses containing the dead and dying were no longer locked. London’s mournful silence was broken by the noise of carts carrying the dead for burial in parish churches or communal plague pits such as Finsbury Field in Cripplegate and the open fields in Southwark. -
Great Fire destroys much of London
The Great Fire of London began on the night of September 2, 1666, as a small fire on Pudding Lane, in the bakeshop of Thomas Farynor, baker to King Charles II. At one o'clock in the morning, a servant woke to find the house aflame, and the baker and his family escaped, but a fear-struck maid perished in the blaze. -
Glorious (Bloodless): Revolution James II is succeeded by Protestant rulers of William and Mary
James was forced to open Parliament, because funds that Parliament had granted Charles II had ended automatically with Charles' death. James dreaded it, but the opening of Parliament went well for him, Parliament granting him generous revenue to run his government. James emerged believing that he was home free to exercise the power that he thought the Constitution granted him. He moved to remove restrictions that prevented Catholics from holding public office and other things. -
Alexander Pope publishes part of The Rape of the Lock.
Pope’s religion procured him some lifelong friends, notably the wealthy squire John Caryll (who persuaded him to write The Rape of the Lock, on an incident involving Caryll’s relatives) and Martha Blount, to whom Pope addressed some of the most memorable of his poems and to whom he bequeathed most of his property. But his religion also precluded him from a formal course of education, since Catholics were not admitted to the universities. -
Swift publishes A Modest Proposal, protesting English treatment of the Irish poor.
Born on November 30, 1667, Irish author, clergyman and satirist Jonathan Swift grew up fatherless. Under the care of his uncle, he received a bachelor's degree from Trinity College and then worked as a statesman's assistant. Eventually, he became dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Most of his writings were published under pseudonyms. He best remembered for his 1726 book Gulliver's Travels. -
Voltaire publishes Candide
Candide, or Optimism (1759), a “philosophic tale”, is a clever satire of France in the mid-18th century. He makes fun of religious intolerance, the destructiveness of war, and the foibles of mankind. He concludes with a plea that we should all “cultivate our own gardens”. -
George III is Crowned king of England; becomes known as the king who lost the American Colonies
George III became king of Great Britain and Ireland in 1760 following his grandfather George II’s death. In his accession speech to Parliament, the 22-year-old monarch played down his Hanoverian connections. “Born and educated in this country,” he said, “I glory in the name of Britain.” -
British Parliament passes Stamp Act for taxing American Colonies
This legislation caused tensions between colonists and imperial officials, who made it clear that the British Parliament would not address American complaints that the new laws were onerous. British unwillingness to respond to American demands for change allowed colonists to argue that they were part of an increasingly corrupt and autocratic empire in which their traditional liberties were threatened. -
African American poet Phillis Wheatley's Poem on Various Subject, Religious and Moral is published in London
Phillis Wheatley was only seven or eight years old when she was captured and taken from her home in West Africa. A slave ship brought her to Boston in 1761. Knowing nothing of the talents she would soon show the world, John Wheatley, a prosperous tailor, and his wife, Susanna, purchased the young girl directly from the ship and named her Phillis Wheatley.
Wheatley grew up to be a poet. Her collection, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published on September 1, 1773. -
Boston Tea Party occurs
In December 1773, British ships carried 500,000 pounds of tea from the East India Company to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charles Town. The citizens didn’t want this tea to come, thinking that it would kill the American profits and get everyone out of business. The Sons of Liberty made plans to stop the tea. In Boston, the Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans, or Mohawks, and ran to the ships filled with tea. They tipped the 342 crates of tea into the Boston Harbor. -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication the Rights of Woman
Published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman was the first great feminist treatise. Wollstonecraft preached that intellect will always govern and sought “to persuade women to endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body, and to convince them that the soft phrases, susceptibility of heart, delicacy of sentiment, and refinement of taste, are almost synonimous [sic] with epithets of weakness.” -
Napoleon heads revolutionary government in France
During this period, French citizens razed and redesigned their country’s political landscape, uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absolute monarchy and the feudal system. Like the American Revolution before it, the French Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly the concepts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights.
