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London theaters reopen; actresses appear onstage for the first time
One of Charles II's first actions upon his restoration to the throne in May 1660 was to reopen the playhouses, which had been outlawed under the repressive regime of Oliver Cromwell. -
Charless II is proclaimed king of England (crowned in 1661
A political crisis that followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. -
Plague claims more than 68,000 people in London
The Great Plague, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long time period of the Second Pandemic, an extended period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics which began in Europe in 1347, the first year of the Black Death, an outbreak which included other forms such as pneumonic plague, and lasted until 1750 -
Great Fire destorys much of London
a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums.[2] -
Glorious (Bloodless): Revolution James II is succeeded by Protestant rulers of William and Mary
the overthrow of King James II of England (James VII of Scotland and James II of Ireland) by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). William's successful invasion of England with a Dutch fleet and army led to his ascending of the English throne as William III of England jointly with his wife Mary II of England, in conjunction with the documentation of the Bill of Rights 1689. -
alexander pope publishes part of The Rape of the Lock
The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellaneous Poems and Translations in two cantos -
Swift publishes A Modest Propsal, protesting english treatment of the Irish poor
A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick -
Voltaire publishes Candide
is a French satire first publishedsxewd2 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment.[ -
George III is crowned king of England; becomes known as the king who lost the American Colonies
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. -
British Parliament passes Stamp Act for taxing American Colonies
The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. -
African American poet Phillis Wheatleys Poems on Various Subject, Religious and Moral is published in London
Phillis Wheatley was the first published African-American female poet. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven and transported to North America -
Boston Tea Party occurs
The demonstrators, some disguised as Native Americans, in defiance of the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor. -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindiction of the RIghts if Women
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, written by the 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy -
Napoleon heads revolutionary government in France
was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French Empire.
