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London theaters reopen; actresses appear onstage for the first time.
For nearly 20 years, the London theatres were closed to the public, but in 1660, when King Charles II at last returned from exile in Europe, the theatre started up again. For the first time in England, women were allowed to act on stage. -
Charles 2nd is proclaimed king of England (crowned in 1661)
Charles 2nd (1630-1685) was the son executed Charles 1st (First monarch). He was succeeded his father as king in 1649 at the age of 30. In 1670, he entered into the secret treaty of Dover, an alliance with his first cousin King Louis XIV of France. His ruling as monarch ends up having no legitimate heirs until his death. -
Plague claims more than 68,000 people in London
In the spring and summer of 1665 an outbreak of Bubonic Plague spread from parish to parish until thousands had died and the huge pits dug to receive the bodies were full. Plague was known as the Black Death and had been known in England for centuries. It was a ghastly disease. The plague started in the East, possibly China, and quickly spread through Europe. Whole communities were wiped out and corpses littered the streets as there was no one left to bury them. -
Great Fire destroys much of London
In 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the centre of London, but also helped to kill off some of the black rats and fleas that carried the plague bacillus. On the 4th of September half of London was in flames. Hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless. -
Glorious (Bloodless): Revolution James 2nd is succeeded by Protestant rulers of William and Mary
Glorious Revolution, also called Revolution of 1688, or Bloodless Revolution, in English history, the events of 1688–89 that resulted in the deposition of James II and the accession of his daughter Mary II and her husband, William III, prince of Orange and stadholder of the Netherlands. -
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. Pope boasted that the poem sold more than three thousand copies in its first four days. The final form of the poem was available in 1717 with the addition of Clarissa's speech on good humour. -
Swift publishes A Modest Proposal, 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. Swift suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This satirical hyperbole mocks heartless attitudes towards the poor, as well as British policy toward Ireland in general. -
Voltaire publishes Candide
Candide is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. -
George 3rd is crowned king of England; becomes known as the king who lost the American Colonies
England’s longest-ruling monarch before Queen Victoria, King George III (1738-1820) ascended the British throne in 1760. During his 59-year reign, he pushed through a British victory in the Seven Years’ War, led England’s successful resistance to Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, and presided over the loss of the American Revolution. -
British Parliament passes Stamp Act for taxing American Colonies
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. 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 Wheatley's Poems on Various Subject, Religious and Moral is published in London
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England (published 1773) is a collection of 39 poems written by Phillis Wheatley (1753 – December 5, 1784?) the first professional African-American woman poet in America and the first African-American woman whose writings were published. -
Boston Tea Party occurs
The Boston Tea Party took place on December 16, 1773. The Boston Tea Party happened in 3 British ships in the Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party took place because the colonists did not want to have to pay taxes on the British tea. -
Mary Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, basically the first feminist philosophical work, was published in 1792. The book is about a belief that that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. The purpose was to sets out on an seemingly super-simple mission: to explain how men and women are totally equal beings -
Napoleon heads revolutionary goverment in France
French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, a series of wars between 1792 and 1815 that ranged France against shifting alliances of other European powers and that produced a brief French hegemony over most of Europe. The revolutionary wars, which may for convenience be held to have been concluded by 1801, were originally undertaken to defend and then to spread the effects of the French Revolution.
