1685
Composer J. S. Bach is born.
1685
James II crowned King of England and Scotland.
1685
Edict of Fontainebleau outlaws Protestantism in France.
1685
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, attempts to overthrow James II and claim the throne in the 'Monmouth Rebellion'.
1687
Isaac Newton expounds the theory of gravity in his 'Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica'.
1688
Aphra Behn's 'Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave', regarded as one of the first novels in English, is published.
1688 - 1697
The Nine Years War, between Louis XIV's France and a Grand Alliance of other European powers.
1688
The Glorious Revolution sees James II overthrown by William of Orange.
1688
A Bill of Rights decrees Parliamentary freedom from the Crown, and civil freedom from "cruel and unusual punishment".
1688
Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse in London becomes a popular exchange for shipping news and insurance deals. It will later give its name to the insurance market Lloyd's of London.
1689
Henry Purcell's opera 'Dido and Aeneas' is first performed.
1689
Andrew Marvell publishes 'Poems on Affairs of the State'.
1689
William III and Mary II crowned King and Queen of England and Scotland. This heralds the start of the rule of the House of Orange and Stuart.
1689
Act of Toleration grants freedom to worship for Nonconformists.
1689
Bill of Rights excludes Catholics from the British throne.
1690
John Locke writes his 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding', a year after finishing 'Two Treatises of Government'.
1691
Henry Purcell's 'King Arthur, or the British Worthy', with a libretto by John Dryden.
1691
New East India Company formed in London.
1692
The Salem witch trials begin in Massachusetts.
1692
The Languedoc Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Bay of Biscay.
1693
England creates a permanent National Debt.
1693
The Amish religious movement is established by Jakob Ammann.
1694
Thomas Southerne writes 'The Fatal Marriage'.
1694
The Triennial Act establishes General Elections every three years.
1694
Foundation of the Bank of England.
1695
John Locke writes 'The Reasonableness of Christianity'.
1695
The death of Henry Purcell.
1695 - 1753
Print run of 'The Flying Post; or, the Post-Master'.
1695 - 1728
Print run of 'Pax Pax Pax; or, a Pacifick Post-Boy'.
1696
Foundation of the Board of Trade and Plantations.
1696
The Kit-Cat Club, one of the most powerful gentlemen's clubs of the early eighteenth century, is established.
1697
Sir John Vanbrugh writes 'The Provok'd Wife'.
1698
Dr Thomas Bray founds the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCA).
1699
Gilbert Burnet writes 'Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles'.
1699
80% of Britain's population earn their living from the land.
1699 - 1708
Print run of 'The Edinburgh Gazette'.
1699 - 1712
Print run of the 'History of the Works of the Learned'.
1700
Joseph Sauveur published a treatise on the vibrations of musical tones.
1700
John Dryden writes 'Fables Ancient and Modern'.
1701
The Deist Matthew Tindal publishes his 'Rights of the Christian Church', asserting the supremacy of the state over the church. It is widely condemned.
1701
Jethro Tull invents the seed-drill
1701
Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, writes 'The Spleen'.
1701
The Norwich Post, probably the first provincial newspaper, is established.
1701
John Dunton publishes the 'Post-Angel'.
1702
Establishment of the Daily Courant, the first daily newspaper.
1702
Publication of 'A Pacquet from Parnassus'.
1702
Anne crowned Queen of England and Scotland.
1702 - 1713
War of the Spanish Succession.
1703
Isaac Newton is elected President of the Royal Society.
1704
Jonathan Swift writes 'A Tale of a Tub'.
1704
Isaac Newton publishes 'Opticks', in which his theories of light are discussed.
1705
Edmund Halley correctly predicts the return in 1758 of a comet last sighted in 1682. The comet becomes known as Halley's Comet.
1706
The German composer Johann Pachelbel dies.
1707
The Society of Antiquaries holds its first meeting, although it will not gain a royal charter until 1751.
1707
The 'Muse's Mercury', edited by John Oldmixon, is established.
1707
The Acts of Union, passed by the Parliaments of England and Scotland, unites the two kingdoms to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. The acts create a single parliament in London.
1707
Isaac Watts publishes his 'Hymns and Spiritual Songs'.
1707
Britain is still overwhelmingly rural. The population of Birmingham is approximately 8,000. The population of Leeds is approximately 7,000.
1708
Jethro Tull's mechanical sower allows large-scale planting of seeds.
1708
Sir Christopher Wren completes St Paul's Cathedral in London.
1709
Matthew Tindal publishes his 'Defence of the Rights of the Christian Church'. As with his earlier work, this proves controversial. The House of Commons orders a copy of it to be burnt by the common hangman.
1709 - 1711
Sir Richard Steele publishes 'The Tatler'.
1709
The first Copyright Act is passed.
1710
The 'Examiner' is founded, with Jonathan Swift briefly as editor.
1710
The 'Visions of Sir Heister Ryley', attributed to Daniel Defoe and Charles Povey, is established.
1711
The clarinet appears for the first time in an orchestra, in J. A. Hasse's 'Croesus'.
1711 - 1714
Joseph Addison and Richard Steele publish their influential and popular 'Spectator'.
1711
The 'Free-thinker' is published.
1711
Alexander Pope writes his 'Essay on Criticism'.
1711
Anthony Ashley Cooper, third Earl of Shaftesbury, writes 'Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times'.
1712
Thomas Newcomer patents the atmospheric steam engine, the first significant power source excepting water and wind.
1712
Alexander Pope writes 'The Rape of the Lock'.
1712
The Stamp Act is extended to include newspapers, amid protests from publishers and writers.
1712
Publication of 'Plain Dealer', attributed to William Wagstaff.
1712
Nathaniel Culpepper publishes 'Culpepper Reviv'd'.
1713
The 'Lay-Monk' is established by Richard Blackmore as a sequel to the 'Spectator'.
1713 - 1714
Publishing run of 'The British Merchant'.
1714
Gabriel David Fahrenheit constructs a mercury thermometer, using the scale that will later be named after him.
1714
George I crowned King of Great Britain. Start of the rule of the House of Brunswick, Hanover line.
1714
Publication of 'The Monitor'.
1714
Male literacy in Britain is around 45%, and female literacy is around 25%, although within the elite literacy is almost 100%.
1714
A school of dance is established at the Paris Opera.
1715
The first Liverpool dock is built.
1715
Publication of 'The Freeholder'.
1715
Publication of 'The Reader'.
1715
Publication of 'The Censor'.
1715
Publication of 'The Original Weekly Journal'.
1715
Publication of 'The Grumbler'.
1715
Publication of 'The Medley'.
1715
Publication of 'The St James's Evening Post'.
1715
Publication of 'The St James's Post'.
1715
Publication of 'The Weekly Remarks and Political Reflections'.
1716
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu writes 'Town Eclogues'.
1716
The Septennial Act sets General Elections to be held every seven years.
1716 - 1720
Daniel Defoe founds the popular and influential moderate Tory newspaper 'Mercurius Politicus' in 1716. It runs until 1720.
1716
The Bangorian Controversy sparks theological argument within the Church of England.
1718
Susannah Centlivre writes 'A Bold Stoke for a Wife'.
1718 - 1800
Daniel Defoe starts the 'Whitehall Evening Post' in 1718. It will run until 1800.
1718
The 'Leeds Mercury' is first established.
1719
Daniel Defoe publishes 'Robinson Crusoe'.
1719 - 1744
Printing run of 'The London Journal'.
1720
Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the pianoforte around this period.
1720
Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.
1720
The collapse of over-inflated share prices in the South Sea Company causes the South Sea Bubble to burst.
1721
The influential French Rococo artist Antoine Watteau dies at the age of 37.
1723
Vivaldi writes 'The Four Seasons'.
1725
The first publication of 'Parker's Penny Post'.
1725 - 1848
Print run of the 'York Courant'.
1725
George Faulkner establishes the Dublin Journal.
1726
The UK's first circulating library opens in Edinburgh.
1726
Jonathan Swift writes 'Gulliver's Travels'.
1727
J. S. Bach writes his 'St. Matthew Passion'.
1727
George II is crowned King of Great Britain.
1728 - 1736
Print run of 'The Present State of the Republick of Letters'.
1728
John Gay writes 'The Beggar's Opera'.
1728
Bernard de Mandeville writes 'The Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices, Public Benefits'.
1731
10 Downing Street becomes the official Westminster residence of British Prime Ministers.
1732
Covent Garden Opera House opens in London.
1732
First publication of Matthias Earbury's 'The Universal Spy; Or, the Royal Oak Journal Reviv'd'.
1732
First publication of the 'Dublin Evening Post'.
1733
Publication of 'B Berington's Evening Post'.
1735
William Hogarth publishes 'A Rake's Tale'.
1735
Beginning of the Welsh Methodist Revival.
1736
Laws against witchcraft formally repealed in Britain.
1737
Philip Mercier, who brought Rococo to Britain, paints 'A Music Party'.
1738
The Methodist Movement begins, led by John and Charles Wesley.
1739 - 1742
Henry Fielding publishes the 'Champion'.
1739
A survey records 551 coffee houses in London.
1739
David Hume publishes the first part of his 'Treatise of Human Nature'.
1740
Samuel Richardson publishes 'Pamela'.
1740 - 1748
War of the Austrian Succession.