18th century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800 in the Gregorian calendar.

Events

• 1701-14: War of the Spanish Succession
• 1703: Saint Petersburg founded by Peter the Great. Russian capital until 1918.
• 1707: Act of Union passed merging the Scottish and the English Parliaments, thus establishing The Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1707: After Aurangzeb's death, the Mughal Empire enters a long decline.
• 1715: Louis XIV dies
• 1718: City of New Orleans founded by the French in North America
• 1720: The South Sea Bubble
• 1721: Robert Walpole becomes the first Prime Minister of Great Britain (de facto).
• 1721: Treaty of Nystad signed, ending the Great Northern War.
• 1722: Afghans conquer Iran, ending the Safavid dynasty.
• 1722: Kangxi Emperor of China dies.
• 1733-38: War of the Polish Succession
• 1735-99: The Qianlong Emperor of China oversees a huge expansion in territory.
• 1736: Nadir Shah assumes title of Shah of Persia and founds the Afsharid dynasty. Rules until his death in 1747.
• 1739: Nadir Shah defeats the Mughals and sacks Delhi.
• 1740: Frederick the Great crowned King of Prussia.
• 1740-48: War of the Austrian Succession
• 1741: Russians begin settling the Aleutian Islands.
• 1747: Ahmad Shah founds the Durrani Empire in modern day Afghanistan.
• 1750: peak of the Little Ice Age
• 1755: The Lisbon earthquake
• 1756-63: Seven Years' War fought among European powers in various theaters around the world.
• 1757: Battle of Plassey signals the beginning of British rule in India.
• 1760: George III becomes King of Britain.
• 1762-96: Reign of Catherine the Great of Russia.
• 1763-66: Pontiac's Rebellion in North America
• 1766-99: Anglo-Mysore Wars
• 1767: Burmese conquer the Ayutthaya kingdom.
• 1768: Gurkhas conquer Nepal.
• 1768-1774: Russo-Turkish War
• 1769: Spanish missionaries establish the first of 21 missions in California.
• 1772-95: The Partitions of Poland end the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and erase Poland from the map for 123 years.
• 1775-82: First Anglo-Maratha War
• 1775-83: American Revolution
• 1779-1879: Cape Frontier Wars between British and Boer settlers and the Xhosas in South Africa
• 1785-95: Northwest Indian War between the United States and Native Americans
• 1787: Freed slaves from London found Freetown in present-day Sierra Leone.
• 1788: First European settlement established in Australia at Sydney.
• 1789: George Washington elected President of the United States.
• 1789-99: The French Revolution
• 1791-1804: The Haitian Revolution
• 1792-1815: The Great French War starts as the French Revolutionary Wars which lead into the Napoleonic Wars.
• 1792: New York Stock & Exchange Board founded.
• 1793: Upper Canada bans slavery.
• 1795: Pinckney's Treaty between the United States and Spain grants the Mississippi Territory to the US.
• 1796: British eject Dutch from Ceylon.
• 1796: George Washington declines to seek a third term as President of the United States, becoming the only major revolutionary leader in history to voluntarily relinquish power.
• 1796-1804: White Lotus Rebellion in China.
• 1798: Irish Rebellion against British Rule
• 1798-1800: Quasi-War between the United States and France.
• 1799: Napoleon stages a coup d'état and becomes dictator of France.
• 1799: Dutch East India Company is dissolved.