1759 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1759 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George II of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Whig

Events

* 15 January - The British Museum opens in London.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 8 April - Robert Clive captures Masulipatam in India from the French.cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=319–320]
* 1 May - Seven Years' War: British forces capture Guadeloupe from the French.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 222|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 25 July - Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): In Canada, British forces capture Fort Niagara from French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
* 1 August - Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Minden, British-Hanoverian forces under Ferdinand of Brunswick defeat the French army of the Duc de Broglie, but due to the disobedience of the English cavalry commander Lord George Sackville, the French are able to withdraw unmolested.
* 18 August - Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Lagos, the British fleet of Edward Boscawen defeats a French force under Commodore de la Clue off the Portuguese coast.
* 10 September - Seven Years' War: Battle of Pondicherry - An inconclusive naval battle is fought off the coast of India between the French Admiral d'Aché and the British under George Pocock. The French forces are badly damaged and returned home, never to return.
* 13 September - Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): Quebec falls to British forces following General Wolfe's victory in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham just outside the city. Both the French Commander (the Marquis de Montcalm) and the British General Wolfe are fatally wounded.
* 14 September - "A Journey Through Europe; or, A Play of Geography", the earliest British board game sold.
* 20 November - Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Quiberon Bay, the British fleet of Sir Edward Hawke defeats a French fleet under Marshal de Conflans near the coast of Brittany. This is the decisive naval engagement of the Seven Years' War — after this, the French are no longer able to field a significant fleet.

Unknown dates

* Adam Smith publishes "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", embodying some of his Glasgow lectures.
* The song "Heart of Oak" is written by William Boyce with words by David Garrick.

Births

* 25 January - Robert Burns, poet (died 1796)
* 27 April - Mary Wollstonecraft, writer, philosopher and feminist (died 1797)
* 28 May - William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (doed 1806)
* 7 August - William Owen Pughe, lexicographer (died 1835)
* 24 August - William Wilberforce, abolitionist (died 1833)
* 19 September - William Kirby, entomologist (died 1850)
* 24 September - Charles Simeon, evangelical clergyman (died 1836)
* 25 October - William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1834)
* "date unknown" - John Mayne, poet (d. 1836)

Deaths

* 11 March - John Forbes, general (born 1707)
* 14 April - George Frideric Handel, composer (born 1685, Saxony-Anhalt)
* 6 August - Eugene Aram, English philologist (born 1704)
* 13 September - James Wolfe, general (born 1727)
* 10 October - Granville Elliott, military officer (born 1713)
* 13 October - John Henley, English minister (born 1692)

References

ee also