The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century 1660-1800

London theatres reopen; actresses appear onstage for the first time.

Mar 31, 1660

With the reopening of the theatres after the Restoration, women were for the first time allowed to act on the stage. Previously, female roles had been performed by young boys. The advent of women actors opened up a world of titillation and scandal, appreciated by audiences from all levels of society; from merchants to nobles and even King Charles II himself. It also brought about a variety of changes to the theatre.

Charles II is proclaimed king of England (crowned in 1661).

Mar 31, 1660

In April 1660 Charles issued the Declaration of Breda, promising a general amnesty and freedom of conscience. Parliament accepted the Declaration and he was proclaimed King on 8 May 1660. Charles landed at Dover on 26 May 1660, and entered London three days later. He was crowned at Westminster on 23 April 1661.

Plague claims more than 68,000 people in London.

Mar 31, 1665

Also known as the black death, Many thought it was punishment from a wrathful god. Who was displeased with sin of man,

Great Fire destroys much of London.

Mar 31, 1666

The Great Fire of London was 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.

Glorious (Bloodless): Revolution James II is succeeded by Protestant rulers of William and Mary.

Mar 31, 1688

also called the Revolution of 1688, was 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).

Alexander Pope part of The Rape of the Lock.

Mar 31, 1712

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 May 1712 in two cantos (334 lines), but then revised, expanded and reissued in an edition "Written by Mr. Pope" on 4 March 1714, a five-canto version (794 lines) accompanied by six engravings.

Swift publishes A Modest Proposal, protesting English treatment of the Irish Poor.

Mar 31, 1729

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, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729.

Voltaire publishes Candide.

Mar 31, 1759

is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best (1759); Candide: or, The Optimist (1762); and Candide: or, Optimism (1947). It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism .

George III is crowned king of England; becomes known as the king who lost the American Colonies.

Mar 31, 1760

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. After suffering intermittent bouts of acute mental illness, he spent his last decade in a fog of insanity and blindness

British Parliament passes Stamp Act for taxing American Colonies.

Mar 31, 1765

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.

Mar 31, 1773

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England is a collection of 39 poems written by Phillis Wheatley. the first professional African-American woman poet in America and the first African-American woman whose writings were published.

Boston Tea Party occurs.

Mar 31, 1773

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 Women.

Mar 31, 1792

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. In it, Wollstonecraft responds to those educational and political theorists of the 18th century who did not believe women should have an education.

Napoleon heads revolutionary government in France.

Mar 31, 1799

Napoleon created a new form of government in France, reshaped the boundaries of Europe, and influenced revolutionaries and nationalists the world over.