1754 - St. Andrews Golf Club, is founded in Scotland. - In England, the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufacturers is created. -Newcastle becomes head of the ministry as first lord of the Treasury - Britain and France are at war in North America; the issue is boundaries. - Captain Trent starts to build Virginia’s fort at the point where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers join to make the Ohio. - Ensign Ward is left in charge. - April, Ensign Ward surrenders to Captain Contrecoeur, who completes building Fort Duquesne. 28 May, Lieutenant Colonel George Washington leads a party of Virginians and Mingos to attack a French party under Ensign Coulon de Jumonville, who is killed under circumstances called “assassination” by the French. - 26 June, Newcastle’s inner cabinet resolves to defend Britain’s northern colonies from French “invasion.” - 4 July, Washington surrenders encampment called Fort Necessity at Great Meadows after Tanaghrisson’s Mingos desert in contempt of Washington’s leadership. Captain Robert Stobo is given as hostage. - 28-29 July, Captain Stobo smuggles plans of Fort Duquesne to Philadelphia through Delaware chiefs Shingas and Delaware George. - September, Board of trade and ministry discuss need for unified action by colonies. - Ministry decides upon a military commander in chief to be financed by colonies. Cumberland nominates Edward Braddock. - 8 September, News of Washington’s surrender reaches London and stimulates Newcastle to appeal for help from Cumberland. - December, British authorizes Massachusetts governor Shirley to raise troops. .
1755 - January, Britain sends two regiments of troops to Virginia. - February, France sends seventy-eight companies to Canada. - French ministry authorizes instigation of Indians against British colonies. - General Braddock arrives in Williamsburg, Virginia. - British troops defeated by the French near Fort Duquesne in the colonies. - English colonial troops capture French commander Dieskau. - French Fort Beauséjour is taken by the English forces. - British build their first navel vessel on Lake Ontario. - Lisbon, Spain, 30,000 people die in earthquake. - Samuel Johnson publishes "Dictionary of the English Language. "
1756 - May 28, French capture Minorca. - Britain declares war on France, fighting on two fronts in India and North America. - "The Seven Years' War" (1756-63) officially began on August 29, when Frederick of Prussia invades the German State of Saxony. - This war, which was a widening of the conflict between Britain and France in North America, became a world conflict. The combatants included Prussia and Hanover on the British side against Austria, Russia, Saxony, Spain and Sweden with France.
1757 - Fort William Henry captured and destroyed by French August 9, 1757.
1758 - In July 1758, the first British troops dispatched to Germany under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. - August 1, Battle of Minden in Germany - In America, - July 27, British capture French fortress of Louisbourg in Canada - Fort Duquesne is abandoned and burned by the French, the English begin construction of Fort Pitt near the site. - The Easton treaty is signed between the Pennsylvania colonial government and the Delawares, thus settling boundary questions - Appearance of Haley's comet.
1759 - September 13, Battle of Quebec, where both generals Montcalm and Wolfe lost their lives. Battle of Quiberon Bay, a decisive naval engagement.
1760 - Battle of Warburg in Germany July 31 - September 8, Amherst captures Montreal and ends French resistance in Canada. October 25, death of King George II , he is succeeded by his grandson, George III.
1761 - Agricultural machines are displayed in London in an exhibition by the Society of Arts. - A Russian poet scientist, Mikhail Lomonosov, discovers the atmosphere of Venus. - General Amherst forbids presents of food and arms to Indians. - Senecas present a war belt to Detroit Indians, but it is rejected and disclosed to the fort commander.
1762 - Battle of Wilhelmstahl in Germany - War with Spain breaks out. Sweden and Prussia sign a Treaty of Hamburg, Prussia and Austria sign alliance - Martinique, Grenada, Havana and Manila captured by the British - British expedition captures Buenos Aries from Spain - The Sorbonne Library first opens in Paris - In Scotland, cast iron is converted into malleable iron for the first time at the ironworks in Stirlingshire - June of 1762, with the allied forces surrounding Prussia's army, the Russian empress Elizabeth dies.- Peter III takes over Russia and immediately pulls out of the war.- This turn of fate saved Britain and Prussia and allowed them to sign a peace treaty. - War belts are circulated among western Indians, encouraged by Senecas and Frenchmen. - August 23, Major Henry Gladwin takes command of Detroit.
1763 - Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Seven years War in Europe with the Peace of Paris - In the American theatre, the French and Indian War ends. - May 9, Pontiac lays siege to Fort Detroit with a force composed of Ottawas, Chippawa, Potawatomi, Huron, Shawnee, and Delaware warriors. Indians near Detroit move east in force Tribal allies destroy forts at Venango, LeBoeuf, and Presque Isle. Senecas wipe out a convoy near Niagara. - Forts at Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Niagara hold out against besiegers. - July, On their own initiative, but with sanction from Amherst and Bouquet, the garrison at Fort Pitt start an epidemic among the Indians by infecting besieging chiefs with blankets from the smallpox hospital. - August 1, Indians withdraw from siege of Fort Pitt. - August 5, Colonel Bouquet fights off an attack at Bushy Run and forces attackers to withdraw. - British government is provided for Quebec, Florida and Grenada by act of law -The "St. James Chronicles" are published in London - Voltaire publishes "Treatise on Tolerance."- New York and New Jersey Chambers of Commerce are formed. - November 17, Amherst embarks for England, he is succeeded as commander in chief by General Thomas Gage.