1750 (place)

Born in 1750:

• German-English astronomer Caroline Herschel (sister of William Herschel).
• Swiss mathematician Simon Lhuilier.
• Italian mathematician Lorenzo Mascheroni.
• Scottish mathematician James Glenie.
• American Revolutionary War general Henry Knox.
• Scottish poet Robert Fergusson.
• Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda.
• Italian composer Antonio Salieri, rival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• English lawyer and politician Thomas Erskine.
• French canning pioneer Nicolas François Appert.
• French marshal and military writer Comte Maurice de Saxe.

Died in 1750:

• German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
• German luteinist and composer Silvius Leopold Weiss.
• João V, king of Portugal.
• German geologist Abraham Werner, proponent of Neptunism.
• Austrian composer Georg Matthias Monn.

Events of 1750:

• Crispus Attucks escapes from his Massachussetts owner.
• Britain outlaws the manufacture of iron in its American colonies. This law is, naturally, ignored.
• the French build Fort Rouille on the shores of Lake Ontario, the current site of Toronto.
• A dance craze sweeps the peasantry of southern Germany and Austria.  Known as the Walzer, it is the forerunner of the waltz.
• The first coal mine in America is opened, bear Richmond, Virginia.
• Westminster Bridge spans the Thames.
• Dr. Thomas Walker locates the Cumberland Gap in western Virginia.
• John Cleland publishes his novel, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, commonly known now as Fanny Hill.
• Baal Shem Tov founds Hasidic Judaism.
• Karim Khan Zand consolidates power over Persia, keeping Safavid Esma'il III as figurehead Shah.

1749 - 1750 - 1751

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It's important to note that 1750 is used as an arbitrary dividing line for some important historical periods. Google returned about 652,000 hits as opposed to the 300,000 - 400,000 for other years.

• The Industrial Revolution gets into swing around this time, especially in Great Britain.
• The death of Bach is an important symbol for the end of the Baroque/Roccoco movements in art and architecture, and the beginning of the Neoclassical/Classical Period.
• The era of liberal philosophical thinking known as The Enlightenment begins around this time.