1770 in Great Britain

Events from the year 1770 in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Incumbents

*Monarch - George III of the United Kingdom
*Prime Minister - Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Whig (to 28 January), Frederick North, Lord North, Tory

Events

* 17 January - American Revolution: British troops clash with American colonists at the Battle of Golden Hill.cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=325–326]
* 28 January - Following Grafton's resignation, Lord North forms a government and becomes Prime Minister. [cite web|url=http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page165.asp|title=Downing Street website, PMs in history|accessdate=2007-08-19]
* 5 March - Boston Massacre: five Americans killed by British troops in an event that would help start the American Revolutionary War five years later.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 12 April - American Revolution: Parliament repeals the Townshend Act.
* 20 April - First voyage of James Cook discovers the eastern coast of Australia.
* 9 June - Spanish troops seize Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands triggering a crisis. [cite web|url=http://www.mindspring.com/~koz/papers/FalklandPaper.html|title=Nationalism and the Falkland Islands War|accessdate=2007-08-19]
* 10 June - James Cook discovers the Great Barrier Reef when HM Bark Endeavour runs onto it.
* July - Industrial Revolution: James Hargreaves obtains a patent for the spinning jenny. [cite web|url=http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?LANGUAGE=eng&pageID=506|title=James Hargreaves, Cotton Town|accessdate=2007-08-19]
* 22 August - James Cook claims the eastern coast of New Holland (Australia) for Great Britain.

Undated

* The chemist Joseph Priestley, recommends the use of a rubber to remove pencil marks.
* The "London Evening Post" becomes the first newspaper to publish parliamentary reports.

Publications

* Edmund Burke publishes " [http://oll.libertyfund.org/Texts/LFBooks/Burke0061/SelectWorks/HTMLs/0005-01_Pt02_Thoughts.html Thoughts on the Present Discontents] ".
* Oliver Goldsmith's poem "The Deserted Village".

Births

* 25 January
** Francis Burdett, politician (died 1844)
** James Hogg, poet and novelist (died 1835)
* 2 February - George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon, nobleman, soldier and politician (died 1836)
* 11 March - William Huskisson, Member of Parliament (died 1830)
* 7 April - William Wordsworth, poet (died 1850)
* 11 April - George Canning, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1827)
* 30 April - David Thompson, British-Canadian explorer (died 1857)
* 7 June - Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1828)
* 13 December - John Clarke Whitfield, organist and composer (died 1836)

Deaths

* 20 January - Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1722)
* 23 June - Mark Akenside, poet and physician (born 1721)
* July 27 - Robert Dinwiddie, British colonial Governor of Virginia (born 1693)
* 24 August - Thomas Chatterton, poet (suicide) (born 1752)
* 30 September - Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, politician and diplomat (born c. 1695)
* 30 September - George Whitefield, English-born Methodist leader (born 1714)
* 18 October - John Manners, Marquess of Granby, soldier (born 1721)
* 9 November - John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll, politician (born c. 1693)
* 13 November - George Grenville, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1712)

References

ee also