1761-1770 - AND ELSEWHERE WORLDWIDE
HISTORY: Rising of Indians near Detroit spreads toward east; British proclamation provides government for Quebec, Florida, and Grenada; Confiscation of Church lands in Russia; British Parliament passes Stamp Act for taxing American colonies; Mason-Dixon Line, drawn by two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon , marks boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, later separating free and slave regions; "Boston Massacre," a brawl between civilians and troops.
ARTS: Benjamin Franklin improves the harmonica, turning it into a practical musical instrument; Boswell meets Johnson for the first time; Brown University founded; Czarina Catherine the Great grants freedom of worship in Russia.
SCIENCE/GROWTH: In Scotland, cast iron converted for first time into malleable iron; James Watt invents condenser, first step toward steam engine; London introduces practice of numbering houses; Potato becomes most popular European foodstuff; Louis de Bougainville discovers Tahiti, the Solomon Islands, and New Guinea; James Cook on first circumnavigation; First lightning conductors on high buildings; In England civil liberties, international free trade, textile machines, and steam power lead to an industrial revolution which slowly spreads all over the world; First public restaurant opens in Paris.
