• 10 February –
Seven Years' War/
French and Indian War: The
Treaty of Paris ends the war and
France cedes
Canada to Great Britain. • 1 March –
Charles Townshend becomes
President of the Board of Trade in the
British government. • May –
George Grenville becomes
Prime Minister following the resignation of
the Earl of Bute; he continues to push through Bute's unpopular
Cider Bill to impose a tax on the drink. • 7 May – Outraged by the British success in taking control of land in North America formerly occupied by the French,
Pontiac, chief of the
Odawa people, begins "
Pontiac's War" by attacking the British garrison at
Fort Detroit. Although he fails to succeed by surprise on this occasion, two days later he begins the
Siege of Fort Detroit. • 16 May –
James Boswell is introduced to
Samuel Johnson at
Thomas Davies's bookshop in
London. • 2 June – Pontiac's War: At what becomes
Mackinaw City, Michigan,
Chippewas capture
Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison's attention with a game of
lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort. • 7 July – the
British East India Company declare
Mir Qasim, the
Nawab of Bengal, to be deposed.
Undated •
Josiah Wedgwood receives orders for his pottery from
Queen Charlotte. He names his range of pottery "Queen's Ware" after her. •
Rhododendron ponticum introduced to Britain from the
Iberian Peninsula. ==Publications==