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Great Britain-related events during the year of 1768
Events from the year
1768 in
Great Britain .
Incumbents
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
Events
9 January –
Philip Astley stages the first modern
circus , with
acrobats on galloping horses in
London .
27 February – the first
Secretary of State for the Colonies is appointed, the
Earl of Hillsborough .
March –
general election ; Whigs remain in power.
[2]
17 March
10 May –
John Wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for
The North Briton severely criticising
King George III . This action provokes protesters to riot; in
Southwark , troops fire on the mob, killing seven, the
Massacre of St George's Fields .
[5]
26 August –
James Cook departs from
Plymouth aboard
HMS Endeavour on his
first voyage of discovery .
[6]
September – first
Birmingham Music Festival held.
22–29 September – The
Massachusetts Convention of Towns , assembling in
Boston , resolves on a written objection to the impending arrival of British troops rather than more militant action but causes panic in London.
14 October –
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton , succeeds
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham , as
Prime Minister after Pitt's resignation due to ill health.
[2]
10 December –
Royal Academy founded in London, with
Joshua Reynolds as its first
President .
[7]
Undated
Publications
Births
Deaths
1 February –
Sir Robert Rich , cavalry officer (born 1685)
2 February –
Robert Smith , mathematician (born
1689 )
8 February –
George Dance the Elder , architect (born
1695 )
17 February –
Arthur Onslow , politician (born
1691 )
18 March –
Laurence Sterne , Irish-born English novelist (born
1713 )
15 June –
James Short , mathematician and optician (born
1710 )
24 July –
Nathanial Lardner , theologian (born
1684 )
3 August –
Thomas Secker ,
Archbishop of Canterbury (born
1693 )
1 October –
Robert Simson , mathematician (born
1687 )
17 November –
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne ,
Prime Minister (born
1693 )
[11]
26 November –
Edward Stone ,
polymath (born
1702 )
date unknown –
Mary Hervey (born
1700 )
See also
References