1.
1779 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1779 in Great Britain. 11 February – Admiral Keppel acquitted of charges of misconduct brought against him by Sir Hugh Palliser,14 February – Captain James Cook dies on the Sandwich Islands on his third and last voyage. 23 February to 25 February – American Revolutionary War, Battle of Vincennes,1 February to 28 February – With an average temperature of 7.9 °C, this is the warmest February in the CET record and the oldest still-standing record-warm month therein. 3 March – American Revolutionary War, Battle of Briar Creek,23 March – Astronomer Edward Pigott discovers the Black Eye Galaxy. 29 March, American Revolutionary War, Siege of Charleston by British forces,1 January to 31 March – With a total England and Wales Precipitation of only 44.4 millimetres, this is the driest three consecutive months since records began in 1766. 12 April – France signs a treaty with Spain to wage war against Great Britain. May – Boulton and Watt’s Smethwick Engine, now the oldest working engine in the world, is brought into service,3 June – Armada of 1779, Fleet sets sail from France. 16 June – American Revolutionary War, Spain declares war on Britain,20 June – American Revolutionary War, Battle of Stono Ferry. 6 July – American Revolutionary War, Battle of Grenada fought between British and French navies,24 June – American Revolutionary War, Start of the Great Siege of Gibraltar. This was an action by French and Spanish forces to wrest control of Gibraltar from the established British Garrison, the garrison, led by George Augustus Eliott, later 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar, survives all attacks and a blockade of supplies. 15 July – American Revolutionary War, American forces led by General Anthony Wayne capture Stony Point,22 July American Revolutionary War, Goshen Militia destroyed by Joseph Brants forces at the Battle of Minisink. Armada of 1779, French and Spanish ships rendezvous,24 July – American Revolutionary War, the Penobscot Expedition ends in defeat for the Americans. 14 to 18 August,31 August to 3 September – Armada of 1779 in the English Channel, September – American Revolutionary War, Spain captures Saint Vincent and Grenada from the British. 7 September – American Revolutionary War, Capture of Fort Bute by Spanish troops,20 September to 21 September - American Revolutionary War, At the Battle of Baton Rouge Spanish forces defeat the British. 23 September – American Revolutionary War, Battle of Flamborough Head off the Yorkshire coast, The American ship Bonhomme Richard, the Bonhomme Richard sinks, but the Americans capture the Serapis and other vessels. 18 October – American Revolutionary War, The Americans abandon the Siege of Savannah, October First performance of Richard Brinsley Sheridans play The Critic at the Drury Lane Theatre in London. The Bible Society, predecessor of the Naval, Military and Air Force Bible Society,22 December – American Revolutionary War, Capture of Savannah – British forces under Archibald Campbell take the city of Savannah, Georgia. 31 December – Affair of Fielding and Bylandt, a naval engagement with the Dutch off the Isle of Wight
2.
1781 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1781 in the Kingdom of Great Britain. Monarch – George III Prime Minister – Lord North 1 January – Industrial Revolution,5 January – American Revolutionary War, Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold. 6 January – Battle of Jersey, British troops prevent the French from occupying Jersey in the Channel Islands,17 January – American Revolutionary War, The American Continental Army under Daniel Morgan decisively defeats British forces at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister, enters Parliament,3 February – American Revolutionary War and Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, The Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius surrenders to Admiral Rodney. 28 February – Foundation of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester,13 March – Sir William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus. Originally he calls it Georgium Sidus in honour of King George III,15 March – American Revolutionary War, American General Nathanael Greene loses the Battle of Guilford Court House to British. 1 July – Second Anglo-Mysore War, At the Battle of Porto Novo,6 July – American Revolutionary War, At the Battle of Green Spring, the British led by Lord Cornwallis defeat the French led by the Marquis de Lafayette. 27 July – French spy François Henri de la Motte executed at Tyburn for high treason,30 August – American Revolutionary War, French fleet under the Comte de Grasse enters Chesapeake Bay, cutting British General Charles Cornwallis off from escape by sea. 6 September – American Revolutionary War, Battle of Groton Heights, A British force under Benedict Arnold attacks a fort in Groton, Connecticut, henry Hurle officially founds the Ancient Order of Druids in London. 3 December – First known building society established, in Birmingham, last year in which the monarch participates in a regular peacetime meeting of the Cabinet. Edward Gibbons The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, john Wood, the Youngers pattern book A Series of Plans for Cottages or Habitations of the Labourer. The collection of childrens poetry Mother Gooses Melody
3.
1782 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1782 in the Kingdom of Great Britain. 25 January–26 January - American Revolutionary War, Battle of St. Kitts between French and British fleets,5 February - Spanish defeat British forces and capture Minorca. 17 February - American Revolutionary War, Battle of Sadras between French and British fleets,19 March - Following a vote of no confidence against the government of Lord North, North resigns as Prime Minister because of recent setbacks in the American Revolutionary War. 27 March - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, becomes Prime Minister for the second time and his new Whig administration opens peace talks with the Americans, with Thomas Grenville being sent to Paris to negotiate with Benjamin Franklin. 1 April - Rockingham appoints the first Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary,12 April - American Revolutionary War, A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse in the West Indies at the Battle of the Saintes. 12 April - American Revolutionary War, Battle of Providien, treaty of Salbai ends the First Anglo-Maratha War. 25 May–12 June - American Revolutionary War, Crawford expedition,4 July - Shelburne becomes Prime Minister following the death of Rockingham. 6 July - American Revolutionary War, Battle of Negapatam between British and French fleets,19 August - American Revolutionary War, Battle of Blue Licks. 24 August - David Tyrie, a clerk who has traitorously corresponded with the French, becomes the last man in Britain to be hanged, drawn and quartered. 29 August - HMS Royal George capsizes at Spithead with the loss of 800 lives,3 September - American Revolutionary War, Battle of Trincomalee between French and British fleets. 10 October - Sarah Siddons makes a triumphant return to the Drury Lane Theatre in London in the role of Garricks adaptation of Thomas Southernes Isabella, or. 20 October - American Revolutionary War, Battle of Cape Spartel,30 November - American Revolutionary War, In Paris, representatives from the United States and Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles. Second Anglo-Mysore War 1780–1784 Relief of the Poor Act provides for organisation of relief on a county basis. Parliament extends James Watts patent for the engine to the year 1800. William Cowpers comic ballad The Diverting History of John Gilpin, william Gilpins Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, made in the summer of the year 1770. Edmund Malones Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley
4.
1780
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As of the start of 1780, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent, february 29 – The Omicron Delta Omega co-ed fraternity is founded by Benjamin Franklin. March 26 – The British Gazette and Sunday Monitor, the first Sunday newspaper in Britain, april 16 – The University of Münster in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is founded. May 4 – The first Epsom Derby horse race is run on Epsom Downs, Surrey, may 12 – American Revolutionary War, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces. May 13 – Cumberland Compact signed by American settlers in the Cumberland Valley of Tennessee, may 19 – New Englands Dark Day, An unaccountable darkness spreads over New England, regarded by some observers as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. May 29 – American Revolutionary War, Loyalist forces under Col. Banastre Tarleton kill surrendering American soldiers in the Waxhaw Massacre, june 2 – An Anti-Catholic mob led by Lord George Gordon marches on Parliament of Great Britain leading to the outbreak of the Gordon Riots in London. June 7 – The Gordon Riots in London are ended by the intervention of troops, about 285 people are shot dead, with another 200 wounded and around 450 arrested. June 23 – American Revolutionary War, Battle of Springfield – The Continental Army defeats the British in New Jersey, july 11 – French soldiers arrive in Newport, Rhode Island to reinforce colonists in the American Revolutionary War. August 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Camden, British troops inflict heavy losses on a Patriot army at Camden, South Carolina. August 9 – American Revolutionary War, Spanish admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova captures a British convoy totalling 55 vessels amongst Indiamen, frigates, august 24 – Louis XVI of France abolishes the use of torture in extracting confessions. September 21 – Benedict Arnold gives detailed plans of West Point to Major John André, three days later, André is captured with papers revealing that Arnold was planning to surrender West Point to the British. September 25 – Benedict Arnold flees to British-held New York, october 2 – American Revolutionary War, In Tappan, New York, British spy John André is hanged by American forces. October 7 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Kings Mountain, october 10–October 16 – The Great Hurricane flattens the islands of Barbados, Martinique and Sint Eustatius,22,000 dead. November 29 – Maria Theresa of Austria dies and her Habsburg dominions pass to her ambitious son, Joseph II, december 16 – Emperor Kōkaku accedes to the throne of Japan. December 20 – Start of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, jose Gabriel Kunturkanki, businessman and landowner, proclaims himself Inca Túpac Amaru II. The Duke of Richmond calls, in the House of Lords of Great Britain, for manhood suffrage and annual parliaments, jeremy Benthams Introduction to Principles of Morals and Legislation, presenting his formulation of utilitarian ethics, is printed in London. Nikephoros Theotokis starts introducing Edinoverie, an attempt to integrate the Old Believers into Russias established church, woodford Reserve bourbon whiskey distillery begins operation in Kentucky. C. s pitch. The amateur dramatic group Det Dramatiske Selskab in Christiania is founded in Norway, western countries pay 16,000,000 ounces of silver for Chinese goods
5.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
6.
George III of the United Kingdom
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He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britains American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence, further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, on George IIIs death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV. Historical analysis of George IIIs life has gone through a kaleidoscope of changing views that have depended heavily on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them. Until it was reassessed in the half of the 20th century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant. George was born in London at Norfolk House and he was the grandson of King George II, and the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. As Prince George was born two months prematurely and he was unlikely to survive, he was baptised the same day by Thomas Secker. One month later, he was baptised at Norfolk House. His godparents were the King of Sweden, his uncle the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, George grew into a healthy but reserved and shy child. The family moved to Leicester Square, where George and his younger brother Prince Edward, Duke of York, Family letters show that he could read and write in both English and German, as well as comment on political events of the time, by the age of eight. He was the first British monarch to study science systematically and his religious education was wholly Anglican. At age 10 George took part in a production of Joseph Addisons play Cato and said in the new prologue, What. It may with truth be said, A boy in England born, historian Romney Sedgwick argued that these lines appear to be the source of the only historical phrase with which he is associated. Georges grandfather, King George II, disliked the Prince of Wales, however, in 1751 the Prince of Wales died unexpectedly from a lung injury, and George became heir apparent to the throne. He inherited one of his fathers titles and became the Duke of Edinburgh, now more interested in his grandson, three weeks later the King created George Prince of Wales. Georges mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales, preferred to keep George at home where she could imbue him with her moral values
7.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
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The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of Her Majestys Government in the United Kingdom. The prime minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Monarch, to Parliament, to their political party, the office is one of the Great Offices of State. The current prime minister, Theresa May, leader of the Conservative Party, was appointed by the Queen on 13 July 2016. The position of Prime Minister was not created, it evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years due to acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history. The office is therefore best understood from a historical perspective, the origins of the position are found in constitutional changes that occurred during the Revolutionary Settlement and the resulting shift of political power from the Sovereign to Parliament. The political position of Prime Minister was enhanced by the development of political parties, the introduction of mass communication. By the start of the 20th century the modern premiership had emerged, prior to 1902, the prime minister sometimes came from the House of Lords, provided that his government could form a majority in the Commons. However as the power of the aristocracy waned during the 19th century the convention developed that the Prime Minister should always sit in the lower house. As leader of the House of Commons, the Prime Ministers authority was further enhanced by the Parliament Act of 1911 which marginalised the influence of the House of Lords in the law-making process. The Prime Minister is ex officio also First Lord of the Treasury, certain privileges, such as residency of 10 Downing Street, are accorded to Prime Ministers by virtue of their position as First Lord of the Treasury. As the Head of Her Majestys Government the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet, in addition the Prime Minister leads a major political party and generally commands a majority in the House of Commons. As such the incumbent wields both legislative and executive powers, under the British system there is a unity of powers rather than separation. In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister guides the process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. The Prime Minister also acts as the face and voice of Her Majestys Government. The British system of government is based on an uncodified constitution, in 1928, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith described this characteristic of the British constitution in his memoirs, In this country we live. Our constitutional practices do not derive their validity and sanction from any Bill which has received the assent of the King, Lords. They rest on usage, custom, convention, often of slow growth in their early stages, not always uniform, the relationships between the Prime Minister and the Sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet are defined largely by these unwritten conventions of the constitution. Many of the Prime Ministers executive and legislative powers are actually royal prerogatives which are still vested in the Sovereign
8.
Frederick North, Lord North
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Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC, more often known by his courtesy title, Lord North, which he used from 1752 until 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence and he also held a number of other cabinet posts, including Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Norths reputation among historians has swung back and forth and it reached its nadir in the late nineteenth century when he was depicted as a creature of the king and an incompetent who lost the American colonies. In the early twentieth century a revisionism emphasized his strengths in administering the Treasury, handling the House of Commons, Herbert Butterfield, however, argued that his indolence was a barrier to efficient crisis management, he neglected his role in supervising the entire war effort. Lord North was born in London on 13 April 1732, at the house at Albemarle Street, just off Piccadilly. His father, the first Earl, was at the time Lord of the Bedchamber to Prince Frederick, North was descended from the 1st Earl of Sandwich and was related to Samuel Pepys and the 3rd Earl of Bute. He at times had a turbulent relationship with his father Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. In his early years the family was not wealthy, though their situation improved in 1735 when his father inherited property from his cousin, fredericks mother, Lady Lucy Montagu, died in 1734. His father remarried, but his stepmother, Elizabeth North, also died in 1745, one of his stepbrothers was Lord Dartmouth, who remained a close friend for life. He was educated at Eton College between 1742 and 1748, and at Trinity College, Oxford where in 1750 he was awarded an MA, after leaving Oxford he travelled in Europe on the Grand Tour with Dartmouth, visiting Leipzig where he studied at the University of Leipzig. He visited Vienna, Milan, and Paris, returning to England in 1753 and he soon developed a reputation as a good administrator and parliamentarian, and was generally liked by his colleagues. In November 1763 he was chosen to speak for the Government concerning radical MP John Wilkes, Wilkes had made a savage attack on both the Prime Minister and the King in his newspaper The North Briton, which many thought libelous. Norths motion that Wilkes be expelled from the House of Commons passed by 273 votes to 111, Wilkes expulsion took place in his absence, as he had already fled to France following a duel. When a government headed by the Whig magnate Lord Rockingham came to power in 1765, North left his post and he turned down an offer by Rockingham to rejoin the government, not wanting to be associated with the Whig grandees that dominated the Ministry. He returned to office when Pitt returned to head a government in 1766. North was appointed Joint Paymaster of the Forces in Pitts ministry, as Pitt was constantly ill, the government was effectively run by the Duke of Grafton, with North as one of its most senior members. In December 1767, he succeeded Charles Townshend as Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the resignation of the secretary of state Henry Seymour Conway in early 1768, North became Leader of the Commons as well. He continued to serve when Pitt was succeeded by Grafton in October, when the Duke of Grafton resigned as Prime Minister, North formed a government on 28 January 1770
9.
Tories (British political party)
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The first Tories emerged in 1678 in England, when they opposed the Whig-supported Exclusion Bill which set out to disinherit the heir presumptive James, Duke of York. This party ceased to exist as a political entity in the early 1760s. A few decades later, a new Tory party would rise to establish a hold on government between 1783 and 1830, with William Pitt the Younger followed by Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool. When the Whigs subsequently regained control, the Representation of the People Act 1832 removed the rotten boroughs, in the following general election, the Tory ranks were reduced to 180 MPs. Under the leadership of Robert Peel, the Tamworth Manifesto was issued, however, Peel lost many of his supporters by repealing the Corn Laws, causing the party to break apart. One faction, led by the Earl of Derby and Benjamin Disraeli, survived to become the modern Conservative Party and this action resulted from this parliament not allowing him to levy taxes without yielding to its terms. In the beginning of the Long Parliament, the Kings supporters were few in number, the increasing radicalism of the Parliamentary majority, however, estranged many reformers even in the Parliament itself and drove them to make common cause with the King. By the end of the 1640s, the radical Parliamentary programme had become clear, reduction of the King to a powerless figurehead, and replacement of Anglican episcopacy with a form of Presbyterianism. This prospective form of settlement was prevented by a coup détat which shifted power from Parliament itself to the Parliamentary New Model Army, the Army had King Charles I executed and for the next eleven years the British kingdoms operated under military dictatorship. Charles II also restored episcopacy in the Church of England and these acts did not reflect the Kings personal views and demonstrated the existence of a Royalist ideology beyond mere subservience to the Court. These interests would soon coalesce as the Whigs, as a political term, Tory entered English politics during the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678–81. The Whigs were those who supported the exclusion of James, the Duke of York from the succession to thrones of Scotland and England & Ireland, and the Tories were those who opposed the Exclusion Bill. The Whigs tried to link the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Duke of Ormonde, with the foremost Irish Tory, Redmond OHanlon, in a supposed plot to murder Titus Oates. The Whig Bishop of Meath, Henry Jones, offered OHanlon a pardon and a bribe if he would testify to Parliament that Ormonde was plotting a French invasion. In December 1680, the government seized these letters and the plan collapsed. they call me names, Jesuit, Papish, Tory. I hear further since that this is the distinction they make instead of Cavalier and Roundhead, now they are called Torys, the rebellion of Monmouth, the candidate of the radical Whigs to succeed Charles II, was easily crushed and Monmouth himself executed. In the long run, however, Tory principles were to be severely compromised, James II, however, during his reign fought for a broadly tolerant religious settlement under which his co-religionists could prosper—a position anathema to conservative Anglicans. James attempts to use the church to promote policies that undermined the churchs own unique status in the state
10.
Parliament of Great Britain
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The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. This lasted nearly a century, until the Acts of Union 1800 merged the separate British and Irish Parliaments into a single Parliament of the United Kingdom with effect from 1 January 1801. Following the Treaty of Union in 1706, Acts of Union ratifying the Treaty were passed in both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, which created a new Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts dissolved both parliaments, replacing them with a new parliament, referred to as the Parliament of Great Britain and it was not even considered necessary to hold a new general election. While Scots law and Scottish legislation remained separate, new legislation was thereafter to be enacted by the new parliament, after the Hanoverian King George I ascended the British throne in 1714 through the Act of Settlement of 1701, real power continued to shift away from the monarchy. George was a German ruler, spoke poor English, and remained interested in governing his dominions in continental Europe rather than in Britain. Reformers and Radicals sought parliamentary reform, but as the French Revolutionary Wars developed the British government became repressive against dissent and progress towards reform was stalled. During the first half of George IIIs reign, the still had considerable influence over Parliament. Most candidates for the House of Commons were identified as Whigs or Tories, reformers like William Beckford and Radicals beginning with John Wilkes called for reform of the system. In 1780 a draft programme of reform was drawn up by Charles James Fox and Thomas Brand Hollis and this included calls for the six points later adopted by the Chartists. Pitt had previously called for Parliament to begin to reform itself, proposals Pitt made in April 1785 to redistribute seats from the rotten boroughs to London and the counties were defeated in the House of Commons by 248 votes to 174
11.
Gordon Riots
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The Gordon Riots of 1780 began as an anti-Catholic protest in London against the Papists Act of 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British Catholics. The protest evolved into riots and looting, the Popery Act 1698 had imposed a number of penalties and disabilities on Roman Catholics in England, the 1778 Act eliminated some of these. An initial peaceful protest led on to widespread rioting and looting and was the most destructive in the history of London, painted on the wall of Newgate prison was the proclamation that the inmates had been freed by the authority of His Majesty, King Mob. The term King Mob afterwards denoted an unruly and fearsome proletariat, the Riots came at the height of the American War of Independence, when Britain was fighting American rebels, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic. They led to unfounded fears that the riots had been an attempt by France. The stated intention of the Papists Act of 1778 was, as its preamble notes and it absolved Catholics from taking the religious oath when joining the British Armed Forces as well as granting a few and limited liberties. There were strong expedient reasons for this change, British military forces at the time were stretched very thinly in what had become a global American War of Independence, with conflicts ongoing with France, Spain, and the new United States. The recruitment of Catholic people would be a significant help to address this shortfall of manpower, the 1698 anti-Catholic laws had largely been ignored for many years and were rarely enforced. Because of this, many leading Catholics were opposed to the repeal of the Act and it was also pointed out that large numbers of Catholics, recruited in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, were already serving in the military. In spite of this, the government decided to press ahead with the Bill, the Protestant Association of London had the support of leading Calvinist religious figures, including Rowland Hill, Erasmus Middleton, and John Rippon. Lord George Gordon became its President in 1779, in an effort to force the repeal of the Papists Act, an articulate propagandist, though eccentric, Gordon inflamed the mob with fears of Papism and a return to absolute monarchical rule. He implied that Catholics in the military would, given a chance, join forces with their co-religionists on the Continent, the success in obstructing the law in Scotland led Gordon to believe he could enjoy similar success in the rest of Britain. Early in 1780 Gordon had several audiences with King George III but was unable to convince him of what he saw as the dangers of the Act, George III initially humoured Gordon, but grew increasingly irritated with him and eventually refused any future audiences. On 29 May 1780, Gordon called a meeting of the Protestant Association, after the first march to Parliament, further riots occurred involving groups whose grievances were nationalistic, economic, or political, rather than religious. As Rudé noted, there was no attack on the Catholic community. Voting in parliamentary elections was restricted by a property threshold, so most Londoners were unable to vote, another suggested cause was Britains weakened international position, which had arisen from the countrys isolation in Europe and the disappointing news coming from the ongoing war. Some rioters were against the continuation of the war, and many strongly supported American independence, in many cases a mix of issues blended together and drove people to take part in the rioting. On 2 June 1780 a huge crowd, estimated at 40,000 to 60,000 strong, many carried flags and banners proclaiming No Popery, and most wore blue cockades which had become the symbol of their movement
12.
John Seymour Lucas
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John Seymour Lucas RA was a Victorian English historical and portrait painter as well as an accomplished theatrical costume designer. Here he met his French wife, fellow artist Marie Cornelissen, Lucas artistic education included extensive travels around Europe, particularly Holland and Spain, where he studied the Flemish and Spanish Masters. He first started exhibiting in 1872, was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1876. John Seymour Lucas was first and foremost a historical genre painter with a talent for realism in the depiction of costumes. His first major work to widespread public acclaim was Rebel Hunting after Culloden. As his reputation grew, Lucas increasingly mixed in society circles, a portrait of Lucas executed by John Singer Sargent is displayed in Tate Britain. Towards the 1890s John Seymour Lucas executed a number of works for prestigious public buildings or royal clients. One of his more unusual commissions was the Duke of Normandy costume for the ill-fated prince Alfred of Saxe Coburg-Gotha for the Devonshire House Ball in 1897, Lucas was also a prolific watercolour painter and was elected a member of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1877. During most of his career, John Seymour Lucas lived in a purpose-built studio in South Hampstead, London, designed for him by his friend and fellow artist. He retired from painting towards the end of World War I, and moved to Blythburgh, Suffolk, Lucas died in 1923 and is interred in the churchyard of Holy Trinity church in Blythburgh. His son, Sydney Seymour Lucas, was also an artist, furthermore, his love for colourful detail, veracity and the theatrical was well suited to the tastes of the late Victorian audience. However, the end of Pax Britannica and the rise of Modernism left these twin pillars of John Seymour Lucas oeuvre slightly marooned, nevertheless, he has left a unique legacy as a chronicler of English history and a costume painter of distinction. This article is based on articles in the Art Journal of March 1887 and December 1908, national Portrait Gallery Royal Collection Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
13.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
14.
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)
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The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a naval battle took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara, the battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle because it was unusual for naval battles in the Age of Sail to take place at night. It was also the first major victory for the British over their European enemies in the war. When Lángara saw the size of the British fleet, he attempted to make for the safety of Cádiz, in a running battle that lasted from mid-afternoon until after midnight, the British captured four Spanish ships, including Lángaras flagship. After the battle Rodney successfully resupplied Gibraltar and Minorca before continuing on to the West Indies station, Lángara was released on parole, and was promoted to lieutenant general by King Carlos III. One of Spains principal goals upon its entry into the American War of Independence in 1779 was the recovery of Gibraltar, the Spanish planned to retake Gibraltar by blockading and starving out its garrison, which included troops from Britain and the Electorate of Hanover. The siege formally began in June 1779, with the Spanish establishing a blockade around the Rock of Gibraltar. The matching naval blockade was comparatively weak, however, and the British discovered that small fast ships could evade the blockaders, by late 1779, however, supplies in Gibraltar had become seriously depleted, and its commander, General George Eliott, appealed to London for relief. A supply convoy was organized, and in late December 1779 a large fleet sailed from England under the command of Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, although Rodneys ultimate orders were to command the West Indies fleet, he had secret instructions to first resupply Gibraltar and Minorca. On 4 January 1780 the fleet divided, with ships headed for the West Indies sailing westward and this left Rodney in command of 19 ships of the line, which were to accompany the supply ships to Gibraltar. On 8 January 1780 ships from Rodneys fleet spotted a group of sails, giving chase with their faster copper-clad ships, the British determined these to be a Spanish supply convoy that was protected by a single ship of the line and several frigates. The entire convoy was captured, with the ship of the line, Guipuzcoana. Guipuzcoana was staffed with a prize crew and renamed HMS Prince William, in honour of Prince William, the third son of the King. On 12 January HMS Dublin, which had lost part of her topmast on 3 January, suffered additional damage, assisted by HMS Shrewsbury, she limped into Lisbon on 16 January. The Spanish had learnt of the British relief effort, córdova learnt of the strength of Rodneys fleet, and returned to Cadiz rather than giving chase. On 16 January the fleets of Lángara and Rodney spotted each other around 1,00 pm south of Cape St. Vincent, the point of Portugal. The weather was hazy, with heavy swells and occasional squalls, Rodney was ill, and spent the entire action in his bunk. His flag captain, Walter Young, urged Rodney to give orders to engage when the Spanish fleet was first spotted, Lángara started to establish a line of battle, but when he realised the size of Rodneys fleet, he gave orders to make all sail for Cadiz
15.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
16.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
17.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
18.
Epsom Derby
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The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey over a distance of one mile, four furlongs and 10 yards and it is Britains richest horse race, and the most prestigious of the five Classics. It is sometimes referred to as the Blue Riband of the turf, the race serves as the middle leg of the Triple Crown, preceded by the 2000 Guineas and followed by the St Leger, although the feat of winning all three is now rarely attempted. The name Derby has become synonymous with great races all over the world, however, the Epsom Derby is the original. It is one of Britains great national sporting events and has a large worldwide TV audience, in Great Britain the name Derby is pronounced /ˈdɑːrbi/, while in the United States it is /ˈdɜːrbi/, a case of spelling pronunciation. The Derby originated at a following the first running of the Oaks Stakes in 1779. A new race was planned, and it was decided that it should be named either the host of the party. According to legend the decision was made by the toss of a coin, but it is probable that Bunbury, the inaugural running of the Derby was held on Thursday 4 May 1780. It was won by Diomed, a colt owned by Sir Charles Bunbury, the first four runnings were contested over 1 mile, but this was amended to the current distance of 1½ miles in 1784. Lord Derby achieved his first success in the event in 1787, the starting point of the race was moved twice during the 19th century. The first move, suggested by Lord George Bentinck, was in 1848, and it was discovered in 1991 that the exact length of the race was one mile, four furlongs and 10 yards. Initially, the Derby was run on a Thursday in late May or early June depending on when Easter occurred, in 1838 the race was moved to a Wednesday to fit in with the railways timetables but was still run on different dates depending on Easter. In 1995 the day was changed from the first Wednesday in June to the first Saturday, the Derby has been run at Epsom in all years except during the world wars. From 1915 to 1918 and from 1940 to 1945 the Derby was run at Newmarket and these races are known as the New Derby. The Derby has inspired similar events around the world. European variations include the Derby Italiano, the Deutsches Derby, the Irish Derby, other national equivalents include the Australian Derby, the New Zealand Derby and the Tokyo Yūshun. Several races in the United States include the Derby name, including the Kentucky Derby, investec became the sponsor of the Derby in 2009, and the current sponsorship deal runs until 2022. The race was backed by Ever Ready and Vodafone
19.
Surrey
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Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791
20.
Diomed
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Diomed, foaled in 1777, was an English Thoroughbred race horse who won the inaugural running of the Epsom Derby in 1780. He was subsequently a successful sire in the United States, richard Vernon and owned by Sir Charles Bunbury. and trained by him at Hilton Hall. He was started 19 times, winning 11, finishing second in 4, of these eleven wins, ten were consecutive, which included the inaugural running of the Epsom Derby in 1780. During these early years of Diomeds life, he was considered by many to be the best colt seen in Britain since Eclipse. He was allowed to rest for a while, but when he was back to the races. Sometimes he would win, and sometimes he wouldnt win, and his last win was a Kings Plate in four mile heats carrying 168 pounds. Sir Charles retired Diomed to stud and his fee was five guineas, or about $25. There were few takers, and for the decade or so, Diomeds fee went down and down until, by the age of 21. By then, there were no takers, so the old stallion did nothing. Sir Charles offered Diomed for sale when the stallion was 21 years old, colonel John Hoomes of Bowling Green, Virginia bought him for $250, and then shipped him to Virginia where he was returned to stud in 1798. Besides being personally impressed with the horse, a stallion of Tayloes had also hurt himself. In those days, stallions did not stand in one place, Diomed lived like this until he was thirty-one years old and was active to his very last days. His fee increased with his fame and his fame increased so quickly that Hoomes was able to sell a share in him for six times his purchase price soon after he set all four hooves on American soil. Diomed, along with Medley, Shark, and Messenger, were the four most important stallions introduced into early American bloodstock, Sir Archy had a huge influence on Thoroughbred history, siring the line which led to Timoleon, Boston, and Lexington. His descendants include Black Caviar, Phar Lap, Secretariat and American Pharoah, Diomeds get included saddlehorses for Thomas Jefferson and statesman and jurist John Marshall. At Diomeds death at the age of 31, it was reported. there was as much mourning over his demise as there was at the death of George Washington
21.
Charleston, South Carolina
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Charleston had an estimated population of 132,609 in 2015. Charleston was founded as Charles Town—honoring King Charles II of England—in 1670 and its initial location at Albemarle Point on the west bank of the Ashley River was abandoned in 1680 for its present site, which became the 5th-largest city in North America within 10 years. Despite its size, it remained unincorporated throughout the period, its government was handled directly by the state legislature and by its Anglican parish wardens. It adopted its present spelling with its incorporation as a city in 1783 at the close of the Revolutionary War. The Confederates burned the town prior to its evacuation but continued demand for the cotton and rice, along with growing industry. In 2016, Charleston was ranked the Worlds Best City by Travel + Leisure, the city proper consists of six distinct areas, the Peninsula or Downtown, West Ashley, Johns Island, James Island, Daniel Island, and the Cainhoy Peninsula. The old town fit into 4–5 square miles as late as the First World War, the city limits also have expanded across the Cooper River, encompassing Daniel Island and the Cainhoy area. The present city has an area of 127.5 square miles. North Charleston blocks any expansion up the peninsula, and Mount Pleasant occupies the land directly east of the Cooper River, Charleston Harbor runs about 7 miles southeast to the Atlantic with an average width of about 2 miles, surrounded on all sides except its entrance. Sullivans Island lies to the north of the entrance and Morris Island to itself south, the entrance itself is about 1 mile wide, it was originally only 18 feet deep, but began to be enlarged in the 1870s. The tidal rivers are evidence of a submergent or drowned coastline, there is a submerged river delta off the mouth of the harbor and the Cooper River is deep. Charleston has a subtropical climate, with mild winters, hot, humid summers. Summer is the wettest season, almost half of the rainfall occurs from June to September in the form of thundershowers. Fall remains relatively warm through November, winter is short and mild, and is characterized by occasional rain. Measurable snow only occurs several times per decade at the most, however,6.0 in fell at the airport on December 23,1989, the largest single-day fall on record, contributing to a single-storm and seasonal record of 8.0 in snowfall. The highest temperature recorded within city limits was 104 °F on June 2,1985, and June 24,1944, and the lowest was 7 °F on February 14,1899. At the airport, where records are kept, the historical range is 105 °F on August 1,1999. Hurricanes are a threat to the area during the summer and early fall
22.
Anti-Catholic
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Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy and adherents. In the Early modern period, in the face of rising powers in Europe. The fifth round of talks in the Lutheran–Roman Catholic dialogue notes, In calling the pope the antichrist, the early Lutherans stood in a tradition that reached back into the eleventh century. Not only dissidents and heretics but even saints had called the bishop of Rome the antichrist when they wished to castigate his abuse of power.6, and 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Article 26.4. In 1754, John Wesley published his Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, in his notes on Revelation chapter 13, he commented, The whole succession of Popes from Gregory VII are undoubtedly antichrist. Protestants condemned the Catholic policy of celibacy for priests. Institutional anti-Catholicism in Britain and Ireland began with the English Reformation under Henry VIII, the Act of Supremacy of 1534 declared the English crown to be the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England in place of the pope. Any act of allegiance to the latter was considered treasonous because the papacy claimed both spiritual and political power over its followers and it was under this act that saints Thomas More and John Fisher were executed and became martyrs to the Catholic faith. Queen Mary, Henrys daughter, was a devout Catholic and as queen for five years tried to reverse the Reformation and she married the Catholic king of Spain and executed Protestant leaders. Protestants reviled her as Bloody Mary, the Recusancy Acts, making it a legal obligation to worship in the Anglican faith, date from Elizabeths reign. Assassination plots in which Catholics were prime movers fueled anti-Catholicism in England and these included the famous Gunpowder Plot, in which Guy Fawkes and other conspirators plotted to blow up the English Parliament while it was in session. The fictitious Popish Plot involving Titus Oates was a hoax that many Protestants believed to be true, the Glorious Revolution of 1688–1689 involved the overthrow of King James II, of the Stuart dynasty, who favoured the Catholics, and his replacement by a Dutch Protestant. For decades the Stuarts were supported by France in plots to invade and conquer Britain, finally after great political turmoil the Catholics were emancipated in the early 19th century—that is, freed from most of the penalties and restrictions they faced. Since World War II anti-Catholic feeling in England has abated somewhat, since then, dialogue has continued through envoys and standing conferences. Conflict and rivalry between Catholicism and Protestantism since the 1920, and especially since the 1960s, has centred in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Anti-Catholicism in Britain was long represented by the burning of an effigy of the Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes at widespread celebrations on Guy Fawkes Night every 5 November and this celebration has, however, largely lost any anti-Catholic connotation. Only faint remains of anti-Catholicism are found today, as punishment for the rebellion of 1641, almost all lands owned by Irish Catholics were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers. Catholic / Protestant strife has been blamed for much of The Troubles, the English Protestant rulers killed many thousands of Irish people who refused to acknowledge the government and sought an alliance with Catholic France, Englands great enemy
23.
Lord George Gordon
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Lord George Gordon was a British politician best known for lending his name to the Gordon Riots of 1780. A colourful personality, he was born into the Scottish nobility and his life ended after a number of controversies, notably one surrounding his conversion to Judaism for which he was ostracised. George Gordon was born in London, England, third and youngest son of Cosmo George Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon, after completing his education at Eton, he entered the Royal Navy in 1763 at the age of 12. He received promotion to the rank of Lieutenant, but his career stagnated and his behaviour in raising the poor living conditions of his sailors led to him being mistrusted by his fellow officers, although it contributed to his popularity amongst ordinary seamen. In 1774 the pocket borough of Ludgershall was bought for him by General Fraser and he was considered flighty, and was not looked upon as being of any importance. From the moment he entered parliament he was a critic of the governments colonial policy in regard to America. He became a supporter of American independence and often out in favour of the colonies. His chances of building a following in parliament were damaged by his inconsistency. He was just as likely to attack the opposition spokesman Charles James Fox in a speech as he was to challenge Lord North. After the mob reached Westminster the Gordon Riots began, the army was finally brought in to quell the unrest and killed or wounded around 450 people before they finally restored order. For his role in instigating the riots, Lord George was charged with high treason and he was comfortably imprisoned in the Tower of London and permitted to receive visitors, including the Methodist leader Rev. John Wesley on Tuesday 19 December 1780. Thanks to a defence by his cousin, Thomas, Lord Erskine. He was, however, permitted to withdraw from the court without bail, in 1787, at the age of 36, Lord George Gordon converted to Judaism in Birmingham, and underwent brit milah at the synagogue in Severn Street now next door to Singers Hill Synagogue. Circumcision was rare in the England of his day and he took the name of Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon. Gordon thus became what Judaism regards as, and Jews call, while in prison, Gordon lived the life of an Orthodox Jew, and he adjusted his prison life to his circumstances. He put on his tzitzit and tefillin daily and he fasted when the halakha prescribed it, and likewise celebrated the Jewish holidays. He was supplied kosher meat and wine, and Shabbat challos by prison authorities, the prison authorities permitted him to have a minyan on the Jewish Sabbath and to affix a mezuza on the door of his cell. The Ten Commandments were also hung on his wall for Shabbat to transform the room into a synagogue, Lord George Gordon associated only with pious Jews, in his passionate enthusiasm for his new faith, he refused to deal with any Jew who compromised the Torahs commandments
24.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
25.
Robert Raikes
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Robert Raikes was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. Pre-dating state schooling and by 1831 schooling 1,250,000 children, Raikes was born at Ladybellegate House, Gloucester, in 1736, the eldest child of Mary Drew and Robert Raikes, a newspaper publisher. He was baptised on 24 September 1736 at St Mary de Crypt Church in Gloucester, on 23 December 1767 he married Anne Trigge, with whom he had three sons and seven daughters. Their younger son William Henley Raikes became colonel of the Coldstream Guards and their oldest son Reverend Robert Napier Raikes had a son General Robert Napier Raikes of the Indian Army. Robert was a pioneer of the Sunday school movement, although he did not start the first Sunday School, some already existed such as that founded by Hannah Ball in High Wycombe which is the first documented known case. He inherited a business from his father, becoming proprietor of the Gloucester Journal in 1757. The movement started with a school for boys in the slums, Raikes had been involved with those incarcerated at the county Poor Law and saw that vice would be better prevented than cured. He saw schooling as the best intervention, the best available time was Sunday as the boys were often working in the factories the other six days. The best available teachers were lay people, the textbook was the Bible, and the originally intended curriculum started with learning to read and then progressed to the catechism. Raikes used the paper to publicise the schools and bore most of the cost in the early years, the movement began in July 1780 in the home of a Mrs Meredith. Only boys attended, and she heard the lessons of the boys who coached the younger. Within two years, several schools opened in and around Gloucester and he published an account on 3 November 1783 of Sunday schools in his paper, and later word of the work spread through the Gentlemans Magazine, and in 1784, a letter to the Arminian Magazine. After Church, they were to be employed in repeating the catechism till after five, there were disputes about the movement in the early years. The schools were derisively called Raikes Ragged School, criticisms raised included that it would weaken home-based religious education, that it might be a desecration of the Sabbath, and that Christians should not be employed on the Sabbath. Some leading ecclesiastics—among them Bishop Samuel Horsley—opposed them on the grounds that they might become subservient to purposes of political propagandism, sabbatarian disputes in the 1790s led many Sunday schools to cease their teaching of writing. Notwithstanding all this, Adam Smith gave the movement his strongest commendation, No plan has promised to effect a change of manners with equal ease, by 1831, Sunday schools in Great Britain were teaching weekly 1,250,000 children, approximately 25 percent of the population. As these schools preceded the first state funding of schools for the general public, J. M. HARRIS, Robert Raikes, the man and his works. Frank BOOTH, Robert Raikes of Gloucester published 1980, rogers, M. Ladybellegate House, Gloucester and Robert Raikes
26.
Sunday school
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A Sunday school is a Christian educational institution, usually catering to children and other young people. Many Seventh-day Adventists, Seventh Day Baptists, and other sabbatarian communities hold their Sabbath Schools on Saturdays, Sunday schools in England were first set up in the 1780s to provide education to working children. It aimed to teach the reading, writing and cyphering. By 1785,250,000 English children were attending Sunday School, there were 5,000 in Manchester alone. By 1895, the Society for the Establishment and Promotion of Sunday Schools had distributed 91,915 spelling books,24,232 Testaments and 5,360 Bibles. The Sunday School movement was cross-denominational, and through subscription built large buildings that could host public lectures as well as classrooms, in the early days, adults would attend the same classes as the infants, as each were instructed in basic reading. In some towns the Methodists withdrew from the Large Sunday School, the Anglicans set up their own National schools that would act as Sunday Schools and day schools. These schools were the precursors to a system of education. The role of the Sunday Schools changed with the Education Act 1870, in the 1920s they promoted sports. It was common for teams to compete in a Sunday School League and they were social centres hosting amateur dramatics and concert parties. By the 1960s, the term Sunday School could refer to the building, by the 1970s even the largest Sunday School at Stockport had been demolished. Sunday School became the name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations. The first Sunday school may have opened in 1751 in St Marys Church. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, in 18th-century England education was reserved for a minority and was not compulsory. The wealthy educated their children privately at home, with hired governesses or tutors for younger children, boys of that class were often sent away to boarding school, hence these fee-based educational establishments were known, confusingly, as public schools. The town-based middle class may have sent their sons to grammar schools, the children of factory workers and farm labourers received no formal education, and typically worked alongside their parents six days a week, sometimes more than 13 hours a day. In 1781, after prompting from his friend William King who was running a Sunday School in Dursley. In the home of a Mrs Meredith he opened a school on Sunday, using the Bible as their textbook, he taught them to read and write
27.
Gloucester
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Gloucester is a city and district in southwest England, the county city of Gloucestershire. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, on the River Severn, Gloucester was founded in AD97 by the Romans under Emperor Nerva as Colonia Glevum Nervensis, and was granted its first charter in 1155 by King Henry II. Economically, the city is dominated by the industries, and has a strong financial and business sector. The origins of the name Gloucester can be traced to Caerloyw in the modern Welsh, there are various appellations in history such as Caer Glow, Gleawecastre, Gleucestre as an early British settlement is not confirmed by direct evidence. However, Gloucester was the Roman municipality of Colonia Nervia Glevensium, or Glevum, parts of the walls can be traced, and a number of remains and coins have been found, though inscriptions are scarce. In Historia Brittonum, an account of the early rulers of Britain, Vortigerns grandfather. Part of the foundations of Roman Gloucester can be today in Eastgate Street, while Roman tombstones. After the withdrawal on the Roman Empire in the late 4th Century the town returned to the control of Celtic Dubonni tribe. By the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Gloucester is shown as part of Wessex from the Battle of Deorham in 577 until 584, Gloucester was captured by the Saxons in 577. In the early 10th century the remains of Saint Oswald were brought to a church in Gloucester. The core street layout is thought to date back to the reign of Ethelfleda in late Saxon times. In 1051 Edward the Confessor held court at Gloucester and was threatened there by a led by Godwin, Earl of Wessex. A unique coin, dated to 1077–80, was discovered, just north of the city and it features the name of the moneyer Silacwine and its place of minting. The Portable Antiquities Scheme said that, until the coin was discovered, after the Norman Conquest, William Rufus made Robert Fitzhamon the first baron or overlord of Gloucester. Fitzhamon had a base at Cardiff Castle, and for the succeeding years the history of Gloucester was closely linked to that of Cardiff. During the Anarchy, Gloucester was a centre of support for the Empress Matilda who was supported in her claim to the throne by her half-brother, Fitzhamons grandson, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester. The story of the Anarchy is vividly told in a series of paintings by William Burges at the Castle. King Henry II granted Gloucester its first charter in 1155, which gave the burgesses the same liberties as the citizens of London, a a second charter of Henry II gave them freedom of passage on the River Severn
28.
Newport, Rhode Island
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Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The City of Newport is located approximately 37 miles southeast of Providence,21 miles south of Fall River and it is known as a New England summer resort and famous for its mansions. It was a major 18th-century port city and also contains a number of surviving buildings from the colonial era of the United States. The city is the county seat of Newport County and it was known for being the city of some of the Summer White Houses during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The population was 24,027 as of 2013 and its eight founders and first officers were Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton, Jeremy Clark, Thomas Hazard, and Henry Bull. They left Portsmouth, Rhode Island after a fallout with Anne Hutchinson. As part of the agreement, Coddington and his followers took control of the side of the island. They were soon joined by Nicholas Easton, who had recently expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for holding heretical beliefs. The settlement grew to be the largest of the four settlements of Rhode Island. Many of the first colonists in Newport became Baptists, and the second Baptist congregation in Rhode Island was formed in 1640 under the leadership of John Clarke, peace did not last long in Newport, as many did not like Coddingtons autocratic style. As a result, a counter-faction was formed by 1650, led by Nicholas Easton, Newport became the most important port in colonial Rhode Island, and a public school was established in 1640. In 1658, a group of Jews were allowed to settle in Newport who were fleeing the Inquisition in Spain, the Newport congregation is now referred to as Congregation Jeshuat Israel and is the second-oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It meets in Touro Synagogue, the oldest standing synagogue in the United States, in 1663, the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations received its Royal Charter, and Benedict Arnold was elected its first Governor at Newport. The commercial activity which raised Newport to its fame as a port was begun by a second wave of Portuguese Jews who settled there about the middle of the 18th century. They brought with them experience and connections, capital. Most prominent among those were Jacob Rodrigues Rivera who arrived in 1745, Rivera introduced into America the manufacture of sperm oil, which became one of the leading industries and made Newport rich. Newports inhabitants who were engaged in whaling developed 17 manufactories of oil and candles, Aaron Lopez fled to Newport from Lisbon in 1752 and is credited with making Newport an important center of trade. To him in a degree than to any one else was due the rapid commercial development which made Newport for a quarter of a century afterward the most formidable rival of New York
29.
Second Anglo-Mysore War
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The Second Anglo–Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, the great majority of soldiers on the company side were raised, trained, paid and commanded by the company, not the British government. However, the operations were bolstered by Crown troops sent from Britain, and by troops sent from Hanover. Following the British seizure of the French port of Mahé in 1779, Mysorean ruler Hyder Ali opened hostilities against the British in 1780, as the war progressed, the British recovered some territorial losses. Both France and Britain sent troops and naval squadrons from Europe to assist in the war effort, in 1783 news of a preliminary peace between France and Britain reached India, resulting in the withdrawal of French support from the Mysorean war effort. The British consequently also sought to end the conflict with Mysore, and this resulted in the 1784 Treaty of Mangalore, restoring the status quo antebellum under terms company officials such as Warren Hastings found extremely unfavourable. Stung by what he considered a British breach of faith during a war against the Marathas. The company began by capturing Pondicherry and other French outposts in 1778 and they then captured the French controlled port at Mahé on the Malabar coast in 1779. Hyder set about forming a confederacy against the British, which, in addition to the French, included the Marathas, in July 1780 Hyder Ali invaded the Carnatic with an army of 80,000. He descended through the passes of the Eastern Ghats, burning villages as he went, the British responded by sending a force of 5,000 to lift the sieges. On the morning of 10 September 1780, the British force from Guntur under the command of Colonel William Baillie came under fire from Tipus guns near Pollilur. Baillie formed his force into a square formation and began to move slowly forward. However, Hyder Alis cavalry broke through the front, inflicting many casualties. Out of the British force of 3,820 men,336 were killed, the defeat was considered to be the East India Companys most crushing loss in India at that time. Munro reacted to the defeat by retreating to Madras, abandoning his baggage and dumping his cannons in the tank at Kanchipuram. Naravane states in fact that it was a massacre with only 50 officers and 200 men taken prisoner, instead of following up the victory and pressing on for a decisive victory at Madras, Hyder Ali instead renewed the siege at Arcot, which he captured on 3 November. This decision gave the British time to shore up their defences in the south, the arrival of Lord Macartney as governor of Madras in the summer of 1781 included news of war with the Dutch Republic. This forced Hyder Ali to realize that he could never completely defeat a power that had command of the sea, Tipu also defeated Colonel Braithwaite at Annagudi near Tanjore on 18 Feb 1782
30.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
31.
Admiral
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Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually abbreviated to Adm or ADM, in the Commonwealth and the U. S. a full admiral is equivalent to a full general in the army, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet. In NATO, admirals have a code of OF-9 as a four-star rank. The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, commander, from Medieval Latin admiralis and these themselves come from Arabic amīr, or amīr al-, commander of, as in amīr al-baḥr, commander of the sea. The term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders of Norman Sicily, the Norman Roger II of Sicily, employed a Greek Christian known as George of Antioch, who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as Amir of Amirs, i. e. Commander of Commanders, the Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, amiral, from their Aragon opponents. The French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese the word changed to almirante, the word admiral has today come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the worlds navies, equivalent to the army rank of general. However, this wasnt always the case, for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II, admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral. The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, the Royal Navy used colours to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864, for example, Horatio Nelsons highest rank was vice admiral of the white. The generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer, some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian general at sea. Admiral is a German Navy OF-9 four-star flag officer rank, equivalent to the German Army, see also Post-WWII rank is Bakurocho or Chief of Staff, Joint Staff 幕僚長 with limited function as an advisory staff to Minister of Defense, compared to Gensui during 1872–1873 and 1898–1945. Admiral of Castile was a post with a long and important history in Spain
32.
Convoy
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A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas. Arriving at the scene of an emergency with a well-ordered unit. Naval convoys have been in use for centuries, with examples of merchant ships traveling under naval protection dating to the 12th century, the use of organized naval convoys dates from when ships began to be separated into specialist classes and national navies were established. By the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, effective naval tactics had been developed to ward off pirates. Some convoys contained several hundred merchant ships, the most enduring system of convoys were the Spanish treasure fleets, that sailed from the 1520s until 1790. When merchant ships sailed independently, a privateer could cruise a shipping lane, ships sailing in convoy presented a much smaller target, a convoy was as hard to find as a single ship. As a result of the convoy systems effectiveness, wartime insurance premiums were consistently lower for ships that sailed in convoys, losses of ships travelling out of convoy however were so high that no merchant ship was allowed to sail unescorted. In the early 20th century, the changed the balance of power in convoy battles. Steaming faster than merchant ships and firing at long ranges, a battleship could destroy many ships in a convoy before the others could scatter over the horizon. To protect a convoy against a ship required providing it with an escort of another capital ship. Battleships were the reason that the British Admiralty did not adopt convoy tactics at the start of the first Battle of the Atlantic in World War I. But the German capital ships had been bottled up in the North Sea, the Admiralty took a long time to respond to this change in the tactical position, and in April 1917 convoy was trialled, before being officially introduced in the Atlantic in September 1917. Other arguments against convoy were raised, further, large convoys were thought to overload port resources. Actual analysis of shipping losses in World War I disproved all these arguments, at least so far as they applied to transatlantic, ships sailing in convoys were far less likely to be sunk, even when not provided with any escort at all. The loss of productivity due to delays was small compared with the loss of productivity due to ships being sunk. Ports could deal more easily with convoys because they tended to arrive on schedule, Convoy duty also exposes the escorting warships to the sometimes hazardous conditions of the North Atlantic, with only rare occurrences of visible achievement. The British adopted a system, initially voluntary and later compulsory for almost all merchant ships
33.
East Indiaman
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East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India Companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vessels belonging to the Danish, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese. Some of the East Indiamen chartered by the British East India Company were known as tea clippers, English East Indiamen usually ran between England, the Cape of Good Hope and India, where their primary destinations were the ports of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. The Indiamen often continued on to China before returning to England via the Cape of Good Hope, when the company lost its monopoly, the ships of this design were sold off. A smaller, faster ship known as a Blackwall Frigate was built for the trade as the need to carry heavy armaments declined and these include the Danish, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese and Swedish East India companies. East Indiamen carried both passengers and goods, and were armed to defend themselves against pirates, initially, the East Indiamen were built to carry as much cargo as possible, rather than for speed of sailing. The East India company had a monopoly on trade with India and China, East Indiamen were the largest merchant ships regularly built during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, generally measuring between 1100 and 1400 tons burthen. Two of the largest were the Earl of Mansfield and Lascelles being built at Deptford in 1795, the Royal Navy purchased both, converted them to 56-gun fourth rates, and renamed them Weymouth and Madras respectively. They measured 1426 tons on dimensions of approximately 175 feet overall length of hull,144 feet keel,43 feet beam,17 feet draft, in England, Queen Elizabeth I granted an exclusive right to the trade to one company in 1600. The company grew to more than the trade between England and India, but the ships described in this article are the type used in the 17th to the early 19th centuries to carry the trade. The Royal Navy acquired several East Indiamen, turning them into fourth rates, in some cases the East Indiamen successfully fought off attacks by the French. The ships normally had two decks for accommodation within the hull and a raised poop deck. The poop deck and the deck below it were lit with square-windowed galleries at the stern, to support the weight of the galleries, the hull lines towards the stern were full. Later ships built without this feature tended to sail faster, which put the East Indiamen at a disadvantage once the need for heavy armament passed. These ships were used for the China run, until the coming of steamships, these Indian-built ships were relied upon almost exclusively by the British in the eastern seas. None sailed to Europe and they were banned from English ports, many hundreds of Indian-built Indiamen were built for the British, along with other ships, including warships. Notable among them were Surat Castle, a 1, 000-ton ship with a crew of 150, Lowjee Family, of 800 tons and a crew of 125, and Shampinder, of 1,300 tons. Another significant East Indiaman in this period was the 1176-ton Warley that John Perry built at his Blackwall Yard in 1788, and which the Royal Navy bought in 1795 and renamed HMS Calcutta
34.
Frigate
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A frigate /ˈfrɪɡᵻt/ is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries. In the 17th century, this term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability and these could be warships carrying their principal batteries of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks. The term was used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle. In the late 19th century, the frigate was a type of ironclad warship that for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term frigate was used because such ships still mounted their principal armaments on a continuous upper deck. Ship classes dubbed frigates have more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers. The rank frigate captain derives from the name of type of ship. The term frigate originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galleass type ship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word is unknown, although it may have originated as a corruption of aphractus, aphractus was, in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς, or undefended ship. In 1583, during the Eighty Years War, Habsburg Spain recovered the Southern Netherlands from the rebellious Dutch and this soon led to the occupied ports being used as bases for privateers, the Dunkirkers, to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this they developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates, in French, the term frigate became a verb, meaning to build long and low, and an adjective, adding further confusion. Even the huge English Sovereign of the Seas could be described as a frigate by a contemporary after her upper decks were reduced in 1651. The navy of the Dutch Republic was the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates, the first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for the shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. The third task required heavy armament, sufficient to fight against the Spanish fleet, the first of these larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland. The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most visible in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs. The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as frigates, the largest of which were two-decker great frigates of the third rate. Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as great ships of the time, however, most other frigates at the time were used as cruisers, independent fast ships. The term frigate implied a long hull design, which relates directly to speed and also, in turn, in Danish, the word fregat is often applied to warships carrying as few as 16 guns, such as HMS Falcon which the British classified as a sloop
35.
Cape St. Vincent
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Cape St. Vincent, next to the Sagres Point, on the so-called Costa Vicentina, is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. Cape St. Vincent was already sacred ground in Neolithic times, the ancient Greeks called it Ophiussa, inhabited by the Oestriminis and dedicated here a temple to Heracles. The Romans called it Promontorium Sacrum and they considered it a magical place where the sunset was much larger than anywhere else. They believed the sun sank here hissing into the ocean, marking the edge of their world, according to legend, the name of this cape is linked to the story of a martyred fourth-century Iberian deacon St. Vincent whose body was brought ashore here. A shrine was erected over his grave, according to the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi, king Afonso Henriques had the body of the saint exhumed in 1173 and brought it by ship to Lisbon, still accompanied by the ravens. This transfer of the relics is depicted on the coat of arms of Lisbon, the area around the cape was plundered several times by pirates from France and Holland and, in 1587, by Sir Francis Drake. All existing buildings—including the Vila do Infante of Henry the Navigator—fell into ruins because of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the Franciscan friars who cared for the shrine stayed on until 1834, when all monasteries were disbanded in Portugal. Several naval battles were fought in the vicinity of this cape, in 1641 during the Dutch Revolt a Spanish fleet under the 2nd Duke of Ciudad Real defeated a Dutch fleet in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. In 1780, this cape was the site of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on 14 February 1797, St. Vincent Street in Glasgow was named to commemorate the battle. In 1833, in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent a Loyalist Portuguese fleet defeated the Miguelites during Portugals Liberal Wars and this cape is the southwesternmost point in Portugal. The cliffs rise nearly vertically from the Atlantic to a height of 75 meters, the present lighthouse is 24 metres high and was built over the ruins of a 16th-century Franciscan convent in 1846. The statues of St. Vincent and St. Francis Xavier had been moved to church of Nossa Senhora da Graça on Point Sagres 3 kilometres away. This lighthouse, guarding one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes, is among the most powerful in Europe, its two 1,000 W lamps can be seen as far as 60 kilometres away. 2007 Iberian Peninsula earthquake The Rough Guide to Portugal, March 2005, ISBN 1-84353-438-X Rentes de Carvalho, J. Portugal, um guia para amigos, Amsterdam, Arbeiderspers, ISBN 90-295-3466-4
36.
Battle of Camden
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The Battle of Camden was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. Following the battle, he never held a command again. His political connections, however, helped him avoid inquiries and courts martial into the debacle, clinton returned to New York in the summer of 1780, leaving Lord Cornwallis the task of fortifying the South and raising the anticipated large numbers of Loyalists. The Continental Army in the south, most of which had surrendered at Charleston, was driven from South Carolina in the May 1780 Battle of Waxhaws. The Patriot resistance remaining in South Carolina consisted of militia partisan companies under commanders like Thomas Sumter, William Davie, the Continental Army began to reform at Charlotte, North Carolina under Horatio Gates, the hero of Saratoga. Gates arrived in late July, and met with the local militia, a significant number of his troops were relatively untested militia companies, and even some of the Continentals under his command had little battlefield experience. Because of its crossroads location, Camden was considered a key to controlling the country of the Carolinas. On July 27, Gates advanced into South Carolina, heading towards Camden, then garrisoned by about 1,000 men under Lord Rawdon, Gates established a camp at Rugeleys Mill, north of Camden, where he was joined by militia companies from North Carolina and Virginia. The weather was hot, and a significant number of troops were put out of action by the heat. Gates formed up first on the field and he had about 3,700 troops, of which only 1,500 were Continental regulars. On his right flank he placed Mordecai Gists 2nd Maryland and the Delaware Regiment, on his left flank, he placed 2,500 untried North Carolina militia under Maj. Gen. Richard Caswell. Gates stayed with the force, the 1st Maryland Regiment under William Smallwood. Gates placed seven guns along the line, behind the militia, he placed companies of cavalry and light infantry. Cornwallis had roughly 2,100 men, of which about 600 were Loyalist militia, the other 1,500 were British regulars. Cornwallis also had the infamous and highly experienced Tarletons Legion, some 250 cavalry and 200 infantry who were formidable in a pursuit situation, Cornwallis formed his army in two brigades. Lord Rawdon was in command of the left, facing the Continental Infantry with the Irish Volunteers, Banastre Tarletons infantry, on the right was Lt. Col James Webster, facing the inexperienced militia with the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers and the 33rd Regiment of Foot. In reserve, Cornwallis had two battalions of the 71st Regiment of Foot and Tarletons cavalry force and he also placed four guns in the British centre. While the militia was being routed, and before Gates flight, Rawdons troops advanced in two charges, but a heavy fire repulsed his regiments
37.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
38.
Camden, South Carolina
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Camden is a city in, and the county seat of, Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 6,838 in the 2010 census and it is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the United States Census Bureau, Camden has an area of 10.68 square miles. Camden is the oldest inland city and fourth oldest city in South Carolina and it is near the center of the Cofitachequi chiefdom that existed in the 1500s. In 1730, Camden became part of a township plan ordered by King George II, in 1758, Joseph Kershaw, from Yorkshire, England came into the township, established a store and renamed the town Pine Tree Hill. Camden became the main trade center in the colony. Kershaw suggested that the town be renamed Camden, in honor of Lord Camden, may 1780 brought the American Revolution to Charleston, South Carolina, when it fell under the Crowns control. Lord Charles Cornwallis and 2,500 of his Loyalist and British troops marched to Camden, the latter battle was a costly win for the British, and forced them to leave Camden and retreat to the coast. After the Revolution, Camdens prominence and wealth grew as a major trading town with direct ties to Charleston. Camden, although not involved directly with the Civil War, did send six generals who contributed significantly, richard Rowland Kirkland - The Angel of Maryes Heights - is interred in the Old Quaker Cemetery. At the end of the war, components of Shermans army burned Confederate, the last Federal officer killed in the Civil War died in a skirmish near Camden. Starting in the mid-1880s the Camden area became a popular destination for wealthy northern families to spend the winter. Eventually three resort hotels provided state of the art winter tourism activities well into the 1930s and beyond, the town became associated with many equestrian activities, and is now the home of the third oldest active polo field in America. In the winter, more than 1,500 thoroughbreds call the area home, according to Kershaw County’s web site, “Horse related activities became very popular. That interest in equine activities has continued and today the industry is a major part of the county economy. For that reason, the county is known as the ‘Steeplechase Capital of the World’, as of the census of 2010, there were 6,838 people residing in the city limits, in 2,967 households and 1,800 families. The population density was 692.2 people per square mile, there were 3,544 housing units at an average density of 331.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 62. 2% White,35. 1% African American,0. 20% Native American,0. 7% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander,2. 7% from other races, and 1. 1% from two or more races
39.
Patriot (American Revolution)
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Patriots were those colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution and in July 1776 declared the United States of America an independent nation. Their rebellion was based on the philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by spokesmen such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams. They were opposed by the Loyalists who instead supported continued British rule, as a group, Patriots represented a wide array of social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. The critics of British rule called themselves Whigs after 1768, identifying members of the British Whig party. The Oxford English Dictionary third definition of Patriot is A person actively opposing enemy forces occupying his or her country, a member of a resistance movement, originally used of those who opposed and fought the British in the American War of Independence. The earliest citation is a 1773 letter by Benjamin Franklin, in Britain at the time, patriot had a negative connotation, and was used, says Samuel Johnson as a negative epithet for a factious disturber of the government. During the Revolution these persons became known primarily as Loyalists, afterward, many emigrated north to the remaining British territories in what is now modern Canada. There they called themselves the United Empire Loyalists, many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to today by Americans as the Founding Fathers, the Patriots came from many different backgrounds. Among the most active of the Patriots group were highly educated, however, without the support of the ordinary men and women, such as farmers, lawyers, merchants, seamstresses, homemakers, shopkeepers, and ministers, the struggle for independence would have failed. With a white population of about 2.5 million, that makes about 380,000 to 500,000 Loyalists, the great majority of them remained in America, since only about 80,000 Loyalists left the United States 1775–1783. They went to Canada, Britain, Florida or the West Indies, to understand how people made the choice between being a Patriot or a Loyalist, historians have compared the motivations and personalities of leading men on each side. Labaree has identified eight characteristics that differentiated the two groups, psychologically, Loyalists were older, better established, and more likely to resist innovation than the Patriots. Men who were alienated by physical attacks on Royal officials took the Loyalist position, most men who wanted to find a compromise solution wound up on the Loyalist side, while the proponents of immediate action became Patriots. Some Loyalists were procrastinators who believed that independence was bound to some day, but wanted to postpone the moment. Loyalists were cautious and afraid of anarchy or tyranny that might come from mob rule, Patriots made an effort to use. Finally, Labaree argues that Loyalists were pessimists who lacked the Patriots confidence that independence lay ahead, the Patriot faction came to reject taxes imposed by legislatures in which the tax-payer was not represented. No taxation without representation, was their slogan, referring to the lack of representation in the British Parliament, the British countered there was virtual representation, that is, all members of Parliament represented the interests of all the citizens of the British Empire
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Loyalist (American Revolution)
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The Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or Kings Men and they were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution. Prominent Loyalists repeatedly assured the British government that many thousands of loyalists would spring to arms, the British government acted in expectation of that, especially in the southern campaigns in 1780-81. In practice, the number of loyalists in military service was far lower than expected, across the new United States, Patriots watched suspected Loyalists very closely, and would not tolerate any organized Loyalist opposition. Many outspoken or militarily active loyalists were forced to flee, especially to their stronghold of New York City, when their cause was defeated, about 15% of the Loyalists fled to other parts of the British Empire, to Britain itself, or to what is now Canada. The southern colonists moved mostly to Florida, which had remained loyal to the Crown, northern Loyalists largely migrated to Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. They called themselves United Empire Loyalists, most were compensated with Canadian land or British cash distributed through formal claims procedures. Exiled Loyalists received £3 million or about 37% of their losses from the British government, Loyalists who stayed in the U. S. were generally able to retain their property and become American citizens. Historians have estimated that between 15 and 20 percent of the 2.0 million whites in the colonies in 1775 were Loyalists, the American Revolution was a civil war based on who would rule in the Thirteen Colonies. Families were often divided as war forced colonists to choose sides in a conflict that remained for many years uncertain, colonists, especially recent arrivals, often felt themselves to be both American and British, subjects of the King, still owing a loyalty to the mother country. Many, like Maryland lawyer Daniel Dulaney, opposed taxation without representation, in one of his many pamphlets, Dulaney wrote, There may be a time when redress may not be obtained. Till then, I shall recommend a legal, orderly, most hoped for a peaceful reconciliation, and were forced by the Patriots who took control nearly everywhere in 1775-76 to choose sides. Likely the earliest formal meeting, and use of the term Loyalist, at the meeting, held at the suggestion of General Thomas Gage, these Loyalists formed a society called The Loyalist Associators Desiring the Unity of the Empire. They felt that rebellion against the Crown—the legitimate government—was morally wrong and they were alienated when the Patriots resorted to violence, such as burning houses and tarring and feathering. They wanted to take a road position and were angry when forced by the Patriots to declare their opposition. They had a sentimental attachment to Britain. They were procrastinators who realized that independence was bound to come someday and they were cautious and afraid that chaos and mob rule would result. Some were pessimists who lacked the confidence in the future displayed by the Patriots, others recalled the dreadful experiences of many Jacobite rebels after the failure of the last Jacobite rebellion as recently as 1745 who often lost their lands when the Hanoverian government won
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Battle of Kings Mountain
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Ferguson had arrived in North Carolina in early September 1780 to recruit troops for the Loyalist militia and protect the flank of Lord Cornwallis main force. Ferguson issued a challenge to the militias to lay down their arms or suffer the consequences. In response, the Patriot militias led by Benjamin Cleveland, James Johnston, William Campbell, John Sevier, Joseph McDowell, receiving intelligence on the oncoming attack, Ferguson decided to retreat to the safety of Lord Cornwallis army. However, the Patriots caught up with the Loyalists at Kings Mountain near the border with South Carolina, achieving a complete surprise, the Patriot militiamen attacked and surrounded the Loyalists, inflicting heavy casualties. After an hour of battle, Ferguson was fatally shot while trying to break the rebel line, although victorious, the Patriots had to retreat quickly from the area for fear of Cornwallis advance. Later they executed nine Loyalist prisoners after a short trial, the battle was a pivotal moment in the Southern campaign. The surprising victory of the American patriot militia over the Loyalists came after a string of defeats at the hands of Lord Cornwallis. With Ferguson dead and his Loyalist militia destroyed, Cornwallis was forced to abandon his plan to invade North Carolina, Major Patrick Ferguson was appointed Inspector of Militia on May 22,1780. The Battle of Musgrove Mill, August 19,1780 occurred near a ford of the Enoree River, the whole battle took perhaps an hour and within that period, sixty-three Tories were killed, an unknown number wounded, and seventy were taken prisoner. The Patriots lost only four dead and twelve wounded. Shelby’s forces covered sixty miles with Ferguson in hot pursuit before making their escape, William Campbell and his 400 Virginia men at the Sycamore Shoals muster in advance of the October 7,1780 Battle of Kings Mountain north of present day Blacksburg, South Carolina in North Carolina. On September 2, Ferguson and the militia he had already recruited marched west in pursuit of Shelby toward the Appalachian Mountain hill country on what is now the Tennessee/North Carolina border. North Carolina Patriot militia leaders Isaac Shelby and John Sevier, from the Washington District, met, the detachments of Shelby, Sevier and Campbell were met by 160 North Carolina militiamen led by Charles McDowell and his brother Joseph. Campbells cousin, Arthur Campbell, brought 200 more Virginians and their movement had been made possible by easing tensions with the Cherokee, thanks to diplomacy by Benjamin Clevelands brother-in-law, Indian agent Joseph Martin. The Overmountain Men crossed Roan Mountain the next day, and proceeded in a direction for about thirteen days in anticipation of fighting the British Loyalist forces. By September 30, they had reached Quaker Meadows, the Burke County, North Carolina home of the McDowell brothers, meanwhile, two deserters from the Patriot militia reached Patrick Ferguson and informed him of the large body of militia advancing towards him. The request did not reach Cornwallis until one day after the battle, on October 1, Ferguson reached North Carolinas Broad River, where he issued another pugnacious public letter, calling the local militia to join him lest they be pissed upon by a set of mongrels. On October 4, the Patriot militia reached Fergusons former camp at Gilbert Town, on October 6, they reached Cowpens, South Carolina, where they received word that Ferguson was east of them, heading towards Charlotte and Cornwallis
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Great Hurricane of 1780
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The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, and the 1780 Disaster, is the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Between 20,000 and 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through them from October 10–16, specifics on the hurricanes track and strength are unknown since the official Atlantic hurricane database only goes back to 1851. The hurricane struck Barbados with winds possibly exceeding 320 km/h, before moving past Martinique, Saint Lucia, coming in the midst of the American Revolution, the storm caused heavy losses to British and French fleets contesting for control of the area. The hurricane later passed near Puerto Rico and over the portion of Hispaniola. There, it caused damage near the coastlines. It ultimately turned to the northeast and was last observed on October 20 southeast of Atlantic Canada, the death toll from the Great Hurricane alone exceeds that of many entire decades of Atlantic hurricanes. Estimates are marginally higher than for Hurricane Mitch, the second-deadliest Atlantic storm, the hurricane was part of the disastrous 1780 Atlantic hurricane season, with two other deadly storms occurring in October. The exact origin of the hurricane is unknown but it developed, as do many hurricanes. The system strengthened and expanded as it tracked westward and first began affecting Barbados late on October 9. Late on October 10, the worst of the passed over the island. Early on October 11, the hurricane turned north-northwest about 90 kilometres east of Saint Lucia, the cyclone gradually weakened as it passed to the southwest of Dominica early on October 12 and subsequently struck the island of Guadeloupe. After hitting Guadeloupe, the hurricane turned west-northwest, passing about 145 kilometres southwest of Saint Kitts, the hurricane steadily neared Puerto Rico as it paralleled the southern coastline, and on October 14 made its closest point of approach, to the southwest portion of the island. It subsequently turned to the northwest, hitting the island of Mona in the Mona Passage before making landfall near the present-day Dominican Republic province of Samaná. Late on October 15, it reached the Atlantic Ocean and after passing about 260 kilometres east of Grand Turk Island, it is estimated to have recurved to the northeast. The hurricane passed 240 kilometres southeast of Bermuda on October 18, on October 19, strong winds and high tides were reported in the British province of East Florida. One modern historian suggests the hurricane passed much closer to the province than previously thought, another possibility considered was an extension to a hurricane in the western Caribbean Sea. Because of lack of data, the track of the Great Hurricane is unknown. The Great Hurricane first began affecting Barbados with rain late on October 9, northwesterly winds increased through the day on October 10
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Caribbean
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The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea, in a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included due to their political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the Caribbean islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From December 15,1954, to October 10,2010, there was a known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five states. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations, the region takes its name from that of the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two most prevalent pronunciations of Caribbean are KARR-ə-BEE-ən, with the accent on the third syllable. The former pronunciation is the older of the two, although the variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer KARR-ə-BEE-ən while North American speakers more typically use kə-RIB-ee-ən, usage is split within Caribbean English itself. The word Caribbean has multiple uses and its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation, the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas accords the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas. Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, to the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America, politically, the Caribbean may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example, the known as the Caribbean Community contains the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the Atlantic Ocean, are members of the Caribbean Community. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is also in the Atlantic and is a member of the Caribbean Community. According to the ACS, the population of its member states is 227 million people. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies, Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin and these islands include Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, the Bahamas, and Antigua
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1780 in Great Britain: 