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.
1780 in Great Britain
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Events from the year 1780 in Great Britain. Monarch - George III Prime Minister - Frederick North, Lord North,16 January - American Revolutionary War,8 March - American Revolutionary War, The League of Armed Neutrality is formed by Russia to try to prevent the Royal Navy from searching neutral vessels for contraband. 26 March - The British Gazette and Sunday Monitor, the first Sunday newspaper in Britain,4 May - The first Epsom Derby horse race is run on Epsom Downs, Surrey. 12 May - American Revolutionary War, Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces,2 June - An Anti-Catholic mob led by Lord George Gordon marches on Parliament leading to the outbreak of the Gordon Riots in London. 7 June - The Gordon Riots are ended by the intervention of troops, about 285 people are shot dead, with another 200 wounded and around 450 arrested. July - Robert Raikes initiates a Sunday school movement, in Gloucester,10 July - American Revolutionary War,6,000 French troops led by Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau land in Newport, Rhode Island but are pinned down by the British. September - Outbreak of the Second Anglo-Mysore War in India,9 August - American Revolutionary War, Spanish admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova captures a British convoy totalling 55 vessels amongst Indiamen, frigates and other cargo ships off Cape St. Vincent. 16 August - American Revolutionary War, Battle of Camden - The British defeat the Americans near Camden,2 October - American Revolutionary War, British spy John André is hanged by American forces. 7 October - American Revolutionary War, Patriot militia defeat the Loyalist militia at the Battle of Kings Mountain,20 November - American Revolutionary War, Britain declares war on the Dutch Republic to stop it from joining the League of Armed Neutrality. 20 December - Outbreak of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, the Duke of Richmond calls, in the House of Lords, for manhood suffrage and annual parliaments, which are rejected. William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, begins development of Buxton Crescent, the market town of Middleton, Dorset, is demolished by order of the landowner, Joseph Damer, Lord Milton, and the population moved to a new model village, Milton Abbas. The original Craven Cottage is built by William Craven, 6th Baron Craven, in London
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.
1781
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As of the start of 1781, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923. January – William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister of Great Britain, enters Parliament, january 1 – Industrial Revolution, The Iron Bridge opens across the River Severn in England. January 2 – Virginia passes a law ceding its western land claims, january 5 – American Revolutionary War, Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold. January 6 – Battle of Jersey, British troops prevent the French from occupying Jersey in the Channel Islands, january 17 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cowpens, The American Continental Army under Daniel Morgan decisively defeats British forces in South Carolina. February 2 – The Articles of Confederation are ratified by Maryland, february 3 – Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, Capture of Sint Eustatius – British forces take the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius with only a few shots fired. March – Riots break out in Socorro, Santander, and spread to other towns, march 1 – The United States Continental Congress implements the Articles of Confederation, forming its Perpetual Union as the United States in Congress Assembled. March 13 – Sir William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus, originally he calls it Georgium Sidus in honour of King George III of Great Britain. March 15 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Guilford Court House, may 18 – An army sent from Lima put down the rebellions and captures and savagely executes Túpac Amaru II. July 27 – French spy François Henri de la Motte is hanged and drawn before a crowd at Tyburn. Alstons troops surrender after Fannings men attempt to ram the house with a cart of burning straw, august 30 – American Revolution, A French fleet under Comte de Grasse enters Chesapeake Bay, cutting British General Charles Cornwallis off from escape by sea. September 4 – Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Ángeles de Porciuncula by a group of 44 Spanish settlers in California. September 5 – American Revolution – Battle of the Chesapeake, A British fleet under Thomas Graves arrives and fights de Grasse, but is unable to break through to relieve the Siege of Yorktown. September 6 – American Revolution – Battle of Groton Heights, A British force under Benedict Arnold attacks a fort in Groton, Connecticut, achieving a strategic victory. September 10 – American Revolution, Graves gives up trying to break through the now-reinforced French fleet and returns to New York, september 28 – American Revolution, American and French troops begin a siege of the British at Yorktown, Virginia. October 12 – First bagpipes competition in the Masonic Arms, Falkirk, october 20 – A Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in the Habsburg Monarchy. November 5 – John Hanson is elected President of the Continental Congress, henry Hurle officially founds the Ancient Order of Druids in London, England. December – A school is founded in Washington County, Pennsylvania that will later be known as Washington & Jefferson College, joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor abolishes serfdom. Bank of North America is chartered by the Continental Congress, Charles Messier publishes the final catalog of Messier objects
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.
Industrial Revolution
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The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain and most of the important technological innovations were British, aided by these legal and cultural foundations, an entrepreneurial spirit and consumer revolution drove industrialisation in Britain, which would be emulated in countries around the world. A change in marrying patterns to getting married later made able to accumulate more human capital during their youth. The Industrial Revolution marks a turning point in history, almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth, mechanised textile production spread from Great Britain to continental Europe in the early 19th century, with important centres of textiles, iron and coal emerging in Belgium, and later in France. Since then industrialisation has spread throughout much of the world, the precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is still debated among historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes. Economic historians are in agreement that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in the history of humanity since the domestication of animals and plants. The term Industrial Revolution applied to change was becoming more common by the late 1830s. Friedrich Engels in The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 spoke of an industrial revolution, however, although Engels wrote in the 1840s, his book was not translated into English until the late 1800s, and his expression did not enter everyday language until then. Credit for popularising the term may be given to Arnold Toynbee, some historians, such as John Clapham and Nicholas Crafts, have argued that the economic and social changes occurred gradually and the term revolution is a misnomer. This is still a subject of debate among some historians, the commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely linked to a small number of innovations, beginning in the second half of the 18th century. By the 1830s the following gains had been made in important technologies, Textiles – mechanised cotton spinning powered by steam or water greatly increased the output of a worker, the power loom increased the output of a worker by a factor of over 40. The cotton gin increased productivity of removing seed from cotton by a factor of 50, large gains in productivity also occurred in spinning and weaving of wool and linen, but they were not as great as in cotton. Steam power – the efficiency of steam engines increased so that they used between one-fifth and one-tenth as much fuel, the adaptation of stationary steam engines to rotary motion made them suitable for industrial uses. The high pressure engine had a power to weight ratio. Steam power underwent an expansion after 1800. Iron making – the substitution of coke for charcoal greatly lowered the fuel cost for pig iron, using coke also allowed larger blast furnaces, resulting in economies of scale. The cast iron blowing cylinder was first used in 1760 and it was later improved by making it double acting, which allowed higher furnace temperatures
12.
The Iron Bridge
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The Iron Bridge is a bridge that crosses the River Severn in Shropshire, England. Opened in 1781, it was the first major bridge in the world to be made of cast iron, in 1934 it was designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument and closed to vehicular traffic. Tolls for pedestrians were collected until 1950, when ownership of the bridge was transferred to Shropshire County Council and it now belongs to Telford and Wrekin Borough Council. The bridge, the adjacent settlement of Ironbridge and the Ironbridge Gorge form the UNESCO Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, the bridge is a Grade I listed building, and a waypoint on the South Telford Heritage Trail. The use of the river by boat traffic and the sides of the gorge meant that any bridge should ideally be of a single span. The steepness and instability of the banks was problematic for building a bridge, the Iron Bridge was the first of its kind to be constructed, although not the first to be considered or the first iron bridge of any kind. In 1773, architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard wrote to his iron mad friend and local ironmaster, John Wilkinson of Broseley, Pritchard had previous experience with the design of both wooden and stone bridges, and it is possible that he had integrated into these designs elements of iron. During the winter of 1773–74, local newspapers advertised a proposal to petition Parliament for leave to construct a bridge with a single 120 feet span. In March 1776, the Act to build a bridge received Royal Assent and it had been drafted by Thomas Addenbrooke, secretary of the trustees, and John Harries a London barrister then presented to the House of Commons by Charles Baldwyn, MP for Salop. Abraham Darby III was commissioned to cast and build the bridge, in May 1776, the trustees withdrew Darbys commission, and instead advertised for plans for a single arch bridge to be built in stone, brick or timber. In July 1777 the span of the bridge was decreased to 90 feet, the site, adjacent to where a ferry had run between Madeley and Benthall, was chosen for its high approaches on each side and the relative solidity of the ground. The Act of Parliament described how the bridge was to be built from a point in Benthall parish near the house of Samuel Barnett to a point on the shore near the house of Thomas Crumpton. Pritchard died on 21 December 1777 in his tower-house at Eyton on Severn, only a month after work had begun, the masonry and abutments were constructed between 1777 and 1778, and the ribs were lifted into place in the summer of 1779. The bridge first spanned the river on 2 July 1779, more information about how the bridge was built came from the discovery in 1997 of a small watercolour by Elias Martin in a Stockholm museum, which shows the bridge under construction in 1779. A half-size replica of the section of the bridge was built in 2001 as part of the research for the BBC Timewatch programme. The bridge is built from five cast iron ribs that give a span of 100 feet 6 inches. Exactly 378 long tons 10 cwt of iron was used in the construction of the bridge, and there are almost 1700 individual components, the heaviest weighing 5.5 long tons. Components were cast individually to fit each other, rather than being of standard sizes
13.
River Severn
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The River Severn is the longest river in the United Kingdom, at about 220 miles. It rises at an altitude of 2,001 feet on Plynlimon, close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes and it then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, with the county towns of Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester on its banks. With an average discharge of 107 m3/s at Apperley, Gloucestershire, the river is usually considered to become the Severn Estuary after the Second Severn Crossing between Severn Beach, South Gloucestershire and Sudbrook, Monmouthshire. The river then discharges into the Bristol Channel which in turn discharges into the Celtic Sea, the Severns drainage basin area is 4,409 square miles, excluding the River Wye and Bristol Avon which flow into the Severn Estuary. The major tributaries to the Severn are the Vyrnwy, Clywedog, Teme, Avon, the name Severn is thought to derive from a Celtic original name *sabrinnā, of uncertain meaning. That name then developed in different languages to become Sabrina to the Romans, Hafren in Welsh, a folk etymology later developed, deriving the name from a mythical story of a nymph, Sabrina, who drowned in the river. Sabrina is also the goddess of the River Severn in Celtic mythology, the story of Sabrina is featured in Miltons Comus. There is a statue of Sabrina in the Dingle Gardens at the Quarry, Shrewsbury, as the Severn becomes tidal the associated deity changed to Nodens, who was represented mounted on a seahorse, riding on the crest of the Severn bore. The River Stour rises in the north of Worcestershire in the Clent Hills and it flows north into the adjacent West Midlands at Halesowen. It then flows westwards through Cradley Heath and Stourbridge where it leaves the Black Country and it is joined by the Smestow Brook at Prestwood before it winds around southwards to Kinver, and then flows back into Worcestershire. It then passes through Wolverley, Kidderminster and Wilden to its confluence with the Severn at Stourport-on-Severn, the River Vyrnwy, which begins at Lake Vyrnwy, flows eastwards through Powys before forming part of the border between England and Wales, joining the Severn near Melverley, Shropshire. The Rea Brook flows north from its source in the Stiperstones, the River Tern, after flowing south from Market Drayton and being joined by the River Meese and the River Roden, meets the Severn at Attingham Park. The River Worfe joins the Severn, just above Bridgnorth, the River Stour rising on the Clent Hills and flowing through Halesowen, Stourbridge, and Kidderminster, joins the Severn at Stourport. On the opposite bank, the tributaries are only brooks, Borle Brook, Dowles Brook draining the Wyre Forest, Dick Brook, shit Brook near Much Wenlock was culverted to flow into the Severn. One of the rivers named Avon, in this case the Warwickshire Avon, flows west through Rugby, Warwick. It is then joined by its tributary the River Arrow, before joining the Severn at Tewkesbury. The port of Bristol is on the Severn Estuary, where another River Avon flows into it through the Avon Gorge, the River Wye, from its source in Plynlimon, Wales, flows generally south east through the Welsh towns of Rhayader and Builth Wells. It flows into the Severn near the town of Chepstow, slightly upstream of the Bristol Avon on the opposite bank, the River Usk flows into the Severn Estuary just south of Newport
14.
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
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The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality, in October 1782, a treaty of amity and commerce was concluded as well. Most of the war consisted of a series of British operations against Dutch colonial economic interests, although British, the war ended disastrously for the Dutch and exposed the weakness of the political and economic foundations of the Republic. Near the end of war in 1747 an Orangist revolution restored the stadtholderate with vastly increased powers for the stadtholder. Instead, the Republic remained stubbornly neutral during the Seven Years War which enabled it to neglect both its army and navy. Initially the British considered the Dutch allies in their attempt to out the rebellion in their North American Thirteen Colonies. They attempted to borrow the mercenary Scotch Brigade of the Dutch States Army for use in the Americas, in a manner to the Hessian. More importantly, Dutch merchants, especially those from Amsterdam, became involved in the supply of arms and this trade was mainly conducted via the entrepôt of St. Eustatius, an island colony of the Dutch West India Company in the Caribbean. There American colonial wares, like tobacco and indigo, were imported and re-exported to Europe, for their return cargo the Americans purchased arms, munitions, and naval stores brought to the island by Dutch and French merchants. To add insult to injury, in 1776 the governor of the island, Johannes de Graeff, was the first to salute the Flag of the United States, in 1778 the Dutch refused to be bullied into taking Britains side in the war against France. The British invoked a number of old treaties to have the Republic support them militarily, after the French declared war on Britain, the Amsterdam merchants also became heavily involved in the trade in naval stores with France. The French needed those supplies for their construction, but were prevented from obtaining those themselves. According to the treaty naval stores were not contraband and the Dutch therefore were free to continue their trade with France in these goods, because of the still-important role of the Dutch in the European carrying trade this opened up a large loophole in the British embargo. The British therefore unilaterally declared naval stores to be contraband and enforced their embargo by arresting Dutch ships on the high seas. This led to protests by the affected Dutch merchants, who demanded institution of convoys escorted by the Dutch navy, to protect them against the Royal Navy. According to customary law, such convoys were exempt from the right of Visit. The States General now ordered him to provide the escorts and the first convoy, under command of rear-admiral Lodewijk van Bylandt and this led to the humiliating Affair of Fielding and Bylandt on 31 December 1779, which enraged Dutch public opinion and further undermined the position of the stadtholder. The Dutch hoped to gain the support of the other members of the League to maintain their neutral status
15.
Capture of Sint Eustatius
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The capture was controversial in Britain, as it was alleged that Vaughan and Rodney had used the opportunity to enrich themselves and had neglected more important military duties. The island was taken by Dutch-allied French forces in late 1781. St. Eustatius, a Dutch-controlled island in the West Indies, was an entrepot that operated as a trading centre despite its relatively small size. During the American War of Independence it assumed increased importance, because a British blockade made it difficult to transport supplies directly across the Atlantic Ocean to US ports, St. Eustatius became a crucial source of supplies, and its harbour was filled with American trading ships. Its importance increased further following Frances entry into the war in 1778 as it was used to supply the French West Indian islands. It is estimated one half of all the American Revolutionary military supplies were trans-shipped through St. Eustatius. Merchant networks, particularly Dutch, many whom were St. Eustatius residents, were key to the military supplies, uS-European communications were directed through St. Eustatius. In 1776, St. Eustatius, hence the Dutch, were the first to recognize the American Revolutionary government when the US brig, Andrew Doria, the Andrew Doria was saluted with an eleven gun response from Fort Orange. The Andrew Doria arrived to purchase military supplies on St. Eustatius, an earlier copy of the Declaration had been captured by a British naval ship. The British were confused by the papers wrapped around the declaration, the papers were written in Yiddish for a merchant in Holland. St. Eustatiuss role in supplying Britains enemies provoked anger amongst British leaders, Rodney alleged that goods brought out on British convoys had then been sold, through St. Eustatius, to the rebels. Following the outbreak of war between the Dutch Republic and Britain in December 1780, orders were sent from London to seize the island, the British were assisted by the fact that the news of the wars outbreak had not yet reached St. Eustatius. A British expedition of 3,000 troops sailed from Saint Lucia on 30 January 1781, Rodney left behind ships to monitor the French on Martinique. He also sent Samuel Hood ahead to stop any merchant ships escaping from the harbour, the main force arrived off St. Eustatius on 3 February. Rodneys ships took up position to neutralise any shore batteries, two or three shots were fired from the only Dutch warship on the roadstead, the frigate Mars under Captain Count Van Bijland. Instead of disembarking the troops and launching an assault, Rodney sent a message to Governor Johannes de Graaff suggesting that he surrender to avoid bloodshed. De Graaff agreed to the proposal and surrendered, De Graaff had ten guns in Fort Orange and sixty soldiers. Rodney had over 1,000 guns on his ships, by the following day the nearby islands of Saint Martin and Saba had also surrendered
16.
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
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George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence and it is often claimed that he was the commander to have pioneered the tactic of breaking the line. Rodney came from a distinguished but poor background, and went to sea at the age of fourteen and his first major action was the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747. He made a large amount of money during the 1740s, allowing him to purchase a large country estate. During the Seven Years War, Rodney was involved in a number of operations such as the raids on Rochefort and Le Havre. He became well known for his role in the capture of Martinique in 1762, following the Peace of Paris, Rodneys financial situation stagnated. He spent large sums of money pursuing his political ambitions, by 1774 he had run up large debts and was forced to flee Britain to avoid his creditors. He was in a French jail when war was declared in 1778, thanks to a benefactor, Rodney was able to secure his release and return to Britain where he was appointed to a new command. Rodney successfully relieved Gibraltar during the Great Siege and defeated a Spanish fleet during the 1780 Battle of Cape St. Vincent and he then was posted to the Jamaica Station, where he became involved in the controversial 1781 capture of Sint Eustatius. Later that year he returned home suffering from ill health. During his absence the British lost the crucial Battle of the Chesapeake leading to the surrender at Yorktown, to some Rodney was a controversial figure, accused of an obsession with prize money and nepotism. This was brought to a head in the wake of his taking of Saint Eustatius for which he was criticised in Britain. Orders for his recall had been sent when Rodney won a victory at the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782. On his return to Britain, Rodney was made a peer and was awarded a pension of £2,000. He lived in retirement until his death in 1792, George Brydges Rodney was born either in Walton-on-Thames or in London, though the family seat was Rodney Stoke, Somerset. He was most likely sometime in January 1718. He was baptized in St Giles-in-the-Fields on 13 February 1718 and he was the third of four surviving children of Henry Rodney and Mary Rodney, daughter of Sir Henry Newton. His father had served in Spain under the Earl of Peterborough during the War of the Spanish Succession, a major investment in the South Sea Company ruined Henry Rodney and impoverished the family
17.
Sint Eustatius
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Sint Eustatius, also known affectionately to the locals as Statia, is part of the Caribbean Netherlands, i. e. it is a Caribbean island and a special municipality of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, Sint Eustatius is immediately to the northwest of Saint Kitts, and to the southeast of Saba. The island has an area of 21 square kilometres, in the 2001 census, the population was recorded as 3,543 inhabitants, with a population density of 169 inhabitants per square kilometre. As of 2015, the population was estimated at 3,877. The official language is Dutch, but English is the language of life on the island. A local English-based creole is spoken informally. Travellers to the island by air arrive through F. D, formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles, Sint Eustatius became a special municipality within The Netherlands on 10 October 2010. The name of the island, “Sint Eustatius”, is the Dutch name for Saint Eustace, the island was seen by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and claimed by many different nations. From the first settlement, in the 17th century until the early 19th century, in 1636, the chamber of Zeeland of the Dutch West India Company took possession of the island that was then reported to be uninhabited. As of 1678, the islands of St. Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Saba fell under command of the Dutch West India Company. At the time, the island was of importance for cultivation of tobacco. Its economy developed by ignoring the monopolistic trade restrictions of the British, French, St. Eustatiuss economy, under the Dutch, flourished. The island was known as The Golden Rock, edmund Burke said of the island in 1781, It has no produce, no fortifications for its defense, nor martial spirit nor military regulations. The universality of its use, the neutrality of its nature was its security and its proprietors had, in the spirit of commerce, made it an emporium for all the world. Its wealth was prodigious, arising from its industry and the nature of its commerce, the island sold arms and ammunition to anyone willing to pay. It was one of the few places from which the young United States could obtain military stores, the good relationship between St. Eustatius and the United States resulted in the noted First Salute. On November 16,1776, Captain Isaiah Robinson of the 14-gun American brig Andrew Doria, Robinson announced his arrival by firing a thirteen gun salute, one gun for each of the thirteen American colonies in rebellion against Britain. Governor Johannes de Graaff replied with a gun salute from the cannons of Fort Oranje
18.
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
19.
Richmond, Virginia
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Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond Region and it was incorporated in 1742, and has been an independent city since 1871. As of the 2010 census, the population was 204,214, in 2015, the population was estimated to be 220,289, the Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the third-most populous metro in the state. Richmond is located at the line of the James River,44 miles west of Williamsburg,66 miles east of Charlottesville. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the northeast. The site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, and was settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609. The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737 and it became the capital of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia in 1780. During the American Civil War, Richmond served as the capital of the Confederate States of America, the city entered the 20th century with one of the worlds first successful electric streetcar systems. The Jackson Ward neighborhood is a hub of African-American commerce. Richmonds economy is driven by law, finance, and government, with federal, state. Dominion Resources and MeadWestvaco, Fortune 500 companies, are headquartered in the city, in 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. The settlement was laid out in April 1737, and was incorporated as a town in 1742, Richmond recovered quickly from the war, and by 1782 was once again a thriving city. A permanent home for the new government, the Virginia State Capitol building, was designed by Thomas Jefferson with the assistance of Charles-Louis Clérisseau, after the American Revolutionary War, Richmond emerged as an important industrial center. The legacy of the canal boatmen is represented by the figure in the center of the city flag, on April 17,1861, five days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, the legislature voted to secede from the United States and joined the Confederacy. Official action came in May, after the Confederacy promised to move its capital to Richmond. It became the target of Union armies, especially in the campaigns of 1862. The Seven Days Battles followed in late June and early July 1862, during which Union General McClellan threatened to take Richmond, three years later, as March 1865 ended, the Confederate capitol became indefensible. On March 25, Confederate General John B, gordons desperate attack on Fort Stedman east of Petersburg failed
20.
Benedict Arnold
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Benedict Arnold was a general during the American Revolutionary War who originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fortifications at West Point, New York overlooking the cliffs at the Hudson River, the plan was exposed in September 1780, and he was commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general. Arnold was born in Connecticut and was a merchant operating ships on the Atlantic Ocean when the war broke out in 1775 and he joined the growing army outside Boston and distinguished himself through acts of intelligence and bravery. Despite Arnolds successes, he was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress, adversaries in military and political circles brought charges of corruption or other malfeasance, but most often he was acquitted in formal inquiries. Congress investigated his accounts and found that he was indebted to Congress after having spent much of his own money on the war effort. Arnold was frustrated and bitter at this, as well as with the alliance with France and he decided to change sides and opened secret negotiations with the British. In July 1780, he was awarded command of West Point and his scheme was to surrender the fort to the British, but it was exposed when American forces captured British Major John André carrying papers which revealed the plot. Upon learning of Andrés capture, Arnold fled down the Hudson River to the British sloop-of-war Vulture, narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of George Washington, who had been alerted to the plot. Arnold received a commission as a general in the British Army, an annual pension of £360. He led British forces on raids in Virginia and against New London and Groton, in the winter of 1782, he moved to London with his second wife Margaret Peggy Shippen Arnold. He was well received by King George III and the Tories, in 1787, he returned to the merchant business with his sons Richard and Henry in Saint John, New Brunswick. He returned to London to settle permanently in 1791, where he died ten years later and his earlier legacy is recalled in the ambiguous nature of some of the memorials that have been placed in his honor. Benedict Arnold was born the second of six children to Benedict Arnold and Hannah Waterman King in Norwich, Connecticut Colony on January 14,1741. He was named after his great-grandfather Benedict Arnold, a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island—as were his father and grandfather. Only Benedict and his sister Hannah survived to adulthood, his other siblings succumbed to yellow fever in childhood and his siblings were, in order of birth, Benedict, Hannah, Mary, Absolom, and Elizabeth. Arnold was a descendant of John Lothropp through his maternal grandmother, Benedict Arnolds father was a successful businessman, and the family moved in the upper levels of Norwich society. When he was ten, Arnold was enrolled in a school in nearby Canterbury. However, the deaths of his siblings two years later may have contributed to a decline in the fortunes, since his father took up drinking
21.
Battle of Jersey
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The Battle of Jersey was an attempt by French forces to invade Jersey and remove the threat the island posed to French and American shipping in the Anglo-French War. Jersey provided a base for British privateers, and France, engaged in the war as an ally of the United States and its commander, Baron Philippe de Rullecourt, died of wounds sustained in the fighting. The battle is remembered for the death of the British officer Major Peirson. Large numbers of privateers operated out of the island, causing chaos amongst French merchant shipping, Jersey privateers even operated off the coast of America. The French government decided to neutralize this threat, aware of the military importance of Jersey, the British government had ordered that the island be heavily fortified. King George III granted approval and funding on 5 July 1778, perhaps four towers had been completed by the time of the Battle of Jersey, none where the French would land. Gun batteries, forts and redoubts already existed around the coast, all adult males had for centuries been required by law to serve in the Jersey Militia which in 1780 comprised some 3,000 men in five regiments, including artillery and dragoons. Regular army units—the entire 95th Regiment of Foot, five each of the 83rd Regiment of Foot and 78th Seaforth Highlanders. A total force amounted to about 6,250 troops of all types were available on the island, a naval force, the Jersey Squadron, was also based in the island, but was on a cruise against the Dutch at the time of the invasion. On 1 May 1779, during the Anglo-French War a French force under the command of the French born Prince of Nassau-Siegen attempted a landing at St Ouens Bay. Early that morning lookouts sighted five large vessels and a number of boats some three leagues off the coast, proceeding towards the coast to effect a landing. Guns on the cutters and small craft supporting the landing fired grapeshot at the defenders on the coast, the defenders were able to prevent the landing, suffering only a few men wounded when a cannon burst. The French vessels withdrew, first holding off a league from the coast before leaving the area entirely, De Rullecourt was an adventurer and a colonel in the French Army. King Louis XVI had promised de Rullecourt the rank of General and the Cordon rouge as soon as he had control of the town of Saint Helier, officially the expedition was a private affair. However, funding, equipment, transport and troops were provided by the French government, in order to conceal their involvement, the government went so far as to order the desertion of several hundred regular troops to De Rullecourts forces. On 5 January 1781 the expedition set out from Granville, consisting of some 2,000 soldiers in four divisions, there was a storm which scattered some ships and only 1,200 initially made it to Jersey. Jersey still celebrated 6 January as Old Christmas Night, and the French landed undetected, the 800 men of the first division landed at La Rocque, Grouville, on the south east coast and passed close by the guards without being noticed. A French officer even said that he had slept beneath the guards, the guards were subsequently put on trial, where it was found they had abandoned their post to go drinking
22.
Jersey
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Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is a Crown dependency of the United Kingdom, ruled by the Crown in right of Jersey, off the coast of Normandy, France. Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy, whose dukes went on to become kings of England from 1066. After Normandy was lost by the kings of England in the 13th century, and the ducal title surrendered to France, Jersey, Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems, and the power of self-determination. The Lieutenant Governor on the island is the representative of the Queen. The island of Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, although the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey are often referred to collectively as the Channel Islands, the Channel Islands are not a constitutional or political unit. Jersey has a relationship to the Crown from the other Crown dependencies of Guernsey. It is not part of the United Kingdom, and has an identity separate from that of the UK. The definition of United Kingdom in the British Nationality Act 1981 is interpreted as including the UK, Jersey is not fully part of the European Union but has a special relationship with it, notably being treated as within the European Community for the purposes of free trade in goods. The name Caesarea has been used as the Latin name for Jersey since William Camdens Britannia, the Latin name Caesarea was also applied to the colony of New Jersey as Nova Caesarea. Andium, Agna and Augia were used in antiquity, scholars variously surmise that Jersey and Jèrri derive from jarð or jarl, or perhaps a personal name, Geirr. The ending -ey denotes an island, Jersey history is influenced by its strategic location between the northern coast of France and the southern coast of England, the islands recorded history extends over a thousand years. La Cotte de St Brelade is a Palaeolithic site inhabited before rising sea levels transformed Jersey into an island, Jersey was a centre of Neolithic activity, as demonstrated by the concentration of dolmens. Evidence of Bronze Age and early Iron Age settlements can be found in locations around the island. In June 2012 it was announced what could be Europes largest hoard of Iron Age coins had been found in Grouville by two persons using metal detectors, the hoard may be worth up to £10 M. People had been searching for treasure for 30 years. It was reported that the hoard weighed about three quarters of a tonne and could contain up to 50,000 Roman and Celtic coins, in 2012 the same two men had found 60 Iron Age coins in the same area. Jersey was part of Neustria with the same Gallo-Frankish population as the continental mainland, Jersey was invaded by Vikings in the 9th century. In 933 it was annexed to the future Duchy of Normandy, together with the other Channel Islands, Cotentin and Avranchin, by William Longsword, count of Rouen and it became one of the Norman Islands
23.
Channel Islands
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The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are considered the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, and although they are not part of the United Kingdom, it is responsible for the defence, the Crown dependencies are not members of the Commonwealth of Nations nor of the European Union. They have a population of about 168,000. The total area of the islands is 198 km2, the two bailiwicks have been administered separately since the late 13th century, each has its own independent laws, elections, and representative bodies. Any institution common to both is the rather than the rule. The Bailiwick of Guernsey is divided into three jurisdictions – Guernsey, Alderney and Sark – each with its own legislature, the term Channel Islands began to be used around 1830, possibly first by the Royal Navy as a collective name for the islands. The permanently inhabited islands of the Channel Islands are, Jersey Guernsey Alderney Sark Herm Jethou Brecqhou There are also several uninhabited islets and they are an incorporated part of the commune of Granville. While they are popular with visitors from France, Channel Islanders rarely visit them as there are no transport links from the other islands. Chausey is referred to as an Île normande, Îles Normandes and Archipel Normand have also, historically, been used in Channel Island French to refer to the islands as a whole. The lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean, the earliest evidence of human occupation of the Channel Islands has been dated to 250,000 years ago when they were attached to the landmass of continental Europe. The islands became detached by rising sea levels in the Neolithic period, hoards of Armorican coins have been excavated, providing evidence of trade and contact in the Iron Age period. Evidence for Roman settlement is sparse, although evidently the islands were visited by Roman officials, the Roman name for the Channel Islands was I. Lenuri and is included in the Peutinger Table The traditional Latin names used for the islands derive from the Antonine Itinerary, gallo-Roman culture was adopted to an unknown extent in the islands. In the sixth century, Christian missionaries visited the islands, samson of Dol, Helier, Marculf and Magloire are among saints associated with the islands. In the sixth century, they were included in the diocese of Coutances where they remained until reformation. The islands were inhabited by Britons, who also inhabited Wales, south west England, from the beginning of the ninth century, Norse raiders appeared on the coasts. Norse settlement succeeded initial attacks, and it is from this period that many names of Norse origin appear. In 933, the islands were granted to William I Longsword by Raoul King of Western Francia, in 1066, William II of Normandy invaded and conquered England, becoming William I of England, also known as William the Conqueror
24.
Continental Army
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The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14,1775, the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war, most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne and this became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies, and after 1776, when the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the leading to the war. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23,1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of an army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar, on July 18,1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age. It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days, after Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, as a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army. The army never numbered more than 17,000 men, turnover proved a constant problem, particularly in the winter of 1776–77, and longer enlistments were approved. Major General Philip Schuylers ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada, the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to the length of the war to avoid the crises that depleted forces
25.
Daniel Morgan
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Daniel Morgan was an American pioneer, soldier, and United States Representative from Virginia. One of the most gifted battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War, Morgan is believed to have been born in the village of New Hampton, New Jersey in Lebanon Township. All four of his grandparents were Welsh immigrants who lived in Pennsylvania, Morgan was the fifth of seven children of James Morgan and Eleanor Lloyd. When Morgan was 17, he left following a fight with his father. After working at odd jobs in Pennsylvania, he moved to the Shenandoah Valley and he finally settled on the Virginia frontier, near what is now Winchester, Virginia. He worked clearing land, in a sawmill, and as a teamster, in just a year, he saved enough to buy his own team. Morgan had served as a teamster during the French and Indian War. After returning from the advance on Fort Duquesne by General Braddocks command, Morgan thus acquired a hatred for the British Army. He then fell in love with Abigail Curry, they married and had two daughters, Nancy and Betsy, Morgan later served as a rifleman in the provincial forces assigned to protect the western settlements from French-backed Indian raids. Some time after the war, he purchased a farm between Winchester and Battletown, by 1774, he was so prosperous that he owned ten slaves. That year, he served in Dunmores War, taking part in raids on Shawnee villages in the Ohio Country. After the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775 and they called for the formation of 10 rifle companies from the middle colonies to support the Siege of Boston, and late in June 1775 Virginia agreed to send two. The Virginia House of Burgesses chose Daniel Morgan to form one of these companies and he had already been an officer in the Virginia militia since the French and Indian War. Morgan recruited 96 men in just 10 days and assembled them at Winchester on July 14 and he then marched them 600 miles to Boston, Massachusetts in 21 days, arriving on Aug.6,1775. His company of marksmen was nicknamed Morgans Riflemen, Morgans company had a significant advantage over the others. Instead of the weapons used of most British and most American companies. They were lighter and easier to fire, and they were more accurate. Morgans company used guerrilla tactics, first shooting the Indian guides who led the British forces through the rugged terrain, the British Army considered these guerrilla tactics to be dishonorable, however, they created chaos within the British ranks
26.
Battle of Cowpens
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The Battle of Cowpens was a engagement between Patriot forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces under Sir Banastre Tarleton fought on January 17,1781. As part of the campaign in the Carolinas, a force of 1,100 British under Tarleton were sent against 2000 men under Morgan, the Patriot forces were able to perform a double envelopment of Tarletons force, at the cost of only 12 killed and 61 wounded. Tarleton was one of around 160 British troops to escape, the British had received incorrect reports that Morgans army was planning to attack the important strategic fort of Ninety Six, to the west of the Carolinas. Morgans army was deemed to represent a threat to the British left flank. Cornwallis dispatched Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton to defeat Morgans command, upon learning Morgans army was not at Ninety Six, Tarleton, bolstered by British reinforcements, set off in hot pursuit of the American detachment. Morgan resolved to make a stand near the Broad River and he selected a position on two low hills in open woodland, with the expectation that the aggressive Tarleton would make a headlong assault without pausing to devise a more intricate plan. He deployed his army in three main lines, Tarletons army, after exhaustive marching, reached the field malnourished and heavily fatigued. Tarleton attacked immediately, however the American defence-in-depth absorbed the impact of the British attack, the British lines lost their cohesion as they hurried after the retreating Americans. Morgans army went on the offensive, and wholly overwhelmed Tarletons force, the battle was a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina from the British. On October 14,1780, George Washington chose Nathanael Greene to be commander of the Southern Department of the Continental forces, Greenes task was not an easy one. A victory of Patriot militia over their Loyalist counterparts at the Battle of Kings Mountain in October had bought time, when Greene took command, the southern army numbered only 2307 men, of whom just 949 were Continental regulars. On December 3, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan reported for duty to Greenes headquarters at Charlotte, at the start of the Revolution, Morgan, whose military experience dated to the French and Indian War, had served at the Siege of Boston. Later he participated in the 1775 invasion of Canada and its climactic battle and that battle, on December 31,1775, ended in defeat and Morgans capture by the British. Morgan was exchanged in January 1777 and placed by George Washington in command of a force of 500 trained riflemen. Morgan and his men played a key role in the victory at Saratoga, bitter after being passed over for promotion and plagued by severe attacks of sciatica, Morgan left the army in 1779. A year later he was promoted to Brigadier General and returned to service in the Southern Department, Greene decided that his weak army was unable to meet the British in a stand-up fight. Greene gave Morgan command of wing and instructed him to join with the militia west of the Catawba. Morgan headed west on December 21, charged with taking position between the Broad and Pacolet Rivers, and protecting the civilians in that area and he had 600 men, some 400 of which were Continentals, the rest being Virginia militia with experience as Continentals
27.
South Carolina
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South Carolina /ˌsaʊθ kærəˈlaɪnə/ is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia across the Savannah River, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U. S. Constitution, doing so on May 23,1788. South Carolina became the first state to vote to secede from the Union on December 20,1860, after the American Civil War, it was readmitted into the United States on June 25,1868. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and the 23rd most populous U. S. state and its GDP as of 2013 was $183.6 billion, with an annual growth rate of 3. 13%. The capital and largest city is Columbia with a 2013 population of 133,358, South Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, under whose reign the English colony was first formed, with Carolus being Latin for Charles. There is evidence of activity in the area about 12000 years ago. Along the Savannah River were the Apalachee, Yuchi, and the Yamasee, further west were the Cherokee, and along the Catawba River, the Catawba. These tribes were village-dwellers, relying on agriculture as their food source. The Cherokee lived in wattle and daub houses made with wood and clay, about a dozen separate small tribes summered on the coast harvesting oysters and fish, and cultivating corn, peas and beans. Travelling inland as much as 50 miles mostly by canoe, they wintered on the plain, hunting deer and gathering nuts. The names of these survive in place names like Edisto Island, Kiawah Island. The Spanish were the first Europeans in the area, in 1521, founding San Miguel de Gualdape, established with 500 settlers, it was abandoned within a year by 150 survivors. In 1562 French settlers established a settlement at what is now the Charlesfort-Santa Elena archaeological site on Parris Island, three years later the Spanish built a fort on the same site, but withdrew following hostilities with the English navy. In 1629, King Charles I of England established the Province of Carolina an area covering what is now South and North Carolina, Georgia, in the 1670s, English planters from the Barbados established themselves near what is now Charleston. Settlers built rice plantations in the South Carolina Lowcountry, east of the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, settlers came from all over Europe. Plantation labor was done by African slaves who formed the majority of the population by 1720, another cash crop was the Indigo plant, a plant source of blue dye, developed by Eliza Lucas. Meanwhile, in Upstate South Carolina, west of the Fall Line, was settled by farmers and traders. Colonists overthrew the rule, seeing more direct representation
28.
William Pitt the Younger
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William Pitt the Younger, PC was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 and he left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806. He was also the Chancellor of the Exchequer throughout his premiership, born William Pitt, he is known as the Younger to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt the Elder, who had previously served as Prime Minister. The younger Pitts prime ministerial tenure, which came during the reign of George III, was dominated by events in Europe, including the French Revolution. Pitt, although referred to as a Tory, or new Tory. He is best known for leading Britain in the wars against France. Pitt was an administrator who worked for efficiency and reform. He raised taxes to pay for the war against France. To meet the threat of Irish support for France, he engineered the Acts of Union 1800, Pitt created the new Toryism, which revived the Tory Party and enabled it to stay in power for the next quarter-century. Historian Asa Briggs points out that his personality did not endear itself to the British mind, for Pitt was too solitary, too colourless and his greatness came in the war with France, with the adversary setting the pace. Pitt reacted to become what Lord Minto called the Atlas of our reeling globe and his integrity and industry and his role as defender of the threatened nation allowed him to inspire and access all the national reserves of strength. William Wilberforce said that, For personal purity, disinterestedness and love of this country, for this he is ranked highly amongst British Prime Ministers. The Honourable William Pitt, second son of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, was born at Hayes Place in the village of Hayes, Pitt was from a political family on both sides. His mother, Hester Grenville, was sister to former prime minister George Grenville, according to biographer John Ehrman, Pitt inherited brilliance and dynamism from his fathers line, and a determined, methodical nature from the Grenvilles. Suffering from occasional poor health as a boy, he was educated at home by the Reverend Edward Wilson, an intelligent child, Pitt quickly became proficient in Latin and Greek. In 1773, aged fourteen, he attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, at Cambridge, Pitt was tutored by George Pretyman, who became a close personal friend. Pitt later appointed Pretyman Bishop of Lincoln then Winchester and drew upon his advice throughout his political career, while at Cambridge, he befriended the young William Wilberforce, who became a lifelong friend and political ally in Parliament. Pitt tended to socialise only with students and others already known to him
29.
Dutch Empire
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The Dutch Empire comprised the overseas colonies, enclaves, and outposts controlled and administered by Dutch chartered companies and subsequently, the Dutch Republic and the modern Netherlands. This was reflective of the fact that the network of the Dutch Empire was commercial exchange as opposed to sovereignty over a homogeneous landmass. The companies brief domination of global commerce contributed greatly to a commercial revolution, in their search for new trade passages between Asia and Europe Dutch navigators explored and charted vast regions such as New Zealand, Tasmania, and parts of the eastern coast of North America. Shortly after reaching its zenith, the Dutch Empire began to decline as a result of the Anglo-Dutch Wars, in which it lost many of its colonial possessions and trade monopolies to the British Empire. Nevertheless, some portions of the empire survived until the advent of global decolonisation following World War II, namely the East Indies, three former colonial territories—Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten—are retained as constituent countries within the Netherlands. In 1566, a Protestant Dutch revolt broke out against rule by Roman Catholic Spain, led by William of Orange, independence was declared in the 1581 Act of Abjuration. The revolt resulted in the establishment of an de facto independent Protestant republic in the north by Treaty of Antwerp, the coastal provinces of Holland and Zeeland had for centuries prior to Spanish rule been important hubs of the European maritime trade network. Their geographical location provided convenient access to the markets of France, Scotland, Germany, England, efficient access to capital enabled the Dutch in the 1580s to extend their trade routes beyond northern Europe to new markets in the Mediterranean and the Levant. In the 1590s, Dutch ships began to trade with Brazil and the Dutch Gold Coast of Africa, and towards the Indian Ocean, by attacking Portuguese overseas possessions, the Dutch forced Spain to divert financial and military resources away from its attempt to quell Dutch independence. Thus began the several decade-long Dutch-Portuguese War, in 1594, the Compagnie van Verre was founded in Amsterdam, with the aim of sending two fleets to the spice islands of Maluku. The first fleet sailed in 1596 and returned in 1597 with a cargo of pepper, the second voyage, returned its investors a 400% profit. The success of these led to the founding of a number of companies competing for the trade. The competition was counterproductive to the interests as it threatened to drive up the price of spices at their source in Indonesia whilst driving them down in Europe. As a result of the caused by inter-company rivalry, the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602. The directors of the company, the Heeren XVII, were given the authority to establish fortresses and strongholds, to sign treaties. The company itself was founded as a joint stock company, similarly to its English rival that had founded two years earlier, the English East India Company. The Spanish-Dutch War was for the Dutch part of their struggle for independence and religious freedom, the Netherlands became part of the domains of the Spanish branch of the Habsburg dynasty when Emperor Charles V divided the holdings of the Habsburg Empire following his abdication in 1555. From 1517, the port of Lisbon in Portugal was the main European market for products from India that was attended by other nations to purchase their needs
30.
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
31.
Uranus
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Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System, Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both have different bulk chemical composition from that of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, scientists often classify Uranus and Neptune as ice giants to distinguish them from the gas giants, the interior of Uranus is mainly composed of ices and rock. Uranus is the planet whose name is derived from a figure from Greek mythology. Like the other giant planets, Uranus has a system, a magnetosphere. The Uranian system has a unique configuration among those of the planets because its axis of rotation is tilted sideways and its north and south poles, therefore, lie where most other planets have their equators. In 1986, images from Voyager 2 showed Uranus as an almost featureless planet in visible light, observations from Earth have shown seasonal change and increased weather activity as Uranus approached its equinox in 2007. Wind speeds can reach 250 metres per second, like the classical planets, Uranus is visible to the naked eye, but it was never recognised as a planet by ancient observers because of its dimness and slow orbit. Uranus had been observed on many occasions before its recognition as a planet, possibly the earliest known observation was by Hipparchos, who in 128 BCE might have recorded it as a star for his star catalogue that was later incorporated into Ptolemys Almagest. The earliest definite sighting was in 1690 when John Flamsteed observed it at least six times, the French astronomer Pierre Lemonnier observed Uranus at least twelve times between 1750 and 1769, including on four consecutive nights. Sir William Herschel observed Uranus on March 13,1781 from the garden of his house at 19 New King Street in Bath, Somerset, England, Herschel engaged in a series of observations on the parallax of the fixed stars, using a telescope of his own design. Herschel recorded in his journal, In the quartile near ζ Tauri, either Nebulous star or perhaps a comet. On March 17 he noted, I looked for the Comet or Nebulous Star and found that it is a Comet, the sequel has shown that my surmises were well-founded, this proving to be the Comet we have lately observed. Herschel notified the Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, of his discovery and received this flummoxed reply from him on April 23,1781, I dont know what to call it. It is as likely to be a planet moving in an orbit nearly circular to the sun as a Comet moving in a very eccentric ellipsis. I have not yet seen any coma or tail to it, although Herschel continued to describe his new object as a comet, other astronomers had already begun to suspect otherwise. Finnish-Swedish astronomer Anders Johan Lexell, working in Russia, was the first to compute the orbit of the new object and its nearly circular orbit led him to a conclusion that it was a planet rather than a comet. Berlin astronomer Johann Elert Bode described Herschels discovery as a star that can be deemed a hitherto unknown planet-like object circulating beyond the orbit of Saturn
32.
William Herschel
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Frederick William Herschel, KH, FRS was a British astronomer and composer of German origin, and brother of fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel, with whom he worked. Born in the Electorate of Hanover, Herschel followed his father into the Military Band of Hanover, Herschel constructed his first large telescope in 1774, after which he spent nine years carrying out sky surveys to investigate double stars. The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that the nebulae in the Messier catalogue were clusters of stars, Herschel published catalogues of nebulae in 1802 and in 1820. In the course of an observation on 13 March 1781, he realized that one celestial body he had observed was not a star and this was the first planet to be discovered since antiquity and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of this discovery, George III appointed him Court Astronomer and he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and grants were provided for the construction of new telescopes. Herschel pioneered the use of astronomical spectrophotometry as a tool, using prisms. Other work included a determination of the rotation period of Mars, the discovery that the Martian polar caps vary seasonally. In addition, Herschel discovered infrared radiation, Herschel was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1816. He was the first President of the Royal Astronomical Society when it was founded in 1820 and he died in August 1822, and his work was continued by his only son, John Herschel. Herschel was born in the Electorate of Hanover in Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire and his father was an oboist in the Hanover Military Band. In 1755 the Hanoverian Guards regiment, in whose band Wilhelm, at the time the crowns of Great Britain and Hanover were united under King George II. As the threat of war with France loomed, the Hanoverian Guards were recalled from England to defend Hanover, after they were defeated at the Battle of Hastenbeck, Herschels father Isaak sent his two sons to seek refuge in England in late 1757. Although his older brother Jakob had received his dismissal from the Hanoverian Guards, Wilhelm, nineteen years old at this time, was a quick student of the English language. In England he went by the English rendition of his name, in addition to the oboe, he played the violin and harpsichord and later the organ. He composed numerous works, including 24 symphonies and many concertos. Six of his symphonies were recorded in April 2002 by the London Mozart Players, Herschel moved to Sunderland in 1761 when Charles Avison immediately engaged him as first violin and soloist for his Newcastle orchestra, where he played for one season. In ‘Sunderland in the County of Durh, apprill 20th 1761’ he wrote his Symphony No.8 in C Minor. He was head of the Durham Militia band 1760–61 and visited the home of Sir Ralph Milbanke at Halnaby Hall in 1760, after Newcastle he moved to Leeds and Halifax where he was the first organist at St John the Baptist church
33.
Planet
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The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, astrology, science, mythology, and religion. Several planets in the Solar System can be seen with the naked eye and these were regarded by many early cultures as divine, or as emissaries of deities. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception of the planets changed, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition is controversial because it excludes many objects of mass based on where or what they orbit. The planets were thought by Ptolemy to orbit Earth in deferent, at about the same time, by careful analysis of pre-telescopic observation data collected by Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler found the planets orbits were not circular but elliptical. As observational tools improved, astronomers saw that, like Earth, the planets rotated around tilted axes, and some shared such features as ice caps and seasons. Since the dawn of the Space Age, close observation by space probes has found that Earth and the planets share characteristics such as volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics. Planets are generally divided into two types, large low-density giant planets, and smaller rocky terrestrials. Under IAU definitions, there are eight planets in the Solar System, in order of increasing distance from the Sun, they are the four terrestrials, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, then the four giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the planets are orbited by one or more natural satellites, several thousands of planets around other stars have been discovered in the Milky Way. e. in the habitable zone. On December 20,2011, the Kepler Space Telescope team reported the discovery of the first Earth-sized extrasolar planets, Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, orbiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-20. A2012 study, analyzing gravitational microlensing data, estimates an average of at least 1.6 bound planets for every star in the Milky Way, around one in five Sun-like stars is thought to have an Earth-sized planet in its habitable zone. The idea of planets has evolved over its history, from the lights of antiquity to the earthly objects of the scientific age. The concept has expanded to include not only in the Solar System. The ambiguities inherent in defining planets have led to much scientific controversy, the five classical planets, being visible to the naked eye, have been known since ancient times and have had a significant impact on mythology, religious cosmology, and ancient astronomy. In ancient times, astronomers noted how certain lights moved across the sky, as opposed to the fixed stars, ancient Greeks called these lights πλάνητες ἀστέρες or simply πλανῆται, from which todays word planet was derived. In ancient Greece, China, Babylon, and indeed all pre-modern civilizations, it was almost universally believed that Earth was the center of the Universe and that all the planets circled Earth. The first civilization known to have a theory of the planets were the Babylonians
34.
Nathanael Greene
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When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible, he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washingtons most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United States are named after him and he suffered financial difficulties in the post-war years and died in 1786. Greene was the son of Nathanael Greene, a Quaker farmer and smith, Nathanael was born on Forge Farm at Potowomut in the township of Warwick, Rhode Island on August 7,1742. His mother Mary Mott was his fathers second wife and his fathers sect discouraged literary accomplishments, so Greene educated himself with a special study of mathematics and law. The Rev. Ezra Stiles, later president of Yale University, was an influence in the young Nathanaels life. In 1770, Greene moved to Coventry, Rhode Island to take charge of the family-owned foundry and he sympathized strongly with the Whig or Patriot element among the colonists. In July 1774, he married Catharine Littlefield, also known as Caty or Kitty and they had six children who survived infancy. He was Quaker by birth, and struggled to reconcile the faiths commitment to pacifism throughout his military career and he continued to serve despite this, as did many other Quakers in the American Revolution. In August 1774, Greene helped organize a militia which was chartered as the Kentish Guards that October. His participation in the group was challenged because he had a pronounced limp, at this time, he began to acquire many expensive volumes on military tactics and began to teach himself the art of war. In December 1774, he was on an appointed by the assembly to revise the militia laws. His zeal in fighting the British and organizing the militia led to his expulsion from the pacifistic Quakers, on May 8,1775, he was promoted from private to major general of the Rhode Island Army of Observation formed in response to the Siege of Boston. He was appointed a brigadier of the Continental Army by the Continental Congress on June 22,1775, George Washington assigned Greene the command of the city of Boston after it was evacuated by the British in March 1776. Severe illness prevented him taking part in the Battle of Long Island. Greene was also a Rhode Island Freemason and bore a masonic jewel, Greene was prominent among those who advised a retreat from New York City. He also advocated the burning of the city so that the British might not use it and he justified this by asserting that the majority of property was owned by Loyalists. While Washington agreed with this, the proposal was rejected by Congress and he was placed in command of Fort Constitution on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. On October 25,1776, he succeeded General Israel Putnam in command of Fort Washington, Greene ordered Colonel Magaw, who was in immediate command, to defend the place until he should hear from him again, and reinforced it to meet General Howes attack
35.
Battle of Guilford Court House
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A2, 100-man British force under the command of Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis defeated Major General Nathanael Greenes 4,500 Americans. The British Army, however, lost a number of men during the battle with estimates as high as 27%. Such heavy British casualties resulted in a victory for the Americans. The battle was “the largest and most hotly contested action” in the American Revolution’s southern campaign, in fact, the British were in the process of heavy recruitment in North Carolina when this battle put an end to their recruiting drive. The battle is commemorated at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park and associated Hoskins House Historic District, following the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina, Lt. General Charles Cornwallis was determined to destroy Greenes army. But the loss of his infantry at Cowpens led him to burn his supplies so that his army would be nimble enough for pursuit. He chased Greene in the Race to the Dan, but Greene escaped across the flooded Dan River to safety in Virginia, Cornwallis established camp at Hillsborough, foraged for supplies and recruited North Carolina Tories. However, the state of his army and Pyles massacre deterred Loyalists from turning out. Due to the fighting, thousands of slaves had escaped from plantations in South Carolina and other southern states, in the waning months of the war, the British evacuated more than 3,000 freedmen to Nova Scotia, with others going to London and Jamaica. Northern slaves escaped to the British lines in occupied cities such as New York, on March 14,1781, while encamped in the forks of the Deep River, Cornwallis was informed that Greene was encamped at the Guilford Court House. Cornwallis decided to battle, though he had only 1,900 men at his disposal. He detached his baggage train,100 infantry and 20 cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, before breakfast could be eaten, Cornwallis set off with his main force, arriving at Guilford at midday. The advance guard met near the Quaker New Garden Meeting House, Dragoons from Banastre Tarletons British Legion were briefly engaged by Light Horse Harry Lees Dragoons about 4 miles from the Guilford Court House. The British 23rd Regiment of Foot sent reinforcements forward and Lee withdrew, Cornwallis found the Americans in position on rising ground about one and a half miles from the court house. He was unable to gain information from his prisoners or the local residents as to the American disposition. To his front he saw a plantation with a large field straddling both sides of the road, with two more further over on the left separated by 200 yards or so of woodland, to his right beyond the fields the woodland extended for several miles. On the far side of the first field was a wood,1 mile in depth. Along the edge of woodland was a fence forming the American first line of defense
36.
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
37.
Porto-Novo
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Porto-Novo is the capital of Benin, and was the capital of French Dahomey. The commune covers an area of 110 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people and it was originally developed as a port for the slave trade, an important part of many European Empires at the time including the Portuguese Empire. Porto-Novo is a port on an inlet of the Gulf of Guinea, the region around Porto-Novo produces palm oil, cotton and kapok. Petroleum was discovered off the coast of the city in the 1990s, the capitals name Porto-Novo is of Portuguese origin, meaning New Port. Porto Novo comprises two communities, the Yoruba and the Gun. This newcomer group brought with them their own language, and settled among the original inhabitants and it would appear that each ethnic group has since maintained their ethnic nationalities without one group being linguistically assimilated into the other. Towards the end of the 19th century, the city came under French imperialistic ambitions, unlike the citys earlier Gun migrants however the French sought to impose their language in all spheres of life and completely stamp out the use and proliferation of indigenous languages. Under French colonial rule, flight across the border to British ruled Nigeria in order to avoid taxation, military service. Of note is the fact that the Nigeria-Benin southern border area arbitrarily cuts through contiguous areas of Yoruba, the city was originally called Ajashe by the Yorubas, and Hogbonu by the Guns. It was renamed by the Portuguese in the 16th century to Porto Novo and it was originally developed as a port for the slave trade. In 1861, the British, who were active in nearby Nigeria, bombarded the city, the neighbouring Kingdom of Dahomey objected to French involvement in the region and war broke out between the two states. In 1883, Porto-Novo was incorporated into the French colony of Dahomey, in 1900, it became Dahomeys capital city. The kings of Porto-Novo continued to rule in the city, both officially and unofficially, until the death of the last king, Alohinto Gbeffa, in 1976, from 1908, the king held the title of Chef supérieur. Many Afro-Brazilians settled in Porto-Novo following their return to Africa after emancipation in Brazil, brazilian architecture and foods are important to the citys cultural life. Benins parliament is located in Porto-Novo and the city is the official capital, the city is home to a branch of the Banque Internationale du Bénin, a major bank in Benin, and the Ouando Market. In 2016, Porto-Novo is to be served by an extension of the Bénirail train system, privately owned motorcycle taxis known as zemijan are used throughout the city. The city is located about 40 kilometres away from Cotonou Airport which has flights to cities in West Africa. Porto Novo had an population of 234,168 in 2005
38.
Hyder Ali
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Hyder Ali Khan also known as Hyder Ali Sahib, Haidarālī was the Sultan and de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Sayyid walSharif Hyder Ali Khan, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysores rulers, rising to the post of Dalavayi to Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, he came to dominate the titular monarch and the Mysore government. He became the de facto ruler of Mysore as Sarvadhikari by 1761, though illiterate, Hyder Ali earned an important place in the history of southern India for his administrative acumen and military skills. He concluded an alliance with the French against the British and used the services of French workmen in raising his artillery and his rule of Mysore was characterised by frequent warfare with his neighbours and rebellion within his territories. This was not unusual for the time as much of the Indian subcontinent was then in turmoil. He was a leader and left his eldest son, Tipu Sultan, an extensive kingdom bordered by the Krishna River in the north, the Eastern Ghats in the east. The exact date of Hyder Alis birth is not known with certainty, various historical sources provide dates ranging between 1717 and 1722 for his birth. There are also variations in reports of his ancestry. According to some accounts, his grandfather was descended from a line of Sayyids tracing their lineage back to Persia, while another traces his lineage instead to the area of present-day Afghanistan. His father, Fath Muhammad, was born in Kolar, Fath Muhammad eventually entered the service of the Wodeyar Rajas of the Kingdom of Mysore, where he rose to become a powerful military commander. The Wodeyars awarded him Budikote as a jagir, where he served as Naik. Hyder Ali was born in Budikote, he was Fath Muhammads fifth child, and his early years are not well documented, he entered military service along with his brother Shahbaz after their father died in combat. After serving for a number of years under the rulers of Arcot, they came to Seringapatam and he introduced them to Devaraja, the dalwai of Krishnaraja Wodeyar II, and his brother Nanjaraja, who also held important ministerial posts. Hyder and his brother were given commands in the Mysorean army, Hyder served under Shahbaz, commanding 100 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. In 1748, Qamar-ud-din Khan, Asaf Jah I, the longtime Nizam of Hyderabad, the struggle to succeed him is known as the Second Carnatic War, and pitted Asaf Jahs son Nasir Jung against a cousin, Muzaffar Jung. Both sides were supported by local leaders, and French. Devaraja had started vesting more military authority in his brother, the army went to Devanhalli, where the Mysoreans participated in the Siege of Devanahalli Fort. The fort was held by Muzaffar Jungs forces and the siege was conducted by the Marquis de Bussy, during the successful eight-month siege, the Naik brothers distinguished themselves, and were rewarded by the dalwai with enlarged commands
39.
Battle of Green Spring
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The Battle of Green Spring took place near Green Spring Plantation in James City County, Virginia during the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette followed Cornwallis fairly closely, emboldened by the arrival of reinforcements to consider making attacks on the British force, on July 4, Cornwallis departed Williamsburg for Jamestown, planning to cross the James River en route to Portsmouth. Lafayette believed he could stage an attack on Cornwalliss rear guard during the crossing, Cornwallis anticipated Lafayettes idea, and laid an elaborate trap. General Waynes forces were nearly caught in the trap. Cornwallis did not follow the victory with pursuit, instead following his plan to cross the river, the action reinforced the perception among contemporaries that justified the moniker Mad to describe Wayne, although opinion on the merits of his actions was divided. The battlefield has been preserved, and reenactments are sometimes staged. In May 1781, Earl Charles Cornwallis arrived in Petersburg, Virginia after a campaign through North and South Carolina. These forces were opposed by a much smaller Continental Army force led by the Marquis de Lafayette, Lafayette successfully avoided engaging Cornwallis, who used his numerical advantage to detach forces for raids against economic, military, and political targets in central Virginia. After about one month of activity, Cornwallis turned back to the east. One such foray led to a clash at Spencers Ordinary, a crossroads not far from Williamsburg, when Cornwallis arrived at Williamsburg, he received orders from General Sir Henry Clinton to go to Portsmouth and prepare a detachment of troops to return to New York City. Pursuant to these orders, Cornwallis began moving south on the Virginia Peninsula on July 4, Lafayette followed, with advance units and most of his Continentals reaching Norrells Mill, about 8 miles from the ferry on July 5. Lafayette saw an opportunity to attack the British force as it made the crossing of the James. Cornwallis also recognized the possibility, and decided to lay a trap and he only sent his baggage train and John Graves Simcoes Queens Rangers across the river, and concealed his main force near the crossing. Cornwallis also sent men to desert to the Americans with information that most of the British force had crossed, the position where Cornwallis hid his army was well-chosen. To the left, impassable swampy terrain sloped down toward the river, to the right, there was more marshy ground and a few ponds. Both wings also included light infantry companies, Brigadier General Mad Anthony Wayne led Lafayettes advance company, about 500 men, out early on July 6 from Norrells Tavern. When Wayne reached Green Spring, he surveyed the terrain and noted the presence of the British guards, when Lafayette came up with his main force, the two men decided to go ahead with the attack, but Lafayette ordered more troops forward from Norrells Tavern around 1 pm. Some minor skirmishing took place while they awaited these troops, Waynes 500 soldiers included 200 Virginia riflemen under Majors John Willis and Richard Call backed by additional light infantry led by John Francis Mercer, William Galvan, and McPherson
40.
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis
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In the United States and the United Kingdom he is best remembered as one of the leading British generals in the American War of Independence. His surrender in 1781 to a combined American and French force at the Siege of Yorktown ended significant hostilities in North America, born into an aristocratic family and educated at Eton and Cambridge, Cornwallis joined the army in 1757, seeing action in the Seven Years War. Upon his fathers death in 1762 he became Earl Cornwallis and entered the House of Lords, from 1766 until 1805 he was Colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot. He next saw action in 1776 in the American War of Independence. Active in the forces of many campaigns, in 1780 he inflicted an embarrassing defeat on the American army at the Battle of Camden. He also commanded British forces in the March 1781 Pyrrhic victory at Guilford Court House, Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown in October 1781 after an extended campaign through the Southern states, marked by disagreements between him and his superior, General Sir Henry Clinton. Despite this defeat, Cornwallis retained the confidence of successive British governments, knighted in 1786, he was in that year appointed to be Governor-General and commander-in-chief in India. From 1789 to 1792 he led British and Company forces in the Third Anglo-Mysore War to defeat the Mysorean ruler Tipu Sultan, returning to Britain in 1794, Cornwallis was given the post of Master-General of the Ordnance. Following his Irish service, Cornwallis was the chief British signatory to the 1802 Treaty of Amiens and was reappointed to India in 1805 and he died in India not long after his arrival. Cornwallis was born in Grosvenor Square in London, though his familys estates were in Kent and he was the eldest son of Charles Cornwallis, 5th Baron Cornwallis. His mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend and his uncle, Frederick, was Archbishop of Canterbury. Fredericks twin brother, Edward, was an officer, colonial governor. His brother William became an Admiral in the Royal Navy and his other brother, James, eventually inherited the earldom from Cornwalliss son, Charles. The family was established at Brome Hall, near Eye, Suffolk, in the 14th century, Frederick Cornwallis, created a Baronet in 1627, fought for King Charles I, and followed King Charles II into exile. He was made Baron Cornwallis, of Eye in the County of Suffolk, in 1661, Cornwallis was educated at Eton College and Clare College, Cambridge. While at Eton, he received an injury to his eye by an accidental blow while playing hockey, from Shute Barrington and he obtained his first commission as Ensign in the 1st Foot Guards, on 8 December 1757. He then sought and gained permission to engage in studies abroad. After travelling on the continent with a Prussian officer, Captain de Roguin, upon completion of his studies in Turin in 1758, he traveled to Geneva, where he learned that British troops were to be sent to the Continent in the Seven Years War
41.
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
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A close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. Born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France and he followed its martial tradition, and was commissioned an officer at age 13. He became convinced that the American cause in its war was noble. There, he was made a general, however, the 19-year-old was initially not given troops to command. Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he managed to organize an orderly retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island, in the middle of the war, he returned home to lobby for an increase in French support. He again sailed to America in 1780, and was given positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops in Virginia under his command blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American, Lafayette returned to France and, in 1787, was appointed to the Assembly of Notables, which was convened in response to the fiscal crisis. He was elected a member of the Estates-General of 1789, where representatives met from the three orders of French society—the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. He helped write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, after the storming of the Bastille, Lafayette was appointed commander-in-chief of the National Guard and tried to steer a middle course through the French Revolution. In August 1792, the radical factions ordered his arrest, fleeing through the Austrian Netherlands, he was captured by Austrian troops and spent more than five years in prison. Lafayette returned to France after Napoleon Bonaparte secured his release in 1797, after the Bourbon Restoration of 1814, he became a liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies, a position he held for most of the remainder of his life. During Frances July Revolution of 1830, Lafayette declined an offer to become the French dictator, instead, he supported Louis-Philippe as king, but turned against him when the monarch became autocratic. Lafayette died on 20 May 1834, and is buried in Picpus Cemetery in Paris, for his accomplishments in the service of both France and the United States, he is sometimes known as The Hero of the Two Worlds. Lafayettes lineage was likely one of the oldest and most distinguished in Auvergne and, perhaps, males of the Lafayette family enjoyed a reputation for courage and chivalry and were noted for their contempt for danger. One of Lafayettes early ancestors, Gilbert de Lafayette III, a Marshal of France, had been a companion-at-arms of Joan of Arcs army during the Siege of Orléans in 1429, according to legend, another ancestor acquired the crown of thorns during the Sixth Crusade. Lafayettes father likewise died on the battlefield, on 1 August 1759, Michel de Lafayette was struck by a cannonball while fighting a British-led coalition at the Battle of Minden in Westphalia. Lafayette became marquis and Lord of Chavaniac, but the estate went to his mother, in 1768, when Lafayette was 11, he was summoned to Paris to live with his mother and great-grandfather at the comtes apartments in Luxembourg Palace
42.
Tyburn
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Tyburn was a village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch and the southern end of Edgware Road in present-day London. It took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne and it was also known as Gods Tribunal, in the 18th century. The village was one of two manors of the parish of Marylebone, which was named after the stream, St Marylebone being a contraction of St Marys church by the bourne. Tyburn was recorded in the Domesday Book and stood approximately at the west end of what is now Oxford Street at the junction of two Roman roads, the predecessors of Oxford Street and Edgware Road were roads leading to the village, later joined by Park Lane. In the 1230s and 1240s the village of Tyburn was held by Gilbert de Sandford, Eleanor had been the wife of King Henry II who encouraged her sons Henry and Richard to rebel against her husband, King Henry. In 1236 the city of London contracted with Sir Gilbert to draw water from Tyburn Springs, water was supplied free to all comers. Tyburn had significance from ancient times and was marked by a monument known as Oswulfs Stone, the stone was covered over in 1851 when Marble Arch was moved to the area, but it was shortly afterwards unearthed and propped up against the Arch. It has not been seen since 1869, public executions took place at Tyburn, with the prisoners processed from Newgate Prison in the City, via St Giles in the Fields and Oxford Street. After the late 18th century, when executions were no longer carried out in public, they were carried out at Newgate Prison itself, the first recorded execution took place at a site next to the stream in 1196. William Fitz Osbert, the populist leader of the poor of London, was cornered in the church of St Mary le Bow and he was dragged naked behind a horse to Tyburn, where he was hanged. In 1571, the Tyburn Tree was erected near the modern Marble Arch, the Tree or Triple Tree was a novel form of gallows, consisting of a horizontal wooden triangle supported by three legs. The Tree stood in the middle of the roadway, providing a landmark in west London. After executions, the bodies would be buried nearby or in later times removed for dissection by anatomists, the crowd would sometimes fight over a body with surgeons, by fear that dismemberment could prevent the resurrection of the body on Judgement Day. The first victim of the Tyburn Tree was Dr John Story, a plaque to the Catholic martyrs executed at Tyburn in the period 1535 -1681 is located at 8 Hyde Park Place, the site of Tyburn convent. The gallows seem to have replaced several times, probably because of reasons of wear. After some acts of vandalism, in October 1759 it was decided to replace the permanent structure with new moving gallows until the last execution in Tyburn, the executions were public spectacles and proved extremely popular, attracting crowds of thousands. The enterprising villagers of Tyburn erected large spectator stands so that as many as possible could see the hangings, on one occasion, the stands collapsed, reportedly killing and injuring hundreds of people. This did not prove a deterrent, however, and the continued to be treated as public holidays
43.
High treason in the United Kingdom
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Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Several other crimes have historically been categorised as high treason, including counterfeiting money, High treason was formerly distinguished from petty treason, a treason committed against a subject of the sovereign, the scope of which was limited by statute to the murder of a legal superior. Petty treason comprised the murder of a master by his servant, of a husband by his wife, petty treason ceased to be a distinct offence from murder in 1828, and consequently high treason is today often referred to simply as treason. Considered to be the most serious of offences, high treason was often met with extraordinary punishment, hanging, drawing and quartering was often employed. The last treason trial was that of William Joyce, Lord Haw-Haw, since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 became law, the maximum sentence for treason in the UK has been life imprisonment. In addition to the crime of treason, the Treason Felony Act 1848 created a new offence known as treason felony, under the traditional categorisation of offences into treason, felonies, and misdemeanours, treason felony was merely another form of felony. Several categories of treason which had been introduced by the Sedition Act 1661 were reduced to felonies, in addition to the Acts of 1351,1703, and 1848, two additional Acts passed by the old Parliament of Ireland apply to Northern Ireland alone. Thus, the process open to abuse, and decisions were often arbitrary. For instance, during the reign of Edward III, a knight was convicted of treason because he assaulted one of the kings subjects and it was only in 1351 that Parliament passed legislation on the subject of treason. First, it is treason to compass or imagine the death of our Lord the King, of our Lady his Queen, or of their eldest son. The terms compass or imagine indicate the premeditation of a murder, however it has also been held to include rebelling against or trying to overthrow the monarch, as experience has shown that this normally involves the monarchs death. The terms of this provision have been held to both male and female sovereigns, but only the spouses of male Sovereigns. It is not sufficient to allege that an individual is guilty of high treason because of his thoughts or imaginations. If the intercourse is not consensual, only the rapist is liable, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, wives of Henry VIII, were found guilty of treason for this reason. Thus, only women are covered in the statute, it is not, for example, similarly, it is not high treason to rape a widow of the sovereign or of the heir-apparent. Diana, Princess of Wales admitted that she had an affair with her instructor, James Hewitt. Conspiracy to levy war or aid the sovereigns enemies do not amount to this kind of treason, in modern times only these kinds of treason have actually been prosecuted. These offences, however, were reduced to felonies rather than high treasons in 1861 and 1832 respectively, finally, the Treason Act 1351 specified that the listing of offences was meant to be exhaustive
44.
Chesapeake Bay
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It is the largest estuary in North America. With its northern portion in Maryland and the part in Virginia. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the bays 64, 299-square-mile drainage basin, the bay is approximately 200 miles long from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean. It is 2.8 miles wide at its narrowest and 30 miles at its widest, total shoreline including tributaries is 11,684 miles, circumnavigating a surface area of 4,479 square miles. Average depth is 21 feet, reaching a maximum of 174 feet, the bay is spanned twice, in Maryland by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Sandy Point to Kent Island and in Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connecting Virginia Beach to Cape Charles. Known for both its beauty and bounty, the bay became emptier, with crabs, oysters. Recent restoration efforts begun in the 1990s have been ongoing and show potential for growth of the oyster population. The health of the Chesapeake Bay improved in 2015, marking three years of gains over the past four years, according to a new report by the University of Maryland, the word Chesepiooc is an Algonquian word referring to a village at a big river. It is the seventh oldest surviving English place-name in the U. S. first applied as Chesepiook by explorers heading north from the Roanoke Colony into a Chesapeake tributary in 1585 or 1586. The name may refer to the Chesepian or Chesapeake people. They occupied an area which is now the Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, in 2005, Algonquian linguist Blair Rudes helped to dispel one of the areas most widely held beliefs, that Chesapeake means something like great shellfish bay. The name might actually have meant something like great water, or it might have just referred to a location at the bays mouth. In addition, the name is almost always prefixed by the in usage by local residents, The Chesapeake, The Chesapeake Bay, the Chesapeake Bay is an estuary to the North Atlantic, lying between the Delmarva Peninsula to the east and the North American mainland to the west. It is the ria, or drowned valley, of the Susquehanna River and it is not a fjord, because the Laurentide Ice Sheet never reached as far south as the northernmost point on the bay. The large rivers entering the bay from the west have broad mouths and are extensions of the ria for miles up the course of each river. The bay was formed starting about 10,000 years ago when rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age flooded the Susquehanna River valley. Parts of the bay, especially the Calvert County, Maryland and these cliffs, generally known as Calvert Cliffs, are famous for their fossils, especially fossilized shark teeth which are commonly found washed up on the beaches next to the cliffs. Scientists Cliffs is a community in Calvert County named for the desire to create a retreat for scientists when the community was founded in 1935
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1781 in Great Britain: 