George Washington, commander of the Continental Army and first President of the United States, is born in Virginia.
Britain and France, with their Indigenous allies, fight for control of North America; France is defeated and loses most of its territory on the continent.
A global conflict among the European powers fought in Europe, North America and India; Britain gains colonial supremacy and Prussia confirms its great-power status.
British soldiers fire into a crowd in Boston, killing five people and heightening tensions between the colonies and Britain.
In colonial Massachusetts, more than 200 people are accused of witchcraft and 19 are hanged.
Colonists protesting British taxation dump an entire shipment of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor.
The first clashes between colonial militia and British troops in Massachusetts begin the American Revolutionary War.