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.
Diderot and d'Alembert publish the first volume of the Encyclopédie, a defining work of the Enlightenment.
The East India Company under Robert Clive defeats Siraj ud-Daulah, Nawab of Bengal, beginning British dominance in India.
James Watt's patent for a separate condenser makes steam engines far more efficient, driving the Industrial Revolution.
Napoleon Bonaparte is born in Ajaccio, Corsica; he will later become Emperor of the French.
British soldiers fire into a crowd in Boston, killing five people and heightening tensions between the colonies and Britain.