1760
Qianlong Completes Conquest of Xinjiang
With the Dzungar and then the eastern Turkestan khojas defeated, Qing rule extended to the Pamirs. Qianlong named his new possession Xinjiang - 'the new frontier' - and ruled it through a separate military administration. The Qing empire reached its greatest extent; it would not grow again. Garrison towns were planted across the desert, connected by relay stations that carried reports to Beijing in weeks.
Fall of Montreal Ends French Canada
Three British armies converged on Montreal from Quebec, Lake Ontario, and Lake Champlain. The governor surrendered without firing a shot. New France - a century and a half of fur traders, Jesuits, and voyageurs - passed to British rule. French-speakers stayed; their church and language survived. The Quebec Act of 1774 would guarantee their civil law and Catholic worship, binding them to the Crown through accommodation.
Accession of George III
A shy twenty-two-year-old, raised by an overbearing mother and obsessed with being a moral king, inherited the British throne. 'Born and educated in this country, I glory in the name of Britain,' he told Parliament. He would reign sixty years - losing America, going mad, and outliving his enemies. His long twilight of blindness and dementia would eventually require his son to govern as regent.
Tacky's Revolt in Jamaica
An enslaved Fante war-chief named Tacky led 1,500 rebels through the hills of St. Mary's parish, attacking plantations and killing overseers. British regulars, Maroons, and naval marines crushed the revolt after months. Tacky was shot and his head displayed on a pike - another installment of slavery's endless ledger of terror.