King George III

King George III founded the Royal Academy by personal act on 10 December 1768, naming 34 founder members with a permitted total of 40.

Joshua Reynolds became the Royal Academy's first president, with Francis Milner Newton elected first secretary, serving until his 1788 resignation.

The Royal Academy Schools, part of the institution since its foundation, enrolled 77 students in 1769, their first year of operation.

William Hoare and Johann Zoffany were added to the founder member list by the King in 1769, and Associate-Engraver was created after engravers' initial exclusion.

The first Royal Academy Exhibition of Contemporary Art opened on 25 April 1769 and ran until 27 May 1769, fulfilling the founding mission's exhibition requirement.

Sources record a scuffle with wounded prisoners, a barn shooting, and the murder of Allen, without tying them to the massacre itself.

Wilkes was jailed in the King's Bench Prison on 10 May 1768 for an article severely criticising King George III.

On news of Wilkes's conviction and imprisonment, crowds assembled on St George's Fields chanting "Wilkes and Liberty."

After the Riot Act was read, government soldiers fired on the unarmed crowd, killing six or seven and wounding fifteen.

Eleazar Wheelock and Samson Occom established Dartmouth in 1769 to train Native American Christian missionaries, as one of nine colonial colleges.

Royal Governor John Wentworth issued a charter in King George III's name on December 13, 1769, establishing Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Venus passed between the Sun and Earth on 3 June 1769, visible as a small black disk crossing the Sun.

King George III observed the 3 June 1769 transit from the King's Observatory near Richmond Lodge, completed that year for this purpose.

King George III tested Harrison's watch No. 2 in 1772, confirming its high accuracy.

In 1773, Parliament granted Harrison £8,750 for his achievements, though he never received the official prize.

Lord North introduced the Port Bill to Parliament on March 18, 1774, proposing a blockade of Boston until restitution was made.

The British Parliament passed the Boston Port Act on 31 March 1774, officially closing the port of Boston as a punitive measure.

The British Army, under Thomas Gage, enforced the blockade of Boston, filling the city with troops to maintain the closure.

The Boston Port Act was repealed on 1 January 1776 by section 42 of the Prohibitory Act 1776.

The pulled-down 4,000-pound statue is said to have been melted into ammunition for the Continental Army to fight the British.

After the Declaration of Independence was read to Washington's troops, Sons of Liberty rushed down Broadway to Bowling Green and toppled the statue of George III.

In 1778 Britain dispatched a peace commission to North America to negotiate terms with the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War.

The commissioners circulated a manifesto that was printed in the Hartford Courant on October 10, 1778.

American and British representatives drafted a provisional treaty on November 30, 1782, after months of negotiation in Paris.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, at the Hôtel d'York in Paris by Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley.

The Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784; Britain ratified on April 9, 1784, with exchange in Paris on May 12, 1784.

American and British representatives drafted the provisional treaty on November 30, 1782, creating the preliminary articles Congress later ratified.

The Congress of the Confederation is recorded as ratifying the preliminary articles ending the Revolutionary War in April 1783, acting on the provisional treaty drafted in Paris.

Negotiations began in Paris in April 1782 after North's government fell following Yorktown, continuing through the summer.

The treaty was drafted on November 30, 1782, with Shelburne seeking to separate the United States from France.

Great Britain signed separate agreements with France and Spain; the last two Peace of Paris treaties were signed at the Palace of Versailles in 1783.

On September 3, 1783, Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Hartley signed the treaty at the Hôtel d'York in Paris, ending the war.

The Dutch treaty was not finalized until 1784, when captured East Indies possessions were returned for trading privileges; a hoped-for commercial treaty with Britain failed to materialize.

The Congress of the Confederation ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784; Britain ratified on April 9, and copies were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784.

An initial motion for union was legally rejected in 1799, defeated in the Irish House of Commons by 109 votes to 104.

The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Union with Ireland Act 1800 (39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. 67) on 2 July 1800.

The Parliament of Ireland passed the Act of Union (Ireland) 1800 (40 Geo. 3. c. 38) on 1 August 1800, a month after the British act.

The acts came into force between 31 December 1800 and 1 January 1801, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The Parliament of Ireland was abolished entirely on 31 December 1800, merging legislatures into a single Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The Acts of Union 1800 united Great Britain and Ireland into a single sovereign state, effective 1 January 1801.

William Pitt resigned as Prime Minister in March 1801 over King George III's refusal to grant Catholic emancipation.

Henry Addington became Prime Minister in 1801, serving until 1804, succeeding Pitt.

Colonel Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner brought the stone to England aboard HMS Égyptienne, landing in Portsmouth in February 1802.

The stone was presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London, where it was first seen and discussed on 11 March 1802.

Before the end of 1802, the stone was transferred to the British Museum, where it has been exhibited almost continuously since June 1802.

Despard was prosecuted by Attorney General Spencer Perceval before Lord Ellenborough in a Special Commission on 7 February 1803.

Despard and six co-defendants were hanged and beheaded at Horsemonger Lane Gaol on 21 February 1803.

The bill passed the House of Commons on 23 February 1807, marking a victory for Wilberforce after twenty years of campaigning.

King George III granted royal assent to the Slave Trade Act on 25 March 1807, making it law.