Dr. Adam Smith (1723-1790) - A timeline 1723 Adam Smith born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, the posthumous son of Adam Smith (former Private Secretary to the Principal Secretary of State for Scotland and Controller of the Customs at Kirkcaldy) and his wife Margaret Douglas See the Media Resources Page for large format images.   Death of architect Sir Christopher Wren 1724   1725   1726 Adam Smith kidnapped by tinkers but recovered by his uncle   Jonathan Swift publishes Gulliver’s Travels 1727 Physicist Sir Isaac Newton dies   First Indemnity Act allows religions non-conformists to hold offices under the Crown 1728   1729 Edmund Burke, scholar and father of modern conservatism, is born 1730 John and Charles Wesley found the Methodists 1731   1732 Covent Garden Opera is founded 1733 John Kay invents the Flying Shuttle   Jethro Tull publishes on new agricultural methods   Alexander Pope publishes Essay on Man 1734   1735   1736   1737 Adam Smith enters Glasgow University, studying moral philosophy under Professor Francis Hutcheson 1738   1739 The War of Jenkins’ Ear between Britain and Spain starts   Philosopher David Hume publishes A Treatise of Human Nature 1740 Adam Smith Enters Balliol College, Oxford as Snell Exhibitioner   Frederick the Great becomes King of Prussia 1741   1742 Fall of Walpole as Britain’s first Prime Minister 1743 George II, last British king to command his army in the field, defeats France 1744   1745 Satirist Jonathan Swift dies   Jacobite rebellion under Prince Charles Edward Stuart 1746 Adam Smith leaves Oxford and returns to Kirkcaldy 1747   1748 Adam Smith is invited to lecture on belle-lettres and jurisprudence in Edinburgh under Lord Kames   David Hume publishes his Philosophical Essay Concerning Human Understanding   Charles Louis de Montesquieu publishes his Spirit of the Laws 1749   1750 Death of composer J S Bach   Adam Smith meets David Hume, who becomes a close friend 1751 Adam Smith is elected Professor of Logic at Glasgow University 1752 Adam Smith transfers to the Chair of Logic and Rhetoric at Glasgow University   Britain adopts the New Style calendar 1753 The British Museum is established 1754 Author Henry Fielding dies 1755 The Lisbon earthquake 1756 Burke publishes A Vindication of Natural Society   Seven Years' War begins 1757 Writer, poet and artist William Blake is born   William Pitt the Elder, as Secretary of State, becomes the main influence in the British government 1758   1759 Adam Smith publishes his Theory of Moral Sentiments at the age of 36   F.M.A. Voltaire publishes Candide   Joseph Priestly publishes The History and Present State of Electricity 1760 George III becomes King of Great Britain 1761   1762 Catherine the Great becomes Czarina   Jean-Jacques Rousseau publishes The Social Contract 1763 Peace of Paris 1764 Adam Smith leaves Glasgow to become tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch on the Grand Tour of Europe, where he meets Voltaire, Franklin, Quesnay and other prominent intellectuals   James Hargreaves invents the Spinning Jenny   John Wilkes is expelled from the House of Commons 1765 The Stamp Act, a tax measure that helped precipitate the American Revolution, is passed by Parliament 1766 Adam Smith returns from the Grand Tour, is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and begins work on The Wealth of Nations   Henry Cavendish proves hydrogen to be an element 1767 Adam Ferguson publishes Essay on the History of Civil Society, the precursor of modern social science 1768 The Royal Academy of Arts is founded 1769 Sir William Blackstone publishes his Commentaries on the Law of England   Richard Arkwright builds his water-powered spinning mill 1770 Captain James Cook discovers New South Wales   Poet William Wordsworth is born 1771 First edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1772   1773 The Boston Tea Party protests against British taxes on the Colonies 1774 Chlorine and oxygen discovered 1775 Novelist Jane Austen is born   James Watt begins work on his improved steam engine 1776 Adam Smith moves to London and meets Enlightenment figures such as Reynolds, Garrick and Johnson   The Wealth of Nations is published   Edward Gibbon publishes first Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire   American Declaration of Independence   David Hume dies 1777 British surrender to the Americans at Saratoga 1778 Adam Smith is appointed Commissioner of Customs for Scotland and moves back to Edinburgh to live with his mother   Deaths of Voltaire and Rousseau 1779 Samuel Crompton invents the Spinning Mule   David Hume’s Dialogues of Natural Religion published posthumously 1780   1781 British troops surrender at Yorktown   Joseph II abolishes serfdom in Austria 1782   1783 Smith becomes a founding member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh   Treaty of Versailles: American independence is recognised   First flights in hot air (Montgolfier) and hydrogen (Charles) balloons   William Pitt the Younger becomes Prime Minister 1784 Death of Dr Samuel Johnson 1785 Power loom invented by Edmund Cartwright 1786   1787 Founding Fathers draft the American Constitution 1788 Impeachment proceedings begin against Warren Hastings 1789 Mutiny aboard HMS Bounty   George Washington becomes first President of the United States   The Bastille is stormed and the French Revolution begins 1790 Adam Smith dies after a painful illness, and is buried in the Canongate cemetery in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile   Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France

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