John Byng ('The Shooting of Admiral Byng')

Events of 1757back to top

Current affairs

Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch in Portsmouth harbour for failing to prevent the loss of Minorca to the French.
William Pitt the Elder resigns from government after his failure to achieve success in the Seven Years War. He is recalled to government in June in coalition with former Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.

Art and science

Designer Robert Adam returns to London after two years in Rome with a repertoire of classical themes which will form the basis of a new British neo-classicism.
Edmund Burke publishes his seminal work A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful.
Philosopher David Hume publishes The Natural History of Religion.
Artist William Blake is born in Soho, London.

International

Seven Years War: Victory for British ally, Frederick the Great, at Rossbach and Leuthen. Defeats for the British in India and Canada followed by British victory at the Battle of Plassey, led by Robert Clive, which secures British control of Bengal. British troops oust the Nawab of Bengal Siraj ud-Daulah and replace him with his uncle the pro-British Mir Jafar.
Italian pastellist Rosalba Carriera dies in Venice.

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