, in existence from 1707 to 1801. It came into being on 1 May 1707, with the political union
of the kingdom of Scotland
and the kingdom of England
(which included Wales
).
1683 The British crown colony of New York is subdivided into 12 counties.
1707 The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
1707 The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
1708 Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.
1709 Battle of Malplaquet: Great Britain, Netherlands and Austria fight against France.
1718 Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
1727 George II and Caroline of Ansbach are crowned King and Queen of Great Britain.
1736 Battle of Ackia: British and Chickasaw soldiers repel a French and Choctaw attack on the Chickasaw village of Ackia, near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi. The French, under Louisiana governor Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, had sought to link Louisiana with Acadia and the other northern colonies of New France.
1739 Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in Britain's mainland North American colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupts near Charleston, South Carolina.
1739 War of Jenkins' Ear starts: British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, reluctantly declares war on Spain.