Today in History ^05/18/18

(1756) Britain declares war on France over North American colonies

Nearly two years after skirmishes broke out between the two world powers in the Ohio Territory of North America, Great Britain officially goes to war with France. The Seven Years’ War will expand to include nearly all the major European powers and be fought on almost every continent.

The Seven Years’ War was a global conflict fought between 1756 and 1763. It involved every European great power of the time and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France on the other. Meanwhile, in India, some regional polities within the increasingly fragmented Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, tried to crush a British attempt to conquer Bengal. The war’s extent has led some historians to describe it as “World War Zero”, similar in scale to other world wars.

Start date: May 17, 1756
End date: Jan 01, 1763

Clockwise from top left: the Battle of Plassey (23 June 1757); the Battle of Carillon (6–8 July 1758); the Battle of Zorndorf (25 August 1758); the Battle of Kunersdorf (12 August 1759).
wiki/Seven_Years’_War

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(1756) Britain declares war on France over North American colonies.
Also on this day,
1974 | India gets “The Bomb”
1980 | Mount St. Helen erupts
2004 | Johnson’s perfect game