London in the Enlightenment
The atlas holds 26 people and 119 moments here, from 1687 to 1815. The most recorded lives are William Blake, Isaac Newton and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Notable people
Adam Smith
from 1764 to 1777
5 moments here
Scottish moral philosopher and political economist of the Scottish Enlightenment, author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the…
Arthur Schopenhauer
in 1803
1 moment here
German philosopher and writer, born in Danzig and dead in Frankfurt am Main. His documented movements included childhood residences in Hamburg and Le…
Benjamin Franklin
from 1724 to 1764
3 moments here
American printer, scientist, civic leader, colonial agent, revolutionary statesman, and diplomat.…
Charles Dickens
in 1815
1 moment here
English novelist, journalist, editor, social reformer, actor and celebrated public reader. This chronology traces documented residences, workplaces,…
Daniel Defoe
from 1689 to 1731
10 moments here
English merchant, political writer, journalist, intelligence agent, and novelist. This chronology records documented physical presences from his…
David Hume
from 1737 to 1776
4 moments here
Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist. Hume’s documented movements include formative stays in Bristol and France; residences at…
George Frideric Handel
from 1710 to 1759
10 moments here
German-British Baroque composer. Born in Halle, he worked in Hamburg, travelled in Italy, served as Kapellmeister at Hanover, and settled in England.…
Isaac Newton
from 1687 to 1727
10 moments here
English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, alchemist, author, and public official.…
James Cook
in 1762
1 moment here
British naval officer, hydrographer and explorer whose surveys of Newfoundland and three Pacific voyages transformed European geographic knowledge of…
James Watt
in 1755
1 moment here
Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist whose separate-condenser improvement to the steam engine was foundational to industrialization.…
Jane Austen
from 1788 to 1815
7 moments here
English novelist Jane Austen spent her life in southern England, principally in Hampshire, Bath, Southampton, Chawton, and Winchester.…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
in 1766
2 moments here
Genevan philosopher, writer, composer, and a major figure of the European Enlightenment. Rousseau’s documented movements ranged across Geneva, Savoy,…
John Adams
in 1785
1 moment here
American lawyer, revolutionary leader, diplomat, first vice president of the United States, and second U.S. president.…
John Locke
from 1689 to 1702
3 moments here
English philosopher, physician, and political writer. Locke was born in Somerset, educated in London and Oxford, served Lord Shaftesbury in London,…
John Quincy Adams
from 1795 to 1815
3 moments here
John Quincy Adams was an American diplomat, secretary of state, sixth president of the United States, and Massachusetts representative.…
Jonathan Swift
from 1707 to 1726
3 moments here
Anglo-Irish writer, satirist, political pamphleteer, and Church of Ireland cleric, best known for Gulliver's Travels, A Tale of a Tub, and A Modest…
Lord Byron
from 1788 to 1812
10 moments here
George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron (1788–1824), was a British poet, peer, and political speaker.…
Michael Faraday
from 1791 to 1815
6 moments here
English chemist and physicist whose experimental work transformed the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.…
Montesquieu
from 1729 to 1730
2 moments here
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French jurist, historian, and political philosopher.…
Peter the Great
in 1698
2 moments here
Peter I of Russia, known as Peter the Great, was tsar from 1682 and emperor from 1721 until 1725.…
Phillis Wheatley
in 1773
6 moments here
Phillis Wheatley Peters was a poet born in West Africa, enslaved in Boston as a child, and the author of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and…
Simón Bolívar
in 1810
1 moment here
Venezuelan military and political leader known as El Libertador. Bolívar led revolutionary campaigns that helped secure the independence of…
Thomas Jefferson
in 1786
1 moment here
Thomas Jefferson was an American lawyer, Virginia political leader, diplomat, secretary of state, vice president, and third president of the United…
Voltaire
from 1726 to 1727
3 moments here
François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, dramatist, and philosopher.…
Moments
- 1687 Faces the Ecclesiastical Commission Isaac Newton
- 1689 Residence at Dorset Court John Locke
- 1689 Return voyage with Princess Mary John Locke
- 1689 Attends Hampton Court meeting Isaac Newton
- 1689 Volunteer escort in the City Daniel Defoe
- 1696 Begins work at the Royal Mint Isaac Newton
- 1697 Lives on Jermyn Street Isaac Newton
- 1698 Arrival on Victoria Embankment Peter the Great
- 1698 Fleet review at Deptford Peter the Great
- 1701 With the Kentish petitioners Daniel Defoe
- 1702 Final visit to London John Locke
- 1703 Imprisonment in Newgate Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Pilloried at Cheapside Conduit Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Pilloried at Temple Bar Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Pilloried at the Royal Exchange Daniel Defoe
- 1703 Seditious-libel trial Daniel Defoe
- 1707 First-Fruits mission in London Jonathan Swift
- 1709 Relocates to Chelsea Isaac Newton
- 1710 First London visit George Frideric Handel
- 1710 Political work in London Jonathan Swift
- 1710 Settles in St Martin's Street Isaac Newton
- 1712 Permanent settlement in England George Frideric Handel
- 1713 Barn Elms residence George Frideric Handel
- 1714 Testifies on the longitude problem Isaac Newton
- 1717 Water Music river party George Frideric Handel
- 1723 Brook Street residence George Frideric Handel
- 1724 Journeyman printer in London Benjamin Franklin
- 1724 House at Stoke Newington Daniel Defoe
- 1725 Moves to Kensington for his health Isaac Newton
- 1726 Stayed with Pope at Twickenham Jonathan Swift
- 1726 Lives with Fawkener in Wandsworth Voltaire
- 1726 Takes rooms at Durham Court Voltaire
- 1726 Recounts the falling-apple insight Isaac Newton
- 1727 Dies at Kensington Isaac Newton
- 1727 Lodges above the White Peruke Voltaire
- 1729 Arrival in London Montesquieu
- 1730 Initiation at Horn Tavern Lodge Montesquieu
- 1731 Burial at Bunhill Fields Daniel Defoe
- 1731 Death in Ropemakers Alley Daniel Defoe
- 1734 Mary Delany's London party George Frideric Handel
- 1737 Arrival in London after French retreat David Hume
- 1749 Foundling Hospital benefit concert George Frideric Handel
- 1750 Return to Foundling Hospital George Frideric Handel
- 1755 Instrument-making training in London James Watt
- 1757 London colonial agency Benjamin Franklin
- 1757 Birth at Broad Street William Blake
- 1757 Baptism at St James's Church William Blake
- 1759 Burial at Westminster Abbey George Frideric Handel
- 1759 Death at Brook Street George Frideric Handel
- 1762 Returns to England and marries in London James Cook