Economy & Finance in the 18th century

295 sourced entries, 1702 CE to 1799 CE, oldest first. Also see Economy & Finance across every century or everything else in the 18th century.

• 1702November 22 – The Dutch East India Company ship Amsterdam (1691) founders en route from Bombay to Basra during a storm with the loss of all hands.source
• 1703April 21 – The Company of Quenching of Fire (i.e., a fire brigade) is founded in Edinburgh, Scotland.source
• 170321 April – the Edinburgh "Company of Quenching of Fire", i.e., a fire brigade, is formed.Scotlandsource
• 1704The new Kommercekollegiet is set up,Denmarksource
• 1705Anthony Beale was appointed governor of the Hudson's Bay Company for Canada, replacing John Fullartine.Canadasource
• 1705The community Company of Mary is establishedFrancesource
• 1708The Company of Merchants of London Trading (with consent of the Parliament of Great Britain) merges with the East Indies, and the more recently established English Company Trading to the East Indies, to form the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, known as the Honourable East India Company.source
• 1708Johann Gottfried Becker passes the Royal Court Pharmacy in Copenhagen on to his son Gottfried Becker.Denmarksource
• 1708Hans Peter Pelt obtains a license to establish Copenhagen's second sugar refinery.Denmarksource
• 1708Merger (with consent of Parliament) of the Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies and the more recently established English Company Trading to the East Indies to form the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, known as the Honourable East India Company.United Kingdomsource
• 17095 October – last Scottish coinage issued by a mint in Scotland, at Edinburgh.Scotlandsource
• 1709The "Company of Mine Adventures", headed by Humphrey Mackworth, goes bankrupt.Walessource
• 1710May 6 – The South Sea Company begins.source
• 1710National income - ₹8,210 millionIndiasource
• 171122 May – Company of Blanket Weavers of Witney in Oxfordshire incorporated by royal charter to regulate the trade.United Kingdomsource
• 1711September 8 – The South Sea Company receives a Royal Charter in Britain.source
• 17118 September – the South Sea Company receives a Royal Charter.United Kingdomsource
• 1711December 13 – Wall Street in New York City becomes the city's first official slave market for the sale and rental of enslaved Africans and Indians.source
• 1712June 11 – Chatham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts is incorporated as a town.source
• 171312 November - Following the general election, Sir Humphrey Mackworth is replaced as MP for Cardiganshire by the Whig Thomas Johnes the elder, after a scandal involving the collapse of his Company of Mine Adventures; in the same year, forms the Company of Mineral Manufacturers which remains in business for only six years.Walessource
• 1713Bank notes are issued for the first time.Denmarksource
• 1713Two separate systems are introduced with courant and species, with courant being a debased currency also used for banknote issue.Denmarksource
• 1713Selbo Copper Works (later incorporated into Meraker Brug) was established.Norwaysource
• 1714The Norwegian Treasury is established. The first treasury department for all of Norway.Norwaysource
• 1715October 11 – William Aislabie resigns as the British East India Company's administrator of Bombay and the company's territories and is replaced at year's end by Charles Boone.source
• 1716May 20 – John Law founds the Banque Générale Privée in Paris.source
• 1716May - John Law Scottish economist establishes Le Banque Générale in Paris.Francesource
• 1717Drummonds Bank is founded in London by Scottish goldsmith Andrew Drummond.Scotlandsource
• 1719April – Bank rate set at 5%, at which it will remain for more than a century.United Kingdomsource
• 1719May 23 – Mississippi Company becomes the Compagnie Perpétuelle des IndesFrancesource
• 1719The South Sea Company proposes a scheme by which it would buy more than half the national debt of Britain in exchange for concessions.United Kingdomsource
• 1720April – "South Sea Bubble": A scheme for the South Sea Company to take over most of Britain's unconsolidated government debt massively inflates share prices.United Kingdomsource
• 1720June 25 – The "South Sea Bubble", the phenomenal growth of the South Sea Company, reaches its peak as South Sea stock is priced at £1,060 a share. By the end of September, as panic sales are made, the price falls to £150.source
• 172025 June – "South Sea Bubble" reaches its peak as South Sea Company stock is priced at £1,060 a share.United Kingdomsource
• 1720July 12 – Under the authority of the Bubble Act, the Lords Justices in Great Britain attempt to curb some of the excesses of the stock markets during the "South Sea Bubble". They dissolve a number of petitions for patents and charters, and abolish more than 80 joint-stock companies of dubious merit, but this has little effect on the creation of "Bubbles", ephemeral joint-stock companies created during the hysteria of the times.source
• 172012 July – Under authority of the Bubble Act, the Lords Justices attempt to curb some of the excesses of the stock markets during the "South Sea Bubble". They dissolve a number of petitions for patents and charters, and abolish more than 80 joint-stock companies of dubious merit, but this has little effect on the creation of "Bubbles", ephemeral joint-stock companies created during the hysteria of the times.United Kingdomsource
• 1720September 30 – "South Sea Bubble": The English stock market crashes, with dropping prices for stock in the South Sea Company.source
• 1720September – "South Sea Bubble": share prices, led by those of the South Sea Company, collapse.United Kingdomsource
• 1720Parallel to the English South Sea Bubble France experiences the Mississippi Bubble. Market shares of the Mississippi Company reach a peak price of over 10,000 livres in spring just to plummet to 1,000 by the end of the year. Monthly inflation in France reaches 23 percent and a bank rush ensues when investors try in vain to convert paper notes issued by the Banque Royale into gold and silver. John Law, the Scottish architect of the Bubble, is forced to flee the country.source
• 1720John Law abandons all his accumulated wealth and flees to Brussels amidst the collapse of the Mississippi Bubble.Francesource
• 1720Food riots in east coast towns from January to March.Scotlandsource
• 1721The French theater company of the royal court, La troupe du Roi de Danemark is dissolved.Denmarksource
• 1721National income - ₹8,303 millionIndiasource
• 1721The Bergen Greenland Company was founded.Norwaysource
• 1722May - The Norwegian Slottsloven commission was dissolved.Norwaysource
• 1723August 11 – The Ostend Company is chartered by merchants and shipowners to establish trade for the Austrian Netherlands in the East Indies and West Indies. Over the next two days, 54 major investors in Antwerp purchase the shares of stock in the company.source
• 1724April 28 – The first of the seven Drapier's Letters, satirical pamphlets seeking to arouse public opinion in Ireland against the imposition by the British of a privately minted copper coinage, is published by Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and author, writing under the pseudonym "M. B., Drapier", identifying himself as a drapier or seller of cloth.source
• 1724September 24 – The Paris Bourse, the stock exchange for France, is created by order of King Louis XV on the advice of Nicolas Ravot d'Ombreval, four years after a financial panic had shut down trading. Stock markets had already been set up in Lyon, Bourdeaux and Toulouse.source
• 1725June 23 – The Malt tax riots begin in Scotland in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, after the price of beer and scotch whisky increases. Earlier in the year, the British government extended the taxes in England on malted grain to brewers and distilleries in Scotland. The rioting then spreads throughout Scottish counties.source
• 1725Freemasonry is established in France, as an English import.source
• 1726June 11 – André-Hercule de Fleury, recalled from exile by King Louis XV of France (his former pupil), forces banishment of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, the Prime Minister, and the Duke's mistress Madame de Prie from court. Financier Jean Pâris de Monmartel is also removed from his position as Guard of the Royal Treasury.source
• 1727May 31 – The Royal Bank of Scotland is founded by Royal Charter in Edinburgh.source
• 172731 May – the Royal Bank of Scotland is founded by Royal Charter in Edinburgh. Co-founder Lord Ilay is its first governor.Scotlandsource
• 172731 May – the Royal Bank of Scotland is founded by Royal Charter in Edinburgh.United Kingdomsource
• 1727June 27 – Uxbridge, Massachusetts, is incorporated as a town.source
• 1727December 8 – For the first time since the union of England and Scotland into Great Britain, the Royal Bank of Scotland, which still retains the right to print currency, issues its first pound note, printing paper currency for twenty shillings. The Scottish pound note continues to be printed until 2001 and the smallest denomination now is a five pound note.source
• 1727Board of Trustees for Fisheries, Manufactures and Improvements in Scotland established.Scotlandsource
• 173126 January – Kjøbenhavns Brandforsikring (Copenhagen Fire Insurance) is founded, speeding up the rebuilding of the city after the Copenhagen Fire of 1728 significantly since lending out money for construction projects becomes less risky.Denmarksource
• 173210 March – act reduces the interest rate on loans to 6%.Irelandsource
• 1733April 6 – After British Prime Minister Robert Walpole's proposed excise tax bill results in rioting over the imposition of additional taxes and the use of government agents to collect them, Walpole informs the House of Commons that he will withdraw the legislation.source
• 17336 April – after Prime Minister Robert Walpole's proposed excise tax bill to replace tariffs on wine and tobacco results in rioting over the imposition of additional taxes and the use of government agents to collect them, Walpole informs the House of Commons that he will withdraw the legislation.United Kingdomsource
• 173325 June – Ben and Samuel Burton's Dublin bank failure.Irelandsource
• 173429 April – Act for relief of creditors of failed banks.Irelandsource
• 1735September 14 – The Kingdom of France approves the issue of "card money" in the total amount of 200,000 livres to serve as currency in its Louisiana territory in America.source
• 1737August 29 – proclamation reducing the ratio of gold to silver in coins of Ireland to conform with the British standard.Irelandsource
• 1738February 20 – The Swedish Levant Company is founded.source
• 173928 November – Hørsholm is incorporated as a market town.Denmarksource
• 1739National income – ₹8,776 millionIndiasource
• 1740The watchmaking company Jules Jurgensen is established.Denmarksource
• 1740Hugh and Robert Tennent take over the Wellpark Brewery, originally known as the Drygate Brewery, in Glasgow.Scotlandsource
• 1741The Royal Order of Scotland in freemasonry is founded.source
• 1741Robert Foulis sets up a publishing business in Glasgow.Scotlandsource
• 1742Glass company Kosta Glasbruk (now known as Kosta Boda) is founded.Swedensource
• 1743April 3 – Prithvi Narayan Shah becomes the new King of the Gorkha Kingdom and begins a campaign to unify the 54 different principalities in the Himalayas under his rule as part of the unification of Nepalsource
• 1743The Moët & Chandon champagne house is established by Claude Moët in Épernay as Moët et Cie.Francesource
• 1743Gin Act 1743 attempts to increase taxation on gin provoking riots in London.United Kingdomsource
• 1744May 11 – Russia's treasury begins an effort to reduce the number of copper five-kopeck pieces (20 of which equal a Russian ruble) by declaring that it will buy them back at a ruble for every 20 until August 1, after which kopecks would be redeemed at a ruble for every 25; then at the rate of 33 for a ruble on October 1, and 50 for a ruble on and after August 28, 1746.source
• 1745September – Jacobite rising: Duncan Forbes, Lord Culloden, is commissioned to raise 18 new Independent Highland Companies from clans loyal to the government.Scotlandsource
• 1745Prospectus issued for "The Company for Improving the Linen Manufactury in Scotland", which becomes the British Linen Bank.Scotlandsource
• 1746Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière, Marquis de la Jonquière was appointed governor general of New France on March 1, 1746, (b April 18, 1685 – d March 17, 1752)Canadasource
• 1746DMC (Dollfus-Mieg & Cie.) established as a textile spinning company in Mulhouse by Jean-Henri DollfusFrancesource
• 1746British Linen Bank chartered as the British Linen Company.Scotlandsource
• 1748National income - ₹9,205 millionIndiasource
• 1749December - Benjamin Franklin notes that printer Hugh Meredith owes him money.Walessource
• 1749Halifax, capital of Nova Scotia, is founded by British General Edward Cornwallis to counter French presence at Louisbourg.Canadasource
• 1751July 17: Inredningarin, a company for the promotion of industry in Iceland, is founded at Þingvellir.Icelandsource
• 1751National income - ₹8,837 millionIndiasource
• 1753National income - ₹9,033 millionIndiasource
• 17546 March – Thomas Dillon, Richard Ferrall and Co.'s bank failure in Dublin due to fraud, the first of three (1754–1755); the partners abscond to France.Irelandsource
• 175411 July – William Burnett establishes the Aberdeen law firm that will continue in business as Burnett and Reid into the 21st century.Scotlandsource
• 1754The Hanseatic League Kontor at Bryggen was closed.Norwaysource
• 175524 November – The company now known as Iver C. Weilbach & Co. A/S is founded when flag, sail and compass maker Iver Jensen Borger sets up his own maritime supplier business in CopenhagenDenmarksource
• 1755National income - ₹9,140 millionIndiasource
• 1755The Artillery Company of Ireland, predecessor of the Royal Irish Artillery, is formed.Irelandsource
• 1755The Brecknockshire Agricultural Society is formed.Walessource
• 1756France sends two battalions to Canada, with provisions, and 1,300,000 livres, in specie, which has the effect of depreciating the paper currency by 25 per cent.Canadasource
• 1756National income - ₹9,334 millionIndiasource
• 1757The government reduces the annual interest payable on Consolidated Annuities (consols) from 3.5% to 3%, where it will remain until 1888.United Kingdomsource
• 1758February 14 – Vice Chancellor Aleksey Bestuzhev-Ryumin was removed from office.Russiasource
• 1758J. R. Geigy, predecessor of Novartis, a global pharmaceutical brand, founded in Basel, Switzerland.source
• 1758Okadaya (岡田屋), predecessor of AEON, a multiple retailer group, founded in Yokkaichi, Japan.source
• 1758German company MAN is founded.Germanysource
• 1758National income - ₹9,451 millionIndiasource
• 1759January 11 – In Philadelphia, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.source
• 1759March 4–November 20 – Étienne de Silhouette serves as Controller-General of France and attempts major financial reforms.source
• 17594 March–20 November – Étienne de Silhouette serves as Controller-General and attempts major financial reformsFrancesource
• 175919 September – The Dowlais Iron Company is formed.Walessource
• 175931 December – Arthur Guinness leases the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin.Irelandsource
• 1759David Erskine establishes his own legal practice in Edinburgh, origins of the partnership Dundas & Wilson.Scotlandsource
• 1760Claimed – Foundation of Lombart Chocolate companyFrancesource
• 1760National income - ₹9,059 millionIndiasource
• 1761Faber-Castell Company is founded by Kasper Faber in Nuremberg, Germany.source
• 1761National income - ₹9,456 millionIndiasource
• 17622 April – The Chinaman Dronning Sophia Magdalena is launched at the Danish Asiatic Company's own shipyard in Copenhagen.Denmarksource
• 1762May 26 – Dissatisfied with the progress of the French and Indian War, King George III dismisses his Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle, and replaces him with his former tutor, Tory politician John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. The Bute ministry lasts less than a year before Stuart's resignation in 1763.source
• 176225 December – Francis Baring is released from his apprenticeship and with his brothers forms the partnership in London that becomes Barings Bank.United Kingdomsource
• 1762National income - ₹9,895 millionIndiasource
• 1763March 1 – Charles Townshend becomes President of the Board of Trade in the British government.source
• 17631 March – Charles Townshend becomes President of the Board of Trade in the British government.United Kingdomsource
• 1763July 7 – The British East India Company declares Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, to be deposed.source
• 17637 July – the British East India Company declare Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, to be deposed.United Kingdomsource
• 1763August 3 and 4 – Amsterdam banking crisis: The spectacular bankruptcies of Leendert Pieter de Neufville and Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky lead to a financial contagion which in the following days affects many merchants in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin and Stockholm.source
• 1763National income - ₹9,859 millionIndiasource
• 176419 April – the Currency Act passed which prohibits the American colonies from issuing paper currency of any form.United Kingdomsource
• 176512 July – George Grenville is dismissed as Prime Minister by King George III.United Kingdomsource
• 176512 August – Robert Clive secures the rights for the East India Company to collect taxes in Bengal from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.United Kingdomsource
• 1765The Hennessy cognac house foundedFrancesource
• 1765National income - ₹9,571 millionIndiasource
• 1765Free Economic Society was founded.Russiasource
• 1765Cyfarthfa Ironworks is founded by Anthony Bacon.Walessource
• 176626 June – The new Sumptuary law bans the import of numerous luxury items such as coffee, chocolate and many brands of vine.Swedensource
• 17671 January – The Banking Company in Aberdeen, a co-partnery, opens for business.Scotlandsource
• 1767March 13 – British Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend, having already pushed through the unpopular Townshend Acts to recoup war expenses from Britain's American colonies, presents a comprehensive plan for more taxes in a closed door session of the House of Commons, with most proposals passed within a month.source
• 17679 June – the Townshend Acts are passed by Parliament, placing a tax on common products, such as lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea.United Kingdomsource
• 1767August 26 – Construction begins on Tryon Palace in New Bern, North Carolina. The construction proves more expensive than initially expected, leading the government to increase local taxes. This stirs resentment among some North Carolinians, and helps prolong the War of the Regulation.source
• 1767October 24 – In France, several anti-Jewish regulations in place since October 12, 1661, are repealed by the King's Council that advises Louis XV. While Jewish merchants are still prohibited from owning their own retail stores, they are allowed to sell merchandise on credit to gentile merchants at legal interest rates, to legally enforce debts, and to sell jewelry.source
• 176728 October – a boycott of 38 types of goods imported from England is resolved by merchants in Boston, Massachusetts, as a response to the taxes imposed by Britain.United Kingdomsource
• 1767National income - ₹9,828 millionIndiasource
• 1767The Johnston family enters the printing business.Scotlandsource
• 1767The country continued to suffer from a severe financial crisis and high debt stemming from the previous government's (Hats) aggressive, mercantilist policies and expensive wars. The economic situation, coupled with poor harvests, contributed to widespread discontent among the populace.Swedensource
• 1768December 21 – King Prithvi Narayan Shah unifies several small kingdoms to establish modern-day Nepal; this dynasty will end in 2008.source
• 1768Catherine II founded assignation banks, paving the way for Russia’s first paper money.Russiasource
• 1769National income - ₹9,897 millionIndiasource
• 1769John Maxwell (of Dargavel) begins to practice as a lawyer in Glasgow, origin of McGrigors which continues as an independent firm until 2012.Scotlandsource
• 1770The first National Committee begins its work and investigates the national economy of Iceland. The National Committee made recommendations on how the interests of the people of Iceland could be improved. Two of the committee members were Danish, and the third was Icelander Þorkell Jónsson Fjeldsted.Icelandsource
• 1771The company later known as H. H. Thiele is founded by Johan Rudolph Thiele.Denmarksource
• 1771Warren Hastings of the British East India Company becomes governor of Bengal in India.United Kingdomsource
• 1772June 10 – The crisis of 1772 is triggered when, following the flight of their partner Alexander Fordyce to France, the London banking house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down (which has been speculating in East India Company stock) suspends payment. The resultant panic causes other banks to fail, extends to Scotland, Amsterdam and the Thirteen Colonies and threatens the East India Company with bankruptcy.source
• 177210 June – Credit crisis of 1772 is triggered when, following the flight of their partner, Aberdeen-born Alexander Fordyce, to France, the London banking house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down (which has been speculating in East India Company stock) suspends payment. The resultant panic causes failure of other banks, particularly in Scotland, and especially in Edinburgh and the Ayr Bank.Scotlandsource
• 177210 June – credit crisis of 1772 is triggered when, following the flight of their partner Alexander Fordyce to France, the London banking house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down (which has been speculating in East India Company stock) suspends payment. The resultant panic causes other banks, particularly in Scotland, to fail, extends to Amsterdam and the Thirteen Colonies of British North America, and threatens the East India Company with bankruptcy.United Kingdomsource
• 17729 November – A Pawnbroker of the state is founded in Stockholm.Swedensource
• 1772The Clicquot Champagne house is founded by Philippe Clicquot in Reims.Francesource
• 1772Houbigant Parfum is founded by Jean-François Houbigant of Grasse in Paris.Francesource
• 1772National income - ₹9,790 millionIndiasource
• 1772Richard Price - Appeal ... on the National DebtWalessource
• 177324 February – Decision of the council reorganizing recovery of the poll tax on the bourgeoisie of Paris. Rents are recorded by Intendant Bertier de Sauvigny and the tax is calculated proportionally; the tax yield increases from 850,000 livres to 1,400,000 livres.Francesource
• 1773March – The General Turnpike Act 1773 (13 Geo. 3. c. 84) regulates the system of road tolls.United Kingdomsource
• 1773The Royal Swedish Ballet is founded.Swedensource
• 1773An informal Stock Exchange opens at Threadneedle Street in London.United Kingdomsource
• 1774Kallehavegaard is sold to Peter Johansen.Denmarksource
• 1774Louis XVI faces empty treasuryFrancesource
• 1774National income - ₹9,670 millionIndiasource
• 1775April–May – Flour War: riots against bread prices.Francesource
• 17751 May – The Royal Danish Porcelain Factory is founded by the chemist Frantz Heinrich Müller, who is given a 50-year monopoly to create porcelain in Denmark, and begins operations in a converted post office.Denmarksource
• 1775May 17 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress bans trade with Canada.source
• 177615 January – A Danish-Norwegian Nationality Act reserves state offices for Norwegian, Danish and Holstein citizens.Norwaysource
• 177622 November – Frederik Bargum's revived Danish West India Company is liquidated.Denmarksource
• 1776Hancock, Massachusetts is incorporated and named after John Hancock.United Statessource
• 1776'Forks of the Tar' changes to Washington, North Carolina, being named in honor of George Washington.United Statessource
• 177722 July - The business partnership between Anthony Bacon and William Brownrigg is dissolved.Walessource
• 1777Danish trade monopoly in Iceland: Changes were made allowing merchants to build houses and have permanent residence in Iceland.Icelandsource
• 1778The Danish rigsdaler becomes the official currency of Iceland.Icelandsource
• 1778Younger's Brewery established in Edinburgh.Scotlandsource
• 1778Flint & Clark, the predecessors of Debenhams, begin trading as drapers in London; their successor will enter liquidation in 2020.United Kingdomsource
• 1779Bowmore distillery on Islay is established.Scotlandsource
• 1780The Jameson Irish Whiskey distillery is founded in Dublin, Ireland.source
• 1780East India Company Act (British statute)Indiasource
• 1780The whiskey company John Jameson is established.Irelandsource
• 1780Richard Price devises the "Northampton Tables" for calculating actuarial valuation for assurance and pensions.Walessource
• 1781April 18 – Future New York mayor James Duane, North Carolina representative William Sharpe and future Connecticut governor Oliver Wolcott deliver the first report to the U.S. Continental Congress about the national debt and report it to be 24,057,157 and 2/5 dollars.source
• 1781May 26 – Bank of North America is chartered by the Confederation Congress.United Statessource
• 1781June 12 – Ohmiya (近江屋), as predecessor for Takeda, a major worldwide pharmaceutical brand, is founded in Doshomachi (道修町), Osaka, Japan.source
• 1782January 7 – The first American commercial bank (Bank of North America) opens.source
• 1782January 7 – The first American commercial bank (Bank of North America) opens in Philadelphia.United Statessource
• 1782January 15 – Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris goes before the United States Congress to recommend establishment of a national mint and decimal coinage.source
• 1782Siberia Governorate, Orenburg Governorate, and others dissolved as part of a general administrative reorganizationRussiasource
• 1782Summer – Dutch banker Nicolaas van Staphorst leads discussions with John Adams over a loan to the United States of five million guilders, at that time a considerable sum.United Statessource
• 17831 January – Glasgow Chamber of Commerce is founded by Patrick Colquhoun – the first in Britain.United Kingdomsource
• 17835 March – the Count de Belgioioso, bound from Liverpool to China, founders on the Kish Bank in Dublin Bay in a storm. On 2 June, Scottish diver Charles Spalding and his nephew Ebenezer Watson die in attempting to salvage the £150,000-worth of cargo from the ship using a diving bell of Spalding's design.Irelandsource
• 1783April 18 – Three-Fifths Compromise: The first instance of black slaves in the United States of America being counted as three-fifths of persons (for the purpose of taxation), is included in a resolution of the Congress of the Confederation (this is later adopted in the 1787 Constitution).source
• 1783Vermont delays entering the Union, because Congress is partial to New York, and because of the General Government's indebtedness, for which Vermont is not bound.Canadasource
• 1783The North West Company is formed.Canadasource
• 1783The Glasgow engraving and publishing firm J. Lumsden and Son, which becomes known for children's books, is founded.Scotlandsource
• 1784February – The Massachusetts Bank, a predecessor of BankBoston, is established as the first federally chartered joint-stock bank in the U.S. The bank's charter is signed by John Hancock and its early account holders include Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Henry Knox.United Statessource
• 178421 June – Commutation Act reduces duties on spirits and tea, and implements window tax.United Kingdomsource
• 1784July 9 – The Bank of New York opens as the first in New York state and continues to operate under that name for almost 223 years until being acquired by Mellon Financial and becoming BNY Mellon.source
• 1784The Old Bushmills Distillery becomes an officially registered companyIrelandsource
• 1784The Mutual Assurance Company for Insuring Houses from Loss by Fire is established in Philadelphia.United Statessource
• 1785May 18: The city of Saint John, New Brunswick is incorporated.Canadasource
• 1785July 6 – The dollar (and a decimal currency system) is unanimously chosen as the money unit for the United States by the Congress of the Confederation.source
• 1785July 6 – The United States dollar is unanimously chosen as the country's money unit, the first time a nation has adopted a decimal currency.United Statessource
• 1785September 13 – The Bank of North America, central bank for the Confederation Congress government, loses its charter.source
• 1785October - The Mona Mine Company is formed by Thomas Williams of Llanidan and Henry Bayly Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge.Walessource
• 1785National income - ₹10,217 millionIndiasource
• 1786March 1 – The Ohio Company of Associates is organized by five businessmen at a meeting at the Bunch-of-Grapes Tavern in Boston to purchase land from the United States government to form settlements in the modern-day U.S. state of Ohio.source
• 1786August 18 – The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway charters six settlements in Iceland to trade with it, thus ending the Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly, and founding Reykjavík.source
• 1786October 16 – The Confederation Congress establishes the United States Mint to make common coinage and currency for the U.S., to replace individual state coins.source
• 1786John Molson founds his first brewery in Montreal.Canadasource
• 1786National income - ₹10,251 millionIndiasource
• 1786Date unknown - Foundation of the Swedish West India CompanySwedensource
• 1786Wills, Watkins & Co. open a tobacconists’ shop in Bristol which will become W.D. & H.O. Wills.United Kingdomsource
• 1786Sinking fund of £1M per annum established to reduce the national debt.United Kingdomsource
• 1787March 17 – The Bank of North America, the central bank of the United States government under the Articles of Confederation, is re-incorporated after its charter had expired in 1786.source
• 1787April 25 – The Customs and Excise Act 1787 receives Royal assent. It replaced all customs duties, which included poundage, by a system where individual tariffs would be applied to importations.source
• 178726 April – States of Brabant refuse to vote taxes until their grievances are addressed.Belgiumsource
• 178722 May – Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade with support from John Wesley, Josiah Wedgwood and others.United Kingdomsource
• 1788May 10 – The Royal Dramatic Theatre (Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern), Sweden's national drama company, is founded.source
• 178828 October – Lorentz Petersen's wine company is founded in Copenhagen.Denmarksource
• 1788Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1788National income - ₹10,101 millionIndiasource
• 1789April – Privy Council report on the slave trade published.United Kingdomsource
• 178912 May – William Wilberforce makes his first major speech in the House of Commons on the abolition of the slave trade.United Kingdomsource
• 17896 June – Joseph II instructs his minister in Brussels to decree that ordinary taxes will henceforth no longer be subject to annual approval by the States of Brabant.Belgiumsource
• 1789July 4 – The U.S. Congress passes its first bill, the Tariff of 1789, setting out tariffs.source
• 1789July 4 – Congress passes its first tax on 30 different items at 8.5% with discount to American ships over foreign ones.United Statessource
• 1789Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1789The Swedish National Debt Office is founded.Swedensource
• 1789Richard Price - Love for our CountryWalessource
• 1790August 4 – A newly passed U.S. tariff act creates the system of cutters for revenue enforcement (later named the United States Revenue Cutter Service), the forerunner of the Coast Guard.source
• 1790August 4 – A newly passed U.S. tariff act creates the United States Revenue Cutter Service, the forerunner of the Coast Guard.United Statessource
• 1790Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1790National income - ₹10,434 millionIndiasource
• 1790Balblair distillery at Edderton founded.Scotlandsource
• 1790John Coles, son of the founder of the Cambrian Pottery, goes into partnership with entrepreneur George Haynes, resulting in the expansion of the business.Walessource
• 1791February 8 – The Bank of the United States, based in Philadelphia, is incorporated by the federal government with a 20-year charter and started with $10,000,000 capital.source
• 1791April – William Wilberforce introduces a bill to Parliament to abolish the slave trade but it is defeated.United Kingdomsource
• 1791Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1792January – the investment management business which will become the Charles Stanley Group in London is established as a banking partnership in Sheffield.United Kingdomsource
• 1792April 2 – The Coinage Act is passed, establishing the United States Mint.source
• 1792April 2 – The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint and the United States dollar.United Statessource
• 1792May 10 – Union Bank is founded in Boston. In 1925 it merges with State Street Trust Company, now known as the State Street CorporationUnited Statessource
• 1792May 17 – The Buttonwood Agreement is signed, beginning the New York Stock Exchange.source
• 1792December – A bill to abolish slavery in Lower Canada does not pass.Canadasource
• 1792The State Street Corporation is founded, in Boston, Massachusetts.source
• 1792The Insurance Company of North America (later Chubb) is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.source
• 1792Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1792N. Schiøtt & Hochbrandt is founded.Denmarksource
• 1792Pearson & Sons bakery, earliest predecessor of Nabisco, opens in Massachusetts.United Statessource
• 1793June 21 – The town of Hamilton, Massachusetts, is incorporated.source
• 1793The first year of regular production begins for the United States Mint, and the half cent is minted for the first time.source
• 1793Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1793The first year of regular production begins for the United States Mint in Philadelphia and the half cent is minted for the first time.United Statessource
• 1794January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark).source
• 1794March 22 – Congress prohibits American ships from supplying slaves to any nation other than the United States, setting a penalty of forfeiture of the ship and a $2,000 fine.source
• 1794Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1794Det Dramatiske Selskab in Bergen is founded.Norwaysource
• 1794Oban distillery established by brothers John and Hugh Stevenson.Scotlandsource
• 1794Richard Crawshay buys out Anthony Bacon to become sole proprietor of Cyfarthfa Ironworks.Walessource
• 17955 May – a tax on hair-powder under the Duty on Hair Powder Act 1795 comes into effect, helping to end the fashion for powdering hair and wigs.United Kingdomsource
• 1795Jim Beam is founded as Old Jake Beam Sour Mash.source
• 1795Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 17951790s – British create protective tariffs to encourage timber production for Navy after Napoléon Bonaparte cuts off Baltic supply of tall trees and hardwood. First in New Brunswick then in Lower and Upper Canada. Montreal merchants expand transport to handle trade.Canadasource
• 1795Travancore comes under British protection; see Company rule in IndiaIndiasource
• 1795Dutch East India Company goes bankruptNetherlandssource
• 1795Archibald Constable starts in business for himself as a dealer in rare books in Edinburgh, origin of the publishing business which enters the 21st century as Constable & Robinson.Scotlandsource
• 1795Samuel Homfray brings an unsuccessful suit, at Hereford Assizes, of the commoners against the Dowlais Company.Walessource
• 1795The events of the French Revolution cause corn prices to rise dramatically, but wages do not follow. Food riots are commonplace across Wales for the several years after.Walessource
• 1796Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1797February 26 – Bank Restriction Act removes the requirement for the Bank of England (the national bank of Great Britain) to convert banknotes into gold – Restriction period lasts until 1821. The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes (pound notes discontinued March 11, 1988).source
• 179726 February – start of "restriction period" during which, by Government order, Bank of England notes are inconvertible to gold. The Bank issues the first one-pound and two-pound notes (the former denomination remains in issue until 11 March 1988).United Kingdomsource
• 1797July – Duties on Clocks and Watches Act 1797 imposed; it is repealed the following year.United Kingdomsource
• 1797September 30 – Dominique-Vincent Ramel-Nogaret, French finance minister, repudiates two thirds of France's debt.source
• 1797Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1797David Thompson leaves Hudson's Bay Company to join North West Company.Canadasource
• 1797Keiller's marmalade first produced in Dundee.Scotlandsource
• 17984 December – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger announces the introduction of income tax in 1799.Scotlandsource
• 1798Nathan Mayer Rothschild moves from Frankfurt in the Holy Roman Empire to England, settling up in business as a textile trader and financier in Manchester.source
• 1798Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1798A new fur trading company is formed to compete with the North West Company. Confusingly called the New North West Company, it is nicknamed the XY Company later on.Canadasource
• 1798Cassella chemical and pharmaceutical company foundedGermanysource
• 1798M. M. Warburg & Co. bank foundedGermanysource
• 1798Tobermory distillery is founded.Scotlandsource
• 1798The Merchant Banking Company of Glasgow fails.Scotlandsource
• 1799January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's effort in the French Revolutionary Wars.source
• 17999 January – Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.Scotlandsource
• 1799July 8 - Ukase of 1799 founding Russian-American Company and delineating Russian claims.Russiasource
• 1799July 8 – The Russian-American Company is founded.United Statessource
• 1799December 31 – The Dutch East India Company's charter is allowed to expire by the Batavian Republic.source
• 1799The Place Royale in Paris is renamed Place des Vosges, when the Department of Vosges becomes the first to pay new Revolutionary taxes.source
• 1799The small town of Tignish, Prince Edward Island, Canada is founded.source
• 1799Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island – Philip Gidley KingAustraliasource
• 1799Alexander Mackenzie resigns from North West CompanyCanadasource
• 1799Russian-American Fur Company chartered; launches aggressive policy in Aleutians and on Northwest Coast.Canadasource
• 1799The coffee manufacturer Friele is established in Bergen.Norwaysource
• 1799The Llandovery Bank is established, as W & D Jones & Co. Commonly known as the "Black Ox Bank" or "Banc yr Eidon", it is one of the earliest banks established in Carmarthenshire.Walessource