1763
Events
January–March
- January 27 - The seat of colonial administration in the Viceroyalty of Brazil is moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.
- February 1 - The colonial authorities in the Province of North Carolina establish Mecklenburg County from the western portion of Anson County. The county is named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who married George III in 1761.
- February 10 - Seven Years' War - French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war, and France cedes Canada to Great Britain.
- February 15 - The Treaty of Hubertusburg puts an end to the Seven Years' War between Prussia and Austria, and their allies France and Russia.
- February 23 - The Berbice Slave Uprising starts in the former Dutch colony of Berbice.
- March 1 - Charles Townshend becomes President of the Board of Trade in the British government.
April–June
- April 6 - The Théâtre du Palais-Royal, home to the Paris Opera for almost 90 years, is destroyed in an accidental fire.
- April 16 - George Grenville takes office as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain, after the Earl of Bute resigns amid criticism over Britain's concessions in the Treaty of Paris.
- April 18 - Marie-Josephte Corriveau is hanged near her home at Saint-Vallier, Quebec before being gibbeted after being found guilty by a military tribunal of twelve officers of murdering her husband. She becomes famous in French Canadian folklore as "la Corriveau".
- April 19 - Teedyuscung, known as the "King of the Delaware Indians" is assassinated by arsonists who burn down his home in Pennsylvania while he is sleeping, in an apparent retaliation for signing the Treaty of Easton to relinquish Lenape claims to the Province of New Jersey.
- April 23 - The controversial Issue 45 of John Wilkes's satirical newspaper The North Briton is published as a response to a speech four days earlier by King George III praising the end of the Seven Years' War. In what will become a test case for freedom of speech, Wilkes, a member of Parliament, is arrested for libel of the King and imprisoned, then flee to France.
- April 27 - Outraged by the British success in taking control of land in North America formerly occupied by the French, Pontiac, chief of the Odawa people, convenes a conference near Detroit and convinces the leaders of 17 other nations of the need to attack British outposts.
- May 7 - Chief Pontiac begins "Pontiac's War" by attacking the British garrison at Fort Detroit, but the surprise attack is given away by a young native girl who informs the British of the plan. Two days later he begins the Siege of Fort Detroit.
- June 2 - Pontiac's War: At what becomes Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison's attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort.
- June 28 - A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shakes Hungary and Slovakia, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX. Damage is limited, but 83 are killed.
July–September
- July 7 - The British East India Company declares Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, to be deposed.
- July 9 – The Mozart family grand tour of Europe began, lifting the profile of child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus.
- July 28
October–December
- October 7 - The Royal Proclamation of 1763 is issued by George III of Great Britain, restricting the westward expansion of British North America, and stabilizing relations with the indigenous peoples of the Americas, by barring white settlement of lands west of the Appalachian Mountains.
- November 24 - Bayes' theorem is first announced.
- December 2 - Touro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island, is dedicated; by the end of the 20th century, this will be the oldest surviving synagogue in North America.
- December 14 - The Paxton Boys massacre six Conestoga Indians in their homes in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When the 16 survivors are sheltered in the Lancaster workhouse, the Paxton Boys ride into town and kill them as well, on December 27.
Date unknown
- The Prussian education system is instituted as a compulsory system for boys and girls from age 5 to 13–14 by the Generallandschulreglement, a decree of Frederick the Great authored by Johann Julius Hecker.
- Little Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, is damaged in an earthquake.
- Joseph Haydn writes his Symphony No. 12 and Symphony No. 13 for Nikolaus I, Prince Esterházy; also, at about this date, his Symphony No. 40.
Births
January 8* Edmond-Charles Genêt, French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution * Jean-Baptiste Drouet, French revolutionary politician January 24 - Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general January 26 - Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, King Charles XIV John of Sweden and Charles III John of Norway February 14 - Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general February 20 - Adalbert Gyrowetz, Bohemian composer March 9 - William Cobbett, English journalist, author March 13 - Guillaume-Marie-Anne Brune, Marshal of France March 20 - Charles Sturt, English politician March 21 - Jean Paul, German writer May 7 - Józef Antoni Poniatowski, Polish prince, Marshal of France June 20 - Theobald Wolfe Tone, Irish patriot June 23 - Empress Joséphine, born Marie Josèphe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie, Martinique-born French empress consort July 17 - John Jacob Astor, German-born American entrepreneur August 5 - Bill Richmond, American-born British boxer August 13 - Christoph Johann von Medem, German courtier August 16 - Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, second son of George III of Great Britain August 17 - Dmitry Senyavin, Russian admiral September 2 - Caroline Schelling, German scholar, intellectual December 25 - Claude Chappe, French telecommunication pioneer December 28 - John Molson, Canadian entrepreneur December 31 - Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral Date unknown - Huang Pilie, Chinese bibliophileDeaths
January 2 - John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman January 11 - Caspar Abel, German theologian, historian, and poet January 29 - Louis Racine, French poet February 11 - William Shenstone, English poet February 12 - Pierre de Marivaux, French writer February 26 - Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth March 2 - Antoine Walsh, Irish-French slave trader and Jacobite March 4 - Johan Hörner, Danish artist March 24 - Catherine Charlotte De la Gardie, Swedish countess March 31 - Abraham Darby II, English ironmaster April 8*Koca Ragıp Pasha, Ottoman Grand Vizier *Ann Beddingfield, English mariticide, executed April 13 - James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave of Great Britain April 22 - Jared Eliot, Connecticut farmer, writer on horticulture May 3 - George Psalmanazar, French-born impostor and English writer June 29 - Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht, Swedish writer August 14 - Giovanni Battista Somis, Italian violinist and composer August 21 - Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, British statesman September 20 - Gabriela Silang, Filipina rebel leader, heroine September 26 - John Byrom, English poet October - Anna Maria Garthwaite, British designer October 5 - Augustus, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania October 28 - Heinrich von Brühl, German statesman November 10 - Joseph Dupleix - French governor general at Pondichéry November 23 - Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff, German soldier November 28 - Naungdawgyi, Burmese king December 3 - Carl August Thielo, Danish composer December 17 - Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony December 23 - Antoine François Prévost, French writer