1744
First Saudi State
In the Najd oasis of Diriyah, Muhammad ibn Saud, a local ruler, offered protection to the puritan reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who had been driven from his home town. They sealed their alliance with marriages. From that small desert bargain would come a movement, a kingdom, and a house that still rules.
King George's War Begins
France declared war on Britain, extending the European conflict to North America. Massachusetts prepared to attack the great French fortress at Louisbourg. Along the Ohio frontier, young Americans began to notice what empire was beginning to demand of them, and what it was beginning to owe them. The capture of Louisbourg by New England militia in 1745, only to see it returned by diplomats, left colonists bitter.
Iroquois Treaty of Lancaster
Representatives of the Six Nations met Virginia and Pennsylvania negotiators in the small town of Lancaster and signed away their claim to the lands south and west of the Alleghenies, lands they mostly did not actually hold. A young Virginia surveyor named George Washington would shortly ride into those lands to see what Britain had bought.
Earthquake Destroys Lima
A powerful quake shook the Peruvian capital at dawn; a tsunami followed, wiping Callao from the map and drowning thousands. The viceregal city, already rebuilt from a 1687 earthquake, was left in ruins. The empire of silver's grandest American port would never fully regain its colonial swagger. Rebuilding took decades, and the disaster accelerated Lima's slow decline as South America's unchallenged viceregal capital.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1744?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1744. The most significant is First Saudi State: In the Najd oasis of Diriyah, Muhammad ibn Saud, a local ruler, offered protection to the puritan reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who had been driven…
What era was 1744 part of?
1744 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1744?
The curated events from 1744 span Middle East and North America.