1. Seven-year war ravages Europe and changes balance of power overseas

2. American Colonies win independence from Britain

3. Revolutionaries overthrow monarchy in France

4. Captain James Cook explores Pacific

5. Knowledge of the day published in Encyclopedie

6. Major scientific advances achieved

7. Power-driven machinery brings growth to textile industry

8. Ancient Roman riches unearthed near Vesuvius

9. Peter the Great westernizes Russia

10. Development of a practical steam engine

6. Major scientific advances achieved

Through careful experimentation and observation, scientists made a number of revolutionary advances in the 1700's. One of the most significant discoveries was made by French chemist Antoine Lavoisier. Lavoisier demonstrated the nature of combustion, or burning, showing it to be the result of the rapid union of oxygen, a newly discovered gas, with a flammable substance.

Click here to read about an astonishing claim that the earth is ancient.

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