Toronto's origins as a European settlement go back to a French trading post and fort, Fort Rouillé, also called Fort Toronto, built on the north shore of Lake Ontario to compete with British traders. The name Toronto comes from a Mohawk word, and the area had long been used by Indigenous peoples as the start of a portage route to the northern lakes. The French abandoned the fort during the Seven Years' War, and the British later bought the land from the Mississaugas. In the 1790s John Graves Simcoe founded the Town of York there, as the capital of Upper Canada, and it was renamed Toronto when it was incorporated as a city in 1834. It is today the largest city in Canada.
Before and after
- 18 October 1748Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
- 23 March 1749Birth of Pierre-Simon Laplace
- 17 May 1749Birth of Edward Jenner
- 28 August 1749Birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- 1750Founding of Toronto
- c. 1750sRise of Neoclassical architecture
- 28 July 1750Death of Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1751Encyclopédie
- 1751Discovery of nickel
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from 15th century to 18th centuryAge of Discovery
- from 15th century to 18th centuryEarly modern period
- from 1525 to 1947Prussia
- from 16th century to 18th centuryBaroque
- from 1616 to 1912Qing dynasty
- from 22 October 1721 to 1 September 1917Russian Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.