    __notoc__ year 1768 (mdcclxviii) was a leap year starting on friday (link will display the full calendar) of the gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on tuesday of the 11-day slower julian calendar. == events == === january&ndash;june ===  * january 9 &ndash; philip astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in london. * february 11 &ndash; samuel adams's circular letter is issued by the massachusetts house of representatives and sent to the other thirteen colonies. refusal to revoke the letter will result in dissolution of the massachusetts assembly and (from october) which incurred the institution of martial law to prevent civil unrest. * may 10 &ndash; john wilkes is imprisoned for writing an article for the north briton severely criticizing king george iii. this action provokes protesters to riot; in the southwark district of london, troops fire on the mob, killing seven, the massacre of st george's fields. * may 15 &ndash; after the treaty of versailles, the island of corsica is ceded by genoa to france. === july&ndash;december === * august 8 &ndash; james cook departs from plymouth on his first voyage of discovery. 230px|thumb|right|the petit trianon * december 1 &ndash; the slave ship fredensborg sinks off tromÃ¸y in norway. * december 10 &ndash; royal academy founded in london, with joshua reynolds as its first president. * december 21 &ndash; king prithvi narayan shah unifies several small kingdoms to establish the modern-day nepal. this kingdom will collapse in 2008. * december 28 &ndash; taksin is crowned as ruler of the thonburi kingdom in thailand (through conquest) and establishes thonburi as a capital. === date unknown === * the petit trianon, originall
1768