| Year | Wollstonecraft | Literature | History |
| 1760 | |
- June - James Macpherson allegedly translates, but himself actually writes, poems by Ossian; published as Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland
- Publication of the first volume of Laurence Sterne's novel Tristram Shandy
| April - Tacky's Slave Revolt in Jamaica 25 October - George III ascends to the throne of Britain |
| 1761 | Birth of Henry Woodstock Wollstonecraft | Publication of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie, or the New Heloise | |
| 1762 | | Publication of Rousseau's treatise ' Publication of Rousseau's treatise The Social Contract Publication of Lord Kames's treatise Elements of Criticism | |
| 1763 | Birth of Elizabeth Wollstonecraft The Wollstonecraft family moves to Epping Forest | | February - Seven Years' War ends with the Treaty of Paris April - Radical journalist John Wilkes is arrested for criticizing George III |
| 1765 | Birth of Everina Wollstonecraft The Wollstonecraft family moves to Barking | Publication of Johnson's collected works of Shakespeare Publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, widely considered the first Gothic novel Publication of William Blackstone's treatise Commentaries on the Laws of England | March - Riots erupt in American colonies after the British parliament levies the stamp tax |
| 1766 | | Publication of Rousseau's autobiography, Confessions Publication of Oliver Goldsmith's novel The Vicar of Wakefield | |
| 1768 | Birth of James Wollstonecraft October - The Wollstonecraft family moves to Beverley, Yorkshire Wollstonecraft meets Jane Arden, her first intimate friend | Publication of Laurence Sterne's novel A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy | James Cook voyages to Australia and New Zealand Joshua Reynolds founds the Royal Academy in Britain |
| 1769''' | | | David Garrick's Shakespeare Jubilee celebration at Stratford-on-Avon |
| Year | Wollstonecraft | Literature | History |
| 1780 |
- Wollstonecraft's parents and younger siblings move to Enfield
| | 2-11 June - Gordon Riots in London, protesting the Catholic Relief Act Major John Cartwright founds the radical Society for Constitutional Information |
| 1781 | Autumn - Wollstonecraft returns home to nurse her ill mother | Publication of Barbauld's Hymns in Prose for Children | 19 October - French and American forces defeat the British at the Battle of Yorktown, effectively ending the American War of Independence |
| 1782 | 19 April - Wollstonecraft's mother dies Wollstonecraft's father remarries and moves to Wales Wollstonecraft moves to Walham Green to live with Fanny Blood and her family 20 October - Eliza, Wollstonecraft's sister, marries Meredith Bishop | Publication of Burney's novel Cecilia | |
| 1783 | 10 August - Eliza gives birth to a daughter and develops postpartum depression Wollstonecraft's second job - starts school in Islington | | 3 September - Treaty of Versailles signed, formally ending the American Revolution 21 November - The Montgolfier brothers of France launch the first manned hot-air balloon December - William Pitt becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain |
| 1784 | At the instigation of Wollstonecraft, Eliza leaves her husband and child Wollstonecraft's school moves from Islington to Newington Green; Eliza, Everina, and Fanny help teach Wollstonecraft becomes friends with the minister Richard Price Wollstonecraft meets author Samuel Johnson | | Pitt's India Act gives the British Crown the power to guide Indian politics |
| 1785 | February - Fanny Blood marries Hugh Skeys in Lisbon Wollstonecraft travels to Lisbon November - Fanny gives birth to a child and dies shortly thereafter December - Wollstonecraft returns to London | Publication of William Cowper's poem The Task | |
| 1786 | Wollstonecraft's school in Newington Green fails due to financial difficulties August - Wollstonecraft's third job - governess to the Anglo-Irish Kingsborough family Wollstonecraft begins work on her conduct book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters | | December - Shays' Rebellion Beginning of impeachment proceedings against Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India |
| 1787 | Publication of Wollstonecraft's first book, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters by Joseph Johnson Wollstonecraft travels with the Kingsboroughs to Bristol where she writes her first novel, ', and the fragment "Cave of Fancy" August - Wollstonecraft is dismissed from her governess position by Lady Kingsborough Wollstonecraft returns to London Wollstonecraft's fourth job - translator, reader, reviewer, and editorial assistant for Joseph Johnson and Thomas Christie's Analytical Review Through Johnson, Wollstonecraft meets political reformer Thomas Holcroft, artist and writer Henry Fuseli, radical Joel Barlow, linguist and reformer John Horne Tooke, and writer Anna Laetitia Barbauld | | 13 May - First fleet of convicts sails to penal colony in Australia from Britain 22 May - Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade is formed in Britain |
| 1788 | May - Analytical Review begins publication Publication of Wollstonecraft's first novel, ', by Johnson Publication of Wollstonecraft's children's book, Original Stories from Real Life, by Johnson Publication of Wollstonecraft's translation of Jacques Necker's Of the Importance of Religious Opinions by Johnson | 1 January - First edition of The Times of London is published Publication of Charlotte Smith's novel Emmeline | November - Beginning of the Regency Crisis, caused by George III's madness |
| 1789 | Publication of Wollstonecraft's anthology, The Female Reader, by Johnson Wollstonecraft becomes romantically involved with the artist and writer Henry Fuseli | 29 April - Publication of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, an autobiography by a former slave Publication of William Blake's poems Songs of Innocence | 20 June - Tennis Court Oath taken by the French National Assembly 14 July - Storming of the Bastille in Paris 26 August - The French Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen 5-6 October - "October days"; Parisian women, unable to buy bread, march to Versailles and bring the royal family back to Paris 4 November - Richard Price gives his sermon "A Discourse on the Love of Our Country" at a meeting of the London Revolution Society, to which Burke would respond a year later, igniting the Revolution Controversy in Britain December - End of the Regency Crisis |
| Year | Wollstonecraft | Literature | History |
| 1790 |
- Publication of Wollstonecraft's translation of Maria Geertruida van de Werken de Cambon's Young Grandison by Johnson
- Publication of Wollstonecraft's translation of Christian Gotthilf Salzmann's Elements of Morality, for the Use of Children, illustrated by William Blake, by Johnson
- 29 November - Publication of the first edition Wollstonecraft's treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Men by Johnson
- 18 December - Publication of the second edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Men, with Wollstonecraft's name on the title page, by Johnson
- Wollstonecraft temporarily adopts Ann, a seven-year-old relative of Hugh Skeys
| 1 November - Publication of Edmund Burke's treatise Reflections on the Revolution in France Publication of Helen Maria Williams's Letters from France | Motions for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts withdrawn Breach between Edmund Burke and Charles James Fox over the French Revolution |
| 1791 | 1 September - Publication of the second edition of Wollstonecraft's Original Stories from Real Life, with illustrations by William Blake, by Johnson
September - Wollstonecraft begins writing A Vindication of the Rights of Woman November - Wollstonecraft first meets William Godwin at one of Johnson's famous dinners; they dislike each other Wollstonecraft has her portrait painted by John Opie | February-March - Publication of Part I of Thomas Paine's pamphlet Rights of Man Publication of Elizabeth Inchbald's novel A Simple Story Publication of James Boswell's Life of Johnson Publication of Ann Radcliffe's novel The Romance of the Forest Publication of Erasmus Darwin's poems The Botanic Garden Publication of Smith's novel Celestina | 19 April - The British parliament rejects William Wilberforce's bill to abolish the slave trade 14-17 July - Priestley Riots; rioting aimed at religious Dissenters in Birmingham August - 100,000 slaves and ex-slaves revolt against planters and the local government in French-controlled San Domingo, the wealthiest colony of the West Indies and main source of sugar and coffee in Europe |
| 1792 | January - Publication of Wollstonecraft's treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Johnson February - Wollstonecraft meets Talleyrand, to whom she dedicated the Rights of Woman Wollstonecraft falls in love with Henry Fuseli Wollstonecraft, Fuseli, and his wife come to an emotional crisis December - Wollstonecraft leaves for Paris Wollstonecraft meets revolutionary Thomas Paine and writer Helen Maria Williams in Paris Commissioned by friend and artist William Roscoe, Wollstonecraft's portrait is painted by an unknown artist | Publication of Robert Bage's novel Man As He Is Publication of Hannah More's pamphlet Village Politics Publication of Smith's novel Desmond | 25 January - The London Corresponding Society formed under the leadership of Thomas Hardy 7 March - Sierra Leone is established under British rule as a home for former slaves 10 August - Attack on the Tuileries Palace leads to the deposition of Louis XVI and the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly 2-6 September - "September Massacres"; 12,000 political prisoners murdered in France 21 September - Newly elected National Convention abolishes the monarchy and officially declares France a Republic 20 November - John Reeves founds the Association for Preserving Liberty and Property against Republicans and Levellers in Britain in response to the French Revolution and the London Corresponding Society 18 December - Paine is found guilty of seditious libel for the Rights of Man and sentenced to death in Britain |
| 1793 | Wollstonecraft meets and falls in love with American adventurer Gilbert Imlay in France Wollstonecraft registers as Imlay's wife at the United States embassy in France for protection during the Reign of Terror June - Wollstonecraft moves from Paris to Neuilly to escape the revolutionary violence September - Wollstonecraft, now pregnant, returns to Paris | 14 February - Publication of Godwin's treatise Political Justice Publication of Smith's novel The Old Manor House | 21 January - Execution of Louis XVI 1 February - France declares war on England 11 March - Civil war erupts in France with the revolt in the Vendée July - Beginning of the Reign of Terror in France 16 October - Execution of Marie Antoinette |
| 1794 | January - Wollstonecraft moves to Le Havre, France 14 May - Birth of Wollstonecraft and Imlay's daughter, Fanny Imlay, in Le Havre Imlay returns to England, leaving Wollstonecraft and their daughter alone December - Publication of Wollstonecraft's An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution in London | 28 May - Publication of Godwin's novel Caleb Williams Publication of Blake's poems Songs of Experience Publication of Paine's treatise The Age of Reason Publication of Radcliffe's novel The Mysteries of Udolpho | 4 February - France abolishes slavery in its colonies 7 May - Habeas corpus is suspended in Britain Late July - Robespierre is executed and the Reign of Terror ends November - British radicals are acquitted at the 1794 Treason Trials |
| 1795 | April - Wollstonecraft returns to London to join Imlay and learns of his infidelity May - Wollstonecraft's first suicide attempt; she is saved by Imlay June-September - Wollstonecraft journeys to Scandinavia on business for Imlay October - Wollstonecraft's second suicide attempt; she jumps off Putney Bridge into the River Thames and is saved by strangers | Hannah More begins publishing the Cheap Repository Tracts to counteract radical publications | 29 October - On the way to parliament, George III is attacked by a hungry mob 18 December - Seditious Meetings Act and Treasonable Practices Act passed Methodists secede from the Church of England The Famine Year |
| 1796 | January - Publication of Wollstonecraft's Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark by Johnson 21 August - Wollstonecraft begins affair with William Godwin Wollstonecraft starts to write ' | Publication of Bage's novel Hermsprong Publication of Mary Hays's novel Memoirs of Emma Courtney Publication of Barbauld and Aikin's children's series Evenings at Home Publication of Burney's novel Camilla Publication of Matthew Lewis's novel The Monk | December - Failed at Bantry Bay, West Cork, Ireland Failure of between Britain and France |
| 1797 | John Opie paints Wollstonecraft's portrait 29 March - Wollstonecraft and Godwin marry; they lose friends because it is revealed that Wollstonecraft was never married to Imlay 30 August - Birth of Wollstonecraft and Godwin's daughter, Mary Shelley, future author of Frankenstein 10 September - Death of Mary Wollstonecraft from complications in childbirth | 20 November - Publication of the first issue of the ministerial journal, the Anti-Jacobin Review Publication of Godwin's The Enquirer Publication of Radcliffe's novel The Italian | February - Bank of England suspends cash payments April-June - Naval mutinies occur at Spithead and the Nore Failure of in Wales |
| 1798' | Publication of Posthumous Works of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman, edited by Godwin Publication of Godwin's Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the first biography of Wollstonecraft; Godwin's openness regarding her love affairs destroyed her reputation for a century | June - Publication of Thomas Robert Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population Publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poems Lyrical Ballads Publication of Richard Lovell and Maria Edgeworth's treatise Practical Education Publication of Smith's novel The Young Philosopher'' | 26 May - Society of United Irishmen rebel against British rule in Ireland August-September - 1 August - Horatio Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile Joseph Johnson and Gilbert Wakefield are imprisoned for seditious libel |
