King Gustav III of Sweden In the year 1772, a group of white settlers in today’s Tennessee create the first non-colonial government body in British North America (May 8), the credit crisis of 1772 triggers financial panic and threatens the East India Company with bankruptcy (Jun 10), the second voyage of James Cook departs from Plymouth (Jul 13), a coup d’état by King Gustav III ends half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden (Aug 21), Scottish scientist Daniel Rutherford discovers nitrogen, isolating it from air - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading