Timeline August 1759

Events in August 1759 4

• 1759 Battle of Minden Allied victory halts French advance in Germany An Anglo-German allied army defeated French forces near Minden on 1 August 1759, a major engagement of the Seven Years' War. British infantry regiments famously advanced through cavalry charges to break the French line. The victory is still commemorated as Minden Day by several British regiments.
• 1759 Battle of Kunersdorf Russian and Austrian forces rout Frederick the Great A combined Russian and Austrian army inflicted a crushing defeat on Frederick the Great of Prussia near Kunersdorf on 12 August 1759. Prussian losses were so severe that Frederick briefly considered abdication. The battle marked the low point of Prussia's fortunes in the Seven Years' War.
• 1759 Battle of Lagos British squadron defeats French Mediterranean fleet A British squadron under Admiral Edward Boscawen intercepted and defeated a French fleet off Lagos, Portugal, on 18-19 August 1759. The engagement prevented the French Toulon and Brest fleets from combining for an invasion of Britain. It was one of several naval defeats that broke French sea power that year.
• 1759 – 1833 William Wilberforce (1759-1833) Died 29 July 1833, aged 73 William Wilberforce was the leading figure in the British parliamentary campaign against the slave trade and slavery itself, working for decades to secure abolition. He died just three days after learning that the Slavery Abolition Act would pass through Parliament. He is remembered worldwide as a central figure in the abolitionist movement.