Eighteenth-Century Chronology: 1702

Literature

• Bysshe, The Art of English Poetry
• T. Brown, Letters from the Dead
• Clarendon, History of the Great Rebellion (posthumous; through 1704)
• Daniel Defoe, The Shortest Way with the Dissenters, a pamphlet which leads to his arrest
• John Dennis, A Large Account of the Taste in Poetry
• William King, De Origine Mali
• John Pomfret, Collected Poems
• Poems on Affairs of State (1702-1707)
• The Daily Courant begins (published through 1735)
• The Observator begins (published through 1712)

Theatre

• Burnaby, The Modish Husband
• Susanna Centlivre, The Beaux' Duel
• Susanna Centlivre, The Stolen Heiress
• Colley Cibber, She Wou'd and She Wou'd Not
• Colley Cibber, The Schoolboy
• George Farquhar, The Inconstant and The Twin Rivals
• Charles Gildon, Comparison between the Two Stages
• John Vanbrugh, The False Friend

Art

Music

• Georg Friedrich Händel (or Handel) appointed organist at Halle Domkirche

Science, Technology, & Medicine

Politics & Law

• 8 March: Anne accedes to the throne after William III's death, leading to a Tory administration
• England declares war on France in the Grand Alliance
• The War of Spanish Succession begins
• Marlborough is named Captain-General; Lady Marlborough is named Mistress of the Robes
• Godolphin is appointed Lord Treasurer
• A provisional union of the East India Company is formed (the union is confirmed in 1708)
• Shaftesbury, Paradoxes of State
• Queen Anne's War in New England (through 1713)

Philosophy & Theology

• Echard, General Ecclesiastical History
• Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana
• William Penn, Primitive Christianity Revived
• Anglicanism is adopted as the official religion of Maryland

Milestones

• 26 June: Birth of Philip Doddridge
• Death of John Pomfret
• Birth of Louis-François Roubiliac, sculptor (estimated date)
• Death of William III

Miscellaneous