James Cook's expedition became the first ships to cross the Antarctic Circle, pushing further south than any previous European voyage.

Britain's Parliament passed the Tea Act, granting the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales to the American colonies, a move that would ignite the Boston Tea Party.

Thousands of Boston colonists gathered at the Old South Meeting House to demand the tea ships be sent back, setting the stage for the Tea Party two days later.

Colonists disguised as Mohawk warriors dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation.

On December 16, 1773, colonists dumped 340 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor—an act whose fury and consequence carried directly into the following day's political fallout.