1751

1751 was a year in the middle of the 18th century notable for a major publishing milestone in the European Enlightenment. In Paris, the first volumes of the Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, were issued. Edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert, the work aimed to collect and explain knowledge across disciplines and to promote rational inquiry and secular thought. The project would continue with additional volumes through the 1750s and 1760s, becoming a foundational text for Enlightenment ideas and influencing education, philosophy, and reform movements in France and beyond.

Across Europe, the year occurred within a climate of ongoing Enlightenment activity. Scientific societies, literary salons, and academies continued to disseminate new ideas, aided by expanding printing networks in major urban centers. In the wider world, European powers pursued colonial and commercial interests that would shape political and economic developments across the Atlantic and beyond. In this sense, 1751 sits at a crossroads of tradition and reform, as empirical inquiry and critical inquiry began to reshape politics, religion, and everyday life.

While no single event dominates, 1751 contributed to a mid-18th‑century trajectory of modernization. The Encyclopédie project reflected a shift toward empirical inquiry, secular critique, and a reformist spirit that would influence education, governance, and intellectual life in Europe and among its colonies in the decades that followed.