The British House of Commons voted to end the war against a certain set of American colonies (you may have heard of them) on this day in 1782, setting the course for a treaty that would usher in peace between the two nations (before Britain invaded and burnt down the White House a couple of decades later, of course).
Perhaps surprisingly to modern Americans, there was actually a good deal of support for the rebellious colonies in Britain during the war by royalists who wanted to see tensions calmed, not inflamed. While Prime Minister Lord North's government was pursuing the war, the costs continued to grow and eventually became too burdensome for many people in Britain. Once the British were handily defeated in the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781, even North realized it was time to bring the war to an end. Problem: the king disagreed, so North had to keep up the façade of support.
When a bill to end the war was first introduced in December 1781, it went down in flames in a 220-179 vote. A couple of months later, a differently worded bill was passed. When he introduced the motion, General Henry Seymour Conway said the war had taken a heavy toll on the kingdom, requesting "that the war on the continent of North America may no longer be pursued for the impracticable purpose of reducing the inhabitants of that country to obedience by force.”
North fought the motion but was increasingly criticized by his colleagues in the House of Commons, who were more fervently seeking an end to the war every day. Eventually, when it became clear he might be removed as prime minister by a vote, he convinced the king to let him resign.
It's hard to find any useful writeups on the vote online—so instead, here's an article from the Encyclopedia Britannica on Lord North.
