- Feb 3 Guillaume Lasceux, French organist and composer, born in Poissy, France (d. 1831)
- Feb 7 Adam-Philippe Custine, French general (American Revolutionary War, French Army of the North, executed for treason during Reign of Terror), born in Metz, France (d. 1793)
- Feb 12 Matej Sojka, Bohemian composer, born in Vilémov (d. 1817)
- Feb 15 Ernst Eichner, German composer and bassoonist, born in Arolsen (d. 1777)
- Feb 16 Giambattista Bodoni, Italian typographer (Bodoni), printer and publisher, born in Saluzzo, Italy (d. 1813)
- Feb 17 Horace Bénédict de Saussure, Swiss physicist and geologist, born in Conches, Switzerland (d. 1799)
- Mar 4 Giovanni Meli, Siclian poet (Buccolica), born in Palermo (d. 1815)
- Mar 19 Johann Georg Roser, Austrian composer and kapellmeister, born in Naarn im Machland, Upper Austria (d. 1797)
- Mar 24 John Antes, American composer and missionary, born in Frederick, Pennsylvania (d. 1811)
- Apr 2 Armand-Gaston Camus, French revolutionary and Chairman of the Council of 500, born in Paris (d. 1804)
- Apr 4 Wolfgang Nicolaus Haueisen, German organist, composer, and pedagogue, born in Oehrenstock, Electorate of Saxony (now Germany) (d. 1804)
Haym Salomon (1740-1785)
Apr 7 Polish-born American broker who helped finance the American Revolution, born in Leszno, Poland
- Apr 18 Francis Baring, English merchant and banker (Baring Brothers & Co.), born in Larkbeare House, Exeter (d. 1810)
- May 2 Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and patriot, President of the Continental Congress, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1821)
- May 7 Nikolai Arkharov, Russian general (d. 1814)
- May 9 Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (Barber of Seville), born in Roccaforzata, Taranto, Italy (d. 1816)
- May 19 Joseph Franz Weigl, German cellist and early proponent of the 'thumb technique', born in Bavaria (d. 1820)
Marquis de Sade (1740-1814)
Jun 2 French philosopher and writer (Justine) and where the words sadism and sadist are derived from, born in Paris, France
- Jun 8 Gabriele Mario Piozzi, composer, born in Quinzano d'Oglio, Lombardy, Republic of Venice (now Italy) (d. 1809)
- Jun 11 Luigi Gatti, Italian tenor, kapellmeister, priest, and composer, born in Lazise, Verona (d. 1817)
- Jun 18 Karel van Poucke, Flemish sculptor, born in Diksmuide, West Flanders, Belgium (d. 1809)
- Jun 21 Hendrik van Wijn, Dutch histrorian and archivist (Algemeen Rijksarchief), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1831)
- Jul 27 Jeanne Baré [Baret], French explorer (first woman to circumnavigate the world with Bougainville expedition, initially disguised as a man), born in France (d. 1807)
- Aug 10 Samuel Arnold, English organist, theater composer (The Baron Kinkvervankotsdorsprakingatchdern), and music director (Marylebone Gardens). born in London, England (d. 1802)
- Aug 15 Matthias Claudius, German poet (Death and the Maiden), and journalist (Der Wandsbecker Bote), born in Reinfeld, Duchy of Holstein (now Germany) (d. 1815)
- Aug 23 Ivan VI, Emperor of Russia (1740-41), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1764)
- Aug 26 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French balloonists (invented Montgolfier balloon), born in Annonay, France (d. 1810)
- Sep 7 Johan Tobias Sergel, Swedish sculptor, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1814)
- Sep 12 Johann Heinrich Jung, German author (Heinrich Stillings Leben), born in Hilchenbach, Germany (d. 1817)
- Sep 23 Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1813)
- Oct 8 Michel-Julien Mathieu, French composer, born in Fontainebleau, France (d. 1777)
- Oct 14 Joannes Siberg, Dutch Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1801-05), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1817)
- Oct 20 Belle van Zuylen, Dutch-Swiss writer (Three Women), born at Castle Zuylen near Utrecht (d. 1805)
- Oct 26 Ernest Louis Muller, Polish composer and flautist, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1811)
- Oct 29 James Boswell, Scottish biographer of Samuel Johnson and diarist, born in Edinburgh (d. 1795)
- Oct 31 William Paca, American judge and signer (Declaration of Independence), born in Abingdon, Maryland (d. 1799)
- Nov 4 Augustus Montague Toplady, English hymn writer (Rock of Ages), born in Farnham, Surrey, England (d. 1778)
- Nov 14 Johann van Beethoven, Ludwig van Beethoven's father and first teacher (d. 1792)
- Nov 24 John Bacon, English sculptor - most successful public sculptor of his time, born in London, England (d. 1799)
- Dec 13 Franz Xaver Schnitzer, German composer, born in Bad Wurzach, Germany (d. 1785)
- Dec 30 Princess Elizabeth Caroline of Wales (d. 1759)
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