Historical Events Jan 2 British troops occupy Calcutta India Jan 5 Failed assassination attempt on French King Louis XV by Damiens Jan 17 German Diet declares war on Prussia Famous Birthdays Jan 3 Johann Abraham Sixt, composer Jan 11 Samuel Bentham, English mechanical engineer (d. 1831) Jan 16 Samuel McIntire, woodcarver/architect (architect of Salem) Jan 19 Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf, German Princess (d. 1831) Jan 28 Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni, composer Famous Deaths Jan 9 Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters (b. 1657) Jan 9 Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician, dies at 68 Jan 19 Thomas Ruddiman, Scottish classical scholar (b. 1674) 1756 History by Year 1758