- Jan 1 James Francis Edward Stuart "The old Pretender", Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland after the death of his father James II, dies at 77
- Jan 9 Thomas Birch, British historian (b. 1705)
- Jan 13 King Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1723)
- Jan 14 Frederik V, king of Denmark/Norway (1746-66), dies at 42
- Jan 19 Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French architect, dies at 70
- Jan 21 James Quin, British actor (Covent Garden Theatre), dies at 72
- Feb 5 Leopold Joseph Graf Daun, Austrian field marshal, dies at 60
- Feb 23 Stanislaw Leszcynski, duke of Lutherans/king of Poland, dies
- Feb 26 August Bernhard Valentin Herbing, German organist and composer, dies at 30
- Mar 3 Gregor Joseph Werner, composer, dies at 73
- Mar 25 Johannes Ritschel, German composer, dies at 26
- Apr 4 John Taylor, English classical scholar (b. 1704)
- Apr 7 Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch classicist, dies at 81
- May 5 Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (b. 1684)
- May 8 Samuel Chandler, English non-conformist minister (b. 1693)
- Jun 11 Elisabeth Farnese, Princess of Parma and Queen of Spain (1714-24), dies at 73
- Jun 24 Adrien-Maurice, 3rd duc de Noailles, French soldier (b. 1678)
- Jul 9 Jonathan Mayhew, American Congregational minister, dies at 45
- Jul 11 Elizabeth Farnese, wife of Philip V of Spain (b. 1692)
- Jul 14 František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect and builder, dies at 91
- Jul 17 Giuseppe Castiglione, Italian Jesuit brother and missionary to China, dies at 77
- Jul 20 Isabelle Farnese, queen of Spain, dies
- Sep 3 Archibald Bower, Scottish historian (b. 1686)
- Sep 13 Benjamin Heath, English classical scholar, dies at 62
- Oct 7 Andre Cheron, French composer organist and harpsichordist, dies at 71
- Nov 9 Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer, dies at 74
- Nov 16 Dominikus Zimmermann, Bavarian Baroque architect and painter (Liebfrauenkirche), dies at 81
- Dec 12 Johann Christoph Gottsched, German writer (b. 1700)