- Jan 3 Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon, dies at 66
- Jan 20 Johannes Burman, Dutch botanist, plant author and physician, dies at 71
- Jan 20 David Garrick, English actor, producer and writer (Aboan-Oroonoko), dies at 61
- Jan 22 Claudius Smith, American Revolutionary War loyalist (b. 1736)
- Jan 22 Jeremiah Dixon, English surveyor and astronomer, dies at 45
- Feb 2 Georg Philipp Kress, composer, dies at 59
- Feb 7 William Boyce, English organist/composer (Cathedral Music), dies from gout at 69
James Cook
Feb 14 James Cook, British explorer, navigator and cartographer, discovered and explored Australia, Pacific Islands and New Zealand for Britain, killed in a fight with Hawaiians near Kealakekua at 50
James Cook
- Feb 24 Paul Daniel Longolius, German encylopedist (b. 1704)
- Feb 27 Jan Nepveu, Dutch gov-gen of Suriname (1769-79), dies at 59
- Apr 6 Tommaso MFS Traetta, Italian opera composer (Farnace), dies at 52
- Apr 24 Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College (b. 1711)
- May 3 John Winthrop, American astronomer (b. 1714)
- May 11 John Heart, US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at about 68
- Jun 7 William Warburton, English critic and Bishop of Gloucester (b. 1698)
- Jun 16 Sir Francis Bernard, Governor of New Jersey and Massachusetts (b. 1712)
- Jun 23 Ras Mikael Sehul, warlord of Ethiopia (b. about 1691)
- Jun 29 Anton Raphael Mengs, German Bohemian painter and one of the precursors to Neoclassical painting, dies at 51
- Jul 14 George Ross, US judge/signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 49
- Aug 3 Henry Kobell, Dutch painter/cartoonist, dies at 27
- Aug 24 Saint Cosmas of Aetolia, Greek Orthodox martyr (b. 1714)
- Sep 2 Onno Zwier van Hairs, Fries poet (Agon), dies at 66
- Sep 12 Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician (b. 1711)
- Oct 11 Casimir Pułaski, Polish born fighter for American independence (b. 1745) dies in Battle of Savannah
Casimir Pulaski
Oct 11 Casimir Pulaski, Polish military leader (called the father of American cavalry), dies of battle wounds at 34 (alternative date 15 March)
Casimir Pulaski
- Oct 28 Raphael Weiss, German composer and priest, dies at 66
- Nov 10 Joseph Hewes, US merchant/signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 49
- Nov 13 Thomas Chippendale, English furniture maker, dies at 61
- Nov 16 Pehr Kalm, Finnish explorer and naturalist (b. 1716)
- Dec 6 Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter, dies at 80
- Dec 8 Nathan Alcock, English physician (b. 1707)
- Dec 15 Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila, Spanish theorist and composer, dies at 62
- Dec 18 Jan Punt, Dutch engraver, painter, illustrator and actor (Gideonschool), dies at 68
- Dec 23 Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (b. 1724)
- Dec 28 Gennaro Manna, Italian composer, dies at 64