- Jan 11 William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh hymnist (b. 1717)
- Feb 16 Richard earl d'Alton, Austria general of South Netherlands, commits suicide at 58
John Wesley
Mar 2 John Wesley, English co-founder of Methodism dies at 87 (b. 1703)
- Mar 14 Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (b. 1725)
Comte de Mirabeau
Apr 2 Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, French revolutionary (influential member of the National Constituent Assembly), dies of natural causes at 42
- Apr 19 Richard Price, nonconformist minister/writer (Alabi's World), dies
Francis Hopkinson
May 9 Francis Hopkinson, American author and composer (designed the first American flag), dies from an apoplectic seizure at 53
- May 28 Joseph Schmitt, German Dutch composer, dies at 57
- May 30 Ildephons Haas, German composer, dies at 56
- Jun 5 Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-born British colonial governor (b. 1718)
- Jun 10 Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, French admiral, dies at 70
- Jul 17 Martin Dobrizhoffer, Austrian Jesuit missionary (b. 1717)
- Jul 25 Isaac Low, American delegate to the Continental Congress, dies at 56
- Aug 16 Charles-François de Broglie, French soldier and diplomat, marquis de Ruffec, dies at 61
- Aug 25 Pietro Domenico Paradisi, composer, dies
- Sep 17 Tomás de Iriarte, Spanish writer (Fabulas Literarias), dies at 40
- Sep 25 William Bradford, American printer (b. 1719)
- Oct 10 C F D Schubart, writer, dies
- Oct 12 A L Karschin, writer, dies at 68
- Oct 16 Grigory Potemkin, Russian military leader, statesman and favorite of Catherine the Great, dies at 52
- Nov 4 Maj. General Richard Butler, American soldier dies in battle against Native American forces during St. Clair's Defeat, at 48
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Dec 5 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian musical prodigy and composer (Figaro), dies at 35