- Jan 7 Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Jan 17 US Founding Father, inventor, ambassador and writer (Poor Richards Almanac), born in Boston, Massachusetts
- Jan 28 John Baskerville, English printer and type designer (printer to the University of Cambridge),, baptized in Wolverley, Worcestershire, England (d. 1775)
- Feb 12 Josef Christian, German Baroque sculptor (Zwiefalten Abbey), born in Riedlingen (d. 1777)
- Mar 4 Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect and architectural writer (d. 1759)
- Mar 6 George Pocock, British admiral (d. 1792)
- May 17 Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian, born in Munich (d. 1780)
- May 20 Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
- Jun 21 John Dollond, British optician and owner of 1st patent for achromatic lens, born in London, England (d. 1761)
- Jul 21 Pierre Lyonet, Dutch zoologist and cryptologist (Anatomy of Wilgehoutrups), born in Maastricht, Netherlands (d. 1789)
- Sep 21 Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg, Queen consort of Sardinia, born in Langenschwalbach, Hesse (d. 1735)
- Oct 6 Pieter Steyn, Dutch grand pensionary (1749-72), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1772)
- Nov 8 Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher, born in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (d. 1772)
- Dec 17 Émilie du Châtelet, French mathematician and physicist (Institutions de Physique; translation of Newton's Principia), born in Paris, Kingdom of France (d. 1749)
- Dec 17 Gabrielle Chôtelet [La belle Emilie], French writer (Voltaire), born in Paris (d. 1749)