- Jan 1 Frederick Muhlenberg, American statesman (d. 1801)
- Jan 10 Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine, British Lord Chancellor, born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom (d. 1823)
- Jan 24 Wybo Fijnje, Dutch politician, and journalist, born in Zwolle (d. 1809)
- Jan 31 Gerrit J Pijman, Dutch minister of War (1798-1800, 1803-06) (d. 1939) (d. 1839)
- Feb 28 Ignacy Potocki, Polish politician and influential nobleman (co-wrote 3 May Constitution), born in Radzyń, Poland (d. 1809)
- Mar 5 Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d'Ansse de Villoison, French classical scholar and ancient manuscript hunter (discovered 10th-century manuscript of the Iliad— codex Venetus) (d. 1805)
- Mar 16 Caroline Herschel, German astronomer, (comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet), born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1848)
- Mar 20 Martinus van Marum, Dutch physician and inventor (Homo Diluvii Testus, constructed largest electrostatic machine in the world), born in Delft, Netherlands (d. 1837)
- Mar 28 Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan freedom fighter, born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 1816)
- Apr 17 François de Neufchâteau, French statesman and intellectual figure, born in Saffais, France (d. 1828)
- Apr 24 Simon-Antoine-Jean Lhuillier, Swiss mathematician, born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1840)
- May 2 John André, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War, born in London (d. 1780)
- May 20 Stephen Girard, bailed out US bonds during War of 1812
- Jun 21 Pierre-Nicolas Beauvallet, French artist, born in Le Havre, France (d. 1818)
- Jun 23 Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, French geologist (d. 1801)
Henry Knox (1750-1806)
Jul 25 American general (Continental Army and later the United States Army) and 1st US Secretary of War (1785-94), born in Boston, Massachusetts Bay
- Jul 28 Fabre d'Églantine French dramatist and politician, creator of the French Republican calendar (d. 1794)
- Aug 24 Letizia Ramolino, Italian noble and mother of Napoleon Bonaparte, born in Ajaccio, France (d. 1836)
- Sep 5 Robert Fergusson, Scottish poet (Scottish poems), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1774)
- Sep 18 Tomás de Iriarte, Spanish writer (Fabulas Literarias), born in La Orotava, Tenerife, Canary Islands of Spain (d. 1791)
- Sep 26 Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood, British admiral, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England (d. 1810)
- Oct 31 Leonor de Almeida marquesa de Alorna, Portuguese poet, born in São Jorge de Arroios, Lisbon, Portugal (d. 1839)
- Nov 7 Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Stolberg, German poet, lawyer and translator, born in Bad Bramstedt, Germany (d. 1819)
Tipu Sultan (1750-1799)
Dec 1 Indian ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore (1782-99) and pioneer of rocket artillery known as the "Tiger of Mysore", born in Devanahalli, Bangalore, Karnataka [1]
- Dec 23 Frederik Augustus I of Saxony (1806-27) last Elector of Saxony, (d. 1827)