Events in History
- Jan 1 John V succeeds his father Pedro II as King of Portugal
- Jan 16 The Act of Union is ratified by the Scottish Parliament
- Apr 25 Battle of Almansa; Franco-Spanish forces defeat British and Portuguese
- Apr 29 English and Scottish parliaments accept Act of Union; creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain (comes into being 1st May)
- May 1 Acts of Union comes into force, uniting England and Scotland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain
- Jun 13 Hungary declares itself independent under Ferenc Rákóczi II (aka Francis II Rákóczi)
- Aug 22 Prince Eugenius van Savoye siege of Toulon
- Aug 22 Sweden & Prussia sign military treaty
Agreement of Interest
Sep 15 Ferenc Rákóczi II, Prince of Transylvania and Tsar Peter the Great sign social security agreement
Peter the Great
Birthdays in History
- Feb 1 Frederick Louis, English prince of Wales and son of George II, born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1751)
- Feb 15 Claude Prosper, novelist, born in Paris, France
- Feb 25 Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and librettist (Belisario, Servant of Two Masters), born in Venice, Republic of Venice (d. 1793)
- Mar 7 Stephen Hopkins, American politician who signed the US Declaration of Independence, born in Providence, Rhode Island (d. 1785)
Leonhard Euler
Apr 15 Leonhard Euler, Swiss mathematician (Euler's Constant), born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1783)
Leonhard Euler
Carolus Linnaeus
May 23 Carolus Linnaeus [Carl von Linné], Swedish botanist, explorer and the Father of Taxonomy, born in Råshult, Sweden (d. 1778)
Carolus Linnaeus
- Aug 24 Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, English evangelical revivalist, born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire (d. 1791)
- Sep 7 George-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon, French naturalist and writer on natural history (Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière), born in Montbard, France (d. 1788)
- Dec 18 Charles Wesley, co-founder (Methodist movement)
Deaths in History
- Jan 4 Louis Willem I, Margrave of Baden-Baden, dies at 51
- Jan 8 John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish politician (b. 1648)
- Jan 10 Philibert, comte de Gramont, French writer (b. 1621)
- Jan 20 Humphrey Hody, English theologian (b. 1659)
- Mar 3 Aurangzeb, 6th Mughal Emperor (1658-1707), dies at 88
- Mar 30 Vauban, French architect (b. 1633)
- Apr 6 Willem Van de Velde, the Young, Dutch seascape painter, dies at 73
- Apr 29 George Farquhar, Irish dramatist (b. 1678)
- May 3 Michiel de Swaen, South Netherlands physician/poet, dies at 53
- May 27 Marquise de Montespan, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (b. 1640)
- May 28 Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan, French mistress of King Louis XIV of France, dies at 66
- Jun 16 Marie d'Orleans-Longueville, Duchess de Nemours, sovereign princess of Neuchâtel and writer (b. 1625)
- Jun 23 John Mill, English theologian
- Jun 24 Kaspar von Stieler, German poet (Teutsche Wolredner), dies at 74
- Aug 18 William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English statesman and Whig politician (1661-84), dies at 67
- Sep 15 George Stepney, English poet and diplomat (b. 1663)
- Sep 24 Vincenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (b. 1642)
- Oct 2 Anne Jules duke the Noailles, marshal of France (huguenot), dies at 57
- Oct 22 Cloudesley Shovell, Admiral, drowns at Scilly
- Dec 24 Noel Coypel, French painter, dies at 78
- Dec 27 Jean Mabillon, French palaeograopher and diplomat (b. 1632)