Events in History
- Apr 23 Cornelis Steenoven elected archbishop of Utrecht
- Jun 26 After a lasting siege and bombardment by cannons, Baku surrenders to the Russians.
- Nov 12 Ambrose Godfrey patents a gunpowder fueled fire extinguisher system in England
Event of Interest
Dec 6 Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI's Pragmatic Sanction with the Diet of Hungary recognizes the King's daughters as successors
Charles VI
Birthdays in History
John Witherspoon
Feb 5 John Witherspoon, Scottish-American president of the College of New Jersey who signed the Declaration of Independence, born in Gifford, Scotland (d. 1794)
John Witherspoon
- Feb 17 Tobias Mayer, German astronomer "method of lunars" for longitude determination, born in Marbach (d. 1762)
- Feb 21 Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (d. 1808)
- Feb 23 Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)
- Feb 24 John Burgoyne, British general (surrendered at Saratoga during the American Revolutionary War), born in Sutton, England (d. 1792)
- Mar 5 Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
- Mar 23 Agha Mohammad Khan Ghajar, King of Iran (d. 1771)
- Mar 25 Kaat Mussel [Catharina Mulder], Dutch political protester in Rotterdam, born in Rotterdam
- Mar 31 Frederik V, King of Denmark/Norway (1746-66)
- Apr 20 Cornelius Harnett, American delegate to the Continental Congress, born in Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina (d. 1781)
- Apr 30 Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and naturalist (Ornithologie), born in Fontenay-le-Comte (d. 1806)
- Jun 3 Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-born naturalist (d. 1788)
- Jun 11 Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer, 1st saw Halley's comet on return, born in Prohlis, Dresden, Germany (d. 1788)
Adam Smith
Jun 16 Adam Smith, Scottish economist (Wealth of Nations) and moral philosopher (date of baptism), born in Kirkaldy, Fife, Scotland (d. 1790)
Adam Smith
- Jun 20 Adam Ferguson, Scottish sociologist and historian, born in Logierait, Perthshire, Scotland (d. 1816)
- Jun 20 Theophilus Lindsey, English theologian and clergyman, born in Middlewich, Cheshire (d. 1808)
- Jul 1 Pedro Rodríguez de Campomanes y Pérez, 1st Count of Campomanes, Spanish economist and literary, born in Tineo, Asturias, Kingdom of Spain (d. 1803)
William Blackstone
Jul 10 William Blackstone, English jurist (Blackstone's Commentaries), born in London, England (d. 1780)
William Blackstone
- Jul 11 Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and writer, born in Bort-les-Orgues, France (d. 1799)
- Jul 16 Joshua Reynolds, English portrait painter (Simplicity), born in Plympton, Devon, England (d. 1792)
- Aug 2 Nicolas de Pigage, French classical architect, born in Lunéville, France (d. 1796)
- Sep 11 Johann Bernhard Basedow, German educational reformer, born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1790)
- Sep 13 François Joseph Paul de Grasse, French admiral (commanded the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake), born in Le Bar-sur-Loup, France (d. 1788)
- Oct 4 Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, Austrian entomologist, born in Vienna (d. 1798)
- Nov 8 John Byron, British Royal Navy officer (d. 1786)
- Nov 30 William Livingston, American politician and 1st revolutionary Governor of New Jersey, born in Albany, Province of New York (d. 1790)
- Dec 19 Susanne K von Klettenberg, German friend of Goethes mother
- Dec 26 Friedrich Melchior, baron von Grimm, German writer (d. 1807)
Deaths in History
- Feb 2 Antonio M Valsalva, Italian anatomist, dies at 66
Christopher Wren
Feb 25 Christopher Wren, English astronomer and architect (St. Paul's Cathedral), dies at 90
Christopher Wren
- Mar 15 Johann C. Gunther, German poet, dies at 27
- Mar 31 Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, British Governor of New York and New Jersey, dies at 61
- Apr 5 J Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect (Hofburg, Vienna), dies at 66
- Apr 11 John Robinson, English diplomat and prelate, dies at 72
- May 11 Jean Galbert de Campistron, French dramatist, dies at 66
- Jul 1 Willem van de Pose, Governor of Cape Colony (1699-1797), dies at about 59
- Jul 14 Claude Fleury, French priest and historian, dies at 82
- Jul 26 Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman
- Jul 28 Mariana Alcoforado, Portuguese nun, dies at 63
- Aug 10 Guillaume Dubois, French cardinal and statesman, dies at 66
- Aug 17 Joseph Bingham, English scholar (b. 1668)
- Aug 21 Dimitrie Cantemir, Romanian historian and Monarch of Moldova (1710-11), dies at 49
- Aug 23 Increase Mather, New England Puritan minister, dies at 84
- Aug 26 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa and naturalist (Philosophical Transactions), dies at 90
- Oct 10 William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper, Lord Chancellor of England (b. 1665)
- Oct 31 Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, monarch of Florence (1670-1723), dies at 81
- Nov 7 Godfrey Kneller, English painter (74-77), dies
- Nov 19 Antoine Nompar de Caumont, French courtier and soldier (b. 1632)
- Dec 2 Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Regent of France (1715-23), dies at 49
- Dec 7 Jan Santini Aichel, Bohemian architect (b. 1677)
- Dec 20 Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist, dies at 71
- Dec 22 Jacques Basnage, French/Dutch historian/vicar, dies at 70