- Feb 16 1st publication of Thomas Gray's poem "Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard"
- Feb 25 1st performing monkey exhibited in America, NYC (admission 1 cent)
- Apr 5 Adolf Frederik of Holstein-Gottorp crowns himself King of Sweden
Pennsylvania Hospital Founded
May 11 Pennsylvania Hospital founded by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia
- Jul 31 Fire in Stockholm destroys 1,000 houses
- Aug 24 Thomas Colley executed in England for drowning a supposed witch
- Aug 31 British troops under Sir Robert Clive occupy Arcot, India
- Sep 12 Amsterdam refuses establishment of Jewish ghetto
- Sep 13 Britain signs Austrian & Russian alliance
- Oct 20 Royal ship Duc de Bourgogne launched at Rochefort
- Dec 14 The first military academy in the world, the Theresian Military Academy, is founded in Austria
- Dec 23 France sets plan to tax clergymen