Explore 148 historical events from 1720–1729.
Mathurin Jacques Brisson was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.
Mathurin Jacques Brisson, French zoologist and philosopher (died 1806)
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli was an Italian medical doctor and naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational European" and the "Linnaeus of the Austrian Empire"…
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian physician, geologist, and botanist (died 1788)
Johann Georg Palitzsch – 21 February 1788 in Prohlis) was a German astronomer who became famous for recovering Comet 1P/Halley on Christmas Day, 1758. The periodic nature of this c…
Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (died 1788)
Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gr…
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Jean-François Marmontel was a French historian, writer and a member of the Encyclopédistes movement.
Jean-François Marmontel, French historian and author (died 1799)
Claude Fleury, was a French priest, jurist, and ecclesiastical historian.
Claude Fleury, French historian and author (born 1640)
Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven PC, styled 17th Baron Willoughby de Eresby between 1666 and 1701, and known as 4th Earl of Lindsey between 1701 and 1706, and as 1s…
Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (born 1660)
Adam Smith was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by many as the "fathe…
Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher and economist (died 1790)
Sir William Blackstone was an English jurist, justice, and Tory politician most noted for his Commentaries on the Laws of England, which became the best-known description of the do…
William Blackstone, English lawyer, judge, and politician (died 1780)
Sir Joshua Reynolds was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P…
Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (died 1792)
Guillaume Dubois was a French cardinal and statesman.
Guillaume Dubois, French cardinal and politician, French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (born 1656)
Joseph Bingham was an English scholar and divine, who wrote on ecclesiastical history.
Joseph Bingham, English scholar and academic (born 1668)
Increase Mather was a New England Puritan clergyman who served as the sixth president of Harvard College from 1685 to 1701. During his tenure, which coincided with the notorious Sa…
Increase Mather, American minister and author (born 1639)
Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch art, science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is comm…
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microscopist and biologist (born 1632)
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or…
Johann Sebastian Bach (pictured) assumed the office of Thomaskantor in Leipzig, presenting the cantata Die Elenden solle
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or…
Johann Sebastian Bach directed the first performance of his cantata Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz in…
Dummer's War (1722–1725) was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the Wabanaki Confederacy, who were allied with New France. The eastern theater of the war was …
Dummer's War begins along the Maine-Massachusetts border.
Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire), styled Lord Offaly until 1743 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1743 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kil…
James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, Irish soldier and politician (died 1773)
Georg Anton Benda was a Bohemian composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the classical period.
Jiří Antonín Benda, Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister (died 1795)
Joseph Wilton was an English sculptor. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and the academy's third keeper. His works are particularly numerous memorial…
Joseph Wilton, English sculptor and academic (died 1803)
Prince Augustus William of Prussia was the son of King Frederick William I of Prussia and a younger brother and general of Frederick the Great.
Prince Augustus William of Prussia (died 1758)
Richard Brocklesby, an English physician, was born at Minehead, Somerset.
Richard Brocklesby, English physician (died 1797)
Robert Beverley Jr. was a historian of early colonial Virginia, as well as a planter and politician.
Robert Beverley, Jr
Sébastien Vaillant was a French botanist who was born at Vigny in present-day Val d'Oise.
Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist and mycologist (born 1669)