Explore 232 historical events from 1720–1729.
The 1721 Tabriz earthquake occurred on April 26, with an epicenter near the city of Tabriz, Iran. It leveled some three-quarters of the city, including many prominent mosques and s…
A massive earthquake devastates the Iranian city of Tabriz
In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by Russia successfully contested the supremacy of Sweden in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the a…
The Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia ends in the Treaty of Nystad.
The Russian Empire was an empire that extended across northern Eurasia from 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in 1917, forming the final era of Tsarist Russia and…
The Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War.
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC, known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British Whig politician from t…
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician, Lord President of the Council (died 1803)
George William Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol was an English diplomat and politician who was the eldest son of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, by his marriage with Mary Hervey.
George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (died 1775)
Vice-Admiral Fredrik Henrik af Chapman was a Swedish Navy officer, shipwright and scientist. Serving as the manager of the Karlskrona shipyard from 1782 to 1793, Chapman has been c…
Fredrik Henrik af Chapman, Swedish admiral and shipbuilder (died 1808)
Eliphalet Dyer was an American lawyer, jurist, and statesman from Windham, Connecticut. He was a delegate for Connecticut to many sessions of the Continental Congress, where he sig…
Eliphalet Dyer, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (died 1807)
William Robertson was a Scottish historian, cleric, and educator who served as Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Chaplain of Stirling Castle, and one of the King's Chaplain…
William Robertson, Scottish historian (died 1793)
Joseph de Guignes was a French orientalist, sinologist and Turkologist born at Pontoise, the son of Jean Louis de Guignes and Françoise Vaillant. He died in Paris.
Joseph de Guignes, French orientalist and sinologist (died 1800)
Maria Barbara Carillo was burned at the stake for heresy during the Spanish Inquisition. She was executed at the age of 95 or 96 and is the oldest person known to have been execute…
Maria Barbara Carillo, victim of the Spanish Inquisition (born1625)
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as seen in the tradition of Correggio and Ruben…
Jean-Antoine Watteau, French painter (born 1684)
Elihu Yale was a British colonial administrator. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Yale lived in America only as a child, and spent the rest of his life in England, Wales, and India. …
Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (born 1649)
Grinling Gibbons was an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's…
Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-English sculptor and woodcarver (born 1648)
Jacques Lelong was a French bibliographer born in Paris. He joined the Knights of Malta at the age of ten, but later joined the Oratorians.
Jacques Lelong, French priest and author (born 1665)
Michael Johann Joseph Brokoff was a sculptor of the Baroque era from Bohemia, working with sandstone.
Michael Brokoff, Czech sculptor (born 1686)
Rudolf Jakob Camerarius or Camerer was a German botanist and physician.
Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (born 1665)
Marguerite Louise d'Orléans was a French princess who became grand duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici.
Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, French princess (born 1645)
Matthew Prior was an English poet, statesman, and diplomat, who played a crucial role in securing the Treaties of Utrecht, serving as Minister Plenipotentiary to France from 1712 t…
Matthew Prior, English poet, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to France (born 1664)
Edward Colston was an English merchant, slave trader, philanthropist and Tory Member of Parliament.
Edward Colston, English merchant and politician (born 1636)
The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition intended to check New France's growing influence on the North American Great Plains, led by Lieutenant-General Ped…
The Spanish military Villasur expedition is defeated by Pawnee and Otoe warriors near present-day Columbus, Nebraska.
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman,, also known as the Vilna Gaon, was a Lithuanian Jewish talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of misnagdic (non-hasidic) Jewry of the p…
Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi and author (died 1797)
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, styled Lord Cavendish before 1729, and Marquess of Hartington between 1729 and 1755, was a British Whig statesman and nobleman who was br…
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1764)
Maximilian Hell was an astronomer and ordained Jesuit priest from the Kingdom of Hungary. The lunar crater Hell is named after him.
Maximilian Hell, Hungarian priest and astronomer (died 1792)
Gilbert White was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne.
Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (died 1793)