Explore 236 historical events from 1740–1749.
Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann, usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history …
Angelica Kauffman, painter (died 1807)
Magnus Julius De la Gardie, son of Axel Julius De la Gardie, was a Swedish general and statesman, member of the Swedish Hats Party.
Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (born 1668)
Daniel Ernst Jablonski was a German theologian and reformer of Czech origin, known for his efforts to bring about a union between Lutheran and Calvinist Protestants.
Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German bishop and theologian (born 1660)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his…
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (born 1678)
Andrew Hamilton was a Scottish lawyer in the Thirteen Colonies who settled in Philadelphia. He was best known for his legal victory on behalf of the printer and newspaper publisher…
Andrew Hamilton, Scottish-American lawyer and politician (born 1676)
Johann Gottlieb Heineccius was a German jurist from Eisenberg, Thuringia.
Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, German academic and jurist (born 1681)
Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta was a Spanish Navy officer best known for his victory at the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, where forces under his command defeated a large …
Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (born 1689)
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. Founded as a British proprietary colony in 1732, in 1751 it became a royal colony. In 1775…
Georgia provincial governor James Oglethorpe begins an unsuccessful attempt to take Spanish Florida during the Siege of
The Battle of Bloody Mose was a significant action of the War of Jenkins' Ear that took place on June 14, 1740, in Spanish Florida. Captain Antonio Salgado commanded a Spanish colu…
A combined force of Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose near St
Pope Benedict XIV, born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death on 3 May 1758.
Pope Benedict XIV, previously known as Prospero Lambertini, succeeds Clement XII as the 247th Pope.
The 1740 Batavia massacre was a massacre and pogrom of ethnic Chinese residents of the port city of Batavia in the Dutch East Indies. It was carried out by Dutch soldiers of the Du…
Dutch colonists and Javanese natives begin a massacre of the ethnic Chinese population in Batavia, eventually killing…
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was an edict issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg monarchy, which included the Archduchy of Austria,…
France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession…
Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet was an English merchant banker, a member of the Baring family, later becoming the first of the Baring baronets.
Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, English banker and politician (died 1810)
Nikolai Petrovich Arkharov was a Russian chief of police best known for having given his name to the Russian term arkharovtsy, an ironic appellation of policemen.
Nikolai Arkharov, Russian police officer and general (died 1814)
Giovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini.
Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (probable; (died 1816)
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French writer, libertine, political activist, and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, bl…
Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and politician (died 1814)
Jeanne Baret was a French explorer, naturalist, and botanist who is recognised as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe, which she did via boa…
Jeanne Baré, French explorer (died 1803)
Jeanne Baret was a French explorer, naturalist, and botanist who is recognised as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe, which she did via boa…
Jeanne Baret, French explorer (died 1803)
Elias Boudinot was an American Founding Father, lawyer, statesman, and early abolitionist and women's rights advocate. During the Revolutionary War, Boudinot was an intelligence of…
Elias Boudinot, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the Continental Congress (died 1821)
Jean Baptiste Camille de Canclaux was a French army commander during the French Revolution and a Peer of France. He joined a cavalry regiment the French Royal Army in 1756 and foug…
Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux, French general (died 1817)
Samuel Arnold was an English composer and organist.
Samuel Arnold, English organist and composer (died 1802)
Matthias Claudius was a German poet and journalist, otherwise known by the pen name of "Asmus".
Matthias Claudius, German poet and author (died 1815)
The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune Annonay in Ardèc…
Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, invented the hot air balloon (died 1810)
John Lynch was an American merchant and abolitionist who founded the city of Lynchburg, Virginia.
John Lynch, American city founder and abolitionist (died 1820)