Explore 232 historical events from 1720–1729.
Johann Heinrich Lambert was a polymath from the Republic of Mulhouse, at that time allied to the Swiss Confederacy, who made important contributions to the subjects of mathematics,…
Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (died 1777)
John Stark was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. A major general, he became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for …
John Stark, American general (died 1822)
Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony was a daughter of King Augustus III of Poland and his wife Maria Josepha of Austria who became Electress of Bavaria by marriage to Maximilian III Joseph…
Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony, electress of Bavaria (died 1797)
Charlotte d'Éon de Beaumont, usually known as the Chevalière d'Éon or the Chevalier d'Éon, was a French diplomat, spy, and soldier. D'Éon fought in the Seven Years' War, and spied …
Chevalier d'Éon, French diplomat and spy (died 1810)
Caesar Rodney was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and politician from St. Jones Neck in Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware. He was an officer of the Delaware militia during …
Caesar Rodney, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 4th Governor of Delaware (died 1784)
Mary Hayley was an English businesswoman. She parlayed an inheritance from her first husband into a sizeable estate with her second husband. Upon the latter's death, she took over …
Mary Hayley, English businesswoman (died 1808)
Marin Marais was a French composer and viol player of the middle Baroque era. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with the master of t…
Marin Marais, French viol player and composer (born 1656)
Christian Thomasius was a German jurist and philosopher. The German Enlightenment "supposedly" began with him.
Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher (born 1655)
Burwell is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, some 10 miles north-east of Cambridge. It lies on the south-east edge of the Fens. Westward drainage is improved b…
A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom…
Florimond Claude, comte de Mercy-Argenteau was an Austrian diplomat, statesman of French noble ancestry, in the service of the Holy Roman Empire.
Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau, Belgian-Austrian minister and diplomat (died 1794)
Jean-Georges Noverre was a French dancer and ballet master, and is generally considered the creator of ballet d'action, a precursor of the narrative ballets of the 19th century. Hi…
Jean-Georges Noverre, French actor and dancer (died 1810)
Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne, commonly known as Turgot, was a French economist and statesman. Sometimes considered a physiocrat, he is today best remembered as an e…
Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune, French economist and politician (died 1781)
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important…
Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (died 1788)
Catherine I was Empress of Russia from 8 February 1725 until her death in 1727. She was previously empress consort of Russia from 1721 to 1725 as the second wife of Peter the Great…
Catherine I of Russia (born 1684)
Juan Francisco Buenaventura de Ayala y Escobar was a prominent Spanish soldier and administrator who governed Spanish Florida from October 30, 1716, to August 3, 1718. The succeedi…
Juan de Ayala y Escobar, Governor of Spanish Florida (1716–1718) (born 1635)
Anne, Princess Royal was the second child and eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his consort Caroline of Ansbach. She was the wife of William IV, Prince of Oran…
Anne, eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain, is given the title Princess Royal.
August Hermann Francke was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar. His evangelistic fervour and Pietism got him expelled as lecturer from the un…
August Hermann Francke, German-Lutheran pietist, philanthropist, and scholar (born 1663)
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. …
George I of Great Britain (born 1660)
Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, PC of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1690 until 1710.…
Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, English politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (born 1661)
Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie was a French Royal Army officer.
Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (born 1647)
William Croft was an English composer and organist.
William Croft, English organist and composer (born 1678)
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 (O.S.) until his death in 1760…
George II and Caroline of Ansbach (pictured) were crowned king and queen of Great Britain in Westminster Abbey.
Francis Cotes was an English painter who was one of the pioneers of English pastel painting and co-founded the Royal Academy in 1768.
Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (died 1770)
James Hutton was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the "Father of Modern Geology," he played a key role …
James Hutton, Scottish geologist and physician (died 1797)