Explore 184 historical events from 1740–1749.
William Hooper was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and politician. As a member of the Continental Congress representing North Carolina, Hooper signed the Continental Associati…
William Hooper, American physician, lawyer, and politician (died 1790)
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg was a German physicist, satirist, and Anglophile. He was the first person in Germany to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physic…
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist and academic (died 1799)
Major General Nathanael Greene was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputati…
Nathanael Greene, American general (died 1786)
Pope Pius VII was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He was the leader of the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again from 181…
Pope Pius VII (died 1823)
Ozias Humphry was an English painter who specialised in portrait painting, including portrait miniatures. Humphry was elected to the Royal Academy in 1791, and in 1792 he was appoi…
Ozias Humphry, English painter and academic (died 1810)
Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino was an Italian poet and opera librettist. He was the son of the composer Carlo Pallavicino (1630?-1688).
Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (born 1672)
Count Arvid Bernhard Horn af Ekebyholm was a Swedish general, diplomat and politician, a member of the noble Horn family. He served twice as president of the privy council chancell…
Arvid Horn, Swedish general and politician (born 1664)
Lars Roberg was a Swedish physician and natural science researcher. He served as a professor of anatomy and medicine at Uppsala University.
Lars Roberg, Swedish physician and academic (born 1664)
Pylyp Stepanovych Orlyk was a Zaporozhian Cossack statesman, diplomat and member of Cossack starshyna. Described as the first Ukrainian political emigrant, he served as the hetman …
Pylyp Orlyk, Ukrainian diplomat (born 1672)
John Aislabie, of Studley Royal, near Ripon, Yorkshire, was a British politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 to 1721. He was of an independent min…
John Aislabie, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1670)
Dom Guido Grandi, was an Italian monk, priest, philosopher, theologian, mathematician, and engineer.
Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian monk, mathematician, and engineer (born 1671)
John Oldmixon was an English historian.
John Oldmixon, English historian, poet, and playwright (born 1673)
Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco was an Italian composer, violinist, and cellist.
Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco, Italian violinist and composer (born 1675)
Richard Bentley was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English…
Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (born 1662)
William Somervile or Somerville was an English poet who wrote in many genres and is especially remembered for "The Chace", in which he pioneered an early English georgic.
William Somervile, English poet and author (born 1675)
José António Carlos de Seixas was a pre-eminent Portuguese composer of the 18th century. An accomplished virtuoso of both the organ and the harpsichord, Seixas succeeded his father…
Carlos Seixas, Portuguese organist and composer (born 1704)
The Battle of Cartagena de Indias took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Great Britain. The result of long-standing commercial tensions, the war w…
The Battle of Cartagena de Indias ends in a Spanish victory and the British begin withdrawal towards Jamaica with substa
Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma (1758–98).
King Marthanda Varma of Travancore defeats the Dutch East India Company at the Battle of Colachel, effectively…
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
George Frideric Handel completes his oratorio Messiah.
Maria Theresa was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereign of Austria, …
Maria Theresa is crowned Queen of Hungary
Jonathan Edwards was an American revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Congregationalist theologian. Edwards is widely regarded as one of America's most important and original phil…
Reverend Jonathan Edwards preaches to his congregation in Enfield, Connecticut his most famous sermon, "Sinners in the…
Samuel Chase was a Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and As…
Samuel Chase, American lawyer and jurist (died 1811)
Andrea Luca Luchesi was an Italian composer. He knew Mozart and Beethoven.
Andrea Luchesi, Italian organist and composer (died 1801)
Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais was an Italian nobleman and military leader. He was the youngest child of King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia. He married his half-niece Maria …
Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais (died 1808)