Explore 236 historical events from 1740–1749.
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)
Johann Matthias (Matyhias) Hase was a German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer.
Johann Matthias Hase, German mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (born 1684)
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)
Hugh Boulter was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, from 1724 until his death. He also served as the chaplain to George I from 1719.
Hugh Boulter, Irish archbishop (born 1672)
Jean-Baptiste Massillon, CO, was a French Catholic prelate and famous preacher who served as Bishop of Clermont from 1717 until his death in Beauregard-l'Évêque.
Jean Baptiste Massillon, French bishop (born 1663)
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.
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)
François Hippolyte Barthélemon was a French violinist, pedagogue, and composer active in England.
François-Hippolyte Barthélémon, French-English violinist and composer (died 1808)
Chef d'escadre Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer. Having enlisted in the Navy at the age of 15, he had a successful career and in 1…
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, French admiral and explorer (died 1788)
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…
Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov was a Russian navigator and captain who, along with Vitus Bering, was the first Russian to reach the northwest coast of North America. He discovered and cha…
Aleksei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans…
Charles VII was elector of Bavaria from 26 February 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 to his death on 20 January 1745. He was also King of Bohemia from 1741 to 1743.…
Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
The devastating eruption of Oshima–Ōshima began on 18 August 1741 and ended on 1 May the next year. Eleven days into the eruption, the Kampo tsunami with estimated maximum heights …
The eruption of Oshima–Ōshima and the Kampo tsunami: At least 2,000 people along the Japanese coast drown in a tsunami…
Joseph Warren, was an American physician who was one of the most important figures in the Patriot movement in Boston during the early days of the American Revolution, eventually se…
Joseph Warren, American physician and general (died 1775)
Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, also spelled Carl Friedrich Bahrdt, was an unorthodox German Protestant biblical scholar, theologian, and polemicist. Controversial during his day, he is som…
Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and author (died 1792)
Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, also known as Jean-Paul-Gilles Martini was a French composer of German birth during the classical period. He is best known today for the vocal romance "Pla…
Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, French composer and educator (died 1816)
Peter Simon Pallas FRS FRSE was a Prussian zoologist, botanist, ethnographer, explorer, geographer, geologist, natural historian, and taxonomist. He studied natural sciences at var…
Peter Simon Pallas, German zoologist and botanist (died 1811)
Václav Pichl was a Czech classical composer. He was also a violinist, music director and writer.
Wenzel Pichl, Czech violinist, composer, and director (died 1805)
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official, Freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782…
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (died 1803)