Events January–March January 21 – After being tricked into deserting a battle against India's Mughal Empire by the rebel Sayyid brothers, Prince Azz-ud-din Mirza is blinded on orders of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar as punishment. February 7 – The Siege of Tönning (a fortress of the Swedish Empire and now located in Germany in the state of Schleswig-Holstein) ends after almost a year, as Danish forces force the surrender of the remaining 1,600 defenders. The fortress is then leveled by the Danes. February 28 – (February 17 old style) Russia's Tsar Peter the Great issues a decree requiring compulsory education in mathematics for children of government officials and nobility, applying to children between the ages of 10 and 15 years old.Basil Dmytryshyn, Modernization of Russia Under Peter I and Catherine II (Wiley, 1974) pp. 10-11 March 2 – (February 19 old style) The Battle of Storkyro is fought between troops of the Swedish Empire and the Russian Empire, near what is now the village of Napue in Finland. The outnumbered Swedish forces, under the command of General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt, suffer 1,600 troops killed in action while the Russians led by General Mikhail Golitsyn lose 400 men. March 7 – The Treaty of Rastatt is signed between Austria and France, concluding the War of the Spanish Succession between them. Austria receives the Spanish territories in Italy (the Kingdom of Naples, Duchy of Milan and Kingdom of Sardinia), as well as the Southern Netherlands; and from France, Freiburg and Landau. The Austrian Habsburg Empire reaches its largest territorial extent yet, with Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor succeeding Philip V of Spain, as ruler in the ceded territories.
April–June April 11 – France signs five separate treaties— with Great Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia and Savoy— to end hostilities in the War of the Spanish Succession following the negotiations of the Peace of Utrecht. April 12 – Italian Jesuit missionary Niccolò Gianpriamo is dispatched from Portugal on an evangelical trip to Asia starting with the Portuguese Indian colony of Goa, where he arrives after five months. May 19 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain, refuses to allow members of the House of Hanover to settle in Britain during her lifetime. May 20 – Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata for Pentecost, Erschallet, ihr Lieder, BWV 172, at the chapel of Schloss Weimar. June 3 – The city of Kassel in Germany inaugurates the summer tradition of the "water stairs" or "great cascades" (Grossen Kaskaden) emptying from the base of the Hercules monument down to the Wilhelmshöhe castle. June 20 – In France, Henri-Charles du Cambout de Coislin, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Metz, condemns the papal bull Unigenitus, issued by Pope Clement XI against the 1671 commentary by Pasquier Quesnel of the four Gospels and inflaming the Jansenist controversy. June 26 – Spain and the Netherlands sign a peace treaty to end hostilities between those two nations in the War of the Spanish Succession.
July–September July 8 – Longitude prize: The Parliament of Great Britain votes "to offer a reward for such person or persons as shall discover the Longitude" (£10,000 for any method capable of determining a ship's longitude within 1 degree; £15,000, within 40 minutes, and £20,000 within ½ a degree). July 27 – The Imperial Russian Navy gains its first important victory against the Swedish Navy in the Battle of Gangut. August 1 – Georg Ludwig von Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Elector of Hanover, becomes King George I of Great Britain and Ireland, on the death of Queen Anne. Anne's death brings an end to the reign of the House of Stuart, in that her half-brother James Francis Edward Stuart, the eldest son of James II of England, has been ineligible for the British throne based on the Act of Settlement 1701 had barred members of the Roman Catholic church from becoming monarchs. George of Hanover, as great-grandson of James I of England and a second cousin to Anne, is deemed the eldest living Protestant descendant of James I. September 11 – War of the Spanish Succession: Barcelona is taken after a year's siege, and Catalonia surrenders to Spanish and French Bourbon armies. September 18 – George I, the new King of Great Britain and Ireland, arrives in Britain for the first time in his life, after having departed Hannover and sailing from the Netherlands. September 29 – The Great Hatred: the Cossacks of the Tsardom of Russia kill about 800 people overnight on the Finnish island of Hailuoto.
October–December October 20 – The coronation of George I of Great Britain and Ireland takes place in Westminster Abbey, a little less than three months after George became the new British monarch. October 24 – Four Dutch investors, led by brothers Nicolaas and Hendrik van Hoorn, purchase the South American colony of Berbice from French mercenary Jacques Cassard, who had captured the colony from the Van Peere family.J. J. Hartsinck, Beschryving van Guiana, of de wilde kust in Zuid-America (Gerrit Tielenburg, 1770) A century later, in 1815, the land is ceded to Great Britain and later merged with neighboring colonies to form what is now Guyana. November 30 – King Philip V of Spain issues a decree reorganizing the Spanish government to create four ministries, with the Secretary of State being the chief minister, predecessor to the office of Prime Minister of Spain. José de Grimaldo becomes the first person to have the chief ministry. December 9 – Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718): The Ottoman Empire declares war on the Republic of Venice.
Date unknown Archbishop Tenison's School, the world's earliest surviving mixed gender school, is established by Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Croydon, south of London, England. Louis Juchereau de St. Denis establishes Fort St. Jean Baptiste, at the site of present day Natchitoches, Louisiana (the first permanent European settlement in the Louisiana Territory, after Biloxi (1699) and Mobile, Alabama (1702) were separated). Worcester College, University of Oxford is founded (formerly Gloucester College, closed during the Dissolution of the monasteries). Stockholm County is founded. The river Kander (Switzerland) is redirected into Lake Thun.
Births
January 1 Kristijonas Donelaitis, Prussian-Lithuanian Lutheran pastor, poet, author of The Seasons (d. 1780) Giovanni Battista Mancini, Italian soprano castrato, voice teacher and author of books on singing (d. 1800) January 6 John Christopher Hartwick, Lutheran minister in Colonial America, founder of Hartwick College (d. 1796) Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788) January 9 – Elisabeth Stierncrona, Swedish noble (d. 1769) January 10 – Johann Georg Dominicus von Linprun, German scientist (d. 1787) January 16 Francis V de Beauharnais, French nobleman, soldier, politician, colonial governor and admiral (d. 1800) Carl Jesper Benzelius, Swedish bishop (d. 1793) January 20 – Hugh Farmer, British theologian (d. 1787) January 21 – Anna Morandi Manzolini, internationally known Italian anatomist and anatomical wax modeler (d. 1774) January 24 – Henri Joseph Bouchard d'Esparbès de Lussan d'Aubeterre, Marshal of France (d. 1788) January 26 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor (d. 1785) February 1 Nicolaus Christian Friis, Norwegian priest and writer (d. 1777) Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney of Ireland (d. 1791) February 2 – Gottfried August Homilius, German composer, cantor and organist (d. 1785) February 5 – Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, German botanist (d. 1786) February 11 – Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein, German-Prussian diplomat and later Prime Minister of Prussia (d. 1800) February 12 – Sebastian Sailer, German Premonstratensian preacher, writer (d. 1777) February 14 – William Vane, 2nd Viscount Vane of Ireland (d. 1789) February 18 – John Howe, 2nd Baron Chedworth of England, eldest son of John Howe (d. 1762) February 22 Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French scholar (d. 1795) Sarah Osborn, American writer (d. 1796) February 25 René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, Chancellor of France (d. 1792) Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet, Royal Navy vice admiral (d. 1782) February 26 – James Hervey, English clergyman and writer (d. 1758) February 28 – Gioacchino Conti, Italian opera singer (d. 1761) March 1 – Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Menshikov, Russian army officer (d. 1764) March 2 – John Hamilton, Royal Navy officer (d. 1755) March 6 – Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, French painter (d. 1789) March 7 – Charles Thomas, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort, German nobleman, head of the House of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (d. 1789) March 8 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German Classical composer (d. 1788) March 11 – Cornelis Elout, Dutch regent (d. 1779) March 17 – Maximilian Reichsgraf von Hamilton, German-born Czech Catholic bishop (d. 1776) March 19 – Aymar Joseph de Roquefeuil et du Bousquet, French admiral (d. 1782) March 21 – Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, British judge (d. 1794) March 25 Friedrich Christian Glume, German artist (d. 1752) Matthew Griswold (governor), 17th Governor of Connecticut (1784–1786) (d. 1799) March 27 – Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, Italian theologian (d. 1795) March 29 – Mahadhammaraza Dipadi, last Toungoo Dynasty king of Burma (Myanmar) (1733–1752) (d. 1754) April 1 – Jean-François de Neufforge, Flemish architect and engraver (d. 1791) April 7 – John Elwes (politician), British politician (d. 1789) April 14 – Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (d. 1788) April 15 – Claude Yvon, French encyclopedist (d. 1791) April 16 – Pedro António Avondano, Italian composer (d. 1782) April 18 – Jacques-Nompar III de Caumont, duc de La Force, French nobleman (d. 1755) April 25 – Emer de Vattel, Swiss philosopher (d. 1767) May 6 Anton Raaff, German opera tenor (d. 1797) James Townley, British dramatist (d. 1778) May 10 – Sophie Charlotte Ackermann, German actress from Berlin (d. 1792) May 12 – Johan Daniel Berlin, Norwegian composer and organist (d. 1787) May 14 – William Whitmore, British general (d. 1771) May 17 – Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine, French royal (d. 1773) May 20 – Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, British lawyer and politician (d. 1794) June 6 – Joseph I of Portugal, Prince of Brazil (d. 1777) June 17 – César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer and cartographer (d. 1784) June 23 – Giovanni Sarnelli, Italian painter (d. 1793) July 1 – Michael Lally (brigadier-general), Irish-born French brigadier-general (d. 1773) July 2 – Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (d. 1787) July 8 Friedrich Gottfried Abel, German physician (d. 1794) Pieter van Reede van Oudtshoorn, Dutch administrator of the Cape Colony (d. 1773) July 12 – Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov, Russian noble, politician (d. 1767) July 16 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French military engineer and writer (d. 1800) July 17 Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (d. 1762) John Forbes (Royal Navy officer), British admiral of the fleet (d. 1796) July 21 – Grand Duchess Natalya Alexeyevna of Russia (1714–1728), Russian grand duchess (d. 1728) August 1 Edward Penny, British painter (d. 1791) Richard Wilson (painter), Welsh landscape painter (d. 1782) August 14 – Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (d. 1789) August 15 – Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl Stanhope of Great Britain (d. 1786) August 18 – Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Rotenburg, German noble (d. 1741) August 23 – Hans Jacob Scheel, Norwegian general (d. 1774) August 28 Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, Russian general (d. 1774) Jean-Baptiste Descamps, Flemish painter and art historian (d. 1791) August 27 – Angélique du Coudray, pioneering French midwife (d. 1794) August 29 – Princess Friederike Luise of Prussia, Prussian princess (d. 1784) September 1 – Samuel Martin (Secretary to the Treasury), British politician (d. 1788)