Directory

1747 CE

The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat is beheaded at Tower Hill, London, for high treason. He was the last person in Britain to be beheaded, although beheading would not be formally abolished until more than 200 years later. 19 – The Knowles Riot breaks out in Boston, Massachusetts, protesting impressment into the British Royal Navy. End of Second Stadtholderless period: Prince William IV of Orange becomes stadtholder of all the United Provinces.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • June 9 – Emperor Momozono ascends to the throne of Japan, succeeding Emperor Sakuramachi.source
  • July 23 – Ahmad Shah Durrani establishes the Durrani Empire after being elected by Pashtun chieftains in a jirga at Naderabad, laying the foundation for modern Afghanistan.source
  • August 15 – Great Britain, Russia and the Dutch Republic sign the Convention of Saint Petersburg (1747).source
  • December 27 – The Parliament of Great Britain amends its Naturalisation Act 1740 to extend recognition to all non-Anglican Protestant denominations in its colonies.source

Conflict & Security

  • February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coulon de Villiers, attacks and defeats British troops at Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia.source
  • March 7 – Juan de Arechederra the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, combines his forces with those of Sultan Azim ud-Din I of Sulu to suppress the rebellion of the Moros in the Visayas.source
  • April 9 – The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat is beheaded at Tower Hill, London, for high treason. He was the last person in Britain to be beheaded, although beheading would not be formally abolished until more than 200 years later.source
  • May 14 – War of the Austrian Succession – First battle of Cape Finisterre: The British Navy defeats a French fleet.source
  • July 2 – War of the Austrian Succession – Battle of Lauffeld: France defeats the combined armies of Hanover, Great Britain and the Netherlands.source
  • September 13 – The Netherlands city of Bergen op Zoom falls to the Army of France after a 70 day siege during the War of the Austrian Succession.source
  • October 25 – War of the Austrian Succession – Second battle of Cape Finisterre: The British Navy again defeats a French fleet.source
  • November 17–19 – The Knowles Riot breaks out in Boston, Massachusetts, protesting impressment into the British Royal Navy.source
  • November 22 – End of Second Stadtholderless period: Prince William IV of Orange becomes stadtholder of all the United Provinces.source
  • War of the Austrian Succession: Spanish troops invade and occupy the coastal towns of Beaufort and Brunswick in the Royal Colony of North Carolina, during what becomes known as the Spanish Alarm. They are later driven out by the local militia.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • June 24–October 14 – The English ships Dobbs galley and California, under Captains William Moore and Francis Smith, explore Hudson Bay, discovering there is no Northwest Passage by this route.source
  • August 24 – Seyyid Abdullah Pasha, the Turkish Governor of Cyprus, becomes the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and serves until 1750.source
  • December 7 – Benjamin Franklin forms the Pennsylvania Associators, the first militia in the colony of Pennsylvania, which had no standing militia because of its foundation by pacifistic Quakers.source

Science & Discovery

  • Samuel Johnson begins work on A Dictionary of the English Language in London.source

Health & Medicine

  • January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital.source
  • James Lind's experiment begins to prove that citrus fruits prevent scurvy.source

Crime & Justice

  • March 19 – Simon Fraser, the 79-year old Scottish Lord Lovat, is convicted of high treason for being one of the leaders of the Jacobite rising of 1745 against King George II of Great Britain and attempting to place the pretender Charles Edward Stuart on the throne.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • September 21 – A hurricane in the Caribbean Sea sinks 11 British ships, most of them off the coast of Saint Kitts.source

Climate & Environment

  • October 24 – A Caribbean Sea hurricane sweeps across Saint Kitts, sinking 12 British freighters and one from France.source
  • December 13 – The ordeal of the Maryland freighter sloop Endeavour begins when the ship departs Annapolis for the West Indies and encounters a hurricane. With its masts and rigging torn away, the ship drifts for six months before finally ending up at the island of Tiree off the coast of Scotlandsource

Culture & Society

  • November 9 – Rioters in Amsterdam demand governmental reform.source

Births

  • January 10 – Abraham-Louis Breguet, Swiss horologist, inventor (d. 1823)source
  • January 15 – John Aikin, English doctor and writer (d. 1822)source
  • January 19 – Johann Elert Bode, German astronomer (d. 1826)source
  • February 21 – Eugenio Espejo, Ecuadorian scientist (d. 1795)source
  • February 28 – Justin Morgan, American horse breeder and composer (d. 1798)source
  • May 7 – Judith van Dorth, Dutch Orangist (d. 1799)source
  • June 23 – Michele Troja, Italian physician (d. 1827)source
  • July 2 – Rose Bertin, French fashion designer (d. 1813)source
  • July 6 – John Paul Jones, American naval captain (d. 1792)source
  • September 9 – Thomas Coke, first American Methodist Bishop (d. 1814)source
  • September 12 – Caleb Brewster, Patriot spy during the American Revolutionary War (d. 1827)source
  • October 8 – Jean-François Rewbell, French politician (d. 1807)source
  • December 12 – Anna Seward, English writer (d. 1809)source
  • December 31 – Gottfried August Bürger, German poet (d. 1794)source

Deaths

  • January 26 – Willem van Mieris, Dutch painter (b. 1662)source
  • March 14 – Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, German aristocrat and general (b. 1661)source
  • March 16 – Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine the Great (b. 1690)source
  • April 3 – Francesco Solimena, Italian painter (b. 1657)source
  • April 7 – Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal (b. 1676)source
  • April 9 – Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Scottish clan chief (b. c. 1667)source
  • May 9 – John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and diplomat (b. 1673)source
  • May 28 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer (b. 1715)source
  • June 17 – Avdotya Chernysheva, Russian noble, lady in waiting (b. 1693)source
  • October 4 – Amaro Pargo, Spanish corsair (b. 1678)source
  • October 9 – David Brainerd, American missionary (b. 1718)source
  • October 10 – John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. c. 1674)source
  • October 21 – King George II transfers Thomas Herring, Archbishop of York, to become the new Archbishop of Canterbury, three days after the death of John Pottersource
  • November 17 – Alain-René Lesage, French writer (b. 1668)source