1748
Events
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January–March
- January 12 – Ahmad Shah Durrani captures Lahore.
- January 27 – A fire at the prison and barracks at Kinsale, in Ireland, kills 54 of the prisoners of war housed there. An estimated 500 prisoners are safely conducted to another prison.
- February 7 – The San Gabriel mission project begins with the founding of the first Roman Catholic missions further northward in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, in what is now central Texas. On orders of the Viceroy, Juan Francisco de Güemes, Friar Mariano Marti establish the San Francisco Xavier mission at a location on the San Gabriel River in what is now Milam County. The mission, located northeast of the future site of Austin, Texas, is attacked by 60 Apache Indians on May 2, and San Xavier is abandoned after a few years.
- March 11 – In battle near Manupur ( northwest of Sirhind), Mughal forces under Prince Ahmad Shah Bahadur are victorious against Ahmad Shah Durrani.
- March 25 РA fire in the City of London starts at Change Alley in Cornhill and continues for two days. Dr. Samuel Johnson later writes, "The conflagration of a city, with all its turmoil and concominant distress, is one of the most dreadful spectacles which this world can afford to human eyes". Another history notes more than a century later that "the fire led to a great increase in the practice of fire insurance", after the blaze causes more than ̣1,000,000 worth of damage.
April–June
July–September
- July 29 – Royal Navy Admiral Edward Boscawen arrives at the coast of southeastern India with 28 ships, to defend Fort St. David from attacks by armies of French India. Historian Francis Grose later writes that Boscawen had brought the largest fleet "ever seen together in the East Indies", with nine ships of the line, two frigates, a sloop, and two tenders" and 14 ships of the British East India Company. Altogether, Boscawen has 3,580 sailors under his command. He then launches an offensive to destroy the French fort at Pondicherry and drive France from the subcontinent.
- August 26 – The first Lutheran Church body in America is founded at a conference in Philadelphia, organized by German-born evangelist Henry Muhlenberg and attended by pastors of orthodox and pious Lutheran communities. The two groups agree to create a common liturgy to govern public worship.
- August – The Camberwell beauty butterfly is named after specimens found at Camberwell in London.
- September 24 – Shah Rukh becomes ruler of Greater Khorasan.
October –December
Date unknown
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Births
- February 15 – Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher (d. 1832)
- February 22 – Timothy Dexter, American businessman (d. 1806)
- February 27 – Anders Sparrman, Swedish naturalist (d. 1820)
- March 5
- William Shield, English violinist, composer (d. 1829)
- Jonas C. Dryander, Swedish botanist (d. 1810)
- March 8 – William V, Prince of Orange (d. 1806)
- March 10 – John Playfair, Scottish scientist (d. 1819)
- April 12 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (d. 1836)
- April 13 – Joseph Bramah, English inventor, locksmith (d. 1814)
- April 27
- Pierre-Louis Ginguené, French author (d. 1816)
- Adamantios Korais, Greek scholar (d. 1833)
- May 3 РEmmanuel Joseph Siey̬s, French cleric, constitutional theorist (d. 1836)
- May 7 – Olympe de Gouges, French playwright (d. 1793)
- May 10 – Louis Pierre Vieillot, French ornithologist (d. 1830)
- May 28 – Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (d. 1825)
- June 30 – Jacques Dominique, comte de Cassini, French astronomer (d. 1845)
- August 8 – Johann Friedrich Gmelin, German naturalist (d. 1804)
- August 9 – Bernhard Schott, German music publisher (d. 1809)
- August 30 – Jacques-Louis David, French painter (d. 1825)
- October 7 – King Charles XIII of Sweden (Charles II of Norway) (d. 1818)
- October 13 – Johann Dominicus Fiorillo, German painter, art historian (d. 1821)
- November 11 – King Charles IV of Spain (d. 1819)
- November 13 – William Chalmers, Swedish merchant (d. 1811)
- December 9 – Claude Louis Berthollet, French chemist (d. 1822)
- December 14 – William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (d. 1811)
- date unknown
- Gioacchino Navarro, Maltese priest and poet (d. 1813)
- James Sayers, English caricaturist (d. 1823)
- Timur Shah Durrani, Afghan king (d. 1793)
- Thomas Holloway, English portrait painter, engraver (d. 1827
- Stylianos Vlasopoulos, Greek judge, writer (d. 1822)
Deaths
- January 1 – Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1667)
- January 16 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1684)
- February 18 – Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1677)
- March 7 – ÃÂlisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine, French noblewoman, Princess of Epinoy by marriage (b. 1664)
- March 14 – George Wade, British military leader (b. 1673)
- March 23 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German music theorist, organist and composer (b. 1684)
- April 8 – Empress Xiaoxianchun of Qing dynasty (b. 1712)
- April 12 – William Kent, English architect (b. c. 1685)
- April 16 – Muhammad Shah, Mughal emperor of India (b. 1702)
- May 12 – Thomas Lowndes, British astronomer (b. 1692)
- May 17 – Henri, Duke of Elbeuf, member of the House of Lorraine (b. 1661)
- June 16 РJean Philippe d'Orl̩ans, illegitimate son of future French regent Philippe d'Orleans (b. 1702)
- June 28 – Marretje Arents, Dutch rebel leader (b. 1712)
- August 27 – James Thomson, Scottish poet (b. 1700)
- September 6 – Edmund Gibson, English jurist (b. 1669)
- September 10 – Mother Ignacia del EspÃÂritu Santo, Filipino founder of the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (b. 1663)
- September 12 – Anne Bracegirdle, English actress (b. c. 1671)
- September 21 – John Balguy, English philosopher (b. 1686)
- November 25 – Isaac Watts, English hymn writer (b. 1674)
- December 2 – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician (b. 1662)
References
Further reading
External links