1740

Events

• May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I.
• October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). However, her succession to the Holy Roman Empire is contested widely because she is a woman.
• December 16 - Friedrich II of Prussia invades the Habsburg possession of Silesia, starting the War of the Austrian Succession.
• By the act of English parliament, alien immigrants (including Huguenots and Jews) in the colonies receive British citizenship
• Adam Smith enters Balliol College, Oxford
• George Whitefield founds the Bethesda orphanage
• The song Rule Britannia is first performed at Cliveden

Births

• March - Johann van Beethoven, father of composer Ludwig van Beethoven
• June 2 - Marquis de Sade, aristocrat and author
• August 14 - Pope Pius VII
• August 23 - [baby] Emperor Ivan VI of Russia
• Juan Andres, Spanish Jesuit
• Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan

Deaths

• January 5, Antonio Lotti, composer
• February 6, Pope Clement XII
• May 31 - Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia
• October 20 - Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
• October 28 - Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia)