1729 CE

Prince Frederick, son of King George II, is created Prince of Wales, nearly two years after his father's accession. The foundation stone is laid for the new Irish Houses of Parliament on College Green in Dublin, designed by Edward Lovett Pearce MP as the world's first purpose-built bicameral legislative building. James Oglethorpe M.P. begins service as the Chairman of the Gaols Committee to investigate the conditions of Britain's gaols and prisons after the death in Fleet Prison of his friend, Robert Castell. The Oglethorpe Committee's report propels him to notability and marks a start to British penal reforms.

In the 1720s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 3 – the foundation stone is laid for the new Irish Houses of Parliament on College Green in Dublin, designed by Edward Lovett Pearce MP as the world's first purpose-built bicameral legislative building.Irelandsource
  • February 14 – King Philip V of Spain issues a royal cedula, directing an effort to offer incentives to families from the Canary Islands for settlements in New Spain north of the Rio Grande in the modern-day U.S. state of Texas (→ Canarian Americans).source
  • February 24 (February 13 O.S.) – In the city of Resht in Persia, Russian and Afghani leaders sign a peace treaty, with General Vasily Levashev for Russia and Muhammad Saidal Khan for Afghanistan.source
  • March 5 – Abdallah of Morocco becomes the new Sultan of Morocco upon the death of his half-brother, Abu'l Abbas Ahmad. Sultan Abdallah reigns for five years before being deposed for the first time, then returns to the throne five more times between 1736 and 1757.source
  • 26 March - Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton is sworn in as Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan, the post having been vacant since 1715. After 1729, all Lords Lieutenant were also Custos Rotulorum of Glamorgan.Walessource
  • April 26 – For the first time in its history, the British House of Commons is adjourned for lack of a quorum. On January 5, 1640, it had first fixed the number of members necessary — 40 — for parliamentary business to be transacted.source
  • 26 April – the House of Commons is adjourned for lack of a quorum for the first time since one of 40 was fixed in 1640.United Kingdomsource
  • April - Sweden and Saxony finally resume peaceful connections with each other after the Great Nordic War.Swedensource
  • May 17 – Caroline, Queen Consort becomes the first person to rule Great Britain as regent under the Regency Acts, beginning service as the acting monarch when her husband King George II departs Britain for Germany, where he is the Elector of Hanover. Caroline rules until George's return in October.source
  • 17 May – Caroline, Queen Consort becomes the first person to rule Great Britain as regent under the Regency Acts, beginning service as the acting monarch when her husband King George II departs Britain for the Electorate of Hanover. Caroline rules until his return in October.United Kingdomsource
  • June 1 – Diederik Durven becomes the new Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) upon the death of Mattheus de Haan.source
  • July 25 – Seven of the original eight Lords Proprietor of the Province of Carolina sell their shares back to the British crown. The 1710 division of the Province is made permanent and the area is reorganized into the Royal Colonies of North Carolina and South Carolina.source
  • July 30 – Baltimore, Maryland is founded.source
  • November 9 – The Treaty of Seville is signed between Great Britain, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic.source
  • 9 November – France signed The Treaty of Seville with Britain and Spain bringing an end to the Anglo-Spanish War started in 1727.Francesource
  • 9 November – Treaty of Seville signed between Great Britain, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic.United Kingdomsource
  • La Vérendrye became first commandant of the Posts of the West. He was posted to Fort Kaministiquia in this year and began the western expansion in 1731.Canadasource

Conflict & Security

  • 25 February – James Oglethorpe M.P. begins service as the Chairman of the Gaols Committee to investigate the conditions of Britain's gaols and prisons after the death in Fleet Prison of his friend, Robert Castell. The Oglethorpe Committee's report propels him to notability and marks a start to British penal reforms.United Kingdomsource
  • September 29 – The Battle of Damghan begins as the Persian Safavid Army, commanded by General Nader Khan Afshar confronts a larger force of rebel Afghan troops commanded by the Emir Ashraf Hotak.source
  • October 5 – After seven days of battle, the Persians under Nader Khan Afshar make a daring attack through the center of the Emir Ashraf's battalions, killing 12,000 of the Afghans and forcing the remainder to flee, bringing an end to the Battle of Damghan.source
  • November 29 – The Natchez revolt, the worst Native American massacre to take place on Mississippi soil, occurs when Natchez people kill 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie (near modern-day Natchez, Mississippi).source
  • December 12 – Under the pretense of a peace offering, the Yazoo and Koroa warriors enter the French settlement at Fort St. Pierre (near modern-day Vicksburg, Mississippi) and kill most of the inhabitants.source
  • Natchez attacked French Fort Rosalie and French settlements nearby after the French commander of the fort, Sieur Chepart, ordered them to abandon their village of White Apple. The Natchez wiped out the entire settlement and captured Fort Rosalie. In 1730 and 1731 the French, aided by the Choctaw, launched two counterattacks out of New Orleans, capturing and selling into plantation slavery most of the tribe and its smaller allies. A few bands found refuge among the Chickasaw, Creek, and Cherokee.Canadasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • The third oldest settlement in Mississippi, Port Gibson, is founded by French settlers.source

Religion & Belief

  • March 19 – John of Nepomuk (Jan Nepomucký) of Bohemia is canonized by Pope Benedict XIII more than 300 years after being tortured and drowned in 1393 by order of King Wenceslaus IV; John becomes patron saint of Roman Catholics in the Czech Republic.source
  • April 15 – Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion, BWV 244b is performed again, at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.source
  • 19 October - John Harris is consecrated as Bishop of Llandaff.Walessource
  • Thomas Sherlock – The Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of JesusWalessource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • November 29 – The first (wooden) Putney Bridge is completed, as the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Kingston, England.source
  • 29 November – completion of the first (wooden) Putney Bridge as the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Kingston.United Kingdomsource
  • Construction of Købmagergade 5 and Købmagergade 7 is completed following the Copenhagen Fire of 1728.Denmarksource

Science & Discovery

  • August 1 – The Comet of 1729, possibly the largest comet based on the absolute magnitude, on record, is discovered by Fr. Nicolas Sarrabat, a professor of mathematics at Marseille.source
  • Mackintosh of Borlum publishes An essay on ways and means for inclosing, fallowing, planting, &c. Scotland; and that in sixteen years at farthest, "by a lover of his country", in Edinburgh.Scotlandsource
  • Opening of Dr Williams's Library in London as a research centre for nonconformist theology.United Kingdomsource
  • Christmas Samuel - Golwg ar y Testament NewyddWalessource

Health & Medicine

  • June 8 – The Botanic Gardens of Pamplemousses, one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island republic of Mauritius, are started by Pierre Barmond, who sets aside thousands of acres for the purpose of preservation of the islands flora. The gardens come to occupy 97 square miles or 251 square kilometers.source
  • 6 August – Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh established as the "Hospital for the Sick Poor" or "Physicians' Hospital" in Edinburgh.Scotlandsource
  • September–December – influenza outbreak with very high mortality, estimated at more than 6,500 deaths.United Kingdomsource
  • Zachariah Williams is admitted as a poor brother pensioner of the Charterhouse in London.Walessource

Crime & Justice

  • 8 January – two women arrested in Edinburgh for wearing men's clothing.Scotlandsource
  • February 25 – James Oglethorpe, a member of the British House of Commons, begins service as the Chairman of the Gaols Committee to investigate the conditions of Britain's jails and prisons after the death in Fleet Prison of his friend, Robert Castell. The Oglethorpe Committee's report propels Oglethorpe to fame and leads to the beginning of British penal reforms.source
  • 9 August - Brita Alverns witch trail, one of the last witch trials in Scandinavia.Norwaysource
  • 28 November – theologian Thomas Woolston is convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to prison for the remaining four years of his life on account of his published Discourses on Biblical literalism.United Kingdomsource
  • Chiswick House in London, a pioneering example of English Palladian revival architecture, is designed by its owner Richard Boyle with William Kent.United Kingdomsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • May 8 – A fire breaks out inside the fully walled town of Haiger within the Holy Roman Empire (in the modern-day state of Hesse in Germany) and destroys all the buildings.source
  • May 12 – Six English pirates, including Mary Critchett, seize control of the sloop John and Elizabeth while being transported to America to complete their criminal sentences. They overpower their captors but are later captured in Chesapeake Bay by HMS Shoreham and hanged in August.source
  • 12 May – six English pirates, including Mary Critchett, seize control of the sloop John and Elizabeth while being transported to America to complete their criminal sentences. They overpower their captors but are later taken in Chesapeake Bay by HMS Shoreham and hanged in August.United Kingdomsource
  • July 27 – A fire that breaks out on this day in Constantinople destroys 12,000 houses and kills 7,000 inhabitants.source

Climate & Environment

Culture & Society

  • January 8 – Frederick, the eldest son of King George II of Great Britain is made Prince of Wales at the age of 21, a few months after he comes to Britain for the first time after growing up in Hanover. For 23 years, Frederick is heir apparent to the British throne, but dies of a lung injury in 1751.source
  • 8 January – Frederick, the eldest son of George II, is made Prince of Wales at the age of 21, a few months after he comes to Britain for the first time after growing up in Hanover. For 23 years, he will be heir apparent to the British throne but dies of a lung injury in 1751.United Kingdomsource
  • 8 January - Prince Frederick, son of King George II, is created Prince of Wales, nearly two years after his father's accession.Walessource
  • January 19 – At the age of 14, Joseph (José), Prince of Brazil, son of King John V of Portugal, is married to the 10-year-old Princess Mariana Victoria of Spain, eldest daughter of King Philip V of Spain. In 1750, the couple become King Joseph I and Queen Consort Mariana Victoria of Spain.source
  • 1 March - A St. David's Society is established by Welsh immigrants in Philadelphia.Walessource
  • 13 March - Bussy Mansel, 4th Baron Mansel, marries Barbara Villiers, daughter of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey.Walessource
  • March 23 – Johann Sebastian Bach's First Köthen Funeral music premieres at St. Jakob, Köthen, in honor of the funeral of his former employer Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. The next morning, Bach's funeral cantata Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a premieres at St. Jakob, marking the same occasion.source
  • April 3 – Benjamin Franklin, aged 23, writes the essay "A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature and Necessity of Paper Currency" and later applies the economic principles to backing of paper money used in the United States.source
  • December 2 – George Frideric Handel's famous opera Lotario is given its first performance, premiering at the King's Theatre in London.source
  • Jonathan Swift (anonymously) publishes his satire A Modest Proposal.source
  • Jonathan Swift publishes A Modest Proposal.Irelandsource
  • Completion of Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland's first Palladian mansion, designed by Alessandro Galilei and Edward Lovett Pearce for William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons.Irelandsource
  • Society of St. Luke, Scotland's first art institute, established in Edinburgh.Scotlandsource
  • Lewis Morris, eldest of the noted Morris brothers of Anglesey, becomes a customs official.Walessource

Births

  • 6 January - Anne Penny, née Hughes, poet (died 1784)Walessource
  • January 12 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (died 1799)source
  • January 12 – Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and philosopher (died 1797)source
  • January 22 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author and philosopher (died 1781)source
  • February 26 – Anders Chydenius, Finnish economist, liberal politician and Lutheran priest (died 1803)source
  • May 2 – Catherine the Great, born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, empress regnant of Russia (died 1796)source
  • July 4 – George Leonard, American lawyer, jurist and politician (died 1819)source
  • August 10 – William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, British general (died 1814)source
  • 10 August – William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, general (passed 1814)United Kingdomsource
  • September 6 – Moses Mendelssohn, German-Jewish philosopher (died 1786)source
  • September 15 – Mikiel'Ang Grima, Maltese surgeon (died 1798)source
  • October 6 – Sarah Crosby, English Methodist preacher, the first female (died 1804)source
  • November 12 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French navigator and military commander (died 1811)source
  • November 17 – Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen consort of Sardinia (died 1785)source
  • November 21 – Josiah Bartlett, second signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (died 1795)source
  • November 24 – Alexander Suvorov, Russian general (died 1800)source
  • Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, governor of Cape Breton.Canadasource
  • Praskovya Bruce - Russian lady-in-waiting and noble, confidant of Catherine the Great (died 1785)Russiasource

Deaths

  • January 19 – William Congreve, English playwright (born 1670)source
  • February 11 – Solomon Stoddard, pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Northampton, Massachusetts (born 1643)source
  • March 21 – John Law, Scottish-born economist (born 1671)source
  • March 21 – Elżbieta Sieniawska, politically influential Polish magnate (born 1669)source
  • 21 March – John Law, Scottish economist, died in Venice (born 1671)United Kingdomsource
  • 29 April - Sir Stephen Glynne, 3rd Baronet, 64Walessource
  • May 17 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (born 1675)source
  • June 12 – John Williams, American clergy (born 1664)source
  • June 27 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichordist and composer (born 1665)source
  • August 5 – Thomas Newcomen, English inventor (born 1663)source
  • August 31 – John Blackadder, Scottish soldier (born 1664)source
  • September 1 – Richard Steele, Irish writer and politician (born 1672)source
  • September 3 – Jean Hardouin, French scholar (born 1646)source
  • September 7 – William Burnet, British Governor of New York and New Jersey (born 1688)source
  • October 9 – Richard Blackmore, English physician and writer (born 1654)source
  • 23 November - Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, Russian statesman (born 1673)Russiasource
  • December – Doamna Marica Brâncoveanu, princess consort of Wallachia (born 1661)source
  • Jean-François Du Verger de Verville, designer of the Fortress of Louisbourg.Canadasource