1738 CE

William Champion of Bristol patents a process to distill zinc from calamine using charcoal in a smelter. Samuel Johnson composes his first solemn prayer (published 1785). Samuel Johnson composes his first solemn prayer (published 1785).

In the 1730s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • August - A treaty with France is made against the opposition of Arvid Horn.Swedensource
  • November 18 – The Treaty of Vienna is ratified, ending the War of the Polish Succession. Under the terms of the treaty, Stanisław Leszczyński receives Lorraine in exchange for renouncing the Polish throne.source
  • 18 November – Signing of the Treaty of ViennaFrancesource
  • Rémy Martin is granted exclusive permission by King Louis XV to plant new vineyards, for impressing him with the quality of his cognac.source
  • Undated – William Kent is appointed to remodel Rousham House and gardens in Oxfordshire, "a landmark in the history of the Romantic movement."United Kingdomsource

Conflict & Security

  • January 7 – After the Maratha Empire of India wins the Battle of Bhopal over the Jaipur State, Jaipur cedes the Malwa territory to the Maratha in a treaty signed at Doraha.source
  • March 28 – Mariner Robert Jenkins presents a pickled ear, which he claims was cut off by a Spanish captain in the Caribbean in 1731, to the Parliament of Great Britain, which votes, 257 to 209, for war against Spain, leading to the War of Jenkins' Ear the following year.source
  • 28 March – mariner Robert Jenkins presents a pickled ear, which he claims was cut off by a Spanish captain in the Caribbean in 1731, to Parliament, which votes, 257 to 209, for war against Spain, leading to the War of Jenkins' Ear the following year.United Kingdomsource
  • May 25 – The military phase of Cresap's War between the British North American Provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania is ended when King George II of Great Britain negotiates a cease-fire.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • July 10 – Thomas Pellow of Cornwall finally escapes captivity, 23 years after having been captured by Barbary pirates and held as a slave in Morocco. He arrives in British territory when the ship he is on sails into Gibraltar Bay on July 21, and later recounts his story in the book The Adventures of Thomas Pellow, of Penryn, Mariner: Three and Twenty Years in Captivity Among the Moors.source
  • 10 July – Thomas Pellow of Cornwall finally escapes captivity, 23 years after having been captured by Barbary pirates and held as a slave in Morocco. He arrives in British territory when the ship he is on sails into Gibraltar Bay on 21 July, and later recounts his story in the book The Adventures of Thomas Pellow, of Penryn, Mariner: Three and Twenty Years in Captivity Among the Moors.United Kingdomsource
  • October 22 – The excavation of Herculaneum, a Roman city buried by Vesuvius in AD 79, begins near the Italian city of Resina on orders from King Charles III of Spain to his engineer, Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre.source
  • China's Qing government announces that all western businessmen have to use the Cohong in Guangzhou to trade.source
  • Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye travelled southwest from Fort La Reine to the area of the Missouri River in what is now North Dakota.Canadasource

Religion & Belief

  • April 28 – Pope Clement XII issues the papal bull In eminenti apostolatus, prohibiting Roman Catholics from being members of Masonic societies.source
  • 14 May – John Wesley hears William Holland read from the work of Martin Luther, occasioning his own conversion.Walessource
  • June 27 – The Spanish Empire's Council of the Indies votes, 6 to 4, to re-establish the Viceroyalty of New Granada, incorporating modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama. King Philip V issues the order on August 20, 1738.source
  • September 18 – Samuel Johnson composes his first solemn prayer (published 1785).source
  • 18 September – Samuel Johnson composes his first solemn prayer (published 1785).United Kingdomsource
  • Rev. Samuel Madden publishes Reflections and Resolutions Proper for the Gentlemen of Ireland, as to their Conduct for the Service of their Country, as Landlords, as Masters of Families, as Protestants, as Descended from British Ancestors, as Country Gentlemen and Farmers, as Justices of the Peace, as Merchants, as Members of Parliament.Irelandsource
  • The Fetter Lane Society is founded by followers of the Moravian Church in London.United Kingdomsource
  • Anne Penny – Select Poems from Mr. Gesner's PastoralsWalessource
  • A Baptist church is founded at Welsh Neck in South Carolina, United States.Walessource

Economy & Finance

Technology & Infrastructure

  • February 11 – Jacques de Vaucanson stages the first demonstration of an early automaton, The Flute Player at the Hotel de Longueville in Paris, and continues to display it until March 30.source
  • June 24 – British inventor Lewis Paul receives a patent for roller cotton-spinning machinery.source
  • 24 June – Lewis Paul and John Wyatt obtain a patent for roller cotton-spinning machinery.United Kingdomsource
  • July 1 – English metallurgist William Champion is granted a patent for his process of extracting zinc from other materials in a furnace.source
  • 1 July – William Champion of Bristol patents a process to distill zinc from calamine using charcoal in a smelter.United Kingdomsource
  • Black Forest clockmaker Franz Ketterer produces one of the earliest cuckoo clocks.source
  • Fort Rouge (the fort), built on the Assiniboine River near the Forks.Canadasource
  • Fort La Reine, one of the forts of the Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye western expansion, was built. It was located on the Assiniboine River near where present day Portage la Prairie stands.Canadasource
  • Morgan Edwards begins his career as a preacher.Walessource

Science & Discovery

  • Pierre Louis Maupertuis publishes Sur la figure de la terre, which confirms Newton's view that the earth is an oblate spheroid, slightly flattened at the poles.source

Health & Medicine

  • August 10 – Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russian army begins its attempt to cross the Dniester River and fails after three weeks; it is later decimated by plague.source
  • Smallpox strikes the Cherokee in the U.S. Southeast, killing almost half the population. Smallpox also reaches tribes in western Canada.Canadasource

Crime & Justice

  • Esther Brandeau, in the guise of a cabin boy, is the first known Jewish woman to arrive in Canada. Eventually she is deported to France for failing to embrace the Roman Catholic religion.Canadasource
  • Roxborough Castle in Moy, County Tyrone, built by James Caulfeild, 4th Viscount Charlemont.Irelandsource
  • Tiverton riot: wool trade workers riot over prices in Tiverton, Devon.United Kingdomsource
  • William Williams Pantycelyn – Caniadau ... y Môr o WydrWalessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • January 1 – At least 664 African slaves drown when the Dutch West Indies Company slave ship Leusden capsizes and sinks in the Maroni River during its arrival in Surinam. The Dutch crew escapes, and leaves the slaves locked below decks to die.source
  • December 27 – After setting off from Rotterdam in August with 240 immigrants to America, the British ship Princess Augusta is wrecked near Block Island off of the coast of the colony of Rhode Island. During the voyage, 200 passengers and seven crew die from illness spread by contaminated water. Another 20 die after the crew leaves and rows to shore. The wreck later becomes the subject of the legend of the "Palatine Light" ghost ship and of John Greenleaf Whittier's 1867 poem "The Palatine".source

Culture & Society

  • January 3 – George Frideric Handel's opera Faramondo is given its first performance.source
  • March – Howel Harris preaches in Monmouthshire for the first time.Walessource
  • April 15 – Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, premieres in London.source
  • 15 April – première in London of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel.United Kingdomsource
  • April 18 – Spain's Royal Academy of History (Real Academia de la Historia) is established by decree of King Philip V of Spain.source
  • May 4 – The Imperial Theatrical School, in modern times known as Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, is founded under the reign of Empress Anna. It is the first ballet school in Russia and second in the world.source
  • 22 May – foundation stone of George Watson's College in Edinburgh is laid.Scotlandsource
  • May 24 – John Wesley, newly returned from America, experiences a spiritual rebirth at a Moravian Church meeting in Aldersgate, in the City of London, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day (his younger brother Charles had a similar experience three days earlier).source
  • 24 May – John Wesley, newly returned from America, experiences a spiritual rebirth at a Moravian Church meeting in Aldersgate in the City of London, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day. His younger brother Charles had a similar experience three days earlier.United Kingdomsource
  • 6 June - Premier of the Den Afwundsiuke by Olof von Dalin at Bollhuset in Stockholm.Swedensource
  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, having completed a law degree, is hired as a court musician by Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia, the future Frederick the Great (Bach will remain in Frederick's service until 1768).source
  • Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet was foundedRussiasource
  • Anderston Weavers' Society established in Glasgow.Scotlandsource
  • A new building, designed by James Steer to house the Welsh Charity School is erected in London.Walessource

Births

  • January 21 – Ethan Allen, American patriot (died 1789)source
  • April 14 – William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1809)source
  • May 27 – Nathaniel Gorham, American politician (died 1796)source
  • May 28 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician (died 1814)source
  • June 4 – King George III of the United Kingdom (died 1820)source
  • 4 June – Prince George, eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (died 1820)Walessource
  • June 25 - Thomas Peters, black soldier and leader (died 1792)Canadasource
  • July 3 – John Singleton Copley, American painter (died 1815)source
  • July 20 – Darejan Dadiani, Georgian queen consort (died 1807)source
  • August 28 – Etteilla, French occult cartomancer (died 1791)source
  • September 25 – Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and President of Delaware (died 1789)source
  • October 10 – Benjamin West, American painter (died 1820)source
  • October 11 – Arthur Phillip, British admiral and Governor of New South Wales (died 1814)source
  • October 29 – Charles Spalding, Scottish inventor and underwater diver (died 1783)source
  • November 15 – William Herschel, German-born astronomer (died 1822)source
  • 15 November – William Herschel, German-born British astronomer (died 1822)United Kingdomsource
  • December 31 – Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general (died 1805)source
  • Matvey Kazakov, Russian Neoclassical architectRussiasource

Deaths

  • January 24 – Samuel Andrew, American Congregational clergyman, educator (born 1656)source
  • January 30 – Benoît de Maillet, French diplomat and natural historian (born 1656)source
  • February 4 – Court Jew Joseph Süß Oppenheimer is executed in Württemberg.source
  • February 9 – Béatrice Hiéronyme de Lorraine, Abbess of Remiremont (born 1662)source
  • February 15 – Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (born 1684)source
  • February 27 – Henry Grove, English nonconformist minister (born 1684)source
  • March 16 – George Bähr, German architect (born 1666)source
  • 17 March – Peder Colbjørnsen, timber merchant and war hero (born 1683).Norwaysource
  • March 25 – Turlough O'Carolan, Irish harper and composer (born 1670)source
  • April 9 – Sir Charles Blois, 1st Baronet, English politician (born 1657)source
  • May 1 – Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English statesman (born c. 1669)source
  • May 15 – Sir John Chesshyre, English lawyer (born 1662)source
  • June 21 – Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, English politician (born 1674)source
  • 21 June – Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, English politician (born 1674)United Kingdomsource
  • July 28 – Heinrich, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg (born 1661)source
  • 1 September – Mathias Maurice, minister and author, 54Walessource
  • September 23 – Herman Boerhaave, Dutch humanist, physician (born 1668)source
  • Sava Vladislavich, Russian diplomatRussiasource