Eighteenth-Century Chronology: 1728

Literature

• Blair, Poem to William Law
• Daniel Defoe, Captain Carleton
• John Gay, The Beggar's Opera
• Samuel Johnson matriculates at Pembroke College, Oxford
• Alexander Pope, The Dunciad, in 3 books
• Alexander Pope, Arbuthnot, Jonathan Swift, et al., Scriblerian miscellanies, vol. 3 (through 1735)
• Allan Ramsay, Poems
• Elizabeth Rowe, Friendship in Death
• Richard Savage, Nature in Perfection, The Bastard
• Jonathan Swift et al., The Intelligencer (through 1729)
• James Thomson, Spring
• Edward Young, The Ocean

Theatre

• Colley Cibber, The Provok'd Husband (completes John Vanbrugh's Journey to London)
• Henry Fielding, Love in Several Masques
• John Gay, The Beggar's Opera

Art

Music

• George Frederick Händel (or Handel), Siroe
• George Frederick Händel (or Handel), Tolomeo
• Royal Academy of Music fails

Science, Technology, & Medicine

• James Bradley detects the aberration of light in fixed stars
• Pierre Fauchard writes the first modern textbook on dentistry

Politics & Law

• Congress of Soissons ???
• Jonathan Swift, A Short View of the State of Ireland

Philosophy & Theology

• Hutcheson, The Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections
• William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life
• Isaac Watts is awarded an honorary doctorate (D.D.) by The University of Edinburgh
• John Wesley ordained
• Edward Young, Vindication of Providence
• The first American synagogue is built in New York City by Jewish colonists

Milestones

• Birth of Robert Adam, architect
• Birth of Robert Bage
• Birth of Captain James Cook
• Birth of Oliver Goldsmith, playwright, poet, novelist, and critic
• Death of Esther Johnson (Jonathan Swift's "Stella")
• Death of Steffani, composer
• Birth of Thomas Warton, Jr., poet and critic

Miscellaneous

• Ephraim Chambers, Cyclopaedia
• Aodh MacCruitín (Hugh MacCurtin), The Elements of the Irish Language