Eighteenth-Century Chronology: 1740
This page in the Eighteenth-Century Chronology is
maintained by Jack
Lynch. Please send suggestions and corrections to jlynch@andromeda.rutgers.edu.
Literature
- Colley Cibber, An Apology for the Life of Colley
Cibber
- John Dyer, The Ruins of Rome
- Henry Fielding called to the bar
- Samuel Johnson, Life of Blake, Life of Drake, Life of
Barretier
- Samuel Richardson, Pamela (through 1741)
Theatre
- James Thomson, Alfred (includes "Rule Britannia")
Art
Music
- Thomas Arne sets James Thomson's "Rule Britannia"
- George Frederick Händel (or Handel), L'Allegro, il
Penseroso ed il Moderato
- George Frederick Händel (or Handel), Imeneo
- George Frederick Händel (or Handel), 12 Concerti Grossi,
Op. 6
- George Frederick Händel (or Handel), 6 Organ Concertos
Science, Technology, & Medicine
- Jean Astruc, Venereal Diseases
- Frederick the Great founds the Berlin Academy of Science in
Germany
Politics & Law
- The War of Austrian Succession begins as Frederick II invades
Silesia (through 1748); in Georgia, Virginia, and the Caribbean,
it is known as King George's War (1743-48)
- Samuel Johnson begins his reports of the Parliamentary
debates
- Fifty slaves are hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, for a
planned rebellion
Philosophy & Theology
- David Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, vol. 2 (begun 1739)
- George Whitefield, A Short Account of God's Dealings with George
Whitefield
Milestones
- Birth of James Boswell
- Birth of Joseph Brant
- Death of Thomas Tickell
- Birth of Woodforde
- Death of Sir William Wyndham
Miscellaneous
- Anson begins his circumnavigation of the globe
- The University of Pennsylvania is founded by Benjamin
Franklin
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