- Jan 16 Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (b. 1680)
- Feb 1 Jacobus Capitein, Dutch Christian minister, dies at ~30
- Mar 9 Jacob Campo Weyerman, Dutch painter and writer active during the Dutch Enlightenment, dies at 69
- Mar 16 Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia, dies at 56
- Mar 23 Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French soldier who served the Ottoman Empire and converted to Islam, dies at 71
- Apr 2 Johann J Dillenius, German botanist, dies at 63
- Apr 3 Francesco Solimena, Italian painter, dies at 89
- Apr 7 Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal, dies at 70
- Apr 9 Simon Fraser, 12th baron Lovat, Scottish Jacobite (last man beheaded in England), beheaded for treason at 80
- May 9 John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and diplomat, dies at 73
- May 28 Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer, dies at 31
- May 31 Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
- Jun 6 Jean Barriere, French composer and cellist, dies at 40
- Jun 19 Alessandro Marcello, composer, dies at 74
- Jun 19 Nader Shah, Iranian ruler (1736-47) and founder of Afsharid Dynasty of Persia, murdered at 58
- Jul 9 Giovanni Battista Bononcini, Italian opera-composer, dies at 76
- Jul 16 Giuseppe Maria Crespi, painter/etcher, dies
- Aug 8 Madeleine de Verchères, French Canadian heroine (repelling a raid on Fort Verchères when she was 14 years old), dies at 69
- Sep 15 Johann Gotthilf Ziegler, German baroque composer and organist, dies at 59
- Oct 9 David Brainerd, American missionary to the Native Americans, dies at 29
- Oct 10 John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1674)
- Nov 17 Alain-René Lesage, French author (Le diable boiteux), dies at 79
- Dec 2 Vincent Bourne, English classical scholar (b. 1695)
- Dec 11 Edmund Curll, English bookseller who quarrelled with poet Alexander Pope (b. ca. 1675)
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning