- Jan 21 Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (1757-74). dies of a heart attack at 56
- Jan 30 František Tůma, Czech composer, dies at 69
- Jan 30 Jean-Pierre Guignon [Giovanni Pietro Ghignone], Italian-French violinist and composer, dies at 71
- Feb 4 Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (b. 1701)
- Feb 10 Florian Leopold Gassmann, Bohemian composer, dies at 44
- Apr 4 Oliver Goldsmith, Irish novelist and dramatist (She Stoops to Conquer), dies at 45
- Apr 23 Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, German painter, dies at 61
- May 4 Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, dies at 59
- May 10 Louis XV, King of France (1715-74) known as "Louis the Beloved", dies at 64
- Jul 1 Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, English corrupt politician (Chiswick), dies at 68
- Jul 7 Giuseppe Maria Carretti, Italian composer, dies at 83
- Jul 11 Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet, Irish-born New York pioneer
- Jul 14 James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley and Kilmaine, British field marshal (b. 1682)
- Aug 11 Tiphaigne de la Roche, French writer (b. 1722)
- Aug 14 Johann Jakob Reiske, German physician (b. 1716)
- Aug 25 Niccolò Jommelli, Italian composer, dies at 59
- Sep 22 Pope Clement XIV [Giovanni Ganganelli], Pope (1769-74), dies at 68
- Sep 25 John Bradstreet, Canadian-born soldier (British officer in French-Indian War, organized The Bateau and Transport Service), dies at 59
- Oct 13 William Bentinck, British-born Dutch politician and prominent Orangist, dies at 69
- Oct 16 Robert Fergusson, Scottish poet (Scottish Poems), dies at 24
- Oct 23 Michel Benoist, French Jesuit missionary and scientist, dies at 59
- Dec 2 Johann Friedrich Agricola, German (court) composer and organist, dies at 54
- Dec 13 Susanne von Klettenberg, German abbess and correspondent of Goethe, dies at 50
- Dec 16 François Quesnay, French personal physician of Louis XIV, dies at 80
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide