Apr 7 Johann Balthasar Kehl, German composer and organist, dies at 52 Apr 8 Pieter Teyler van der Hulst, Dutch silk merchant (founded Teyler Museum), dies at 76 Apr 22 James Hargreaves, British inventor (spinning jenny), dies at 57 Mar 1778 Famous Deaths by Year May 1778 Famous People by Cause of Death Assassination Drug Overdose Gunshot Wound Murder Plane Crash Suicide