- Jan 9 Philip Astley stages the world's first modern circus in London
Massachusetts Circular Letter
Feb 11 Samuel Adams letter, circulates around American colonies, opposing Townshend Act taxes
Polish Bar Confederation
Feb 29 Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski joins the Bar Confederation to defend the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence
1st Resistance to the British
Apr 9 John Hancock refuses to allow two British customs agents to go below deck of his ship, considered by some to be the first act of physical resistance to British authority in the colonies
- May 9 John Hancock pays duties on 25 pipes of wine, only one fourth of his ship's carrying capacity. British officials accuse him of unloading the rest during the night to avoid paying duties on the entire cargo.
John Wilkes Imprisoned
May 10 English radical John Wilkes imprisoned for writing an article for "The North Briton" severely criticizing King George III. This action provokes rioting in London.
- Jun 10 British customs officials seize John Hancock's ship, "The Liberty", on the suspicion that Hancock had illegally unloaded cargo without paying duties a month earlier
- Jun 10 Riot breaks out in Boston after customs officials seize sloop owned by John Hancock for alleged customs violation
- Jun 21 1st medical diploma in America is granted to Dr John Archer from the College of Philadelphia
- Jul 7 Firm of Johann Buddenbrook founded, in Thomas Mann's novel
- Jul 18 Boston Gazette publishes "Liberty Song", America's 1st patriotic song
- Aug 19 Saint Isaac's Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Cook's First Voyage
Aug 25 Captain James Cook departs from Plymouth, England, on his first voyage on board the Endeavour, bound for the Pacific Ocean
- Oct 1 British troops under General Thomas Gage land in Boston
- Oct 30 First Methodist church in North American colonies initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC)
- Dec 1 The slave ship Fredensborg sinks off Tromøy in Norway (rediscovered 1974)
- Dec 10 First part (number) of the Encyclopedia Britannica is published in Edinburgh, Scotland
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists