* 1720 – Anthonie Heinsius, Dutch statesman ( b. 1641 )

* 1720 – Carl Fredrik Pechlin, Swedish politician ( d. 1796 )

* 1720 – Konrad Ekhof, German actor ( d. 1778 )

* 1720 – Samuel Whitbread, English politician and brewer, founded Whitbread ( d. 1796 )

* 1792 – Maximilian Hell, Hungarian astronomer ( b. 1720 )

* 1648 – Jeremiah Shepard, American minister ( d. 1720 )

* 1769 – Chief Pontiac, Ottawa leader ( b. 1720 )

* 1720 – Antoine Hamilton, French writer ( b. 1646 )

* Two poets, Johann Peter Uz ( 1720 – 1796 ) and August von Platen-Hallermünde ( 1790 – 1835 ), were also born there.

French earthenware tray and board game, 1720 – 50

There is some controversy over the identity of the disease, but in its virulent form, after the Great Plague of Marseille in 1720 – 1722, the Great Plague of 1738 ( which hit Eastern Europe ), and the Russian plague of 1770-1772, it seems to have gradually disappeared from Europe.

During the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, Hume tutored the Marquis of Annandale ( 1720 – 92 ), who was officially described as a " lunatic ".

Three of five siblings survived to adulthood, Denise Diderot ( 1715 – 1797 ) and their youngest brother Pierre-Didier Diderot ( 1722 – 1787 ), and finally their sister Angélique Diderot ( 1720 – 1749 ).

* 1774 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer and organist ( b. 1720 )

* 1720 – Justus Möser, German statesman ( d. 1794 )

* 1720 – Carlo Gozzi, Italian dramatist ( d. 1804 )

An exception is the 1789 publication Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White ( 1720 – 1793 ), considered by some to be one of the earliest texts on ecology.

* Sir George Gordon, 3rd Baronet ( 1637 – 1720 ) ( created Earl of Aberdeen in 1682 )

* George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen ( 1637 – 1720 )

* 1720 – Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I.

* 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian Catholic cardinal ( d. 1803 )

They hit Europe especially hard in the 18th century, with three long pandemics which, although varying in intensity and duration from region to region, took place in the periods of 1709 – 1720, 1742 – 1760, and 1768 – 1786.

La Grace ( 1720 ) and Religion ( 1742 ), his most important work, are inspired by a sincere piety, and are written in verse of uniform clearness and excellence.

He was ambassador in Paris ( 1715 – 1720 ), and, besides seeing service under Marlborough, was commander-in-chief of the British forces on the Continent in 1742, showing great gallantry at Dettingen.

Today's architectural ensemble includes the Saviour Cathedral ( originally constructed in 1660-1661 ; rebuilt in 1717 – 1720 and 1742 ) and several 17th-century chambers as well former school building which dates to 1822.

1690-c. 1742 ) was an English naturalist and watercolourist illustrator who wrote and illustrated a number of books including A Natural History of English Insects ( 1720 ), A Natural History of Birds ( 1731 – 38 ) and The Natural History of Spiders and other Curious Insects ( 1736 ).

He is best known by his Histoire de France depuis l ' établissement de la monarchie française ( first complete edition, 1713 ), which was republished in 1720, 1721, 1725, 1742, and ( the last edition, with notes by Henri Griffet ) 1755 – 1760.

* Alexander V ( 1720 – 1741, 1742 – 1752 )

Edmund Halley ( 1720 ) and Jean-Philippe de Cheseaux ( 1744 ) noted independently that the assumption of an infinite space filled uniformly with stars would lead to the prediction that the nighttime sky would be as bright as the sun itself ; this became known as Olbers ' paradox in the 19th century.

* 1720 — Edmund Halley puts forth an early form of Olbers ' paradox

* 1664 – Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman ( d. 1742 )

* 1742 – Nathanael Greene, American general ( d. 1786 )

* 1742 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

* 1742 – 1762 James Bradley

* Principality of Anhalt-Dornburg: 1667 – 1742

* 1673 – Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick, Holy Roman Empire Empress ( d. 1742 )

* Pope Pius VII ( 1742 – 1823, r. 1800 – 23 )

* 1742 – Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal ( d. 1819 )

* 1709 – Louise Élisabeth d ' Orléans, queen consort of Spain ( d. 1742 )

* 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist ( d. 1742 )

* 1742 – Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.

La Fontaine's model was subsequently emulated by England's John Gay ( 1685 – 1732 ); Poland's Ignacy Krasicki ( 1735 – 1801 ); Italy's Lorenzo Pignotti ( 1739 – 1812 ) and Giovanni Gherardo de Rossi ( 1754 – 1827 ); Serbia's Dositej Obradović ( 1742 – 1811 ); Spain's Félix María de Samaniego ( 1745 – 1801 ) and Tomás de Iriarte y Oropesa ( 1750 – 1791 ); France's Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian ( 1755 – 94 ); and Russia's Ivan Krylov ( 1769 – 1844 ).

* Dositej Obradović ( Serbian, 1742 – 1811 )

Henry Dundas ( 1742 – 1811 ) dominated political affairs in the latter part of the century.

Middleton's son, Arthur ( 1742 – 1787 ) would also get involved in politics, succeeding his father as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, after his resignation, and, later on, sign the Declaration of Independence.