* 1740 – Jean Baptiste Camille Canclaux, French general ( d. 1817 )

* 1688 – Frederick William I of Prussia ( d. 1740 )

* 1740 – Pope Pius VII ( d. 1823 )

* 1740 – Matthias Claudius, German poet ( d. 1815 )

The last maker of the family was Nicolo's son, Girolamo Amati, known as Hieronymus II ( February 26, 1649 – February 21, 1740 ).

* 1752 – Start of Konbaung-Hanthawaddy War, a new phase in Burmese Civil War ( 1740 – 1757 )

* 1740 – War of Jenkin's Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa.

* 1740 – Samuel Arnold, English composer and organist ( d. 1802 )

* 1652 – Pope Clement XII ( d. 1740 )

In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great ( 1740 – 1786 ), came to power.

( 1739 – 1740 )

Meanwhile, under the direction of Benedict XIV ( pope 1740 – 1758 ), a special congregation collected much material for an official revision, but nothing was published.

1710 – 14 October 1740 ) was an Italian singer, harpsichordist, and composer whose works bridge the Baroque and Classical periods.

* 1814 – Marquis de Sade, French writer ( b. 1740 )

* 1740 – Arthur Lee, American diplomat ( d. 1792 )

In 1757, he married Mary ( Polly ) Howard ( 1740 – 1770 ).

Elias Boudinot ( ; May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821 ) was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress and was elected as a U. S. Congressman for New Jersey following the American Revolutionary War.

* 1740 – Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal ( b. 1667 )

* 1693 – Empress Anna of Russia ( d. 1740 )

* 1740 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver ( d. 1813 )

The Royal Navy captured a handful of the new French frigates during the War of the Austrian Succession ( 1740 – 1748 ) and were impressed by them, particularly for their inshore handling capabilities.

Frederick William I () ( 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740 ) was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg ( as Frederick William II ) from 1713 until his death.

Portrait of Sir Robert Walpole, studio of Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1740.

In 1766, Sir Peter Beckford ( 1740 – 1811 ), a wealthy Englishman and cousin of the novelist William Thomas Beckford, twice Lord Mayor of London, visited Rome.

He is best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded ( 1740 ), Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady ( 1748 ) and The History of Sir Charles Grandison ( 1753 ).

These included leading figures of the European ' Enlightenment ' including the philosophers Voltaire, 1694 – 1778 ) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( 1712 – 1778 ); the future US Presidents John Adams ( 1735 – 1826 ) and Thomas Jefferson ( 1743 – 1826 ); Benjamin Franklin ( 1706 – 1790 ); the German landscape artist Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau ; the Italian statesman Giuseppe Garibaldi ( 1807 – 1882 ); Russian Tsars Nicholas I ( 1796 – 1855 ) and Alexander I ( 1777 – 1825 ); the king of Persia ; Queen Victoria ( 1819 – 1901 ) and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg ( 1819 – 61 ); Sir Walter Scott ( 1771 – 1832 ); Prince Leopold III, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau ( 1740 – 1817 ); Prime Ministers William Ewart Gladstone ( 1809 – 1898 ) and Sir Robert Walpole ( 1676 – 1745 ); Queen Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach ( 1683 – 1737 ); John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute ( 1713 – 92 ) his architect William Burges ( 1827 – 1881 ) and the present Prince of Wales and Princess Margaret.

He was intended, by the King and Queen, for the office of Lord High Admiral, and, in 1740, he sailed, as a volunteer, in the fleet under the command of Sir John Norris, but he quickly became dissatisfied with the Navy, and, instead secured the post of colonel of the First Regiment of Foot Guards on 20 February 1741.

* Sir William Williams, 2nd Baronet, of Gray's Inn ( c. 1665 – 1740 ), Welsh politician, Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Denbigh, 1708 – 1710

She danced and acted at various Dublin theatres until 1740, when her success as Sir Harry Wildair in The Constant Couple led to her being given her London debut at Covent Garden ; she became well known as an actress thereafter.

* Sir Edward Seymour, 5th Baronet ( 1663 – 1740 ), English MP

** Sir Peter Beckford, English peerage ( b. 1740 ), patron of Muzio Clementi

* History of the Revolutions of Portugal, with letters of Sir Robert Southwell during his embassy there ( London, 1740 )

* Sir George Thomas, 3rd Baronet ( c. 1740 – 1815 ), British MP for Arundel

Sir Philip Francis ( 22 October 1740 – 23 December 1818 ) was an Irish-born British politician and pamphleteer, the possible author of the Letters of Junius, and the chief antagonist of Warren Hastings.

* Sir William Culpeper, 4th Baronet ( 1668 – 1740 ), of the Culpeper baronets

* Sir William Pepys, 1st Baronet ( 1740 – 1825 )

* Sir John Hill, 3rd Baronet ( 1740 – 1824 )

* Sir Andrew Aylmer, 4th Baronet ( died 1740 )

* Sir William Gerard, 7th Baronet ( 1721 – 1740 )

* Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet ( 1740 – 1810 )

* Sir John Rogers, 3rd Baronet ( 1708 – 1773 ), British MP for Plymouth 1739 – 1740

* Sir Francis Bridgeman, 3rd Baronet ( August 1713 – November or December 1740 ).

* Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet ( 1740 – 1810 ), English merchant banker who established merchant house of Barings

The Scott family descends from Sir John Scott, Baronet ( 1648 – 1712 ), of Ancrum, Roxburghshire in Scotland, whose second son, Captain John Scott ( 1678 – 1740 ), emigrated to New York City, where he received the rights of citizenship in 1702.

* Sir Francis Henry Drake, 4th Baronet ( 1694 – 1740 ), son of Sir Francis Drake ; MP for Tavistock ( UK Parliament constituency )