1761 - Definition and Overview

Events

• January 16 - British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
• February 8 – Earthquake in London breaks chimneys in Limehouse and Poplar
• March 8 - Second earthquake in North London, Hampstead and Highgate

• In Dutch Guayana a “state” formed by escaped slaves signs a treaty with the local governor
• Opening of Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory.
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is published, in France.

Ongoing events

• French and Indian War (1754-1763)
• Seven Years' War (1756-1763)

Births

• February 1 - Christian Hendrik Persoon - Mycologist. (d. 1836)
• May 3 - August von Kotzebue - German Dramatist.
• November 4 - Bertrand Andrieu - French engraver of medals.
• November 20 - Pope Pius VIII
• December 1 - Marie Tussaud - French Waxwork modeller
• Henry Shrapnel - British Army officer and inventor.

Deaths

• April 4 - Theodore Gardelle, Swiss enameller
• April 7 - Thomas Bayes, British mathematician and Presbyterian minister
• July 4 - Samuel Richardson, British writer
• Tokugawa Ieshige - Japanese shogun.