1715

• French philosopher Étienne Bonnot de Condillac.
• French philosopher Claude-Adrien Helvétius, a founder of Utilitarianism.
• Scottish printer William Strachan.
• English novelist Richard Graves.
• English poet Richard Jago.
• Italian composer Gennaro Manna.
• Austrian composer Georg Christoph Wagenseil.
• English physicist William Watson.
• German lyric poet Ewald Christian von Kleist.
• Swedish politician and writer Carl Fredrik Scheffer.
• New York landowner and colonial statesman William Johnson.
• Japanese poet and painter Taniguchi Buson.

• The "Sun King" of France, Louis XIV.
• English explorer and mapmaker William Dampier.
• (February) Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore.
• (April) Benedict Leonard Calvert, fourth Lord Baltimore.
• Irish poet and Playwright Nahum Tate.
• French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche.
• Scottish bishop Gilbert Burnet, a leading Whig figure.
• English engineer Thomas Savery.
• French alchemist Nicholas Lemery, whose work led to the emergence of chemistry as a science in its own right.
• Chinese painter Wang Yuanqui.
• Japanese imperial astronomer and Go master Shibukawa Shunkai.
• Sikh general Banda Singh Bahadur, tortured to death with red hot irons by his Mughal captors.

• The final treaties ending The War of the Spanish Succession are signed:
• The Third Barrier Treaty regulates trade between the Dutch Republic and the Austrian Netherlands.
• The Treaty of Madrid makes peace between Spain and Portugal.
• The Great Northern War sees naval action in the Baltic Sea, mostly to the detriment of Sweden. Sweden's enemies eat away at Swedish holdings in Pomerania.
• (April) The Danish fleet destroys a Swedish squadron off Femern.
• Prussia and Hanover (and hence Great Britain) declare war on Sweden.
• (November) Another Danish fleet lands a combined Danish-Prussian army at Stresow.
• (December) Swedish King Charles XII escapes the capture of Stralsund, sneaks back into Sweden, and begins plotting further adventures.
• Wolves roaming the streets of St. Petersburg kill several people.
• Louis XIV is succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson, now Louis XV.  Real power is in the hands of the regent, his uncle Philip, the duc d'Orleans.  His other uncle, King Philip V of Spain, eyes the throne he renounced just two years ago covetously.
• The entire Spanish treasure fleet is sunk in a hurricane off Florida.  The ship was carrying part of the dowry King Philip's new wife (Isabella Farnese) demanded before she would consummate their union. Looks like Philip's in a real bind.
• Benedict Leonard Calvert, having renounced Catholicism, lobbies to have Maryland, a crown colony since 1689, given back to him.  This is successful, although not in time for Benedict.  His son Charles Calvert is reinstated as Lord Proprietor of Maryland.
• The remaining supporters of the Stewart dynasty, members of the Tory political party known as "Jacobites", are unhappy with the accession of George I the previous year.  The new king, also, the elector of Hanover, speaks no English whatsoever. In addition, he is a Protestant, and Jacobite supporters fume at the passing over of many Catholic candidates with better claims.  They attempt to depose George, with French backing.
• (September) The Earl of Mar, a nobleman who had not recieved a coveted government position from the new king, gathered the Highland clans.  He also forms Jacobite units from Catholic Stewart supporters in northern England.  Mar takes Inverness and perth, but fails to capture Edinburgh.
• (November 12) After two months of troop movements, the southern Jacobite army (led by the the Earl of Derwentwater) is defeated by four regiments of dragoons at the Battle of Preston.
• (November 13) The Earl of Mar fails to capitalize on his advantage at the Battle of Sherriffmuir, and on top of that, Highland clans loyal to George recapture Inverness.
• Louis XIV's death means that there will be no help from France. The rest of the year sees the constant weakening of Jacobite forces and the constant strengthening of George's.
• (December 22) James Edward Stewart finally arrives in Scotland and promptly falls ill. This hardly matters; the Jacobite cause is already hopeless.
• Parliament passes the Riot Act in response to the uprising: If an official "reads the Riot Act" to an assembly of 12 or more persons, failure to disperse becomes a capital offense.

1714 - 1715 - 1716

How they Were Made - 18th Century