1724
Events
January–March
- January 15 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne in favour of his 16-year-old son Louis I.
- January 18 - The Dutch East India Company cargo ship Fortuyn, on its maiden voyage, departs from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa after a layover of 16 days following its arrival from the Netherlands. With a crew of 225 commanded by Pieter Westrik, the ship departs for Batavia in the Dutch East Indies and is never seen again.
- January 22 - Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, Spanish Captain general of the Río de la Plata, forces the Portuguese to abandon their fortified settlement at what will become the city of Montevideo in Uruguay.
- January 28 - Saint Petersburg State University is established in Russia.
- February 8 - Catherine I of Russia is officially named tsaritsa by her husband, Peter the Great.
- February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.
- March 7 - Pope Innocent XIII dies at the age of 68 after less than three years as the Roman Catholic pontiff.
- March 20 - The 1724 papal conclave opens in Rome, 13 days after the death of Innocent XIII. Starting with 33 electors and eventually having 53, the conclave deliberates for more than two months before selecting a successor.
April–June
- April 7 - Bach leads the first performance of his St John Passion,""carefully designed with a great deal of musico-theological intent", on Good Friday.
- April 10 - Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66, his first cantata composed for Easter in Leipzig.
- April 23 - Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104, illustrating the topic of the Good Shepherd in pastoral music.
- April 28 - The first of the seven Drapier's Letters, satirical pamphlets seeking to arouse public opinion in Ireland against the imposition by the British of a privately minted copper coinage, is published by Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and author, writing under the pseudonym "M. B., Drapier", identifying himself as a drapier or seller of cloth.
- May 13 - Cardinal Giulio Piazza, the Archbishop of Faenza, comes within four votes of being elected the new Pope
- May 29 - Cardinal Vincenzo Orsini, the Archbishop of Benevento, accepts the papacy, two days after being unanimously selected by the cardinals at the papal conclave in Rome. He becomes the 245th pontiff as Pope Benedict XIII.
- June 11 - Johann Sebastian Bach leads his cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20, BWV20, on the first Sunday after Trinity, beginning his second cycle, the chorale cantata cycle.
- June 23 - The Treaty of Constantinople is signed, partitioning Persia between the Ottoman Empire and Russia.
- June 24 - On the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Bach leads the first performance of his Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, BWV7, the third cantata of his chorale cantata cycle.
July–September
- July 2 - On the Feast of the Visitation, Bach leads the first performance of his Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, BWV10, the fifth cantata of his chorale cantata cycle.
- July 27 - "Peter the Wild Boy" is captured near Helpensen in Hanover.
- July 31 - The Hyderabad State is created in India, as Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah rewards his associate Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan. Qamar-ud-din becomes the first Nizam of Hyderabad. The princely state exists for more than 220 years, coming to an end after India's independence from Britain.
- August - Longman, the oldest surviving publishing house in England, is founded in London by Thomas Longman.
- August 13 - Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of Nimm von uns, Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101, a chorale cantata on a famous tune.
- August 31 - Louis I of Spain dies of smallpox, aged 17, after a reign of seven months, and his father Philip V resumes the throne.
- September 4 - José de Grimaldo, who had been Prime Minister for Spain's King Philip V until the latter's abdication in January, resumes office with the return of King Philip.
- September 10 - Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78, a chorale cantata based on a passion hymn by Johann Rist.
- September 24 - The Paris Bourse, the stock exchange for France, is created by order of King Louis XV on the advice of Nicolas Ravot d'Ombreval, four years after a financial panic had shut down trading. Stock markets had already been set up in Lyon, Bourdeaux and Toulouse.
- September 29 - J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, BWV 130, for the feast of archangel Michael, based on Paul Eber's hymn in twelve stanzas.
October–December
- October 2 - Muhammad bin Nasir is elected as the new Imam of Oman after the overthrow of his brother, Saif bin Sultan II.
- October 15 - The historic Teatro Nuovo opera house is inaugurated in Naples with the premiere of Antonio Orefice's comic opera Lo Simmele.
- October 16 - Yeongjo becomes the new emperor of Korea after the death of his older brother Gyeongjong. He reigns for almost 52 years until his death on April 22, 1776.
- October 22 - J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele in Leipzig on the 20th Sunday after Trinity, based on the communion hymn of the same name.
- October 31 - George Frideric Handel's opera Tamerlano is performed for the first time, premiering in London. The opera will be revived as late as 2009.
- November 11 - Joseph Blake, English highwayman, is hanged in London.
- November 16
- * Highwayman Jack Sheppard is hanged in London.
- * Willem Mons, lover of Catherine I of Russia, is executed, and his head preserved in alcohol.
- November 19 - The Dutch East India Company frigate Slot ter Hooge strikes rocks and sinks off Porto Santo Island, Madeira, with the loss of 221 of the 254 people on board.
- December 2 - The Metropolitan Mojsije Petrović, leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church within the Habsburg monarchy, issues a 57-point decree to purge the church of the Turkish influence.
- December 7
- *In the aftermath of an attack against Jesuit Catholics led by the Lutheran mayor of the Prussian city of Thorn, ten Lutheran officials are executed in the town square. Rösner and seven others are decapitated by an axe, while two others are hanged, drawn and quartered for blasphemy.
- *By order of the Nizam, Hyderabad is made the permanent capital of the Indian princely state of the same name. It becomes capital of the Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
- December 14 - The Viceroyalty of Zhili is recreated in the Chinese Empire by the Emperor Yongzheng for the first time in 55 years, with Li Weijun as the first Viceory. Zhili exists as a viceroyalty until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912.
- December 24 - Francesco Valesio resumes writing his Diario di Roma, 13 years after he ceased his recording of daily life in Rome.
- December 25 - J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91, in Leipzig, based on Luther's 1524 Christmas hymn.
Date unknown
- China expels foreign missionaries.
- Blenheim Palace construction is completed in England. It is presented as a gift from the nation to the Duke of Marlborough, for his involvement in the Battle of Blenheim in 1704.
- The Austrian Netherlands agree to the Pragmatic Sanction.
- Shah Mahmud Hotaki of Afghanistan goes insane.
- The Kaitokudō academy merchant school, part predecessor of Osaka University is founded in Japan.
Births
January 12 - Frances Brooke, English writer February 16 - Christopher Gadsden, American statesman February 28 - George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, British field marshal February 29 - Eva Marie Veigel, Austrian-born English ballet dancer, known as La Violette March 1 - Manuel do Cenáculo, Portuguese prelate and antiquarian March 6 - Henry Laurens, political leader during the American Revolutionary War, father of John Laurens March 27 - Jane Colden, American botanist April 12 - Lyman Hall, American signer of the Declaration of Independence April 22 - Immanuel Kant, German philosopher May 7 - Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, Alsatian-born Austrian general May 19 - Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral, politician June 8 - John Smeaton, English civil engineer June 15 - Countess Palatine Maria Franziska of Sulzbach, German aristocrat July 2 - Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet July 10 - Eva Ekeblad, Swedish scientist August 3 - Alvise Foscari, Venetian admiral August 23 - Abraham Yates, American Continental Congressman August 25 - George Stubbs, English painter August 27 - John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-born Continental Congressman September 3 - Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, British soldier and Governor of Quebec December 12 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral December 13 - Franz Aepinus, German scientist December 18 - Louise of Great Britain, queen of Frederick V of Denmark December 24 - Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician, naturalist December 25 - John Michell, English scientist and geologist December 28 - Christoph Franz von Buseck, Prince-Bishop of Bamberg December 30 - Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, French painter Date unknown* Marie Anne Victoire Pigeon, French mathematician * James MacLaine, Irish highwayman