8 June – The Honourable Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland is formed in Edinburgh by over 300 landowners, part of the Scottish Enlightenment.[1]
c. 5 February (16 February NS) – John Witherspoon, Presbyterian minister, a Founding Father of the U.S. and President of the College of New Jersey (modern-day Princeton University; died 1794 in the United States)