J.S. Bach conducts the first performance of his St Matthew Passion in the St Thomas's church in Leipzig

On the death of his father, George I, George II becomes king of Great Britain

Handel composes Zadok the Priest for the crowning of George II, and it has been sung at every subsequent British coronation

The Italian poet Metastasio produces, in Vienna, opera libretti which are used by almost every composer of the day

John and Charles Wesley form a Holy Club at Oxford which becomes the cradle of Methodism

English maker of telescopes John Hadley designs the instrument which evolves into the standard sextant used at sea

With the performance of Esther Handel taps a rich new vein, the English oratorio

An alliance between the French and Spanish Bourbons is the first of what become known as the Family Compacts

Voltaire publishes a series of Philosophical Letters comparing the French unfavourably with England

John Kay, working in the Lancashire woollen industry, patents the flying shuttle to speed up weaving

Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus publishes a 'system of nature', capable of classifying all living things

Swedish chemist Georg Brandt discovers a new metallic element, which he names cobalt

Florence loses her independence when the last Medici duke of Tuscany dies

In the Treaty of Vienna, France accepts the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI – the last of the European powers to do so

Britain declares war on Spain, partly in a mood of indignation over Captain Jenkins' ear

David Hume publishes his Treatise of Human Nature, in which he applies to the human mind the principles of experimental science

Frederick II, inheriting the throne in Prussia, establishes a cultured and musical court

A charismatic leader, Baal Shem Tov, develops Hasidism in Poland as an influential revivalist movement within Judaism

Italian dramatist Carlo Goldoni makes a success of plays in the ancient commedia dell'arte tradition

Jack Broughton, champion of England, opens an academy to teach 'the mystery of boxing, that wholly British art'

The Habsburg emperor Charles VI dies and is succeeded by his elder daughter, the 23-year-old Maria Theresa

Frederick II, the king of Prussia, invades the neighbouring Habsburg province of Silesia, launching the War of the Austrian Succession

J.S. Bach publishes his set of Goldberg Variations, supposedly written for performance by the young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg

Frederick's Prussian army defeats the Austrians at Mollwitz, securing his hold on most of Silesia

Venice's new theatre, the Teatro Novissimo, has machinery which can change the scenes in the blink of an eye