1759
Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century
Decades: 1700s 1710s 1720s 1730s 1740s - 1750s - 1760s 1770s 1780s 1790s 1800s
Years: 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 - 1759 - 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764
Events
- January 11 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company is incorporated.
- January 15 - The British Museum opens
- April 13 - a French army defeats Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick at Brunswick
- June 27 - British Troops under Jeffrey Amherst take Fort Ticonderoga
- July 25 - Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): In Canada, British forces capture Fort Niagara from French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
- Ferdinand VI of Spain is succeeded by his half-brother Carlos III of Spain
- September 13 - Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): French Canada falls to British forces following General Wolfe's victory in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec. Both the French Commander (the Marquis de Montcalm) and the British General James Wolfe are fatally wounded.
- George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis
- Adam Smith publishes Theory of Moral Sentiments, embodying some of his Glasgow lectures
- Publication of Voltaire's Candide
- January 25 - Robert Burns, poet
- February 15 - Friedrich August Wolf, philologist and archaeologist (+ 1824)
- May 20 - William Thornton, original architect of the United States Capitol
- May 28 - William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister (+ 1806)
- April 14 - George Friderich Handel, composer
- August 10 - Ferdinand VI of Spain
- September 13 - General James Wolfe
- September 14 - Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French General
- China - Qianlong Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (reigned from October 18, 1735 to February 9, 1796)
- France - Louis XV King of France (reigned from 1715 to 1774)
- Great Britain - George II King of Great Britain (reigned from June 11, 1727 to October 25, 1760)
- Prussia - Frederick II King of Prussia (reigned from 1740 to 1786)
- Russia - Elizabeth Empress of Russia (reigned from 1741 to January 5, 1762)
- Saxony - Frederick Augustus II Elector of Saxony (from 1733 to 1763) (also King of Poland)
- Sweden - Adolf Frederick of Sweden King of Sweden (reigned from 1751 to 1771)
