1740
Centuries: 17th century - 18th century - 19th century
Decades: 1690s 1700s 1710s 1720s 1730s - 1740s - 1750s 1760s 1770s 1780s 1790s
Years: 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 - 1740 - 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745
Events
- - Adam Smith enters Balliol College, Oxford
- May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I.
- October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). However, her succession to the Holy Roman Empire is contested widely because she is a woman.
- December 16 - Friedrich II of Prussia invades the Habsburg possession of Silesia, starting the War of the Austrian Succession.
- May 31 - Friedrich Wilhelm I, King of Prussia
- October 20 - Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
- October 28 - Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia)
- 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)
- Saxony - Frederick Augustus II Elector of Saxony (from 1733 to 1763) (also King of Poland)
