| 1716–1745 | Japan [political events] | Yoshimune, of the Tokugawa house of Kii, succeeds Ienobu as shogun (military ruler) of Japan. |
| c. 1725–c. 1740 | Spain [sports] | Bullfighting grows in popularity in Spain, with Francisco Romero becoming the first famous matador. |
| 1730–1807 | UK [newspapers] | The Daily Advertiser is launched in London, England. With its dependence on advertisements, this may be regarded as the first modern newspaper. |
| 1740 | England [painting] | English artist William Hogarth paints Portrait of Captain Coram and Portrait of Mary Edwards. |
| 1740 | England [literature and language] | The English writer Samuel Richardson publishes Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, generally considered the first English novel. |
| 1740 | North America [statistics and demography] | The estimated total nonindigenous population of the European colonies in North America reaches 889,000. |
| 1740 | UK [technology] | English clockmaker Benjamin Huntsman rediscovers the principle of producing steel in a crucible. Huntsman's Sheffield steel is far superior to any other cast steel being made. |
| 31 May 1740 | Prussia [political events] | Following the death of Frederick William I of Prussia, he is succeeded by his son Frederick II (the Great). |
| 17 August 1740 | Rome [religion] | The Italian churchman Prospero Lambertini is elected Pope Benedict XIV following the death of Pope Clement XII |
| 26 August 1740 | France [births and deaths] | Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French aeronaut who, with his brother Jacques-Etienne, developed the hot-air balloon, born in Annonay, France (–1810). |
| 20 October 1740 | Habsburg Monarchy, Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire,Russia, Germany, Saxony, Spain, UK, United Netherlands [War of the Austrian Succession (1740–46)] | Following the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, the last Habsburg emperor, he is succeeded in the Habsburg domains (by virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction) by his daughter Maria Theresa. She becomes queen of Bohemia and Hungary and archduchess of Austria. The succession is disputed three times. The first instance is by Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, who is married to a daughter of Joseph I, the former emperor and older brother of Charles VI, and who is a claimant by the will of the earlier emperor Ferdinand I. The second claim is made by Frederick Augustus II, elector of Saxony (and King Augustus III of Poland), through his wife, the eldest daughter of Joseph I. King Philip V of Spain also disputes the succession, as heir of the Spanish Habsburgs, with a particular interest in the Italian provinces. Britain and the United Netherlands support Maria Theresa while Russia remains neutral. |
| 28 October 1740 | Russia [political events] | Following the death of Empress Anna of Russia, she is succeeded by Ivan VI, the Grandson of Anna's sister Catherine. Ivan's mother acts as regent, but the real power is in the hands of Count Burkhard Christoph von Münnich, who succeeds in banishing Anna's favourite, Ernst Biron, duke of Courland, from Russia. |
| 29 October 1740 | Scotland [births and deaths] | James Boswell, Scottish diarist, friend and biographer of Samuel Johnson, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (–1795). |
| 16 December 1740 | Prussia, Silesia [political events] | King Frederick (II) the Great of Prussia enters Silesia and begins the first Silesian War. |
