Guyana. November 30 – King Philip V of Spain issues a decree reorganizing the Spanish government to create four ministries, with the Secretary of State being the chief minister, predecessor to the office of Prime Minister of Spain. José de Grimaldo becomes the first person to have the chief ministry. December 9 – Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718): The Ottoman Empire declares war on the Republic of Venice. Date unknown Archbishop Tenison's School, the world's earliest surviving mixed gender school, is established by Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Croydon, south of London, England. Louis Juchereau de St. Denis establishes Fort St. Jean Baptiste, at the site of present day Natchitoches, Louisiana (the first permanent European settlement in the Louisiana Territory, after Biloxi (1699) and Mobile, Alabama (1702) were separated). Worcester College, University of Oxford is founded (formerly Gloucester College, closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries). Stockholm County is founded. The river Kander (Switzerland) is redirected into Lake Thun. Births January 1 Kristijonas Donelaitis, Prussian-Lithuanian Lutheran pastor, poet, author of The Seasons (d. 1780) Giovanni Battista Mancini, Italian soprano castrato, voice teacher and author of books on singing (d. 1800) January 6 John Christopher Hartwick, Lutheran minister in Colonial America, founder of Hartwick College (d. 1796) Percivall Pott, English surgeon (d. 1788) January 9 – Elisabeth Stierncrona, Swedish noble (d. 1769) January 10 – Johann Georg Dominicus von Linprun, German scientist (d. 1787) January 16 Francis V de Beauharnais, French nobleman, soldier, politician, colonial governor and admiral (d. 1800) Carl Jesper Benzelius, Swedish bishop (d. 1793) January 20 – Hugh Farmer, British theologian (d. 1787) January 21 – Anna Morandi Manzolini, internationally known Italian anatomist and anatomical wax modeler (d. 1774) January 24 – Henri Joseph Bouchard d'Esparbès de Lussan d'Aubeterre, Marshal of France (d. 1788) January 26 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor (d. 1785) February 1 Nicolaus Christian Friis, Norwegian priest and writer (d. 1777) Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney of Ireland (d. 1791) February 2 – Gottfried August Homilius, German composer, cantor and organist (d. 1785) February 5 – Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, German botanist (d. 1786) February 11 – Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein, German-Prussian diplomat and later Prime Minister of Prussia (d. 1800) February 12 – Sebastian Sailer, German Premonstratensian preacher, writer (d. 1777) February 14 – William Vane, 2nd Viscount Vane of Ireland (d. 1789) February 18 – John Howe, 2nd Baron Chedworth of England, eldest son