Marseille. September 29 – The Battle of Damghan begins as the Persian Safavid Army, commanded by General Nader Khan Afshar confronts a larger force of rebel Afghan troops commanded by the Emir Ashraf Hotak. October–December October 5 – After seven days of battle, the Persians under Nader Khan Afshar make a daring attack through the center of the Emir Ashraf's battalions, killing 12,000 of the Afghans and forcing the remainder to flee, bringing an end to the Battle of Damghan. November 9 – The Treaty of Seville is signed between Great Britain, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic. November 29 The Natchez revolt, the worst Native American massacre to take place on Mississippi soil, occurs when Natchez people kill 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie (near modern-day Natchez, Mississippi). The first (wooden) Putney Bridge is completed, as the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Kingston, England. December 2 – George Frideric Handel's famous opera Lotario is given its first performance, premiering at the King's Theatre in London. December 12 – Under the pretense of a peace offering, the Yazoo and Koroa warriors enter the French settlement at Fort St. Pierre (near modern-day Vicksburg, Mississippi) and kill most of the inhabitants. Date unknown The third oldest settlement in Mississippi, Port Gibson, is founded by French settlers. Jonathan Swift (anonymously) publishes his satire A Modest Proposal. Births January 12 Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (d. 1799) Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and philosopher (d. 1797) January 22 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author and philosopher (d. 1781) February 26 – Anders Chydenius, Finnish economist, liberal politician and Lutheran priest (d. 1803) May 2 – Catherine the Great, born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, empress regnant of Russia (d. 1796) July 4 – George Leonard, American lawyer, jurist and politician (d. 1819) August 10 – William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, British general (d. 1814) September 6 – Moses Mendelssohn, German-Jewish philosopher (d. 1786) September 15 – Mikiel'Ang Grima, Maltese surgeon (d. 1798) October 6 – Sarah Crosby, English Methodist preacher, the first female (d. 1804) November 17 – Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen consort of Sardinia (d. 1785) November 21 – Josiah Bartlett, second signer of the United States Declaration of Independence (d. 1795) November 12 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French navigator and military commander (d. 1811) November 22 – Helena Dorothea von Schönberg, German