Indies. Over the next two days, 54 major investors in Antwerp purchase the shares of stock in the company. August 15 – The Peterhof Palace is opened in a formal ceremony just outside Saint Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire.Alan Palmer, The Baltic: A New History of the Region and Its People (Overlook Press, 2007) September 1 – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg is signed in Russia, ending the Russo-Persian War (1722–1723). September 14 – Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller António Manoel de Vilhena lays down the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta. October–December October 23 – Russia's Emperor Peter the Great authorizes an incentive for men of Serbia to join a new Russian Imperial Army unit, the Serbian Hussar Regiment. The Emperor sends Jovan Albanez to recruit new officers and troops with a grant of farmable land in Russia, and 1,070 take advantage of the offer over the next two years. October 31 – Gian Gastone de' Medici becomes the new Grand Duke of Tuscany upon the death of his father Cosimo III; he will be the state's last ruler from the House of Medici. During his reign, the state treasury is depleted and Tuscany becomes one of the poorest nations in Europe. November 23 – The Province of Carolina charters New Bern as Newbern (the town later becomes the capital of North Carolina until Raleigh is founded). December 2 – Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, regent of France from 1715 to 1723, and Prime Minister since August 10, dies at the age of 49 at Versailles. December 26 – Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, by Johann Sebastian Bach, is first performed in Leipzig. Date unknown The Province of Carolina incorporates Beaufort, North Carolina, as the Port of Beaufort, making it the third incorporated town in the province. Births January 5 – Nicole-Reine Lepaute, French astronomer, mathematician (d. 1788) January 11 – Prithvi Narayan Shah, First Monarch of Nepal (d. 1775) January 12 – Samuel Langdon, American President of Harvard University (d. 1797) January 31 – Petronella Johanna de Timmerman, Dutch poet, scientist (d. 1786) February 15 – John Witherspoon, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1794) February 17 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (d. 1761) February 21 – Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (d. 1808) February 23 – Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791) March 22 – Charles Carroll, American lawyer, Continental