the Governor of the Province of New Hampshire as well, governing both future U.S. states simultaneously until September 7. Up until July, Burnet had been Governor of both New York and New Jersey since 1720. Date unknown English astronomer James Bradley uses stellar aberration (first observed in 1725) to calculate the speed of light, and observes nutation of the Earth's axis. Births January 9 – Thomas Warton, English poet (d. 1790) February 3 – Charles Rainsford, British general (d. 1809) February 21 – Emperor Peter III of Russia, husband of Catherine the Great (d. 1762) February 25 – John Wood, the Younger, English architect (d. 1782) March 28 – Anton Raphael Mengs, German-Bohemian painter (d. 1779) April 16 – Joseph Black, Scottish physicist and chemist (d. 1799) June 22 – Anna Jabłonowska, Polish magnate and politician (d. 1800) August 26 – Johann Heinrich Lambert, Swiss mathematician, physicist and astronomer (d. 1777) August 28 – John Stark, American Revolutionary War general (d. 1822) September 3 – Matthew Boulton, English manufacturer, lifelong key partner of James Watt (d. 1809) September 14 – Mercy Otis Warren, American playwright (d. 1814) October 5 – Chevalier d'Éon, French diplomat, spy, soldier and transvestite (d. 1810) October 7 – Caesar Rodney, American lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1784) October 27 – James Cook, British naval commander and explorer (d. 1779) November 10 – Oliver Goldsmith, Irish writer (d. 1774) December 28 – Justus Claproth, German jurist, inventor of the de-inking process of recycled paper (d. 1805) date unknown Josefa Ordóñez, Spanish–Mexican actress, courtesan (est. year of birth) James Armstrong, American politician and Major of the Continental Army (d. 1800) (est. year of birth) Juan Albano Pereira Márquez godfather and tutor of Bernardo O'Higgins. Deaths January 26 – Paolo de Matteis, Italian painter (b. 1662) February 12 – Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat, composer (b. 1654) February 13 – Cotton Mather, New England Puritan minister (b. 1663) February 16 Maria Aurora von Königsmarck, Swedish noblewoman of Brandenburg extraction (b. 1662) Heinrich of Saxe-Weissenfels, Count of Barby, German prince (b. 1657) February 25 – Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten, German general (b. 1661) March 4 – Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, eldest daughter of Peter the Great (b. 1708) March 7 – Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (b. 1653) March 18 – George Stanhope, Dean of Canterbury (b. 1660) March 20 – Camille d'Hostun, duc de