1729

January–June

• March 23 - Johann Sebastian Bach's First Köthen Funeral music premieres at St. Jakob, Köthen, in honor of the funeral of his former employer Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen.
• March 24 - Johann Sebastian Bach's funeral cantata Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a premieres at St. Jakob, for the same event as the previous day.
• April 15 - Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion, BWV 244b is performed again, at St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.

  July–December

• July 25 - Seven of the original eight Lords Proprietor sell their tracts within the Province of Carolina, back to the British crown. The Province is permanently divided, and reorganized into the Royal Colonies of North Carolina and South Carolina.
• July 30 - Baltimore, Maryland is founded.
• August 1 - The Comet of 1729, possibly the largest comet based on the absolute magnitude, on record, is discovered by Fr. Nicolas Sarrabat, a professor of mathematics at Marseille.
• September 29 - October 5, Battle of Damghan: The Persians under Nader Shah Afshar defeat the Afghans and their allies.
• November - The first Putney Bridge is completed, as the only fixed crossing of the River Thames between London Bridge and Kingston, England.
• November 9 - The Treaty of Seville is signed between Great Britain, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic.
• November 29 - 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.

  Date unknown

• The third oldest settlement in Mississippi, Port Gibson, is founded.
• A fire in Istanbul destroys 12,000 houses and kills 7,000 inhabitants.
• Jonathan Swift publishes his satire A Modest Proposal.

  Births

• January 12
• * Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist
• * Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and philosopher
• January 22 - Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author and philosopher
• May 2 - Catherine the Great of Russia
• July 4 - George Leonard, American lawyer, jurist and politician
• August 10 - William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, British general
• September 6 - Moses Mendelssohn, German-Jewish philosopher
• October 6 - Sarah Crosby, the first female Methodist preacher
• November 17 - Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, Queen consort of Sardinia
• November 21 - Josiah Bartlett, second signer of the American Declaration of Independence
• November 12 - Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French navigator and military commander
• November 22 - Helena Dorothea von Schönberg, German industrialist
• November 24 - Alexander Suvorov, Russian general
• date unknown
• * David Barclay of Youngsbury, English merchant, businessman and banker
• * Samuel Barrington, British admiral

  Deaths

• January 11 - Thomas of Cori, Italian Friar Minor and preacher
• January 19
• * William Congreve, English playwright
• * Lorenzo Cozza, Italian Catholic cardinal
• January 30 - Lothar Franz von Schönborn, Archbishop of Mainz
• January 31 - Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer
• February 11 - Solomon Stoddard, pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Northampton, Massachusetts
• February 17 - John Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
• March 2 - Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher, scientist
• March 15 - Elisabeth Eleonore of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess consort of Saxe-Meiningen
• March 21 - John Law, Scottish economist
• March 18 - Michael Bernhard Valentini, German naturalist
• March 21 - Elżbieta Sieniawska politically influential Polish magnate
• April 12 - Louis-Guillaume Pécour, French dancer and choreographer
• March 6 - Sir William Lowther, 1st Baronet, of Swillington, British politician
• March 26 - Simon de la Loubère, French diplomat
• May 4 - Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles, French bishop
• May 17 - Samuel Clarke, English philosopher
• June 4 - Sir John Delaval, 3rd Baronet, English politician
• June 12 - John Williams, American clergy
• June 27 - Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichordist, composer
• July 16 - Johann David Heinichen, German composer
• July 30 - Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, British politician
• August 5 - Thomas Newcomen, English inventor
• August 31 - John Blackadder, Scottish soldier
• September 1 - Richard Steele, Irish writer and politician
• September 3 - Jean Hardouin, French scholar
• September 7 - William Burnet, British Governor of New York and New Jersey
• October 9 - Richard Blackmore, English physician and writer
• October 16 - Johann Heinrich Ernesti, German philosopher, theologian
• October 30 - William Conolly, Irish politician
• November 8 - Joshua Oldfield, English Presbyterian divine
• November 11 - John Benedict, Connecticut politician and deacon
• December - Doamna Marica Brâncoveanu, princess consort of Wallachia
• December 1 - Giacomo F. Maraldi, French-Italian astronomer
• December 13 - Anthony Collins, English philosopher
• December 22 - Michel Baron, French actor
• December 26 - Honoré Tournély, French theologian
• December 27 - Olimpia Giustiniani, Italian noblewoman
• date unknown - Anastasia Markovich, Ukrainian Hetmana