1756 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).

Events

• March 17 - St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern).
• May 15 - Seven Years' War: The war begins when England declares war on France.
• August 29 - Frederick the Great attacks Saxony
• October 1 - Seven Years' War: Prussia and Austrian Empire fought in the Battle of Lobositz.
• Frederick II of Prussia forces his country's peasants to grow the unpopular and obscure potato

Ongoing events

• French and Indian War (1754-1763)

Births

• January 27 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, German-Austrian composer (died 1791)
• February 6 - Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United States (died 1836)
• March 3 - William Godwin, English political and miscellaneous writer (died 1836)
• May 27 - Maximilian I of Bavaria
• June 6 - John Trumbull, painter
• June 20 - Joseph Martin Kraus, German-Swedish composer (died 1792)
• August 1 - Pierre Louis Prieur, French politician (died 1827)
• September 7 - Willem Bilderdijk, author (died 1831)
• November 3 - Pierre Laromiguière, French philosopher (died 1837)
• Abdullah bin Sabah, second ruler of Kuwait's royal al-Sabah dynasty (died 1814)
• Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, Swedish statesman (died 1813)

Deaths

• April 18 - Jacques Cassini, French astronomer (born 1677)
• July 24 - George Vertue, English engraver and antiquary (born 1684)
• Bernard Accama, Dutch painter