Empress Elizabeth of Russia signed the decree establishing Moscow University, Russia's first, on the name day of its patron Mikhail Lomonosov's petition.

A massive earthquake, estimated near magnitude 8.5, struck Lisbon on All Saints' Day, killing tens of thousands and igniting fires and a tsunami.

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, later Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was born in Vienna to Empress Maria Theresa.