1740 in France

• Monarch – Louis XV ==Events==

• Vincennes porcelain factory established. • Approximate date − The mystical tradition called Martinism is established as a masonic high-degree order. ==Births==

• 12 April − Claude André Deseine, sculptor (d. 1823) • 26 April − Jean-Jacques Paulet, mycologist (d. 1826) • 2 June − Marquis de Sade, nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer (d. 1814) • 6 June − Louis-Sébastien Mercier, dramatist and writer (d. 1814) • 10 July − Louis-Étienne Ricard, politician (d. 1840) • 27 July − Jeanne Baret, first woman to circumnavigate the globe (d. 1807) Full date unknown • Catherine Éléonore Bénard, noble (d. 1769) • François Cointeraux, architect (d. 1830) • Jean Baptiste François de La Villéon, vice-admiral ==Deaths==

• 27 January − Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, Prime Minister of France (born 1692) • 15 February − Nicolas Prosper Bauyn d'Angervilliers, politician (born 1675) • 2 March − John Gagnier, orientalist (born 1670?) • July − Jacques Barbel, French soldier in Canada (born c.1670) Full date unknown • Jacques Cassard, naval officer (born 1679) • Pierre Crozat, art collector (born 1665) • Jean Soanen, bishop (born 1647) ==See also==