Events of 1745

January–June

May 11: Battle of Fontenoy.

• May 11 – War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy – French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch.

• June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys the Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg.

July–December

• July 26 – The first recorded women's cricket match took place near Guildford, England

• August 19 – The '45 Jacobite Rising begins at Glenfinnan.

• September 12 – Francis I is elected Holy Roman Emperor with the support of his wife, Maria Theresia of Austria. He is the successor of Charles VII Albert of Bavaria, an enemy of Habsburg, who died on January 20 of this year.

• September 14 – Madame de Pompadour is officially presented in the court of Louis XV of France.

• September 21 – Battle of Prestonpans: British Government forces are defeated.

• 4 December – The Jacobite Army reaches Derby; two days later it begins retreat.

• 19 December The Jacobite army led by Bonnie Prince Charlie; on retreat from Derby, was defeated by the Duke of Cumberland at the Battle of Clifton Moor near Penrith, Cumberland. This was the last land battle ever to take place on English soil.

• December 28 – For 5 days, fire destroys buildings in Istanbul.

Ongoing events

• War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748).

• The "Forty Five"/Bliadhna Theàrlaich, part of the second Jacobite Rising, mainly in Scotland.

Births

• February 18 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (d. 1827)

• February 20 – Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)

• March 4 – Charles Dibdin, English composer (d. 1814)

• March 4 – Kazimierz Pułaski, American Revolutionary War general (d. 1779)

• March 10 – John Gunby, Maryland soldier in the American Revolutionary War (d. 1807)

• April 6 – Thomas Peters, Dutch supercentenarian (d. 1857)

• July 13 – Robert Calder, British naval officer, (d. 1818)

• August 20 – Francis Asbury, American Methodist Bishop (d. 1816)

• September 16 – Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (d. 1813)

• November 23 – John Treadwell, the fourth Governor of Connecticut (d. 1823)

• December 15 – Johann Gottfried Koehler, German astronomer (d. 1801)

• date unknown – Danwon, Korean painter (d. 1806)

Deaths

• January 20 – Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1697)

• March 18 – Robert Walpole, first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)

• May 9 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1663)

• May 22 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (b. 1671)

• October 19 – Jonathan Swift, Irish writer (b. 1667)

• November 16 – James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman and soldier (b. 1665)

• December 8 – Etienne Fourmont, French orientalist (b. 1683)

• December 19 – Jean-Baptiste van Loo, French painter (b. 1684)