Famous People Born In 1718

At age 10, John Montagu succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, as the earl of Sandwich. The Eton- and Cambridge-educated statesman had held several important positions, such as the First Lord of the Admiralty. While gambling, he would often have bread and meat, leading to the delicacy being named “sandwich.”

Italian mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi, daughter of an affluent silk trader, was well-versed in a number of languages as a child. Most of her work was regarding algebra, calculus, and the Witch of Agnesi. She was also the first female academic to write a math book and to teach math.

Part of the 18th-century London intellectual circle, socialite Elizabeth Montagu was a pioneering member of the Bluestockings, a group of women who engaged in evening conversations as a substitute to card-playing. The wife of affluent landowner Edward Montagu, she inherited his riches and later built the Montagu House.

Anna Leopoldovna, or Anna Carlovna, was the wife of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick, and is best known for her reign as a regent for their son, Ivan VI, for a year. She was eventually imprisoned by Peter the Great’s daughter, Elizabeth, and died in exile.

Hugh Blair was a Scottish writer, rhetorician, and minister of religion. As a minister of religion, Blair had a major impact in both the secular and the spiritual realms. He also played an important role in the Scottish Enlightenment and is credited with co-founding the Royal Society of Edinburgh. From 1789 to 1796, he served as the academy's Literary President.

Physician William Hunter is remembered for his efforts in making obstetrics a branch of medicine. After observing medical students in France, he introduced the use of cadavers for dissection in Britain. The Hunterian Museum in Scotland started with a collection of his belongings, including books and works of art.

Swedish painter Alexander Roslin is best remembered for his detailed depiction of jewelry and clothes in his portraits of the elite. While his paintings are mostly of the Rococo style, they also showcase Classicist features. The Lady with the Veil remains one of his best-known works.

Irish-born George Croghan, The King of the Traders, later moved to America, where he was successful in befriending the local tribes of the Ohio region. Over the years, he got many treaties signed on behalf of the British government and had a 16-year stint as the Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Apart co-establishing the Royal Academy, Nathaniel Hone the Elder made a name for himself as a master painter of miniatures and portraits. Born into a Dutch family in Dublin, he spent most of his professional life in London. His controversial painting The Conjurer was viewed as an attack on Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Eighteenth-century Bengali poet Ramprasad Sen was one of the finest Hindu Shakta poets, whose works mirrored his devotion to goddess Shakti. Starting his career as an accountant of an affluent Kolkata employer, he later became court poet of Raja Krishnachandra and wrote Bidyasundar, which mixed Tantric elements and eroticism.