Year 1761 (MDCCLXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar).

Events of 1761

January 14: 3rd Battle of Panipat.

January - June

• January 14 - Third Battle of Panipat: The Marathas are defeated by the Afghans.
• January 16 - The British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
• February 8 - An earthquake in London breaks chimneys in Limehouse and Poplar.
• March 8 - A second earthquake occurs in North London, Hampstead and Highgate.
• June 6 - A transit of Venus occurs, and is observed from 120 locations around the Earth.

July - December

December 16: Kolberg.

• September 8 - George III of the United Kingdom marries Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Queen Charlotte).
• September 19 - The slave trade to and within Portugal is forbidden.
• September 22 - George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte are crowned.

22 September:George III

• December 16 - Seven Years' War: After four months of siege, the Russians under Pyotr Rumyantsev take the Prussian fortress of Kolberg.

Undated

• In Dutch Guyana, a "state" formed by escaped slaves signs a treaty with the local governor.
• Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory opens.
• The tune to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is published in France.
• Faber-Castell Company was founded by Kasper Faber in Nuremburg, Germany.

Ongoing events

• French and Indian War (1754-1763)
• Seven Years' War (1756-1763)

Births

• January 17 - James Hall, Scottish geologist (d. 1832)
• February 1 - Christian Hendrik Persoon, South African mycologist (d. 1836)
• February 16 - Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
• March 6 - Antoine-Francois Andreossy, French general (d. 1828)
• May 3 - August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (d. 1819)
• October 27 - Matthew Baillie, Scottish physician and pathologist (d. 1823)
• November 4 - Bertrand Andrieu, French engraver of medals (d. 1822)
• November 13 - John Moore, British general (d. 1809)
• November 20 - Pope Pius VIII (d. 1850)
• December 1 - Marie Tussaud, French wax modeller (d. 1850)
• December 27 - Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Russian military commander
• date unknown - Henry Shrapnel, British Army officer and inventor (d. 1842)

Deaths

• January 4 - Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (b. 1677)
• January 10 - Edward Boscawen, British admiral (b. 1711)
• February 1 - Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, French historian (b. 1682)
• April 4 - Theodore Gardelle, Swiss painter and enameler (b. 1722)
• April 9 - William Law, English minister (b. 1686)
• April 15 - Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. 1682)
• April 17 - Thomas Bayes, English mathematician (b. c. 1702)
• May 14 - Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (b. 1710)
• June 2 - Jonas Alströmer, Swedish industrialist (b. 1685)
• July 4 - Samuel Richardson, English writer (b. 1689)
• July 9 - Carl Gotthelf Gerlach, German organist (b. 1704)
• July 13 - Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (b. 1712)
• August 3 - Johann Matthias Gesner, German classical scholar (b. 1691)
• September 8 - Bernard Forest de Bélidor, French engineer (b. 1698)
• November 30 - John Dollond, English optician (b. 1706)
• December 23 - Alestair Ruadh MacDonnell, Scottish Jacobite spy (b. c. 1725)