Famous People Who Died In 1780

The mother of 16 children, Maria Theresa was the only female monarch of the Habsburg empire which she ruled with absolute power. She was known for industrial and educational reforms which led to the development of Austria during her 40-year reign. The devout Roman Catholic, who overtly disliked Jews and the Protestants, was sometimes criticized for her religious intolerance.

John André was a British military leader who served as a major in the British Army. He played an important role during the American Revolutionary War, serving as the head of the British Army's Secret Service in America. He was executed by the Continental Army on 2 October 1780. John André's life inspired many artworks, including the 1798 play André.

William Blackstone was a British politician, jurist, and judge of the 18th century. Best remembered for authoring the Commentaries on the Laws of England, Blackstone is credited with influencing prominent American personalities like Abraham Lincoln, James Kent, Alexander Hamilton, and John Marshall among others. His Commentaries, which were cited often in Supreme Court cases, were repeatedly republished throughout the 1770s.

The son of Duke Leopold of Lorraine, Prince Charles Alexander was an Austrian general. He oversaw the Austrian army during the War of the Austrian Succession. He also played a major role in several battles of the Seven Years' War. He was married to Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria.

Prussian Lithuanian poet Kristijonas Donelaitis had mastered theology and classical languages and also served as a pastor of Tolmingkehmen. His best-known work, Metai, or The Seasons, was penned in hexameters, a style never used before in Lithuanian verse. He had also written Lithuanian fables based on Aesop's Fables.

English physician John Fothergill revolutionized medical science by identifying the hardening of the arteries attached to the heart muscle in a case of angina pectoris. He is also said to have made coffee a popular beverage in England and supported coffee cultivation in the West Indies.

Jacques-Germain Soufflot was a French architect credited with introducing neoclassicism to the world. Soufflot designed several important edifices, including the Panthéon in Paris which was originally built as a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve. Such was his popularity that by 1755 Jacques-Germain Soufflot had gained architectural control of all of Paris' royal buildings.

Credited with writing the first methodically written text on economics in English, James Steuart belonged to a noble family. His renowned work, An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy, was the first in English and the first by a Scottish economist to have “political economy” as part of its title.

In spite of being blinded in an accident at age 19, John Fielding managed to become a magistrate. The half-brother of author Henry Fielding, he was nicknamed Blind Beak and was able to recognize criminals by their voices. He established the Bow Street Runners and revolutionized the juvenile justice system.