1718 in Great Britain

• Monarch – George I

• 7 January – Religious Worship Act 1718 repeals the Occasional Conformity Act 1711{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Alan|last2=Palmer|first2=Veronica|year=1992|title=The Chronology of British History|publisher=Century Ltd|location=London|pages=210–211|isbn=0-7126-5616-2}} and Schism Act 1714, restoring some freedoms to dissenters.
• 21 March – Piracy Act 1717 receives royal assent, providing the punishment of penal transportation (to British North America) as an alternative to a death sentence for lesser crimes.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_british.shtml|title=BBC History British History Timeline|accessdate=2007-09-03|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909012414/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_british.shtml|archivedate=2007-09-09}}
• 30 April – the proper motion of stars is demonstrated by Edmond Halley.
• 15 May – James Puckle patents the Puckle Gun.{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}
• 2 August – Quadruple Alliance formed between Britain, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic.{{cite book|title=The Pocket Date Book|url=https://archive.org/details/pocketdatebooko00categoog|publisher=Chapman and Hall|first=William L. R.|last=Cates|author-link=William Leist Readwin Cates|year=1863}}
• 11 August – a British fleet under Admiral Byng defeats a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro, a prelude to the War of the Quadruple Alliance.{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will|url-access=registration|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8}}
• 17 December – War of the Quadruple Alliance: Britain, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic declare war on Spain.

• Marrow Controversy, an ecclesiastical dispute in Scotland, begins.{{cite book|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07.m.v.html|title=New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge|volume=VII|author-link=Philip Schaff|last=Schaff|first=Philip|accessdate=2007-09-03}}
• Greenwich Hospital receives a Royal Charter (revoked in 1829).{{cite web|url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/list-of-charters-granted/|title=List of Charters Granted|publisher=The Privy Council Office|accessdate=2020-10-25}}
• The Hovering Act makes it illegal for vessels under 50 tons to linger offshore, in an attempt to prevent smuggling.

• 18 February – Robert Henry, historian (died 1790)
• 4 April – Benjamin Kennicott, churchman and Hebrew scholar (died 1783)
• 7 April – Hugh Blair, preacher and man of letters (died 1800)
• 17 May – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, diplomat and politician (died 1778)
• 23 May – William Hunter, anatomist (died 1783)
• 30 May – Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, politician (died 1793)
• 5 June – Thomas Chippendale, furniture maker (died 1779)
• 17 June – George Howard, field marshal (died 1796)
• 5 July – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, Viceroy of Ireland (died 1794)
• 31 July – John Canton, physicist (died 1772)
• 3 November – John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, statesman (died 1792)

• 6 January – Richard Hoare, goldsmith and banker (born 1648)
• 1 February – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, politician (born 1660)
• 17 February – Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield, heiress (born 1664)
• 18 February – Peter Anthony Motteux, dramatist and editor, probably murdered (born 1663 in France)
• 30 July – William Penn, Quaker and founder of the Pennsylvania colony (born 1644)
• 26 September – William Okeden, politician (born 1662)
• 22 November – Blackbeard, pirate, killed in action (born c. 1680)
• 6 December – Nicholas Rowe, poet laureate and dramatist (born 1674)

• 1718 in Wales

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