Founding of the Hermitage
Catherine II buys 225 paintings, founding a great museum

In 1764 Catherine II bought a collection of 225 paintings from the Berlin merchant Gotzkowsky. This is regarded as the founding of the Hermitage, at first the empress's private collection, opened to the public in 1852.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- 1755 Lisbon earthquake — 9 years earlier
- 1756–1763 Seven Years' War — 8 years earlier
- c. 1760 Start of the Industrial Revolution — 4 years earlier
- 1769 Watt's steam engine — 5 years later
- 1789 Storming of the Bastille — 25 years later
Middle East
- 1747 Ahmad Shah Durrani founds the Afghan state — 17 years earlier
Asia
- 1757 Battle of Plassey — 7 years earlier
Americas
- 1776 US Declaration of Independence — 12 years later
- 1787 US Constitution — 23 years later
Oceania
- 1768–1771 Cook's first voyage — 4 years later
- 1788 First Fleet arrives in Australia — 24 years later
Alive at the time
- Voltaire (aged 70)
- Benjamin Franklin (aged 58)
- Mikhail Lomonosov (aged 53)
- James Cook (aged 36)
- Catherine the Great (aged 35)
- George Washington (aged 32)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (aged 15)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (aged 8)
- Carl Linnaeus (aged 57)
- Leonhard Euler (aged 57)