1742

Decades: 1690s 1700s 1710s 1720s 1730s - 1740s - 1750s 1760s 1770s 1780s 1790s

Years: 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 - 1742 - 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747

Events

• January 24 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
• February 16 - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.
• February 18 - British attack La Guayra.
• April 8 - The first performance of George Frideric Handel's oratorio The Messiah, in Dublin.
• May 25 - A battle is fought at Sahay.
• December 2 - The Pennsylvania Journal first appears in print.
• Daniel le Pelley succeeds Nicolas le Pelley as Seigneur of Sark.
• Kingdom of Prussia captures Jihlava.
• Christian Goldbach formulates Goldbach's conjecture.
• Colin Maclaurin publishes his Treatise on Fluxions.
• Anders Celsius proposes the Celsius temperature scale.
• James Bradley succeeds Edmond Halley as Astronomer Royal.
• Henry Fielding publishes Joseph Andrews.
• John Carteret, 2nd Lord Carteret becomes Secretary of State for the Northern Department.
• Rigging of Chippenham by-election causes a political scandal.
• William Pulteney created as 1st Earl of Bath.
• University of Erlangen is founded.
• Molde in Norway becomes a city.
• Construction starts on the Foundling Hospital in London.
• Eisenach builds its Stadtschloss (city castle).

Ongoing events

• War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748)

Year in topic

• 1742 in literature
• 1742 in science

Births

• January 8 - Philip Astley, the father of modern circus
• March 10 - Sampson Salter Blowers, North American lawyer and jurist
• March 31 - P. D. Q. Bach, fictitious composer
• April 28 - Henry Dundas, British statesman
• May 6 - Jean Senebier, Swiss pastor and botanist
• June 25 - Johann Schweighauser, German classical scholar
• June 26 - Arthur Middleton, American politician
• June 28 - William Hooper, American statesman (+ 1790)
• July 21 - John Cleves Symmes, American statesman (+ 1814)
• July 27 - Nathanael Greene, American general
• September 14 - James Wilson, American politician
• December 9 - Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemist
• December 16 - Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian general (+ 1819)
• George Chalmers, Scottish antiquarian (+ 1825)
• Joseph Brant, Mohawk leader (+ 1807)
• Francis Nash, American military officer (+ 1777)
• Johan Herman Wessel, Scandinavian writer (+ 1785)

Deaths

• January 14 - Edmond Halley, astronomer
• February 22 - James Wilson, British publisher
• March 23 - Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French author
• April 17 - Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman
• June 27 - Nathan Bailey, English philologist and lexicographer
• July 9 - John Oldmixon, English historian
• July 14 - Richard Bentley, English scholar and critic
• July 19 - William Somervile, English poet
• September 18 - Jean Baptiste Massillon, French bishop
• November 24 - Andrew Bradford, American publisher
• John Aislabie, British politician and gardener

Monarchs/Presidents

• China - Qianlong Emperor of China, Qing Dynasty (reigned from October 18, 1735 to February 9, 1796)
• France - Louis XV King of France (reigned from 1715 to 1774)
• Great Britain - George II King of Great Britain (reigned from June 11, 1727 to October 25, 1760)
• Kingdom of Prussia - Frederick II King of Prussia (reigned from 1740 to 1786)
• Russia - Elizabeth Empress of Russia (reigned from 1741 to January 5, 1762)
• Saxony - Frederick Augustus II Elector of Saxony (from 1733 to 1763) (also King of Poland)

Referenced By