1762 CE

Roman Catholic nobility and gentry offer support to King George III in the Seven Years' War in the Iberian Peninsula. Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne resigns and is succeeded as Prime Minister by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, the first Scottish Prime Minister of Great Britain; a large number of Newcastle's 'Old Corps Whig' followers are dismissed from public office in the following months in what is known facetiously as the "Massacre of the Pelhamite Innocents". According to the preliminaries of peace, signed at Fontainebleau, England is to have, with certain West Indies, Florida, Louisiana, to the Mississippi River (without New Orleans), Canada, Acadia, Cape Breton Island and its dependencies, and the fisheries, subject to certain French interests. Spain is to have New Orleans and Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, with an undetermined Western boundary.

In the 1760s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • May 5 (April 24 O.S.) – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg ends the war between Russia and Prussia, and returns all of Russia's territorial conquests to the Prussians.source
  • May 15 – The Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1762) ends the war between Russia and the Prussia.Russiasource
  • May 22 – The Treaty of Hamburg takes Sweden out of the war against Prussia.source
  • 22 May - Treaty of Hamburg (1762). Peace between Sweden and Prussia with the mediation of the Queen of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. This was the end of the Seven Years War.Swedensource
  • September 15 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi succeeds to the throne of Japan upon the death of her brother, the Emperor Momozono. She reigns for eight years before abdicating on January 9, 1771. She was the last empress regnant of Japan up to this day.source
  • November 3 – According to the preliminaries of peace, signed at Fontainebleau, England is to have, with certain West Indies, Florida, Louisiana, to the Mississippi River (without New Orleans), Canada, Acadia, Cape Breton Island and its dependencies, and the fisheries, subject to certain French interests. Spain is to have New Orleans and Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, with an undetermined Western boundary.Canadasource
  • November 13 – In the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Louis XV secretly cedes Louisiana (New France) to Charles III of Spain to compensate his ally for territorial losses to Britain.source
  • 13 November – Treaty of Fontainebleau: Louis XV secretly cedes Louisiana (New France) to Charles III of SpainFrancesource
  • December 4 – Less than six months after becoming Russia's Empress, Catherine the Great announces that almost all foreigners are welcome to travel to and settle in Russia, and waives previous requirements that new residents must be members of the Russian Orthodox Church; however, the manifesto adds the phrase kromye Zhydov - "except the Jews".source
  • December 22 – Catherine follows the waiver of religious requirement for Russian immigration with a 190-word invitation, translated into various European languages, that invites Europeans to build settlements along arable, but undeveloped, land in southern Russia along the Volga River; when the invitation attracts little notice, she follows on July 22 with a longer manifesto promising free travel expenses and a written guarantee of rights.source
  • The town of Charlottesville, Virginia is founded.source
  • Neolin, a Lenape prophet, begins to preach in America.source
  • Admiral John Ross of Balnagowan Castle initiates land tenure reform in the Highlands which will evolve into the Highland Clearances.Scotlandsource
  • Admiral John Ross of Balnagowan Castle initiates land tenure reform in the Scottish Highlands which will evolve into the Highland Clearances.United Kingdomsource
  • Silvanus Bevan is elected a member of the Cymmrodorion.Walessource

Conflict & Security

  • January 4 – Seven Years' War: Britain declares war against Spain and Naples, following their recent alliance with France.source
  • 5 January–12 February – Invasion of Martinique by British forcesFrancesource
  • January 16 – British forces under Robert Monckton land on the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean.source
  • February 5 – The Great Holocaust of the Sikhs is carried out by the forces of Ahmed Shah Abdali in Punjab. In all, around 30,000 men, women and children perish in this campaign of slaughter.source
  • February 15 – Invasion of Martinique (1762): French forces on Martinique surrender to the British. The island is subsequently returned to France, as part of the Peace of Paris.source
  • February – Roman Catholic nobility and gentry offer support to King George III in the Seven Years' War in the Iberian Peninsula.Irelandsource
  • May – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne resigns and is succeeded as Prime Minister by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, the first Scottish Prime Minister of Great Britain; a large number of Newcastle's 'Old Corps Whig' followers are dismissed from public office in the following months in what is known facetiously as the "Massacre of the Pelhamite Innocents".United Kingdomsource
  • June 24 – Battle of Wilhelmsthal: The Anglo-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French forces in Westphalia. The British commander Lord Granby distinguishes himself.source
  • 24 June – Seven Years' War: At the Battle of Wilhelmsthal, the Anglo-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French forces in Westphalia. The British commander Lord Granby distinguishes himself.United Kingdomsource
  • July 9 – Catherine II becomes empress of Russia after planning the overthrow of her husband, the Tsar Peter III. The incipient Russo-Prussian alliance falls apart, but Russia does not rejoin the war. Peter is strangled eight days later.source
  • July 21 – Battle of Burkersdorf: In his last major battle, Frederick defeats Marshal Daun in Silesia.source
  • August 13 – Seven Years' War: The Battle of Havana concludes after more than two months, with the surrender of Havana by Spain to Great Britain.source
  • 13 August – Seven Years' War: The Battle of Havana concludes after more than two months with the surrender of Havana to Britain by Spain.United Kingdomsource
  • August 21 – King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha conquers Makwanpur.source
  • September 15 – French and Indian War: Battle of Signal Hill – British troops defeat the French in the last battle of the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War, fought in the Newfoundland Colony.source
  • 15 September – French and Indian War – Battle of Signal Hill – British troops defeat the French in the last battle of the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War, fought in the Newfoundland Colony.United Kingdomsource
  • September 24–October 6 – Battle of Manila: Troops of the British East India Company take Manila from the Spanish, leading to the British occupation of Manila and its being made an open port.source
  • 24 September–6 October – Seven Years' War: Battle of Manila fought between Great Britain and Spain resulting in the British occupation of the Philippines until 1764. The British take Manila and make it an Open Port.United Kingdomsource
  • October 7 – Siege of Schweidnitz in Silesia. Prussia takes the strategic fortress from Austria.source
  • October 29 – Battle of Freiberg: Prince Henry of Prussia, Frederick's brother, defeats the Austrian army of Marshal Serbelloni.source
  • The Hats lose political power in Sweden due to admitting defeat in the Seven Years WarSwedensource

Exploration & Expansion

  • February – 12 sperm whales strand on the east coast of England.United Kingdomsource
  • March 5 – A Royal Navy fleet with 16,000 men departs Britain from Spithead and sets sail toward Cuba in order to seize strategic Spanish Empire possessions in the Americas.source
  • 20 March – a French privateer takes six ships off Youghal.Irelandsource
  • June 8 – Cherokee Indian war chief Ostenaco and his two aides, Standing Turkey (Cunneshote) and Pouting Pigeon, are received by King George III. They had arrived three days earlier at Plymouth on the British frigate Epreuvre as guests of the Timberlake Expedition of Henry Timberlake, to discuss terms of peace with the British government.source
  • Tassinari et Chatel, Lyon silk weavers, establishedFrancesource

Religion & Belief

  • 23 March – first legitimately constituted Sandemanian congregation in England, at Glover's Hall in London, as an offshoot of the Scottish Glasite sect.United Kingdomsource
  • 30 April – acts grant security to Protestants who have acquired property from Catholics.Irelandsource
  • May 31 – Marco Foscarini becomes the new Doge of the Republic of Venice after the death of Francesco Loredan, who had administered the Republic for 10 years.source
  • Approximate date of the foundation of Zubarah on the northwestern shore of the Qatari Peninsula, by Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who assumes the chieftainship of the city state and gains authority over the Arab tribes in the area.source
  • The Plymouth Synagogue is built in Plymouth, England, the oldest built by Ashkenazi Jews in the English-speaking world.source
  • Approximate date – James Barry paints Baptism of the King of Cashel.Irelandsource
  • Building of the Plymouth Synagogue, the oldest built by Ashkenazi Jews in the English-speaking world.United Kingdomsource
  • William Williams Pantycelyn – Mor o Wydr (including "Gweddi am Nerth i fyned trwy anialwch y Byd", the Welsh original of the hymn "Cwm Rhondda")Walessource
  • Thomas Edwards (Twm o'r Nant) – Tri Chydymaith DynWalessource
  • William Williams Pantycelyn – Pantheologia, neu Hanes Holl Grefyddau’r BydWalessource

Economy & Finance

  • 2 April – The Chinaman Dronning Sophia Magdalena is launched at the Danish Asiatic Company's own shipyard in Copenhagen.Denmarksource
  • May 26 – Dissatisfied with the progress of the French and Indian War, King George III dismisses his Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle, and replaces him with his former tutor, Tory politician John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. The Bute ministry lasts less than a year before Stuart's resignation in 1763.source
  • 25 December – Francis Baring is released from his apprenticeship and with his brothers forms the partnership in London that becomes Barings Bank.United Kingdomsource
  • National income - ₹9,895 millionIndiasource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • Louis XV orders the construction of the Petit Trianon, in the park of the Palace of Versailles, for his mistress Madame de Pompadour.source
  • Watt distillery in Derry is established; it will produce Tyrconnell (whiskey).Irelandsource
  • Hadeland Glassverk is established in Jevnaker.Norwaysource
  • The last remaining buildings are cleared from London Bridge.United Kingdomsource

Science & Discovery

  • November – first recorded mention of the sandwich.United Kingdomsource
  • The Académie française produces a new edition of its dictionary of the French language, the fourth to be publishedFrancesource
  • Joseph Black first makes known his discoveries on latent heat, in Glasgow.Scotlandsource

Health & Medicine

  • April 5 – France issues a new ordinance requiring all black and mixed-race Frenchmen to register their identity information with the offices of the Admiralty Court, upon the advice of Guillaume Poncet de la Grave, adviser to King Louis XV. The new rule, which requires both free and enslaved blacks and mulattoes to list data including their age, surname, purpose for which they are residing in France, whether they have been baptized as Christians, where they emigrated from in Africa and the name of the ship upon which they arrived. Previously, the Declaration of 1738 required slave-owners to register their slaves, but placed no requirement on free people.source
  • 5 April – France issues a new ordinance requiring all black and mixed-race Frenchmen to register their identity information with the offices of the Admiralty Court, upon the advice of Guillaume Poncet de la Grave, adviser to Louis XV, requiring both free and enslaved blacks and mulattoes to list data including their age, surname, purpose for which they are residing in France, whether they have been baptized as Christians, where they emigrated from in Africa and the name of the ship upon which they arrived (the declaration of 1738 required slave-owners to register their slaves, but had placed no such requirement on free people)Francesource

Crime & Justice

  • January – the "Cock Lane ghost" appears in London.United Kingdomsource
  • March 10 – Jean Calas, a 68 year old French merchant convicted unjustly of murdering his son because of religious differences, is brutally executed on orders of the Parlement of Toulouse. After his legs and hips are broken and crushed, Calas is tortured on the breaking wheel (la roue), to remain "in pain and repentance for his crimes and misdeeds, for as long as it shall please God to keep him alive."source
  • 10 March – Jean Calas, a 68 year old merchant convicted unjustly of murdering his son because of religious differences, is brutally executed on orders of the Parlement of Toulouse: after his legs and hips are broken and crushed, he is tortured on the breaking wheel (la roue) to remain "in pain and repentance for his crimes and misdeeds, for as long as it shall please God to keep him alive"Francesource
  • 17 May – The Exhibition of 1762 is staged by the Society of Artists of Great Britain at Pall Mall in LondonUnited Kingdomsource
  • 20 June – In Paris, the Comédie-Italienne, having merged with the Opéra-Comique, performs at the Hôtel de BourgogneFrancesource
  • Menniskans elände, by Gustaf Fredrik GyllenborgSwedensource
  • Maling pottery is founded, initially at North Hylton on Wearside.United Kingdomsource
  • Oliver Goldsmith – The Life of Richard NashWalessource

Disasters & Accidents

  • 25 August – The first Drottningholm Palace Theatre burns down.Swedensource

Climate & Environment

  • April 2 – A powerful earthquake along the border between modern-day Bangladesh and Myanmar causes a tsunami in the Bay of Bengal that kills at least 200 people.source
  • A census was conducted in Iceland, however it is considered to be imperfect, and only the heads of household are recorded.Icelandsource

Culture & Society

  • January 5 – Peter III succeeds Empress Elisabeth of Russia. Peter immediately opens peace negotiations with Prussia.Russiasource
  • 10 February - The Guard Hussars regiment is founded.Denmarksource
  • 10 March – William Robertson is elected Principal of the University of Edinburgh, an office which he will hold until his death in 1793, contributing to the Scottish Enlightenment.Scotlandsource
  • March 17 – The first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in New York City takes place in lower Manhattan, inaugurating an annual tradition; the Ancient Order of the Hibernians organization later becomes the sponsor of the event, which attracts as many a 300,000 marchers in some years.source
  • March 20 – Innovative publisher Samuel Farley launches the weekly newspaper The American Chronicle, the seventh in New York City.source
  • 14 May – Charles Macklin's The True-Born Irishman is first performed at the Crow Street Theatre in Dublin.Irelandsource
  • September – Society for Equitable Assurances on Lives and Survivorships is founded in London. The world's oldest mutual insurer, it pioneers age-based premiums based on the mortality rate.United Kingdomsource
  • October 5 – Orfeo ed Euridice by Cristoph Willibald Gluck was given its first performance.source
  • Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya is finished by Paisius of Hilendar.source
  • James "Athenian" Stuart and Nicholas Revett's architectural treatise Antiquities of Athens is published.source
  • The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Kingston, named for King George III, as the county seat of Dobbs County, North Carolina. The name is later shortened to Kinston in 1784.source
  • Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract (Du Contrat social, ou Principes du droit politique) and Emile, or On Education (Émile, ou De l’éducation) are published in Amsterdam and The Hague respectively. In Rousseau's native Republic of Geneva they are publicly burned and prohibited in Paris.source
  • Louis XV orders construction of the Petit Trianon in the park of the Palace of Versailles to the design of Ange-Jacques Gabriel for his mistress Madame de PompadourFrancesource
  • Elisabeth Christina von Linné publishes her discovery of the Tropaeolum majus.Swedensource
  • Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis, leaves the Whig party.Walessource

Births

  • February 17 – John Cooke, English captain (died 1805)source
  • March 22 – William Robert Broughton, British explorer (died 1821)source
  • 24 April – Alexander Møller, surgeon (died 1847).Norwaysource
  • 25 April: Sveinn Pálsson, naturalistIcelandsource
  • April 29 – Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French marshal (died 1833)source
  • May 19 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (died 1814)source
  • May 22 – Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, British politician (died 1834)source
  • June 5 – Bushrod Washington, American politician and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1829)source
  • August 12 – King George IV of the United Kingdom (died 1830)source
  • 12 August – George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV (died 1830)Walessource
  • August 13 – Théroigne de Méricourt, French revolutionary (died 1817)source
  • September 11 – Joanna Baillie, Scottish writer (died 1851)source
  • October 23 – Samuel Morey, American inventor (died 1843)source
  • November 1 – Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1812)source
  • 1 November – Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (assassinated 1812)United Kingdomsource
  • November 27 – Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet, British admiral (died 1814)source
  • November – Manuel Torres, first Colombian ambassador to the United States (died 1822)source
  • December 25 – Michael Kelly, Irish composer and singer (died 1826)source

Deaths

  • January 5 – Empress Elizabeth of Russia (born 1709)source
  • January 5 – Empress Elisabeth of Russia dies, and is succeeded by her nephew Peter III. Peter, an admirer of Frederick the Great, immediately opens peace negotiations with the Prussians.source
  • January 7 – Manuel de Montiano, Spanish colonial administrator (born 1685)source
  • January 11 – Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor (born 1695)source
  • 3 February – Beau Nash, leader of fashion, 87Walessource
  • March 21 – Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (born 1713)source
  • May 19 – Francesco Loredan, doge of Venice (born 1685)source
  • May 26 – Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (born 1714)source
  • 26 May – Claus Paarss, military officer and governor og Greenland (born 1683)Denmarksource
  • June 13 – Dorothea Erxleben, German physician (born 1715)source
  • July 12 – Prince Sado, son of Yeongjo of Joseon (born 1735)source
  • July 13 – James Bradley, English Astronomer Royal (born 1693)source
  • July 17 – Emperor Peter III of Russia (born 1728)source
  • August 20 – Shah Waliullah, Islamic reformer (born 1703)source
  • August 21 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (born 1689)source
  • 21 August – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (born 1689)United Kingdomsource
  • August 26 – John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, British politician (born 1685)source
  • Lars Pinnerud, woodcarver (born 1700).Norwaysource