Major Events
- Mar 1 Georgeana (York) in Maine becomes the 1st incorporated American city
- Aug 13 Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovers Mars' southern polar cap
- Aug 22 English Civil War begins between Royalists and Parliament
- Nov 24 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman is the first European to discover Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
- Dec 13 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland [1]
- Dec 18 Abel Tasman's expedition is the first European voyage to reach New Zealand sailing into Wharewharangi Bay at the top of the South Island, making the first confirmed contact with Maori [1]
- More 1642 Events
Born in 1642
- Jan 2 Mehmed IV, Turkish Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1648-87), born in Topkapı Palace, Constantinople (d. 1693)
- Feb 18 Marie Champmeslé, French actress (Fête de Vénus), born in Rouen, France (d. 1698)
- Mar 21 Georg Schmezer, German composer and musician, born in Augsburg, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1697)
- Jun 20 George Hickes, English linguist (Old German Philology), born in Newsham, Thirsk, Yorkshire (d. 1715)
- Jul 22 Johann Quirsfeld, German composer, born in Dresden, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany) (d. 1686)
More People Born in 1642
Galileo GalileiMore 1642 Deaths
Rembrandt van Rijn
Charles I