Major Events
- Jan 13 HMS Tyger runs aground on coral reefs near Garden Key, Florida, (rediscovered 1993 and identified 2024) [1]
- Jan 24 German leaders elect Charles VII, Prince Elector of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor
- Feb 1 Sardinia and Austria sign military alliance Convention of Turin
- Feb 2 British government of Robert Walpole resigns
- Feb 9 Sir Robert Walpole, often referred to as the first British Prime Minister, ennobled as 1st Earl of Orford
- Feb 16 Spencer Compton becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain (First Lord of the Treasury)
- Apr 13 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" performed for the 1st time at New Music Hall in Dublin
- Apr 25 Elizabeth of Russia crowns herself Empress in the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow
- May 17 Battle of Chotusitz: Prussia led by Frederick the Great defeats Austria
- May 28 1st indoor swimming pool opens (Goodman's Fields, London)
- More 1742 Events
1742 in Music
- Apr 13 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" performed for the 1st time at New Music Hall in Dublin
1742 in Sport
- May 28 1st indoor swimming pool opens (Goodman's Fields, London)
Nathanael Greene
Pius VII
Edmond Halley
Johann Sebastian Bach
Frederick the Great
Spencer Compton