1762

– Seven Years' War: Britain declares war against Spain and Naples, following their recent alliance with France.

– 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.^[1]

– British forces under Robert Monckton land on the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean.^[2]

– 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.

– Full surrender of French forces on Martinique to the British.^[3] The island is subsequently returned to France as part of the Peace of Paris.

– 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.^[4]

– 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."^[5]

– 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.^[6]

– Innovative publisher Samuel Farley launches the weekly newspaper The American Chronicle, the seventh in New York City.^[7]

– Molly Morgan, British convict and settler in Australia (d. 1835)

– John Cooke, English captain (d. 1805)

– Robert Gray, British bishop (d. 1834)

– William Robert Broughton, British explorer (d. 1821)

– Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French marshal (d. 1833)

– William Hargood, British admiral (d. 1839)

– Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (d. 1814)

– Eyre Coote, Irish soldier and politician (d. 1823)

– Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, British politician (d. 1834)

– Bushrod Washington, American politician and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 1829)

– Alexander Macdonell, Scottish bishop in Canada (d. 1840)

August 12

– Théroigne de Méricourt, French revolutionary (d. 1817)

– Joanna Baillie, Scottish writer (d. 1851)

– Anton Bernolák, Slovak linguist (d. 1813)

– Charles de Suremain, French military and diplomat (d. 1835)

– Jan Willem Janssens, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1838)

– Paul Hamilton, American politician (d. 1816)

October 21

– Samuel Morey, American inventor (d. 1843)

– André Chénier, French writer (d. 1794)

– Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1812)

– Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet, British admiral (d. 1814)

November – , first Colombian ambassador to the United States (d. 1822)

– Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, British politician (d. 1847)

– Michael Kelly, Irish composer and singer (d. 1826)

– Empress Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)

– Manuel de Montiano, Spanish colonial administrator (b. 1685)

– Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor (b. 1695)

– Johann Tobias Krebs, German composer (b. 1690)

– Laurent Belissen, French composer (b. 1693)

– Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (b. 1723)

– Johannes Zick, German fresco painter (b. 1702)

– Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy of Hungary (b. 1711)

– Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (b. 1713)

– Germain Louis Chauvelin, French politician (b. 1685)

– Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł, Polish-Lithuanian noble (b. 1702)

– Francesco Loredan, doge of Venice (b. 1685)

– Alexander Joseph Sulkowski, Polish and Saxon general (b. 1695)

– Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (b. 1714)

– Dorothea Erxleben, German physician (b. 1715)

– Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (b. 1674)

– Johann Ernst Eberlin, German composer (b. 1702)

– Luise Gottsched, German poet, playwright, essayist and translator (b. 1713)

– Prince Sado, son of Yeongjo of Joseon (b. 1735)

– James Bradley, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1693)

– Emperor Peter III of Russia (b. 1728)

– George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, English politician (b. 1691)

– Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla, Royal Spanish Navy sailor, commander (b. 1711)

– Shah Waliullah, Islamic reformer (b. 1703)

– Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (b. 1689)

– Emperor Momozono of Japan (b. 1741)

– John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, British politician (b. 1685)

– Francesco Geminiani, Italian composer (b. 1687)

– John Olmius, 1st Baron Waltham of Ireland (b. 1711)

– Francesco Manfredini, Italian composer (b. 1684)

– John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork, Irish writer (b. 1707)

– Lord Robert Manners-Sutton, British politician (b. 1722)

date unknown – , English-American indentured servant and autobiographer (b. 1698)