| 1730–1807 | UK [newspapers] | The Daily Advertiser is launched in London, England. With its dependence on advertisements, this may be regarded as the first modern newspaper. |
| 1750–1777 | Portugal [law and government] | Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, the Marquis of Pombal, virtual ruler of Portugal during the reign of José I, carries out a series of extensive reforms aimed at breaking the power of the nobility and revitalizing Portugal's finances, industry, agriculture, and education system. |
| 1760–1770 | North America [statistics and demography] | The estimated population of the North American colonies is 1,593,625 including 325,806 black slaves. |
| 1762 | England [ships and shipping] | English inventor John Harrison claims the Board of Longitude's prize for an accurate chronometer for use at sea; it can determine the longitude to within 5.5 m/18 ft (he is paid £20,000 in 1773). |
| 1762 | France [women's rights] | The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau writes that women should be passive and weak, and their education should be directed towards pleasing the man and raising the children. According to him, a wife should not only be faithful, but also ensure that others acknowledge her fidelity. |
| 1762 | Austria-HM [opera] | The opera Orfeo ed Euridice/Orpheus and Eurydice by the German composer Christoph Gluck is first performed, in Vienna, Austria. Incorporating elements of French opera, it is written with a simplicity and directness of emotional expression that make it a landmark in the development of opera; the first so-called ‘reform’ opera. |
| 1762 | England [painting] | The English artist George Stubbs paints Mares and Foals Without a Background and Whistlejacket. |
| 1762 | Russia [palaces] | The Winter Palace in St Petersburg, Russia, designed by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, is completed. |
| 1762 | Italy, Venice [plays] | The comedy Le baruffe chiozzotte/Quarrels at Chioggia by the Italian writer Carlo Goldoni is performed, in Venice, Italy. One of his finest works, it is a comedy of the lower classes. |
| 1762 | Scotland [poetry] | The Scottish poet and translator James Macpherson publishes Fingal: An Ancient Poem. Macpherson claims that this is based on a long-lost epic by the Gaelic poet Ossian, ‘the Homer of the North’. The work arouses great interest throughout Europe and becomes an important element in early Romanticism. It is later discovered that much of the text had been written by Macpherson himself. |
| 1762 | France [fiction] | The French writer and encyclopedist Denis Diderot begins his satirical novel Le Neveu de Rameau/Rameau's Nephew, completing it in 1774. It is not published in France until 1821. |
| 1762 | England [fiction] | The English writer Oliver Goldsmith publishes The Citizen of the World; or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher. Written as a series of letters from a Chinese visitor to England, it satirizes contemporary society. |
| 1762 | France [fiction] | The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau publishes Émile, ou l'Education/Émile, or Education, a romance that sets out his ideas on education. His central claim is that education is not about simply imposing knowledge, but about allowing a child to develop naturally. It will have a profound influence on the theory and practice of education. |
| 1762 | UK [food and drink] | John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, invents the sandwich (meat between two slices of bread) to stave off hunger while he is at the gaming table in London, England. |
| 5 January 1762 | Russia [political events] | Elizabeth, empress of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great, dies in St Petersburg, Russia. Her successor is her nephew, Peter, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (Tsar Peter III). |
| 5 May 1762 | Russia, Prussia [treaties] | Tsar Peter III, an admirer of Frederick II the Great of Prussia, ends hostilities between Russia and Prussia, by the Treaty of St Petersburg. Russia restores all conquests made during the Seven Years' War and agrees to a military alliance with Prussia. |
| 22 May 1762 | Sweden, Prussia [treaties] | The Treaty of Hamburg ends hostilities between Sweden and Prussia, restoring all conquests made during the Seven Years' War. |
