Historical Events in 1762

Jan 4 Seven Years' War: Great Britain declares war against Spain and Naples
Jan 15 Fraunces Tavern opens in NYC

Artaxerxes

Feb 2 Thomas Arne's opera "Artaxerxes" premieres at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London, England

Feb 12 British fleet occupies Martinique

Voltaire's Struggle for Religious Tolerance

Mar 10 French Huguenot Jean Calas, who was wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspires Voltaire to begin campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform

Mar 17 First Saint Patrick's Day parade is held in NYC
Apr 5 British take Grenada, West Indies, from the French
May 5 Russia and Prussia sign the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, ending the Seven Years' War
May 22 Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Hamburg, reaffirming the status quo that existed before the Seven Years' War
Jun 15 Austria uses its first paper currency
Jun 28 First reported counterfeiting attempt in Boston

Catherine the Great Seizes Power

Jun 28 Russian Tsarina Catherine II seizes power, declaring herself sovereign ruler of Russia

Jul 10 Louis-François Roubiliac's monument to George Frideric Handel is unveiled at Westminster Abbey in London [1]
Jul 17 Empress Catherine II becomes Tsarina of Russia after the death and rumored assassination of Tsar Peter III
Aug 14 The English fleet occupies Havana
Aug 22 Ann Franklin publishes the Newport Mercury, becoming the first American female editor and publisher and the first woman inducted into the University of Rhode Island's Journalism Hall of Fame
Sep 15 Battle of Signal Hill, the last battle of the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War
Oct 5 Opera "Orfeo ed Euridice" by Christoph Willibald Gluck is first produced in Vienna in front of Empress Maria Theresa
Oct 6 British troops occupy Manila, Philippines
Nov 3 Britain & Spain sign Treaty of Paris
Nov 3 Spain acquires Louisiana
Dec 9 British parliament accepts Treaty of Paris