Events of 1762

January - June

• January 4 - Britain declares war on Spain and Naples.
• January 5 - 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.
• February 5 - The Great Holocaust (1762) of the Sikhs is carried out by the forces of Ahmed Shah Abdali in Punjab. In all, over 500,000 men, women and children perish in this campaign of slaughter.
• May 15 - The Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1762) ends the war between Russia and Prussia.
• May 22 - The Treaty of Hamburg takes Sweden out of the war against Prussia.
• June 24 - Battle of Wilhelmstal: The Anglo-Hanoverian army of Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French forces in Westphalia. The British commander Lord Granby distinguishes himself.

July - December

• July 9 - Catherine II becomes empress of Russia upon the deposition of her husband Peter III. The incipient Russo-Prussian alliance falls apart, but Russia does not rejoin the war.
• July 21 - Battle of Burkersdorf: In his last major battle, Frederick defeats Marshal Daun in Silesia.
• August 10 - The British East India Company seizes the port city of Manila, Philippines from the Spaniards.
• September - Empress Go-Sakuramachi succeeds her brother Emperor Momozono on the throne of Japan.
• September 15 - Battle of Signal Hill: British troops defeat the French
• October 5 - The British take Manila and make it an Open Port.
• October 29. Battle of Freiberg: Prince Henry of Prussia, Frederick's brother, defeats the Austrian army of Marshal Serbelloni.

Undated

• Louis XV orders the construction of the Petit Trianon, in the park of the Palace of Versailles, for his mistress Madame de Pompadour.
• Neolin, a Delaware tribe prophet, begins to preach in America.
• The North Carolina General Assembly incorporates Kingston, named for King George III of the United Kingdom, as the county seat of Dobbs County, North Carolina. The name is later shortened to Kinston in 1784.
• The town of Charlottesville, Virginia is founded.

Ongoing events

• French and Indian War (1754-1763).
• Seven Years' War (1756-1763).

Births

• April 29 - Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, French marshal (d. 1833)
• May 19 - Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (d. 1814)
• August 12 - King George IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1830)
• September 11 - Joanna Baillie, Scottish writer (d. 1851)
• October 23 - Samuel Morey, American inventor (d. 1843)
• October 30 - André Chénier, French writer (d. 1794)
• November 1 - Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1812)

Deaths

• January 5 - Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
• January 11 - Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor (b. 1695)
• February 11 - Johann Tobias Krebs, German composer (b. 1690)
• February 12 - Laurent Belissen, French composer (b. 1693)
• February 20 - Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (b. 1723)
• March 21 - Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (b. 1713)
• May 26 - Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, German philosopher (b. 1714)
• June 17 - Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French writer (b. 1674)
• June 19 - Johann Ernst Eberlin, German composer (b. 1702)
• July 13 - James Bradley, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1693)
• July 28 - George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, English politician (b. 1691)
• August 21 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (b. 1689)
• August 31 - Emperor Momozono of Japan (b. 1741)
• September 17 - Francesco Geminiani, Italian composer (b. 1687)
• October 6 - Francesco Manfredini, Italian composer (b. 1684)