Eighteenth-Century Chronology: 1762

Literature

• Churchill, Night; The Ghost, vols. 1-2
• Denis Diderot, Le Neveu de Rameau (Rameau's Nephew)
• Oliver Goldsmith, The Life of Nash
• Hurd, Letters on Chivalry and Romance
• July: Samuel Johnson receives an annual pension of three hundred pounds
• Lord Kames, Elements of Criticism
• Charlotte Lennox, Sophia
• Charles Macklin, The True-Born Irishman; or, The Irish Fine Lady
• James Macpherson (Ossian), Fingal
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
• Laurence Sterne travels to France and Italy

Theatre

• W. Whitehead, The School for Lovers
• Samuel Foote, The Lyar

Art

• Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker's Director
• William Ince and John Mayhew, The Universal System of Household Furniture
• George Romney settles in London
• Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England (through 1771)
• Johann Zoffany exhibits his work at the Society of Artists (through 1769)

Music

• Thomas Arne, Artaxerxes
• Johann Christian Bach settles in England

Science, Technology, & Medicine

• Marc Plenciz is the first to describe microorganisms as "germs"

Politics & Law

• May: Newcastle resigns as Lord Treasurer
• Bute becomes Lord Treasurer
• Grenville and Egremont become Secretaries of State
• Dashwood becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Charles Jenkinson becomes Bute's private secretary
• Britain occupies Manila, the Philippines (through 1763)
• Diego de Silan leads a rebellion in Ilocos Province, the Philippines

Theology

• G. Campbell, Dissertation on Miracles
• William Warburton, The Doctrine of Grace

Milestones

• Birth of Bowles
• Birth of Cobbett
• Birth of Joanna Baillie
• Death of Bubb Dodington
• Death of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
• Death of Louis-François Roubiliac, sculptor
• Birth of Susanna Haswell Rowson, novelist and playwright

Miscellaneous