* 1664 – Arvid Horn, Swedish statesman ( d. 1742 )

* 1742 – Nathanael Greene, American general ( d. 1786 )

* 1742 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

* 1720 – 1742 Edmond Halley

* 1742 – 1762 James Bradley

* Principality of Anhalt-Dornburg: 1667 – 1742

* 1673 – Wilhelmina Amalia of Brunswick, Holy Roman Empire Empress ( d. 1742 )

* Pope Pius VII ( 1742 – 1823, r. 1800 – 23 )

* 1742 – Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal ( d. 1819 )

* 1709 – Louise Élisabeth d ' Orléans, queen consort of Spain ( d. 1742 )

* 1660 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist ( d. 1742 )

* 1742 – Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.

La Fontaine's model was subsequently emulated by England's John Gay ( 1685 – 1732 ); Poland's Ignacy Krasicki ( 1735 – 1801 ); Italy's Lorenzo Pignotti ( 1739 – 1812 ) and Giovanni Gherardo de Rossi ( 1754 – 1827 ); Serbia's Dositej Obradović ( 1742 – 1811 ); Spain's Félix María de Samaniego ( 1745 – 1801 ) and Tomás de Iriarte y Oropesa ( 1750 – 1791 ); France's Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian ( 1755 – 94 ); and Russia's Ivan Krylov ( 1769 – 1844 ).

* Dositej Obradović ( Serbian, 1742 – 1811 )

Henry Dundas ( 1742 – 1811 ) dominated political affairs in the latter part of the century.

Middleton's son, Arthur ( 1742 – 1787 ) would also get involved in politics, succeeding his father as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, after his resignation, and, later on, sign the Declaration of Independence.

* February 19 – Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist ( d. 1742 )

Friedrich Hoffmann ( February 19, 1660 – November 12, 1742 ) was a German physician and chemist.

Charlotta Ernestina Bernadina von Stein ( born von Schardt ; December 25, 1742, Eisenach-January 6, 1827 ) was a lady-in-waiting at the court in Weimar and a close friend to both Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose work and life were strongly influenced by her.

* Friedrich Hoffmann ( 1660 – 1742 ), German physicist and chemist at Halle

Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart ( 1742, Holderbank, Aargau – 1795 ) was a German botanist, a pupil of Carolus Linnaeus at Uppsala University, and later Director of the Botanical Garden of Hannover, where he produced several major botanical works between 1780 – 1793.

Hoffmann died on November 12, 1742 in Halle.

* February 19-Friedrich Hoffmann, German physician and chemist ( died 1742 )

* 1742 – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist ( d. 1799 )

Most of Silesia was conquered by Prussia in 1742, later becoming part of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany up to 1945.

* February 24 – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, a German scientist, satirist, and Anglophile ( b. 1742 )

The family provided two Holy Roman Emperors: Louis IV ( 1314 – 1347 ) and Charles VII ( 1742 – 1745 ), both members of the Bavarian branch of the family, and one German King with Rupert of the Palatinate ( 1400 – 1410 ), a member of the Palatinate branch.

On 7 June 1742, the German mathematician Christian Goldbach ( originally of Brandenburg-Prussia ) wrote a letter to Leonhard Euler ( letter XLIII ) in which he proposed the following conjecture:

The city became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 during the Silesian Wars and part of the German Empire in 1871.

This situation came to an end when Prussia forcibly took the land in 1742, before itself becoming the German Empire between 1871 and 1918.

It is named after German surgeon August Gottlieb Richter ( 1742 – 1812 ).

In 1742 he advocated respect for the Saturday Sabbath keeping among the German speaking Christians in Philadelphia citing the use of that day by the Ephrata Cloister, thus promoting the first practice of the two-day weekend in America.

In 1742 the bulk of Upper Silesia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, and in 1871 became part of the German Empire.

* February 24-Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German satirist ( born 1742 )

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg ( 1 July 1742 – 24 February 1799 ) was a German scientist, satirist and Anglophile.

In 1742 it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and in 1871 became part of the newly formed German Empire.

* Georg Christoph Lichtenberg ( 1742 – 1799 ), German scientist, satirist and anglophile

In 1742 it become part of Prussia and in 1871 the German Empire.

Johann Peter Melchior ( October 12, 1742 – June 13, 1825 ) was a German porcelain modeller.

Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper ( 2 June 1742 – 27 July 1810 ) was a German entomologist.

* January 4 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician ( d. 1742 )

* James Douglas ( physician ) ( 1675 – 1742 ), Scottish physician and anatomist

* James Douglas ( physician ) ( 1675 – 1742 ), Scottish anatomist and physician

In 1742, Franklin finished his first design which implemented new scientific concepts about heat which had been developed by the Dutch physician Herman Boerhaave ( 1668 – 1738 ), a proponent of Isaac Newton's ideas.

In 1742 he became physician to the Earl of Stair, then commanding the British army in Flanders.

* unknown date-Nicolas Andry, French physician ( died 1742 )

Nathan Brownson ( May 14, 1742 – November 6, 1796 ) was an American physician and statesman from Riceboro, Georgia.

Lars Roberg ( Stockholm 4 January 1664 – Uppsala 21 May 1742 ) was a Swedish physician.

James Douglas ( March 21, 1675 – April 2, 1742 ) was a Scottish physician and anatomist, and Physician Extraordinary to Queen Caroline.