The Great Music Hal in Fishamble Street, Dublin, where Messiah was first performed
In the year 1742, Handel’s oratorio The Messiah is first performed in Dublin, Ireland in aid of local charities (Apr 13), mathematician Christian Goldbach first describes his conjecture “Every even number is the sum of two primes” - one of the oldest unsolved problems in mathematics (Jun 7), author Jonathan Swift is confined to home treatment for the remainder of his life (Aug 17), Swedish troops surrender to Russians in Helsinki (Aug 20) resulting in all of Finland falling for a while under Russian occupation (Sep), Spain completes the construction of Fort Matanzas to the south of St. Augustine, Florida - and all these fine people were born:
1742-0108 Philip Astley* equestrian/circus owner/inventor - Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England (1814/72)
1742-0309 Michael Anckarsvärd* count/soldier/politician - Högfors, Sweden (1838/96)
1742-0312 Aletta Haniel* businesswoman - Orsoy, Holy Roman Empire (1815/73)
1742-0506 Jean Senebier* pastor/naturalist/plant physiologist - Geneva, Republic of Geneva (1809/67)
1742-0514 Johan Mattsinpoika Nylander* plant owner/ merchant/ shipbuilder - Oulu, Sweden-Finland (1810/68)
1742-0602 Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper* naturalist/zoologist - Wunsiedel, Bavaria (1810/68)
1742-0628 William Hooper* lawyer/politician - Boston, Massachusetts (1790/48)
1742-0727 Friedrich von Hahn* nobleman/philosopher/ astronomer - Neuhaus, Holstein, Holy Roman Empire (1805/63)
1742-0729 Armand de Kersaint* sailor/politician - Paris, France (1783/51)
1742-0807 Nathanael Greene* major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War - Potowomut, Rhode Island, British America (1786/43)
1742-0908 Ozias Humphry* painter - Honiton, Devon, England (1810/67)
1742-0914 James Wilson* teacher/legal theorist/signer of the United States Declaration of Independence - Carskerdo, Scotland (1798/55)
1742-1003 Anders Jahan Retzius* chemist/ botanist/entomologist - Kristianstad, Sweden (1821/79)
1742-1006 Johan Herman Wessel* Danish-Norwegian poet/satirist/ playwright - Vestby, Akershus, Norway (1785/43)
1742-1019 Nicholas Ashton* owner of the Dungeon salt works/shipowner/High Sheriff of Lancashire - Liverpool, England (1833/91)
1742-1105 Richard Cosway* portrait painter - Tiverton, England (1821/78)
1742-1209 Carl Wilhelm Scheele* Swedish-German pharmaceutical pioneering chemist - Stralsund, Pomerania, Roman Empire (1786/43)
Updated 21.6.2022-2
Search for another year here