2nd February » Portuguese forces under Christovão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hill fort in northern Ethiopia in the Battle of Baçente.
13th February » Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, is executed for adultery.
6th May » Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time.
19th May » The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Burma.
28th August » Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1538–57) e.g Turkish–Portuguese War (1538–1557): Battle of Wofla: The Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and later executed.
28th September » Navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives at what is now San Diego, California, United States.
7th October » Explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo known as Cabrillo discovers Santa Catalina Island, California e.g Santa Catalina Island off of the California coast.
24th November » Battle of Solway Moss: An English army defeats a much larger Scottish force near the River Esk, Dumfries and Galloway known as River Esk in Dumfries and Galloway.
14th December » Princess Mary Stuart becomes Mary, Queen of Scots.
Famous Birthdays in 1542
15th June » Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (d. 1591)
24th June » John of the Cross, Spanish mystic and saint (d. 1591)
4th October » Robert Bellarmine, Italian cardinal and saint (d. 1621)