:
Battle of Lund January–March •
January 29 –
Feodor III becomes
Tsar of Russia. •
January 31 –
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, the oldest institution of
higher education in
Central America, is founded. •
January – Six months into
King Philip's War,
Metacomet (King Philip), leader of the
Algonquian tribe known as the
Wampanoag, travels westward to the
Mohawk nation, seeking an alliance with the Mohawks against the
English colonists of
New England; his efforts in creating such an alliance are a failure. •
February 10 – After the
Nipmuc tribe attacks
Lancaster, Massachusetts, colonist
Mary Rowlandson is taken captive, and lives with the Indians until
May. •
February 14 – Metacomet and his Wampanoags attack
Northampton, Massachusetts; meanwhile, the Massachusetts Council debates whether a wall should be erected around
Boston. •
February 23 – While the Massachusetts Council debates how to handle the Christian Indians they had exiled to
Deer Island on
October 13,
1675, a coalition of Indians led by Metacomet attacks colonial settlements just outside of Boston. •
March 29 –
Providence, Rhode Island is attacked and destroyed by Native Americans.
April–June •
April 2 – Chief
Canonchet of the
Narragansett people is captured by mercenaries of the Pequot, Mohegan and Niantic nations who have been hired by English settlers. He is offered a chance to live if he makes peace with the English, refuses, and is executed the next day in
Stonington, Connecticut. •
April 12 –
Richard Raynsford becomes the new
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. •
April 21 –
Sudbury Fight: The village of
Sudbury, Massachusetts is attacked by Metacom's
Wampanoag Confederation as one of the last major battles of
King Phillip's War. Captain Samuel Wadworth and 28 of his men are killed in the defense of the town. •
April 22 – The
Battle of Augusta is fought in the
Mediterranean Sea off of the coast of
Sicily during the
Franco-Dutch War. The French Navy and the combined Dutch Republic and Spanish forces each lose over 500 men. •
May 2 –
Mary Rowlandson is ransomed from captivity by Native Americans by a subscription raised by women of Boston. •
May 19 –
Peskeomskut Massacre: Battle of Turner's Falls – Captain William Turner leads a raid at first light on an encampment consisting mainly of women and children. An estimated 300-400 lives are taken in less than half an hour, first from gunshot directly into the sleeping tents, then by sword and by drowning as the victims try to flee. This incident happens on the west bank of the Connecticut River, just above the falls known as Turner's Falls in Gill, Massachusetts. •
May 26 – A fire destroys the town hall and 624 houses in
Southwark, London. •
May 31 – The Massachusetts Council finally decides to move the Christian Indians from Deer Island to
Cambridge, Massachusetts (approximate date). •
June 1 –
Scanian War:
Battle of Öland – A combined fleet of the
Dutch Republic and
Denmark–Norway decisively defeats the
Swedish Navy, which loses its
flagship Kronan. •
June 12 – The Indian coalition attacks Hadley, Massachusetts, but are repelled by
Connecticut troops. •
June 19 – Massachusetts issues a declaration of
amnesty to any Indian who surrenders. •
June –
Bacon's Rebellion begins in the
Virginia Colony. On
July 30,
Nathaniel Bacon and his followers issue the
Declaration of the People of Virginia.
July–September •
July 2 – Major John Talcott and his troops begin sweeping
Connecticut and
Rhode Island, capturing large numbers of Native Americans from
Algonquian tribes and exporting them out of the
English colonies as slaves. •
July 4 – Captain
Benjamin Church and his soldiers begin sweeping
Plymouth Colony, for any remaining Wampanoag tribesmen. •
July 11 – The Wampanoags attack
Taunton, Massachusetts, but are repelled by colonists. •
July 17 – In France,
Madame de Brinvilliers is executed for poisoning her father and brothers. The case also scares King
Louis XIV into starting a series of investigations about possible poisonings and
witchcraft (later called the
Affair of the Poisons). •
July 27 – Nearly 200
Nipmuc tribesmen surrender to the English colonists in
Boston. •
July 30 –
Virginia colonist
Nathaniel Bacon and his makeshift army issue a
Declaration of the People of Virginia, instigating
Bacon's Rebellion against the rule of Governor
William Berkeley. •
August 2 – Captain Benjamin Church captures Metacomet's wife and son. •
August 12 – King Philip (
Metacomet), chief of the
Wampanoags that had waged a war throughout southern
New England that bore his name, is killed by an Indian named Alderman, a soldier led by Captain Benjamin Church. •
August 17 –
Battle of Halmstad (fought at Fyllebro): Sweden gains a decisive victory over
Denmark–Norway. •
August 28 – The
Irish Donation of 1676 is shipped from
Dublin, to relieve
Boston in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. •
September 19 • The
Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681) begins, with Russo-Ukrainian troops forcing pro-
Ottoman Hetman Ivan Samoylovych to surrender
Chyhyryn. •
Bacon's Rebellion:
Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of
Nathaniel Bacon. •
September 21 –
Pope Innocent XI succeeds
Pope Clement X, as the 240th
Pope of the
Roman Catholic Church.
October–December •
October 13 –
Battle of Gegodog:
Trunajaya defeats the
Mataram Sultanate. •
October 17 – The
Treaty of Żurawno is signed, between the
Ottoman (Turkish) Empire and
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. •
November 16 – A prison is founded on
Nantucket Island, in the English colony of
Massachusetts. •
November 27 – A fire in
Boston, Massachusetts, is accidentally set by a careless and sleepy apprentice, who drops a lighted candle, or leaves it too near some combustible substance; this is the largest fire known at this time in the district. The Rev.
Increase Mather’s church, dwelling and a portion of his personal library are destroyed. •
December 4 –
Scanian War –
Battle of Lund:
Sweden defeats the forces of Denmark. •
December 7 –
Ole Rømer makes the first quantitative measurements of the
speed of light. •
December 21 –
Sands baronets created in the
Baronetage of Ireland.
Date unknown • Emperor
Yohannes I of
Ethiopia decrees that Muslims must live separately from Christians throughout his realm. •
Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovers
microorganisms. • An
Åbo Lantdag (assembly) meets in
Turku,
Finland. • The
French East India Company founds its principal Indian base at
Pondicherry, on the
Coromandel Coast. • The first
coffeehouse in North America opens in
Boston. == Births ==