January–March •
January 1 –
Jean Racine's
tragedy Phèdre is first performed, in Paris. •
January 21 – The first medical publication in America (a pamphlet on smallpox) is produced in
Boston. •
February 15 – Four members of the English
House of Lords embarrass King
Charles II at the opening of the latest session of the "
Cavalier Parliament" by proclaiming that the session is not legitimate because it had not met in more than a year. The
Duke of Buckingham, backed by
Lord Shaftesbury,
Lord Salisbury and
Baron Wharton, makes an unsuccessful motion to end the session. When the four Lords refuse to apologize, they are arrested and imprisoned in the
Tower of London. •
February 26 • The first arrests are made in the case that will develop into the "
Affair of the Poisons" in France, as
Magdelaine de La Grange and her accused accomplice, Father Nail, are detained on suspicion of poisoning her lover, a Messr. Faurie. While in prison in the Bastille and awaiting trial Mademoiselle La Grange writes letters accusing other persons of carrying out murders by poison as well. • On the Indonesian island of
Java,
Amangkurat II of the
Mataram Sultanate agrees to bring his kingdom under the protection of the
Dutch East India Company to drive out rebels. •
February 28 – During the
Franco-Dutch War, the
Siege of Valenciennes by the French Army begins in the
Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). The city surrenders on March 17. •
March 17 –
Franco-Dutch War:
Siege of Valenciennes (1676–77) in the
Spanish Netherlands ends with surrender of the town to the French.
April–June •
April 6 –
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor visits the
University of Innsbruck. •
April 11 –
Franco-Dutch War:
Battle of Cassel – A French force under
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, defeats a combined Dutch-Spanish force under
William of Orange in
French Flanders. •
April 16 – The
Statute of Frauds is passed into English law. •
May 29 – The
Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the
Virginia colonists and the local
Indians. •
May 31 –
Scanian War:
Battle of Møn –
Danish ships clash with a
Swedish fleet under
Niels Juel, between
Fehmarn and
Warnemünde; the Danish defeat the Swedish and capture a number of ships. •
June 25–
26 –
Scanian War:
Siege of Malmö – Danish attackers fail to take the town from the Swedish.
July–September •
July 14 –
Battle of Landskrona:
Sweden and its 13,000 troops, under the command of
King Charles XI, successfully repel a 12,000-man invasion force from
Denmark, commanded by
King Christian V. •
August 14 –
William of Orange, the leader of the
Dutch Republic, is forced to end the siege of the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) city of
Charleroi after six days. •
August 28 – During
war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, Russian troops led by
Grigory Romodanovsky and Ukrainian Cossacks led by
Ivan Samoylovych arrive at the besieged Ukrainian city of
Chigirin (modern-day Chyhyryn) and inflict heavy casualties on the encamped Turkish and Tatar troops. Ibrahim Pasha, leader of the 45,000 member Ottoman force, retreats the next day and, by the time of the relief of Chigirin on September 5, the Ottoman Army has lost 20,000 men. Ottoman Sultan
Mehmed IV, outraged by the defeat, sends 200,000 troops the following year and destroys the city. •
August – The French guild of the
Maitresses bouquetieres is founded in Paris. •
September 10 –
Henry Purcell is appointed a musician to the court of
Charles II of England. •
September 17 – Troops from
Denmark invade and capture the Swedish island of
Rügen and drive out the local population. Five months later, on January 18, 1678, Sweden recaptures the island. Nine months later, troops from Denmark and Brandenburg invade for a third time and capture the island again on October 22, 1678. Eight months later, Denmark is given the island back under a
treaty ending the Swedish-Brandenburg War on June 29, but by then, the island of Rügen is in ruins. In modern times, the island becomes a vacation resort in Germany. •
September 18 – the
Kangxi Emperor of China grants titles and ranks to all of his wives, and names
Empress Xiaozhaoren as his consort.
October–December •
October 29 –
Michel le Tellier becomes Chancellor of France. •
November 4 – The future
Mary II of England marries
William of Orange in London. •
November 16 –
French troops occupy
Freiburg. •
December 7 – Father
Louis Hennepin of Belgium, exploring North America, becomes the earliest known European person to discover
Niagara Falls, and the first to report its existence. In his book
A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, published in 1698, Hennepin writes "Betwixt the lakes Ontario and Eire there is a vast prodigious Cadence of water which falls down after a surprising and astonishing manner, inasmuch that the Universe does not afford its parallel." •
December 9 – The French Navy, led by
Charles de Courbon de Blénac with a land force of 950 men, lands at the Caribbean island of
Tobago, lays siege to the Dutch fort defending the territory during the
Franco-Dutch War, and destroys the structure when it fires a cannon overlooking the fort, striking the gunpowder arsenal. The explosion kills 250 of the defenders, including Dutch Admiral
Jacob Binckes and 16 officers. Combined with the sinking of four ships of the Netherlands Navy, the victory at Tobago ends Dutch military power in the Antilles. •
December 15 – The Siege of Stettin (the modern-day Polish city of
Szczecin but, at this time, a possession of Sweden) ends after almost five months with Sweden's surrender of the city to Prussia's
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. The siege, part of the
Scanian War, had begun on June 25.
Date unknown • Yusuf Bey is replaced as
sanjak-bey of
Lajjun Sanjak by an Ottoman officer, ending the power of the
Turabay dynasty. • The
Second London Baptist Confession of Faith is written (published in
1689). •
Spinoza's
Ethics (
Ethica, ordine geometrico demonstrata) is published as part of his
Opera Posthuma in
Amsterdam. •
Robert Plot publishes
The Natural History of Oxford-shire, Being an Essay Toward the Natural History of England, in which he describes the fossilised femur of a human giant, now known to be from the
dinosaur Megalosaurus. •
Elias Ashmole gifts the collection that begins the
Ashmolean Museum to the
University of Oxford in England. •
Jules Hardouin Mansart begins
la place Vendôme in
Paris (it is completed in
1698). •
Francis Aungier, 3rd Baron Aungier of Longford, is created 1st
Earl of Longford in the
Peerage of Ireland. •
The John Roan School is established in
Greenwich, London. •
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz gives a complete solution to the
tangent problem. •
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek observes
spermatozoa under the
microscope. • The use of
male impotence is ended as a factor in French divorce proceedings. •
Ice cream becomes popular in Paris. • The population of
Paris first exceeds 500,000. == Births ==