January–March •
January 1 –
Protestant nations in
Western Europe, except
England, start using the
Gregorian calendar.
Catholic nations have been using the Gregorian calendar since its introduction in
1582 by
Pope Gregory XIII. •
January 1 (Julian) (January 11, Gregorian) – The
Tsardom of Russia begins numbering its calendar from the birth of Christ (
Anno Domini), instead of since the Creation (
Anno Mundi). •
January 26 – At approximately 9 p.m., the
Cascadia earthquake occurs in the
Pacific Northwest, with an estimated
moment magnitude of 8.7–9.2. This
megathrust earthquake ruptures about of the
Cascadia Subduction Zone and causes a
tsunami that strikes the coast of Japan approximately 10 hours later. •
February 3 – The 'Lesser Great Fire' destroys a substantial part of central
Edinburgh, Scotland. •
February 22 (Gregorian),
February 12 (Julian) – The
Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of
Swedish territory in
Germany and
Latvia, by
Denmark and
Poland/
Saxony. Sweden has control of the
Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland,
Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar
Peter I of Russia, King
Frederick IV of Denmark and
Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic
Charles XII, known as the "Swedish Meteor". •
February 27 – The island of
New Britain is discovered by
William Dampier, in the western Pacific. •
March 1 (Gregorian) – Protestant
Germany and
Denmark–Norway adopt the
Gregorian calendar. •
March 1 (Swedish),
March 11 (Gregorian),
February 29 (Julian) – The
Swedish calendar is adopted. •
March (early) –
William Congreve's comedy
The Way of the World is first performed in London. •
March 3 –
Shivaji II accedes to the throne of the
Maratha Empire as the 4th Chhatrapati after his father
Rajaram I's death. •
March 24 – The
Treaty of London is signed between
France,
England and the
Dutch Republic.
April–June •
April 15 – The coronation of King
Frederick IV of Denmark takes place at
Frederiksborg Castle in
Copenhagen. •
April 18 – Hungarian freedom activist
Ferenc Rákóczi is arrested by Austrian authorities and charged with sedition. Imprisoned near
Vienna and facing a death sentence, he escapes and later leads the overthrow of the Habsburg control of Hungary. •
April 21 – In
India, the siege of the fortress of
Sajjangad (located in the
Maharashtra state) is begun by an army led by Fateullahakhan. The fortress falls on June 6. •
April – Fire destroys many buildings in
Gondar, the capital of
Ethiopia, including two in the palace complex. •
May 5 – Within a few days of poet
John Dryden's death in London (
May 1 O.S.), his last written work (
The Secular Masque) is performed as part of
Vanbrugh's version of
The Pilgrim. •
May – In
Rhode Island (American colony),
Walter Clarke, three-term former
Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is elected deputy governor for the second time, serving under his brother-in-law
Samuel Cranston. •
June 8 (May 28 O.S.) – The legislature for the
Province of Massachusetts Bay (the modern-day Commonwealth of
Massachusetts in the United States) passes into law "An Act against Jesuits & Popish Priests" making a finding that Roman Catholic clerics have attempted to incite American Indians into a rebellion against the Crown, and declaring "That all and every Jesuit, Seminary Priest, Missionary, or other Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Person made or ordained by any Authority, Power or Jurisdiction derived, challenged or pretended from the Pope or See of Rome, now residing within this Province or any part thereof, shall depart from and out of the same, at or before the tenth day of September next, in this present year, One Thousand and Seven Hundred." The
Province of New York enacts similar legislation later in the year.
July–September •
July 11 – The
Prussian Academy of Sciences is founded, with
Gottfried Leibniz as president. •
July 24 –
Charles XII of Sweden counter-attacks his enemies by invading
Zealand (Denmark), assisted by an Anglo-Dutch naval squadron under Sir
George Rooke, rapidly compelling the Danes to submit to peace. •
July 30 – Eleven-year-old
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, dies of "a malignant fever" at
Windsor Castle, leaving the Protestant
succession to the British throne in doubt. •
August 18 (
August 7 O.S.) – The
Peace of Travendal is concluded between the
Swedish Empire,
Denmark–Norway and
Holstein-Gottorp in
Traventhal. On the same day,
Augustus II,
King of Poland, and
Peter the Great,
Tsar of Russia, enter the war against Sweden. •
September 6 –
Edmond Halley returns to England after a voyage of almost one year on
HMS Paramour, from which he has observed the
Antarctic Convergence, and publishes his findings on terrestrial magnetism in
General Chart of the Variation of the Compass. •
September 12 –
Antioh Cantemir is deposed as the
voivode of Moldavia and replaced by his predecessor
Constantine Ducas. •
September 13-
14 – The
Rising-sun hurricane of 1700 strikes the coast of
South Carolina, killing 98. •
September 27 –
Pope Innocent XII dies at the age of 85 after a tenure of more than nine years.
Fabrizio Spada, the
Cardinal Secretary of State, assumes administration of the Roman Catholic Church in order to oversee the election of a new Pope. •
September – A Russian army invades
Swedish Estonia, and besieges the town of
Narva.
October–December •
October 3 – The
Battle of Jouami' al-Ulama takes place in
Algeria with a surprise attack and ambush on the army of Murad III
Bey of Tunis by two Algerian defenders, Hadj Mustapha,
Dey of Algiers and Ahmed ben Ferhat,
Beylik of Constantine. •
October 16 –
Adrian, Patriarch of All Russia, dies after more than 10 years as head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is replaced by the hand-picked choice of Tsar
Peter the Great with the appointment of Simeon Ivanovich Yavorsky as Patriarch
Stefan. •
November 1 –
Charles II, the last Spanish king of the
House of Habsburg, dies at the
Royal Alcazar of Madrid aged 38, leaving no children; his last will makes
Philip of Anjou his heir. •
November 15 –
Louis XIV of France accepts the Spanish crown on behalf of his grandson
Philip of Anjou of the
House of Bourbon, who becomes Philip V of Spain (reigning for 44 years – with a short break – to
1746), thus triggering the
War of the Spanish Succession (
1701–
1714). •
November 18 –
Lithuanian Civil War:
Battle of Valkininkai – The anti-
Sapieha coalition is victorious. •
November 23 – Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Albani, having been ordained as a Roman Catholic priest only two months earlier, is elected by the
Papal conclave to succeed
Pope Innocent XII, and becomes the 243rd
pope, taking the name of
Clement XI. :
Battle of Narva •
November 30 (
November 19 O.S.; November 20
Swedish calendar) –
Battle of Narva in Estonia: Having led his army of 8,000 on a forced march from Denmark to
Estonia,
Charles XII of Sweden routs the huge Russian army. •
December 8 – The formal coronation of
Pope Clement XI takes place in Rome. •
December 28 –
Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester,
Lord President of the Council in charge of the Privy Council, is appointed to the additional job of
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the highest Crown official in charge of administration of Ireland. •
December 30 (December 19, O.S.) – The
4th Parliament of King William III in England is dissolved and new elections are ordered by the King.
Date unknown •
Mission San Xavier del Bac is founded in
New Spain near
Tucson, as a
Spanish Roman Catholic mission. Its location had first been scouted by the Spanish in 1692. • An inventory made for the
House of Medici of
Florence is the first documentary evidence for a
piano, invented by their instrument keeper
Bartolomeo Cristofori. • An English translation of the novel
Don Quixote, "translated from the original by many hands and published by
Peter Motteux", begins publication in London. While popular among readers, it will eventually come to be known as one of the worst translations of the novel, totally betraying the spirit of
Miguel de Cervantes's masterpiece. • The value of sales of English manufactured products to the Atlantic economy is £3.9 million. • Approximate date –
Lions become extinct in
Libya. == World population ==