Events in History
- Jan 14 Battle at Elvas: Portuguese beat Spanish
- Jan 24 Pierre Corneille's "Oedipe" premieres in Paris
- Feb 11 The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses
- Feb 16 1st known cheque (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey)
- Apr 22 Lord Protector Richard Cromwell disbands English parliament
- May 22 France, England & Netherlands sign "Hedges Concerto" treaty
- May 25 Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England, earning the nickname "Tumbledown Dick" as a result of his abrupt fall from power
- May 31 Netherlands, England and France sign Treaty of The Hague
- Jun 29 The Russians, led by Prince Trubetskoy are defeated by the Ukrainian armies of Ivan Vyhovsky in the Battle of Konotop.
- Sep 30 Robinson Crusoe is shipwrecked (according to Daniel Defoe)
- Oct 12 English "Rump" Parliament dimisses John Lambert & other generals
- Oct 13 Major general John Lambert drives out English Rump government
Treaty of Interest
- Nov 17 Peace of the Pyrenees is signed between France and Spain
- Nov 25 Michiel de Ruyter conquers Danish city Nyborg
- Dec 8 Mexican border town Ciudad Juárez is founded by Fray García de San Francisco.
- Dec 16 General Monck demands free parliamentary election in Scotland
- Dec 26 Long Parliament reforms in Westminster
Birthdays in History
- Jan 21 Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch portrait painter/engraver/architect
- Feb 1 Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch navigator (Easter Island), born in Middleburg, Netherlands (d. 1729)
- Mar 8 Isaac de Beausobre, French Protestant pastor, born in Niort, France (d. 1738)
- Mar 26 William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist and physicist (famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium), born in East Dereham, Norfolk, England (d. 1828)
- May 16 Campegius Vitringa, Dutch theologist
- Jun 3 David Gregory, Scottish astronomer (d. 1708)
- Jun 12 Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Japanese samurai (d. 1719)
- Jul 20 Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (d. 1743)
- Jul 23 Antonius Schultingh, [Schultingius], Dutch lawyer
- Jul 28 Charles Ancillon, French Huguenot pastor (d. 1715)
- Dec 12 Francesco Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect/designer (d. 1739)
- Dec 20 Francois Fagel, Dutch lawyer/statesman
Deaths in History
- Jan 16 Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
- Feb 17 Abel Servien, French diplomat (b. 1593)
- Feb 27 Henry Dunster, first President of Harvard College (b. 1609)
- Apr 15 Simon Dach, Prussian German poet, dies at 63
- Jun 3 Morgan Llwyd, Welsh Puritan preacher and writer (b. 1619)
- Sep 5 Pieter de Carpentier, Flemish gov-gen of Neth East-Indies, dies at 71
- Oct 8 Jean de Quen, French Jesuit missionary
Abel Tasman
Oct 10 Abel Tasman, Dutch seafarer and explorer (1st European to sight Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji), dies around the age of 55
Abel Tasman
- Oct 31 John Bradshaw, English judge (b. 1602)