1655 CE

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christiaan Huygens. 27 – Anglo-Spanish War: Invasion of Jamaica – Forces of the English Protectorate led by William Penn and Robert Venables capture the island of Jamaica from Spain. Second Northern War/the Deluge: Monks at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa are successful in fending off a month-long siege.

In the 1650s, the 17th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 5 – Emperor Go-Sai ascends to the throne of Japan.source
22 January – Oliver Cromwell dissolves the First Protectorate Parliament.England source
March 8 – John Casor becomes the first legally recognized slave in what will become the United States, as a court in Northampton County in the Colony of Virginia issues its decision in the Casor lawsuit, the first instance of a judicial determination in the Thirteen Colonies holding that a person who has committed no crime could be held in servitude for life.source
July 20 – The Amsterdam Town Hall (the modern-day Royal Palace) is inaugurated.source
July 27 – The Jews in New Amsterdam petition for a separate Jewish cemetery.source
July 27 – The Netherlands and Brandenburg sign a military treaty.source
August 9 – Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell divides England into 11 districts, under major-generals.source
August 28 – New Amsterdam and Peter Stuyvesant bar colonial Jews from military service.source
September 26 – Peter Stuyvesant recaptures the Dutch Fory Casimir, and defeats the New Sweden (Delaware) colony.source
September – Diplomatic relations with the Commonwealth of England broken offBelgium source
November 3 – England and France sign military and economic treaties.source
December 18 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there is no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.source
Frederick III of Denmark-Norway gives control of the Faroe Islands to Christoffer Gabel and his son, which will last until 1709.source
The King summon the 1655 Riksdag and introduces a Reduction (Sweden) of a quarter of all lands granted to the nobility from the crown since 1632.Sweden source

Conflict & Security

February 14 – The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile, beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.source
April 4 – Battle of Porto Farina, Tunis: English admiral Robert Blake's fleet defeats the Barbary pirates.source
April 24 – The Piedmontese Easter Massacre of the Waldensians: Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy slaughters 1,500 men, women and children; this is memorialized in John Milton's sonnet "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont" and apologized for by Pope Francis in 2015.source
April 28 – Admiral Blake severely damages the arsenal of the Bey of Tunis.source
May 10–27 – Anglo-Spanish War: Invasion of Jamaica – Forces of the English Protectorate led by William Penn and Robert Venables capture the island of Jamaica from Spain.source
19 June to 13 July – Siege of LandreciesBelgium source
July 30 – Dutch troops capture Fort Assahudi Seram.source
July 31 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for 6 years.source
9 August – the Rule of the Major-Generals, a period of direct military government, begins.England source
August – The governor of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant, attacks the New Sweden (Delaware) colony.source
September 8 – Swedish King Karl X Gustav occupies Warsaw (Poland).source
September 20 – September 30 - Battle of Nowy Dwór MazowieckiSweden source
October 19 – Swedish King Karl X Gustav occupies Kraków (Poland).source
10–27 May – Anglo-Spanish War: Invasion of Jamaica – Forces led by William Penn and Robert Venables capture the island of Jamaica from Spain.England source
11–14 March – Penruddock uprising: a Royalist uprising beginning in Wiltshire is defeated by a skirmish in South Molton.England source
The French army under Turenne took Landrecies after a siege in 14 July, and the towns of Condé and Saint-Ghislain, on 18 and 25 August.France source

Religion & Belief

6 February – Vuku Church is consecrated.Norway source
April 7 – Pope Alexander VII (born Fabio Chigi) succeeds Pope Innocent X, as the 237th pope.source
July – Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver, is appointed as major-general of the forces in Ireland and a member of the Irish council of state. After the Lord Deputy, Charles Fleetwood, departs for England in September, Henry Cromwell de facto takes over that role also.Ireland source
31 October – Jurisdiction over Herstal transferred from Philip IV to the Prince-Bishopric of LiègeBelgium source
December 4 – Middelburg, the Netherlands forbids the building of a synagogue.source
December 27 – Second Northern War/the Deluge: Monks at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa are successful in fending off a month-long siege.source
4–18 December – Whitehall Conference convened by Cromwell to debate the Resettlement of the Jews in England.England source

Economy & Finance

Paul Kurtz comes to Denmark from Germany where he later becomes Goldsmith to the Danish-Norwegian CourtDenmark source

Technology & Infrastructure

April 26 – The Dutch West India Company denies Peter Stuyvesant's request to exclude Jews from New Amsterdam (Manhattan).source
Stephan Farffler, a 22-year-old paraplegic watchmaker, builds the world's first self-propelling chair on a three-wheel chassis using a system of cranks and cogwheels. However, the device has the appearance of a hand bike more than a wheelchair since the design includes hand cranks mounted at the front wheel.source

Science & Discovery

March 25 – Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christiaan Huygens.source

Health & Medicine

24 November – Anglican services prohibited by Cromwell.England source
1655 Malta plague outbreak kills 20 people.source
Jacob Jordaens, St Charles Borromeo interceding for victims of plague, in St. Charles Borromeo Church, AntwerpBelgium source

Crime & Justice

October 15 – The Jews of Lublin are massacred.source
Abel Schrøder completes an elaborately carved Cartilage Baroque-style altarpiece for Vester Egesborg Church in Næstved.Denmark source

Disasters & Accidents

28 April – Admiral Robert Blake destroys the pirate fleet of the bey of Tunis.England source

Culture & Society

February 16 – Dutch Grand Pensionary advisor Johan de Witt marries Wendela Bicker.source
June 13 – Adriana Nooseman-van de Bergh becomes the first actress, in Amsterdam theater.source
November 24 – English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell announces measures against the Laudian party, which are enforced starting on January 1.source
The Bibliotheca Thysiana is erected, the only surviving 17th century example in the Netherlands, of a building designed as a library.source

Births

January 6 – Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empress (died 1720)source
January 11 – Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk, England (died 1701)source
January 13 – Bernard de Montfaucon, French Benedictine monk (died 1741)source
March 4 – Fra Galgario, Italian painter (died 1743)source
April 8 – Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden, Germany (died 1707)source
April 19 – George St Lo, Royal Navy officer and administrator (died 1718)source
April 25 – John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, English politician (died 1700)source
25 April (baptism) – Pieter Rijsbraeck, artist (died 1729)Belgium source
April 26 – Ofspring Blackall, Bishop of Exeter (died 1716)source
May 4 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian maker of musical instruments, invented the piano (died 1731)source
May 13 – Pope Innocent XIII (died 1724)source
14 June – Cornelius Cruys, Vice Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy (d.1727).Norway source
7 July – Axel Juel, governor of Danish India (died 1720)Denmark source
September 9 – James Johnston (secretary of state), diplomat, Secretary of State for Scotland (died 1737)source
September 12 – Sébastien de Brossard, French composer and music theorist (died 1730)source
November 12 – Francis Nicholson, British Army general, colonial administrator (died 1727)source
12 November – Francis Nicholson, military officer and colonial governor (died 1728)England source
November 24 – King Charles XI of Sweden (died 1697)source

Deaths

January 7 – Pope Innocent X (born 1574)source
January 7 – Pope Innocent X, leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal States, dies after more than 10 years of rule.source
31 January (bur.) – Anthony Stapley, politician and regicide (born 1590)England source
February 25 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (born 1580)source
March 28 – Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg, German princess and queen consort of Sweden (born 1599)source
April 29 – Cornelis Schut, Flemish painter, draughtsman and engraver (born 1597)source
29 April – Cornelis Schut (born 1597), painterBelgium source
May 8 – Edward Winslow, American Pilgrim leader (born 1596)source
June 26 – Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal (born 1589)source
June 27 – Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress, married to Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1598)source
July 28 – Cyrano de Bergerac, French soldier and writer (born 1619)source
31 August – Ole Worm, physician and antiquary (born 1588)Denmark source
October 13 – Tobie Matthew, English Member of Parliament (born 1577)source
October 16 – Joseph Solomon Delmedigo, Italian physician, mathematician and music theorist (born 1591)source
October 24 – Pierre Gassendi, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (born 1592)source
November 6 – Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein, German prince (born 1596)source
December 17 – Ukita Hideie, Japanese daimyō (born 1573)source
20 December Gregers Krabbe dies at Akershus Castle, the first Governor-General of Norway to die in office.Norway source