1698 CE

The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the oldest Anglican mission organization in the world, is founded by English clergyman Thomas Bray and four other people at Lincoln's Inn in London, along with Sir Humphrey Mackworth, Maynard Colchester, Lord Guilford and John Hooke. Iberville and Bienville sail from Brest to the Gulf of Mexico to defend the southern borders of New France; they will eventually found three capitals of Louisiana (New France), as the future American cities: Mobile, Biloxi & New Orleans. Tani Jinzan, astronomer and calendar scholar, observes a fire destroy Tosa (now Kōchi) in Japan at the same time as a Leonid meteor shower, taking it as evidence to reinforce belief in the "Theory of Areas".

In the 1690s, the 17th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 1 – The Abenaki tribe and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty, ending the conflict in New England.source
July 7 – The English House of Commons is dissolved and new elections are held between July 19 and August 10 for a parliament to be summoned on August 24.source
July–August – general election results in victory for the New Country Tories.England source
August 24 – King William III opens the newly elected House of Commons at Westminster.source
October 11 – The Treaty of the Hague is signed between the Dutch Republic, England and France.source
11 October – Treaty of the Hague signed between France, England and Holland.England source
November 14 – The Spanish king Carlos names his grandson Jozef Ferdinand as his heir.source
December 9 – Francis Nicholson becomes the new British colonial governor of Virginia, succeeding Sir Edmund Andros.source
Samuel Cranston becomes the governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.source
Danmarksnagore becomes part of Danish India.Denmark source

Conflict & Security

February 17 – The Maratha Empire fort at Gingee falls after a siege of almost nine years by the Mughal Empire as King Rajaram escapes to safety. General Swarup Singh Bundela, who led the scaling of the fortress walls and Gingee's capture, is rewarded by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb with command of the area.source
June 22 – The executions of 57 leaders of the Streltsy uprising begin and continue until June 28.source
August 25 – Peter the Great arrives back in Moscow; General Patrick Gordon has already crushed the Streltsy Uprising, with 341 rebels sentenced to be decapitated.source
September 8 – The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth defeats the Tatars in the Battle of Podhajce, the last battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Polish and Lithuanians.source
December 8 – King William III of England issues a proclamation of "our most gracious pardon unto all such pirates in the East Indies, viz., all eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, who shall surrender themselves for piracies or robberies committed by them upon sea or land" before April 30, 1699, to Captain Thomas Warren, but specifically "excepting Henry Every, alias Bridgman, and William Kidd.source
December 12 – Mombasa (referred to at the time as Fort Jesus, and now part of Kenya) falls under control of the Emirate of Oman, with Imam Sa'if ibn Sultan as the first Omani Governor.source
Bucharest becomes the capital of Wallachia (part of modern-day Romania).source
In Africa, Zanzibar is captured by Oman.source
Today's Place Vendôme is created as the Place des Conquêtes in Paris.France source

Exploration & Expansion

11 January–21 April – Czar Peter I of Russia visits England as part of his Grand Embassy, making a particular study of shipbuilding.England source
June 24 – The Trade with Africa Act 1697 goes into effect in English overseas possessions, ending the monopoly of the Royal African Company (RAC) on the triangular trade by opening it to any English merchants who pay a 10 percent fee to the RAC.source
24 June – abolition of the Royal African Company's monopoly is confirmed under terms of the Trade with Africa Act 1697, opening the slave trade to any merchant.England source
July 14 – Darien scheme: The first Scottish settlers leave for an ill-fated colony in Panama.source
October 24 – Iberville and Bienville sail from Brest to the Gulf of Mexico, to defend the southern borders of New France.source
24 October – Iberville and Bienville sail from Brest to the Gulf of Mexico to defend the southern borders of New France; they will eventually found three capitals of Louisiana (New France), as the future American cities: Mobile, Biloxi & New Orleans.France source
November 2 – The Darien scheme Scottish settlers land in Panama and establish their ill-fated colony; 80% of them would die within the first year.source
The Whigs sponsor Captain Kidd of New York as a privateer against French shipping.source

Religion & Belief

May 1 – The Banishment Act of 1697 goes into effect for Roman Catholic church officials in Ireland, having been the deadline for all "popish archbishops, bishops, vicars general, deans, jesuits, monks, friars, and other regular popish clergy" to have reported to Irish ports for deportation. Re-entry to Ireland after May 4, 1698, is a criminal offense with a penalty of 12 months imprisonment and expulsion, while a second re-entry is punishable by death as treason.source
14 November – first Eddystone Lighthouse illuminated.England source
November 16 – A congress begins in Sremski Karlovci to discuss a treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League.source
English Bishop Jeremy Collier publishes his pamphlet A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage, accusing several contemporary playwrights of undermining public morality in their popular comedies by using profanity, blasphemy and indecency.source
Popery Act enforces penalties against Roman Catholic priests.England source
Early – William Molyneux publishes The Case of Ireland's being Bound by Acts of Parliament in England, Stated.Ireland source

Economy & Finance

September 5 – A charter is granted by King William III of England to the new East India Company of England, called "the New Company" or "the English Company" to break the monopoly that has existed in India since 1689 with the existing British East India Company.source
Shepherd Neame Brewery founded.source
The widow Bourne sets up the business which becomes Berry Brothers and Rudd in London. They will still be operating as wine merchants in the 21st century.England source

Technology & Infrastructure

July 2 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.source
July 25 – English engineer Thomas Savery obtains a patent for a steam pump.source
25 July – engineer Thomas Savery obtains a patent for a steam pump.England source
November 14 – The first Eddystone Lighthouse, built off Plymouth, England, is illuminated.source
Vodroffgård is established on the west side of St. Jørgen's Lake outside Copenhagen.Denmark source
Thermal springs discovered at Matlock Bath in Derbyshire.England source
The construction of Mangelsgården is finished.Norway source

Science & Discovery

April 10 – A total solar eclipse is visible in Central America.source
May 17 – The British Royal Navy ship HMS Hastings, a 32-gun fifth rate, is launched.source
November – Tani Jinzan, astronomer and calendar scholar, observes a fire destroy Tosa (now Kōchi) in Japan at the same time as a Leonid meteor shower, taking it as evidence to reinforce belief in the "Theory of Areas".source
Humphrey Hody is appointed regius professor of Greek at Oxford.source
Reverend Thomas Bray founds the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.England source

Health & Medicine

September 5 – In an effort to move his people away from Asiatic customs, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a beard tax.source

Crime & Justice

January 30 – William Kidd, who initially seized foreign ships under authority as a privateer for the British Empire before becoming a pirate, becomes an outlaw and uses his ship, the Adventure Galley, to capture an Indian ship, the valuable Quedagh Merchant, near India.source
Piracy Act ("An Act for the more effectuall Suppressions of Piracy") passed.England source

Disasters & Accidents

January 4 – The Palace of Whitehall in London, England is destroyed by fire.source
4 January – the Palace of Whitehall is destroyed by fire.England source
April 1 – Scottish pirate William Kidd and his crew arrive at Île Sainte-Marie off of the coast of Madagascar in Kidd's Adventure Galley bringing with them the cargo of the captured ships Quedagh Merchant and Rouparelle. Upon arrival, all but 13 of Kidd's crew desert to work for another pirate, Robert Culliford. The Adventure Galley, which is leaking and falling apart, sinks and the Rouparelle is sunk by the deserters. Kidd and his 13 henchmen depart on Quedah Merchant.source
Ny Hollænderby (now Frederiksberg) is destroyed by fire.Denmark source

Climate & Environment

June 20 – An earthquake of magnitude 7.2–7.9 damages an extended region around Ambato, Ecuador, including the Tungurahua, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo provinces. Ambato and Latacunga are completely destroyed and several thousand casualties are reported.source
Ukraine suffers a great famine.source
Shepherd Neame Brewery established under this name in Faversham.England source
Famine in the Scottish Borders leads to continued Scottish Presbyterian migration from Scotland to Ulster.Ireland source

Culture & Society

January 23 – George Louis becomes Elector of Hanover upon the death of his father, Ernest Augustus. Because the widow of Ernest Augustus, George's mother Sophia, was heiress presumptive as the cousin of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and Anne's closest eligible heir, George will become King of Great Britain.source
March 8 – The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, the oldest Anglican mission organization in the world, is founded by English clergyman Thomas Bray and four other people at Lincoln's Inn in London, along with Sir Humphrey Mackworth, Maynard Colchester, Lord Guilford and John Hooke.source
March – Jeremy Collier's pamphlet A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage is published.England source
May 4 – At the imperial capital at Inwa, Sanay Min of the Toungoo dynasty becomes the new King of Burma upon the death of his father, Minye Kyawhtin.source
12 May - Wedding between Hedvig Sophia of Sweden and Frederick IV, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on Karlberg Palace.Sweden source
June 21 – John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough is reinstated in the English Army, with readmission to the Privy Council by King William III. On July 26, he is selected as one of the Lords Justice.source
1 July – Den Københavnske Post-Rytter, a weekly newspaper, is published for the first time.Denmark source
Cinderella is made as a folktalesource
John Dunton publishes Teague Land: or A Merry Ramble to the Wild Irish.Ireland source
John Hopkins publishes the poem The Triumphs of Peace, or the Glories of Nassau ... written at the time of his Grace the Duke of Ormond's entrance into Dublin.Ireland source
The Lord Mayor of Dublin's gold chain of office is presented by King William III to Dublin Corporation.Ireland source
Dorothe Engelbretsdatter hymn and poetry book, Et kristeligt Valet fra Verden is published for the first time.Norway source
Summer - The king and his brother-in-law engage in the Gottorp Fury, which scandalizes the country.Sweden source

Births

January 3 – Metastasio, (born Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi), Italian poet and opera librettist (died 1782)source
10 January? – Richard Savage, poet (died 1743)England source
February 4 – Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué, Prussian Lieutenant general and General der Infanterie and a confidant of King Frederick the Great (died 1774)source
February 16 – Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician, geophysicist, geodesist, and astronomer (died 1758)source
May 10 – Cuthbert Ellison, British Army officer and MP for Shaftesbury (died 1785)source
June 19 – Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero, Last Sangharaja of Sri Lanka (died 1778)source
July 17 – Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, French mathematician (died 1759)source
24 August – Erik Pontoppidan, author, bishop, historian and antiquary (died 1764)Denmark source
September 6 – Jean Thurel, French soldier (died 1807)source
September 23 – Lewis Morris, colonial American judge (died 1762)source
September 26 – William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, British nobleman, Whig politician and MP (died 1755)source
October 13 – Giacomo Ceruti, Italian late Baroque painter (died 1767)source
October 23 – Ange-Jacques Gabriel, principal architect of King Louis XV of France (died 1782)source
November 4 – Caleb Fleming, English dissenting minister and Polemicist (died 1779)source
28 November - Charlotta Frölich, historian and agronomist (died 1770)Sweden source
December 21 – Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton, powerful Jacobite politician (died 1731)source
December 24 – William Warburton, English critic and Bishop of Gloucester (died 1779)source
Ulrik Fredrik de Cicignon, military officer (d.1772)Norway source

Deaths

10 January – Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French historian (born 1637)France source
January 15 – Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington, Anglo-Irish nobleman, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland, Cavalier (born 1612)source
January 17 – Moyse Charas, apothecary in France during the reign of Louis XIV (born 1619)source
January 23 – Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg (born 1629)source
March 6 – Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester, English politician (born 1619)source
March 16 – Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, Danish countess (born 1621)source
16 March – Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, noblewoman and writer (born 1621)Denmark source
April 6 – Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament, French nun (born 1614)source
April 11 – Charles Morton, Cornish nonconformist minister (born 1627)source
June 5 – Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, influential British noblewoman (born 1626)source
June 29 – Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni, Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal-Nephew to Pope Clement X (born 1623)source
August 25 – Fleetwood Sheppard, English poet (born 1634)source
1 October – Richard Frankland, dissenter (born 1630)England source
October 11 – William Molyneux, Irish philosopher and writer (born 1656)source
23 October - David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl, painter (born 1628)Sweden source
November 28 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France (born 1622)source
December 1 – Ferdinand Joseph, Prince of Dietrichstein, German prince (born 1636)source
December 7 – Andrea Guarneri, Italian luthier (born 1626)source