1702 CE

In North America, ships from Fort Maurepas arrive at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff to build Fort Louis de la Mobile (future Mobile, Alabama), to become the capital of French Louisiana. William III falls from his horse, Sorrel, in Richmond Park after it stumbles on a molehill and breaks his clavicle. Anne, daughter of King James II, comes to the throne of Great Britain. Since her only surviving son had died prior to her accession, there is no prospective Prince of Wales.

In the 1700s, the 18th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

21 February – Vornedskab is abolished on Zealand and Lolland-Falster (already abolished on Møn in 1696).Denmark source
July – 1702 English general election results in victory for the Tories.England source
The Delaware Colony legislature is separated from that of Pennsylvania.source
1702-13: Queen Anne's War—Maine Abenakis and Iroquois from Quebec (Caughnawaga) attack the English colonists on behalf of the French, but lose. The European nations negotiate their settlement at the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); Louis XIV cedes Hudson Bay, Acadia (Nova Scotia) and Newfoundland (but not Cape Breton Island or St. John's Island) to Great Britain.Canada source
c. January/February – the Parliament of Scotland refuses to pass an Abjuration Act analogous to the English Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1701.Scotland source
A General Election is held in autumn that would assemble the last Parliament of Scotland in May, 1703.Scotland source

Conflict & Security

February 1 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Cremona: The Duc de Villeroy, commander of the French Army, is taken as a prisoner of war by the Austrian Army.source
March 3 (February 20 O.S.) – King William III of England is fatally injured in an accident when he is thrown from his horse, "Sorrel", when it trips on a molehill in Hampton Court Park near London. Already in poor health before the accident, he dies from complications 16 days later at the age of 51.source
March 24 – Great Northern War: Battle of Darsūniškis – The Swedish army of about 240 men under the command of Alexander Hummerhielm is defeated by the Polish–Saxon army of 6,000 men under Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki.source
April 15 – The British Province of New Jersey, encompassing all of the modern-day U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of New York, is created as proprietary owners in the provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey surrender their rights to the Crown.source
May 14 (N.S.) – War of the Spanish Succession: War is declared on France by the Grand Alliance (Kingdom of England, Dutch Republic and Holy Roman Empire).source
May 15 (May 4 O.S.) – King Charles XII of Sweden and his troops walk unopposed into Warsaw after troops capture the city.source
May – "Women's riot" in Stirling in opposition to military impressment.Scotland source
June 2 – English General John Churchill, later the Duke of Marlborough, takes command of the alliance of English, Dutch and German troops in the War of the Spanish Succession.source
June 11 – Anglo-Dutch forces skirmish with French forces before the walls of Nijmegen and prevent its fall.source
June 15 – Queen Anne's Captain-General, John Churchill, forces the surrender of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine after a siege that began on April 18.source
16 June to 12 September – Siege of LandauFrance source
July 19 (July 8 O.S.; July 9 Swedish calendar) – Great Northern War: Battle of Klissow – Charles XII of Sweden decisively defeats the Polish–Lithuanian-Saxon army.source
July 19 (July 8 O.S.; July 9 Swedish calendar) – Battle of Klissow: Charles XII of Sweden decisively defeats the Polish–Lithuanian-Saxon army.Sweden source
July 24 – Camisard hostilities begin in France with the assassination at le Pont-de-Montvert of a local embodiment of royal oppression, François Langlade, the Abbé of Chaila.source
July 30 (July 19 O.S.; July 20 Swedish calendar) – Great Northern War: Battle of Hummelshof – Russia defeats Sweden.source
August 11 – Great Northern War: Częstochowa, Poland, is captured by the Swedish army.source
August 15 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Luzzara – Forces of the Holy Roman Empire fail to break through the French-Savoyard position in Lombardy.source
August 23-late September - Battle of Cádiz (1702)Spain source
September 12 – The Siege of Landau (War of the Spanish Succession) ends after 3 months with forces of the Holy Roman Empire capturing the fortress town in the Rhineland-Palatinate from a French garrison.source
September 25 – General John Churchill forces the surrender of Venlo on the Meuse River.source
September 30 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Cádiz – A month-long Anglo-Dutch amphibious operation under English Admiral Sir George Rooke fails to take the Spanish port.source
September – War of the Spanish Succession: Churchill forces the surrender of Venlo on the River Meuse.England source
October 7 – Great Northern War: Russian troops besiege the Swedish fortress of Nöteborg, and capture it after 15 days.source
October 14 – War of the Spanish Succession: Battle of Friedlingen – France defeats forces of the Holy Roman Empire.source
October 18 – Queen Anne's War: Battle of Flint River – Spanish and Apalachee Indian forces fail in their attack against Creek Indians, supported by English traders, in the modern-day U.S. state of Georgia.source
October 27 – Queen Anne's War in North America: English troops plunder St. Augustine, Spanish Florida.source
November 10 – Queen Anne's War in North America: The Siege of St. Augustine opens as English forces besiege St. Augustine, Spanish Florida.source
December 30 – Queen Anne's War: The Siege of St. Augustine in Spanish Florida is lifted.source
Battle of Vigo Bay – Anglo-Dutch naval forces under English Admiral Sir George Rooke capture the defended Spanish port of Cádiz and take or destroy all the Spanish treasure fleet and escorting French warships there.source
Having begun in Europe in 1701, the War of the Spanish Succession spreads to North America (Queen Anne's War) in Acadia and New England.Canada source
Siege of Nöteborg- It was one of the first sieges of the Great Northern War, when Russian forces captured the Swedish fortress of Nöteborg in October 1702.Russia source
The 23rd Regiment of Foot is granted the title The Welsh Regiment of Fuzileers.Wales source

Exploration & Expansion

April 24 – The first two missionaries from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts set sail from England to North America.source
June 16 – The English East India Company founds a settlement on Pulo Condore (modern-day Côn Sơn Island) off the coast of southern Vietnam as an entrepôt for ships travelling between India and China.source
July 24 – A total eclipse of the sun is visible on a path crossing the northern Pacific Ocean and Central America.source
October 28 – Sieur Juchereau, Lieutenant General of Montréal, establishes the first trading post on the Wabash River in order to trade buffalo hides with American Indians. The site of the trading post may be the modern-day location of Vincennes, Indiana.source
Zlynka - A small town established in Bryansk Oblast, near the border of Belarus. It primarily consisted of Old Believers, which influenced its architecture and religion. The town's location made it ideal for creating cultural diversity.Russia source

Religion & Belief

23 April – coronation of Queen Anne in Westminster Abbey.England source
5 May – Following a suspension of nearly a year, Edward Jones, Bishop of St Asaph, is allowed to return to his see.Wales source
Ripon Obelisk designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, triggering a fashion for obelisks in Britain.England source
David Maurice – Cynffwrdd i'r gwan Gristion, neu'r gorsen ysig (translation from work of Theophilus Dorrington)Wales source

Economy & Finance

November 22 – The Dutch East India Company ship Amsterdam (1691) founders en route from Bombay to Basra during a storm with the loss of all hands.source

Technology & Infrastructure

January 12 – In North America, ships from Fort Maurepas arrive at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff to build Fort Louis de la Mobile (future Mobile, Alabama), to become the capital of French Louisiana.source
George Sorocold erects machinery at Cotchetts' silk spinning mill in Derby, making it one of the earliest examples of a factory.England source
Castle Howard in Yorkshire is completed to the design of John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor.England source

Science & Discovery

January 2 – A total solar eclipse is visible from the southern Pacific Ocean.source
April 20 – Comet C/1702 H1 is discovered and passes within 0.0435 AU (a little more than four million miles or 6.5 million km) of the Earth.source
May 5 – Globular cluster Messier 5 (M5, NGC 5904) is discovered by Gottfried Kirch and his wife Maria Margarethe.source
September 19 – Jupiter occults Neptune.source

Crime & Justice

Richard Bulkeley, 4th Viscount Bulkeley, succeeds his father, the 3rd Viscount, as Constable of Beaumaris Castle.Wales source

Disasters & Accidents

April 3 – The Dutch East India Company ship Merestein strikes rocks and sinks in Saldanha Bay off Jutten Island, Africa with the loss of 101 of the 200 people on board.source
May 16 – Much of the city of Uppsala, Sweden is destroyed in a fire.source
May 19 – Over 90% of the city of Bergen, Norway, is destroyed and reduced to ashes in a Great Fire.source
May 19 - The largest city fire in Bergen's history. 7/8 of the city burns down.Norway source

Climate & Environment

March 14 – An earthquake in the middle of the Calore valley in Italy, east of Benevento, kills 400 people.source
April 14 – Volcanic eruption of Changbaishan volcano (also known as Paektu Mountain) on the China/Korea border takes place.source
1702-13: The short-lived Peace of Ryswick collapses with the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, which erupts in the colonies as Queen Anne's War. It ends with France losing North American territory to Britain.Canada source

Culture & Society

20 February – William III falls from his horse, Sorrel, in Richmond Park after it stumbles on a molehill and breaks his clavicle.England source
8 March – Anne, daughter of King James II, comes to the throne of Great Britain. Since her only surviving son had died prior to her accession, there is no prospective Prince of Wales.Wales source
March 19 (March 8 Old Style) – Princess Anne Stuart, daughter of the late King James II and younger sister of his successor, Mary II (who had reigned jointly with her husband, William III, as William and Mary until her death in 1694), ascends the English, Scottish and Irish thrones upon William's death. In her first speech to the English Parliament, made three days later, she tells the assembly "As I know my heart to be entirely English, I can very sincerely assure you there is not anything you can expect or desire from me which I shall not be ready to do for the happiness and prosperity of England." Anne is the mother of 17 children by her husband, Prince George of Denmark and Norway, but none will survive childhood, and she will die without an heir, bringing an end to the reign of the House of Stuart and enabling the Hanoverian Succession. After the death of William, the States General of the Netherlands do not appoint a new stadtholder, and so the Dutch Republic becomes a true republic again, starting the Second Stadtholderless Period.source
March 22 (March 11 Old Style) – The first regular English-language national newspaper, The Daily Courant, begins publication on Fleet Street in the City of London, initially by Elizabeth Mallet; it covers only foreign news.source
May 6 – Cloudesley Shovell is promoted to full admiral in the English navy.source
June 25 – The premiere of the opera L'Offendere per amore overo la Telesilla by Johann Joseph Fux takes place in Vienna.source
18 July – Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp succeeds his father as Duke of Schleswig.Denmark source
July 23 – The first performance of the opera Médus, roi des Mèdes by François Bouvard takes place at the Paris Opera.source
October 1 – The founding deed of the University of Wrocław is signed by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I of the House of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia.source
October 19 – The opera Der Sieg der fruchtbaren Pomona by Reinhard Keiser is premiered at the Hamburg Opera for the birthday of King Frederick IV of Denmark.source
October – Jonathan Swift returns to Ireland in the company of Esther Johnson.Ireland source
November 7 – The first performance of the opera Tancrède by André Campra takes place at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
November 15 – The opera La Clemenza d'Augusto by Johann Joseph Fux is premiered in Vienna.source
December 14 – John Churchill is created duke of Marlborough.source
December – Daniel Defoe publishes his satiric pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters (anonymously).England source
Richard Bentley at Cambridge in England introduces the first written (as opposed to oral) competitive examinations in a Western university.source
The travel diary Oku no Hosomichi ("Narrow road to the deep north"), a major work of haibun by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō and one of the major texts of Japanese literature of the Edo period, is published eight years after Bashō's death.source
Beginning development of the Kremlin Arsenal in 1702 which finished in 1736 due to lack of funding at that time.Russia source
The Advocates Library is moved from the Faculty of Advocates to Parliament House, Edinburgh.Scotland source
An eisteddfod is held at Machynlleth.Wales source

Births

January 13 – Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally, French general of Irish Jacobite ancestry (died 1766)source
January 14 – Emperor Nakamikado, of Japan (died 1737)source
January 14 - Emperor Nakamikado (died 1737)Japan source
March 4 – Jack Sheppard, British burglar and escaper (died 1724)source
March 19 – Thomas Penn, son of American colonial leader William Penn (died 1775)source
March 21 – Bento de Moura Portugal (died 1766)source
April 20 - Zenón de Somodevilla, 1st Marqués de la Ensenada, Secretary of State 1748-1754 (born 1781)Spain source
May 2 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German Lutheran theologian and theosopher (died 1782)source
June 5 – Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle (died 1754)source
June 26 – Philip Doddridge, English religious leader (died 1751)source
July 18 – Maria Clementina Sobieska, Polish noble (died 1735)source
August 7 – Muhammad Shah, Mughal emperor of India (died 1748)source
August 26 – George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter, of England (died 1749)source
August 31 – Louis-François Roubiliac, French sculptor who worked in England (died 1762)source
December 17 – Robert Knight, 1st Earl of Catherlough, Member of the British Parliament (died 1772)source
December 22 – Jean-Étienne Liotard, French painter (died 1789)source
Rasmus Paludan, bishop (died 1759).Norway source
Richard Farrington, antiquary (died 1772)Wales source

Deaths

February 17 – Peder Syv, Danish historian (born 1631)source
March 8 – King William III of England, Scotland and Ireland (born 1650)source
8 March – King William II of Scotland (William III of England and Ireland and Stadtholder of the Netherlands) dies in London following complications from a fall from his horse when it stumbles on a molehill and is succeeded by Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch on the English, Scottish and Irish thrones.Scotland source
25 March – Lewis Wogan of Boulston, High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire, about 50Wales source
April 23 – Margaret Fell, English Quaker leader (born 1614)source
April 27 – Jean Bart, French naval commander and privateer (born 1650)source
May 17 – Jan Wyck, Dutch military painter (born 1645)source
May 26 – Zeb-un-Nissa, Mughal princess and poet, imprisoned by her father for the last 20 years of her life (born 1638)source
August 14 – Louis Thomas, Count of Soissons and Prince of Savoy (born 1657)source
September 11 – Sir Robert Southwell, English diplomat (born 1635)source
September 17 – Olaus Rudbeck, Swedish architect (born 1630)source
September 20 - Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye, businessman (born 1632)Canada source
September 28 – Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, English statesman (born 1641)source
October 15 – Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, famous for refusing to become a mistress of Charles II of England (born 1647)source
October 22 – Guy Aldonce de Durfort de Lorges, French noble and soldier (born 1630)source
November 4 – John Benbow, English officer in the Royal Navy (born 1653)source
December 8 – Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine, French nobleman and member of the House of Guise (born 1643)source
Iver Leganger, priest and writer (born 1629).Norway source