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The 1700s

1,130 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 18th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1700 CE120 entries

  • February 12 – 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".
  • 18 February – Instigated by Ole Rømer, Denmark adopts the Gregorian calendar, although not the Catholic Church's lunar cycle, in place of the Julian calendar.
  • 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".

1701 CE94 entries

  • January 18 – The electorate of Brandenburg–Prussia becomes the Kingdom of Prussia, as Elector Frederick III is proclaimed King Frederick I. Prussia remains part of the Holy Roman Empire. It consists of Brandenburg, Pomerania and East Prussia. Berlin is the capital.
  • June 24 – the Act of Settlement 1701, passed by the Parliament of England, becomes law. Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants are next in line to the throne following Anne, the heir apparent to her brother-in-law King William III, ensuring that no Catholic will inherit the throne.
  • December — Nicholas Rowe's play Tamerlane premieres at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London; its pro-Whig views make it popular amongst supporters of King William and the Glorious Revolution.

1702 CE119 entries

  • 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.
  • 20 February – William III falls from his horse, Sorrel, in Richmond Park after it stumbles on a molehill and breaks his clavicle.
  • 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.

1703 CE119 entries

  • January 30 (December 14 of previous year in the Chinese calendar) – Akō incident: In Japan, forty-seven rōnin (independent samurai) assassinate daimyō Kira Yoshinaka, the enemy of their former lord Asano Naganori, at his own mansion as a vengeance; for which they are compelled to commit suicide on March 20.
  • February – Soldiers at Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrate Mardi Gras in Mobile, starting the tradition for Mobile, Alabama.
  • October 23 – Hannah Twynnoy, a 24-year-old barmaid in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, becomes the first person to be killed in Great Britain by a tiger. While working at the White Lion Inn, where a group of wild animals is on exhibit, she is mauled after bothering the tiger.

1704 CE113 entries

  • 2 August (13 August NS) – War of the Spanish Succession: At the Battle of Blenheim, an allied army under John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy including English troops defeats the Franco-Bavarian army.
  • August 13 (August 2 OS) – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Blenheim: Allied troops under John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat the Franco-Bavarian army.
  • 13 August – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Blenheim: Allied troops under John Churchill, the Earl of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy defeat the Franco-Bavarian army.

1705 CE117 entries

  • June 20 – The Pact of Genoa is signed by representatives of England and the Spanish Principality of Catalonia as a military alliance providing for English troops to be stationed in Catalonia as part of the War of Spanish Succession.
  • December 21 – The Sophia Naturalization Act is passed by the Parliament of England, which naturalizes Sophia of Hanover (next in succession to the British throne) and the Protestant "issue of her body" as British subjects.
  • 21 December – The Sophia Naturalization Act is passed by Parliament, which naturalizes Sophia of Hanover (next in succession to the British throne) and the Protestant "issue of her body" as British subjects.

1706 CE106 entries

  • January 26 – War of Spanish Succession: The uprising by Bavarians against the occupation of the Electorate of Bavaria by Austrian troops ends after 75 days, and ends the plans of Maximilian II Emanuel, the Elector of Bavaria, to bring Bavaria under the rule of the House of Wittelsbach.
  • 23 May – War of the Spanish Succession: English troops led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough together with Dutch and German troops defeat the French at the Battle of Ramillies.
  • July 22 – The Treaty of Union between Scotland and England is agreed upon in London, for ratification by the national legislatures.

1707 CE119 entries

  • January 16 – The Treaty (or Act) of Union, of the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, is ratified by the Parliament of Scotland by a vote of 110 to 68.
  • 1 May – the new sovereign state of Great Britain comes into being as a result of the Acts of Union which combine the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into a single united Kingdom of Great Britain and merge the Parliaments of England and Scotland to form the Parliament of Great Britain. The Equivalent, a sum of £398,000, is paid to Scotland by the English government. The Honours of Scotland are locked away in Edinburgh Castle.
  • May 12 (May 1 Old Style) – The new sovereign state of Great Britain comes into being, as a result of the Acts of Union, which combine the Kingdoms of Scotland and England into a single united Kingdom of Great Britain, and merge the Parliaments of England and Scotland, to form the Parliament of Great Britain.

1708 CE103 entries

  • 23 March - James Stuart, the "Old Pretender", having sailed from Dunkirk with 5000 French troops, with the intention of invading Britain, attempts to land in the Firth of Forth; the attempt is thwarted by the Royal Navy, under Admiral Byng.
  • September 28 (O.S.); September 29 (Swedish calendar); October 9 (N.S.) – Great Northern War: Battle of Lesnaya – Peter the Great of Russia defeats the forces of the Swedish Empire.
  • December 17 – Deborah Churchill, British pickpocket and prostitute, is executed before a large crowd for being an accomplice to murder.

1709 CE120 entries

  • May 6 – The first influx into Britain of poor refugee families of German Palatines from the Rhenish Palatinate arrives in England. Most of them are Protestants en route to the New World colonies.
  • July 8 (June 27 Old Style; June 28 in the Swedish calendar) – Great Northern War: Battle of Poltava in the Cossack Hetmanate (Ukraine) – Peter the Great leads forces of the Tsardom of Russia to a decisive victory over Swedish forces under Charles XII, ending the Swedish invasion of Russia and effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.
  • July 9 – Christopher Slaughterford of London is executed in Guildford for the murder of Jane Young, his fiancée. He is the first person in modern England executed for murder based exclusively on circumstantial evidence, and he maintains his innocence to the last.