Culture & Society in the 17th century

403 sourced entries, 1600 CE to 1699 CE, oldest first. Also see Culture & Society across every century or everything else in the 17th century.

1600January 1 – Scotland adopts January 1 as New Year's Day instead of March 25.source
1600October 6 – The première of Jacopo Peri's Euridice, the earliest known fully surviving work of modern opera, takes place in Florence for the wedding of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici. Emilio de' Cavalieri stages the production.source
1600William Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing are published in London.source
1600Sumo wrestling becomes a professional sport in Japan.source
1600Fabritio Caroso's dance manual Nobiltà de dame is published.source
1601April 3 – At an assembly of nobles at Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania), Sigismund Báthory is again proclaimed Prince of Transylvania.source
1601Possible first performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, perhaps in springtime.source
1602February 2 (Candlemas night) – In London, the first known production of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night takes place.source
1602July 26 – William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, recently premiered by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, is licensed for publishing in London but not in fact printed at this time.source
1602September 12 – King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland receives the delivery of eight specially woven Persian carpets displaying Poland's royal coat of arms, after having dispatched agent Sefer Muratowicz to Kashan.source
1602November 8 – The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford in England is opened.source
1602William Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor.source
1602First publication, in London, of:source
1603May 29 – A tabagie feast is held in Tadoussac in the modern-day Canadian province of Quebec, as representatives of Francesource
1603August 17 – The Accademia dei Lincei, the oldest scientific academy in the world, is founded in Rome by Federico Cesi.source
1604January 1 – The earliest recorded performance of William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place at Hampton Court prior to the main presentation, The Masque of Indian and China Knights, which is performed by courtiers of King James.source
1604November 1 – The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, takes place at the Palace of Whitehall in London.source
1604December 26 – On the evening of Saint Stephen's Day), the first recorded performance of Shakespeare's "problem play" Measure for Measure takes place, before King James I of England in the banquet hall of the Palace of Whitehall.source
1604The Table Alphabeticall, the first known English dictionary to be organized by alphabetical ordering, is published.source
1604Lancelot de Casteau's L'Ouverture de cuisine published in Liège, including the first printed recipe for choux pastry.source
1605January 1 – William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, copyrighted 1600, is given its earliest recorded performance, and witnessed by the Viscount Dorchester.source
1605January 7 – Shakespeare's play Henry V, copyrighted 1600, is given its earliest recorded performance, presented by the Lord Chamberlain's Men for King James I of England.source
1605January 15 – Shakespeare's play Love's Labour's Lost, copyrighted 1598, is given its second recorded performance, probably presented at the home of the Earl of Southampton for Queen Anne, wife of King James I of England.source
1605January 16 – The first part of Miguel de Cervantes' satire on the theme of chivalry, Don Quixote (El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha, "The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha"), is published in Madrid. One of the first significant novels in the western literary tradition, it becomes a global bestseller almost at once.source
1605February 10 – Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice is given its earliest recorded performance, presented by the King's Men players at the Palace of Whitehall for King James I of England. A second performance is given on February 12, Shrove Tuesday, at the King's request.source
1605February 21 – Stephen Bocskai is elected Prince of Transylvania at the capital, Belugrad (modern-day Alba Iulia in Romania.)source
1605April 16 – In England, John Winthrop, later governor of the future Massachusetts Bay Colony, marries his first wife (of 4), Mary Forth, daughter of John Forth, of Great Stambridge, Essex.source
1605June 20 – Pretender Dmitriy and his supporters, including troops of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, march to Moscow.source
1605December 11 – King Sigismund III of Poland marries his former sister-in-law, Constance, daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, after Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor refuses to permit the King to marry Anna of Tyrol. King Sigismund, a widow, had previously been married to Constance's older sister, Anne.source
1605The Irish College in Paris is co-founded by John Lee, an Irish priest, and John de l'Escalopier, President of the Parlement.source
1605The first issue of Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien by Johann Carolus in Strasbourg (Holy Roman Empire), generally regarded as the world's first newspaper, is published. De Nieuwe Tijdinghen, a Dutch proto-newspaper, is also published this year.source
1605Francis Bacon's Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human is published in London.source
1606May 19 – Vasili Ivanovich Shuisky becomes the new Tsar of Russia as Vasili IV.source
1606July 24 – King Christian IV of Denmark, as the guest of his brother-in-law, King James of England, Scotland and Ireland, is welcomed at London, and the two monarchs are driven by coaches to a banquet at Theobalds House at Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. They are entertained by playwright Ben Jonson's play, The Entertainment of the Kings of Great Britain and Denmark.source
1606July 31 – Playwright John Marston presents his own original play to King James and King Christian during the Danish monarch's visit to London.source
1606August (approx.) – Possible first performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth in London.source
1606December 26 – William Shakespeare's play King Lear is given its first recorded performance, staged at the Palace of Whitehall.source
1607February 24 – Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, the earliest fully developed opera in the modern-day repertoire, premieres at the Ducal Palace of Mantua.source
1607June 5 – Dr John Hall marries Susanna, daughter of William Shakespeare, at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon (England).source
1607July 20 – The second "False Dmitry", one of three people claiming to be Dmitry Ivanovich, son of the late Tsar Ivan the Terrible, appears at the Russian town of Starodub and persuades residents that he is the rightful heir to the Russian throne.source
1607October 4 – Flight of the Earls: The Earl of Tyrone and the Earl of Tyrconnell, along with their followers, reach the European continent, landing on St. Francis' Day at Quilleboeuf in France with 99 people. after having departed Rathmullan in Ireland on September 12.source
1608March 18 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia, at the ancient city of Axum.source
1608April 20 – Old Bushmills Distillery is first licensed to distil whiskey at Bushmills, County Antrim, Ireland by King James I.source
1608May 14 – The Protestant Union is founded in Auhausen.source
1608September 21 – The University of Oviedo in Spain is founded.source
1608November 19 – In Budapest, the coronation ceremonies take place for Matthias to be crowned as King Mátyás II of Hungary.source
1608Five royal schools in Ulster are given a Royal Charter by King James I.source
1609January 15 – One of the world's first newspapers, Avisa Relation oder Zeitung, begins publication in Wolfenbüttel (Holy Roman Empire).source
1609February 4 – The last day of Keichō 慶長 13 (according to the Japanese lunar calendar).source
1609October 12 – A version of the rhyme Three Blind Mice is published in London. The editor, and possible author of the verse, is the teenage Thomas Ravenscroft.source
1609November 19 – Archduke Matthias of Austria is formally crowned in Budapest as Mátyás II, King of Hungary, after having been appointed on June 26, 1608.source
1609December 8 – One of the first public libraries, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, is opened in the Italian city of Milan, founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo. Unlike other reading rooms, the library houses its collection on shelves along the walls, rather than chained to reading tables.source
1609The Douay–Rheims Bible Old Testament translation from the Vulgate into English vol. 1 is published in Reims.source
1610April 20 – William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedie of Macbeth, is given its first performance, staged at the Globe Theatre in London.source
1610May 13 – A formal coronation is held for Marie de' Medici, wife of King Henry IV, as Queen Consort of France. King Henry is preparing to depart to Germany to participate in the War of the Jülich Succession.source
1610June 5 – The masque Tethys' Festival is performed at Whitehall Palace to celebrate the investiture of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.source
1610July 9 – Lady Arbella Stuart, a claimant to the throne of England, is imprisoned for clandestinely marrying William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, another claimant, without royal permission on June 22.source
1610October 17 – The coronation of Louis XIII of France takes place.source
1611April 28 – The Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario is established in Manila, the Philippines (later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomas, and later still the University of Santo Tomas).source
1611May 2 – The Authorized King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time, printed by Robert Barker in London.source
1611May 11 – The first known performance of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, probably new this year, is given at the Globe Theatre in London.source
1611November 1 – At Whitehall Palace in London, William Shakespeare's last solo play, The Tempest, is given its earliest reported performance.source
1612March 2 – The False Dmitry III, one of three pretenders to the Russian throne who all claim to be sons of Ivan the Terrible, is recognized as Tsar of Russia by the Cossacks.source
1612July 22 – Four women and one man are hanged following the Northamptonshire witch trials in England.source
1612September 2 (August 23 O.S.) – The Lutheran Duchy of Prussia, a fiefdom within Poland, becomes the first Protestant government to follow the Roman Catholic nations in adopting the Gregorian calendar.source
1612Thomas Shelton's English translation of the first half of Don Quixote is published. It is the first translation of the Spanish novel into any language.source
1612The Nagoya Castle is completed in Japan.source
1613February 14 – Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England, marries Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate.source
1613May 12 – Mikhail Romanov arrives in Moscow to begin his reign as Tsar of Russia, after having been elected on March 3.source
1613October 23 – Gabriel Bethlen is elected as the new Prince of Transylvania.source
1613November 3 – English royal favourite Robert Carr is created 1st Earl of Somerset.source
1613December 26 – The Earl of Somerset marries Frances Howard, following the September 25 annulment of her marriage to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex; the event is the inspiration for John Donne's Eclogue.source
1614August 23 – The University of Groningen is established in the Dutch Republic.source
1614The Fama Fraternitatis is published, the first of three allegorical Rosicrucian manifestoes in the Holy Roman Empire.source
1614Possible date – John Webster's revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi is first performed in public, at the newly-reconstructed Globe Theatre in London.source
1615November 22 – Alexandru Movilă is installed as Prince of Moldavia by Poland as Prince Ștefan IX Tomșa is driven from the throne.source
1615November 24 – King Louis XIII of France marries Princess Ana María Mauricia, the 14-year-old daughter of King Philip III of Spain. The two had been legally united in a marriage by proxy on October 18.source
1615December 6 – In England, John Winthrop, later governor of the future Massachusetts Bay Colony, marries his second wife (of four), Thomasine Clopton, daughter of William Clopton of Castleins, near Groton, Suffolk.source
1615The Perse School in Cambridge, England, is founded by Dr Stephen Perse.source
1615The second volume of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote ("El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha") is published, and is as successful as the first. Don Quixote eventually becomes the only truly famous work its author ever writes.source
1615Wilson's School in Wallington, near London, is founded by Royal Charter.source
1616January 1 – King James I of England attends the masque The Golden Age Restored, a satire by Ben Jonson on fallen court favorite the Earl of Somerset. The king asks for a repeat performance on January 6.source
1616January 3 – In the court of James I of England, the king's favorite George Villiers becomes Master of the Horse (encouraging development of the thoroughbred horse); on April 24 he receives the Order of the Garter; and on August 27 he is created Viscount Villiers and Baron Waddon, receiving a grant of land valued at £80,000. In 1617, he will be made Earl of Buckingham. After the Earl of Pembroke, he is the second richest nobleman in England.source
1616March 19 – The Scornful Lady, a comedy stage play written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, is published.source
1616March 31 – Mughal Emperor Jahangir confers the title of Nur Jahan ('Light of the World') on his 20th wife.source
1616September 15 – The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.source
1616November 4 – Prince Charles (15-year-old surviving son of James I of England and Anne of Denmark) is invested as Prince of Wales at Whitehall in London, the last such formal investiture until 1911.source
1616November 6–25 – Ben Jonson's works are published in a collected folio edition (the first of any English playwright).source
1616December – In the Middle East, traveller Pietro Della Valle marries Jowaya, daughter of a Nestorian Christian father and an Armenian mother, in Baghdad. The couple then sets off (1617) to find the Shah in Isfahan.source
1616Danish natural philosopher Ole Worm collects materials that will later be incorporated into his museum in Copenhagen. His museum is the nucleus of the University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum.source
1616Oorsprong en voortgang der Nederlandtscher beroerten (Origin and progress of the disturbances in the Netherlands), by Johannes Gysius, is published.source
1616King James's School, Knaresborough in Yorkshire is founded by Dr. Robert Chaloner, and the charter is signed by King James I of England.source
1616Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpts Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children, at the age of 18 years. This work is now in New York, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.source
1616Elizabethan polymath and alchemist Robert Fludd publishes his first book, Apologia Compendiaria, Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce suspicionis … maculis aspersam, veritatis quasi Fluctibus abluens, which is a defense of the ideas of the Rosicrucians.source
1616Latest probable date of Thomas Middleton composition of The Witch, a tragicomedy that may have entered into the present-day text of Shakespeare's Macbeth.source
1616The Collegium Musicum is founded in Prague.source
1616Week-long festivities in honor of the Prince of Urbano, of the Barberini family, occur in Florence, Italy.source
1616Marie Venier (called Laporte) is the first female actress to appear on the stage in Paris.source
1616Captain John Smith publishes his book A description of New England in London. Smith relates one voyage to the coast of Massachusetts and Maine, in 1614, and an attempted voyage in 1615, when he was captured by French pirates and detained for several months before escaping.source
1616An important English dictionary is published by Dr. John Bullokar with the title An English Expositor: teaching the interpretation of the hardest words used in our language, with sundry explications, descriptions and discourses.source
1617January 5 – Pocahontas and Tomocomo of the Powhatan Algonquian tribe, in the Virginia colony of America, meet King James I of England as his guests, at the Banqueting House at Whitehall.source
1617January 5 – The Mad Lover, a play by John Fletcher, is given its first performance.source
1617April 19 – The town of Uusikaupunki (, lit. "New Town") was founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.source
1617May 13 – King James I of England is escorted by the Earl of Home across the border to return to Scotland (where he reigns as King James VI) for the first time since the Union of the Crowns 14 years earlier in 1603. He is given lodging at Home's Dunglass Castle, East Lothian.source
1617August 8 – King James of England and Scotland returns to England after having spent three months in Scotland, arriving at Wharton, Cumbria.source
1617August 24 – The "Fruitbearing Society" (Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) of German scholars is founded in Weimar.source
1617October 12 – The coronation ceremony of King Gustav Adolf of Sweden takes place in Stockholm, almost six years after he succeeded to the throne.source
1617December 15 – Sir Thomas Roe, a representative of England's East India Company, arrives in Ahmedabad at India's Mughal Empire, and seeks an audience with the Emperor, Shah Jahan. The Emperor receives Roe in an audience three weeks later, on January 6.source
1617The Book of Swindles, a collection of short stories on fraud in the late Ming dynasty, is published.source
1617Giambattista Andreini's play The Penitent Magdalene is published in Mantua.source
1618January 6 – Ben Jonson's play Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue is given its premiere performance, presented at the Palace of Whitehall in London.source
1618January 28 – Rules are established for the Ōoku, the section of Edo Castle that housed the Shōgun's consort and his concubines.source
1618June 14 – Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. in Amsterdam (approximate date).source
1618July 1 – Ferdinand II, a proponent of the Counter-Reformation, is crowned as King of Hungary at a meeting of the Bohemian diet at Pressburg.source
1618The 3,000 seat Teatro Farnese, the first permanent proscenium theatre, is built into the Great Hall of the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma, Italy.source
1619June 21 – Dulwich College founded by Edward Alleyn, in Dulwich, London.source
1619September 9 – The coronation of Ferdinand II takes place in Vienna.source
1619November 16 – William Parker School, Hastings, England, is founded by the will of Reverend William Parker.source
1620May 17 – The first merry-go-round is seen at a fair in Philippapolis, Turkey.source
1620November 25 – The wedding of Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora takes place in Sweden.source
1621October 9 (September 29 O.S.) – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and Wampanoags celebrate a harvest feast (three days), later regarded as the First Thanksgiving, noted for the temporary peace between the English and the local Indians. The celebration is believed by later historians to have coincided with Michaelmas, observed on September 29 by the Anglican Communion on the calendar used in England at the time.source
1623March 7 – Charles, Prince of Wales, the future King Charles I of England, travelling incognito with royal favourite George Villiers, arrives in Madrid to pursue negotiations over the "Spanish match", the Protestant Charles's proposed marriage with the Catholic Habsburg Infanta Maria Anna of Spain.source
1623June 29 – Première of Pedro Calderón de la Barca's first play, Amor, honor y poder (Love, Honor and Power), at the Court of Habsburg Spain.source
1623July 30 (probable date) – The second Thanksgiving is celebrated in Plymouth Colony.source
1623August 30 – Negotiations, resumed in March, of the planned "Spanish match" break down. On October 5, Prince Charles returns to England from Spain without a bride.source
1623November 8–December 5 – Publication between these dates in London of the "First Folio" (Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies), a collection of 36 of the plays of Shakespeare, half of which have not previously been printed.source
1623Johannes Rudbeck founds Rudbeckianska gymnasiet, the first gymnasium in Sweden.source
1623Imprisoned Italian Dominican philosopher Tommaso Campanella's utopian The City of the Sun is published in Latin (as Civitas Solis) in Frankfurt.source
1623Italian poet Giambattista Marini's epic L'Adone is published in Paris.source
1624February 11 – Yi Gwal installs Prince Heungan, son of the late King Seongjo, to the Korean throne.source
1624April 15 – The University of Saint Francis Xavier is founded in Bolivia.source
1625February 3 – Francesca Caccini's opera La liberazione di Ruggiero has its premiere, stated in Florence in Italy. The opera will continue to be staged almost 400 years later, as late as the year 2018.source
1625April 4 – Frederick Henry of Nassau marries Amalia, Countess von Solms-Braunfels.source
1625June 13 – King Charles I of England marries Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France and Navarre, at Canterbury.source
1626February 2 – King Charles I of England is crowned, but without his wife, Henrietta Maria, who declines to participate in a non-Catholic ceremony.source
1627October 2 – The Tianqi Emperor's 16-year-old brother, Zhu Youjian, is enthroned as the Chongzhen Emperor.source
1627December 18 – La selva sin amor (The Forest without Love), written by Lope de Vega and with music by Alessandro Piccinini, premieres as the first Spanish opera.source
1628February 5 – The Chongzhen Era begins in Ming dynasty China after the October 2 ascension of Zhu Youjian, the Chongzhen Emperor, on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and the Tianqi era formally ends.source
1628February 14 – The coronation of Shah Jahan as ruler of the Mughal Empire takes place in Agra.source
1628The Collegiate School, the oldest surviving educational institution in the United States, is established.source
1630May 20 – The Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) is created, with Johannes Bureus as its first director. The Board is still in existence almost 400 years later.source
1630October 17 – Empress Meishō's Coronation takes place.source
1630Johann Heinrich Alsted's Encyclopaedia septem tomis distincta is published.source
1631February 16 – The Reval Gymnasium is founded in Tallinn, Estonia, by Swedish king Gustavus II Adolphus.source
1631May 30 – Gazette de France, the first weekly French newspaper, is published.source
1632January 8 – University of Amsterdam is established at the site of the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam.source
1632February 22 – Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published in Florence.source
1632June 15 – Sir Francis Windebank is made chief Secretary of State in England.source
1632June 30 – The University of Tartu is founded.source
1632September 25 – Yakutsk, Russia is founded by Pyotr Beketov.source
1632October 15 – The University of Tartu officially opens, in Swedish Livonia.source
1632November 8 – Wladyslaw IV Waza is elected king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, after Sigismund III Vasa's death.source
1633A professorship in Arabic studies is founded at the University of Cambridge in England.source
1634February 24 – By this date, the Paulaner Brewery is established in Munich, by Minim friars.source
1634March 25 – Leonard Calvert arrives in Maryland, with Jesuit missionaries Andrew White, John Altham Gravenor, and Thomas Gervase, establishing St. Mary's as the fourth permanent settlement in British North America. In this year they also establish an institution of higher learning here, which later becomes Georgetown University, the United States's oldest university.source
1634April – The first performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play is held in Bavaria.source
1634Moses Amyraut's Traité de la predestination is published.source
1634Cardinal Richelieu gathers members for the Académie Française which will be formally established in 1635).source
1635February 22 – The Académie française in Paris is formally constituted, as the national academy for the preservation of the French language.source
1635April 23 – Boston Latin School, the oldest school in what will become the United States of America, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.source
1635Nagyszombat University (predecessor of Budapest University) is established.source
1636January 18 – The Duke's Mistress, the last play by James Shirley, is given its first performance.source
1636March 13 (March 3 Old Style) – A "great charter" to the University of Oxford establishes the Oxford University Press, as the second of the privileged presses in England.source
1636March 26 – Utrecht University is founded in the Dutch Republic.source
1636July 30 – In France, Cardinal Richelieu persuades King Louis XIII to issue an ordonnance excusing the French nobility from military service if they pay a tax which allows the hiring of paid cavalry.source
1636September 18 (September 8 Old Style) – A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes New College (Harvard University), as the first college founded in the United States.source
1636October 28 – Harvard University was founded.source
1637January 5 – Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy Le Cid is first performed, in Paris, France.source
1637March 6 – The world's first opera house, Teatro San Cassiano, opens in Venice with the premiere of L'Andromeda, with music by Francesco Manelli and libretto by Benedetto Ferrari.source
1637May – Chinese encyclopedist Song Yingxing publishes his Tiangong Kaiwu ("Exploitation of the Works of Nature"), considered one of the most valuable encyclopedias of classical China.source
1637November 18 – The coronation as the new Holy Roman Emperor of Ferdinand III, Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, takes place in Vienna.source
1637Richard Norwood's book The Seaman's Practice is published for the first time.source
1638November 24 – New Haven, the first planned city in America, is founded when local Indians make a deed of Quinnipiac to Theophilus Eaton and other English settlers.source
1639March 13 – Harvard University is named for clergyman John Harvard.source
1639August 22 – The British East India Company buys a strip of land from King Peda Venkata Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire for the construction of Fort St. George, the first settlement of British India, so founding modern-day Chennai, capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (celebrated as Madras Day).source
1639c. January – The first printing press in British North America is started in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Stephen Daye.source
1640The first book to be printed in North America (the Bay Psalm Book) is published.source
1641Moses Amyraut's De l'elevation de la foy et de l'abaissement de la raison en la creance des mysteres de la religion is published.source
1642February 22 – The Italian opera Il palazzo incantato (The Enchanted Palace), by Luigi Rossi with libretto by Giulion Rospigliosi (the future Pope Clement IX), is given its first performance at the Teatro delle Quattro Fontane (Palazzo Barberini) in Rome.source
1642February 23–March 11 – Henrietta Maria, queen consort of England, and her eldest daughter Mary, newly created Princess Royal, leave Falmouth, Cornwall, to go into exile at the Dutch court in The Hague.source
1643The first professional book publisher to use printing press in Norway is established in Oslo.source
1643Miyamoto Musashi begins to dictate The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho) to his student; he will complete it in 1645, just before his death.source
1644February 8 – Li Zicheng declares the founding of the Shun dynasty in China, with himself as emperor.source
1644November 23 – Areopagitica, an appeal for freedom of speech written by John Milton, is published in London.source
1644December 8 (December 18 New Style) – As Christina comes of age, she is made ruling queen of Sweden.source
1644The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice (music by Francesco Cavalli, and libretto by Giovanni Faustini).source
1644Sigismund's Column is erected in Warsaw to commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.source
1645July 23 – Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of Russia comes to the throne.source
1645The Roxbury Latin School is founded.source
1646January 21 – Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester is approved by England's House of Commons as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.source
1646July 7 – The populist political movement called the Levellers appears in England with the publication of the Levellers manifesto, A Remonstrance of Many Thousand Citizens by Richard Overton and William Walwyn.source
1646September 16 – The new Orange College of Breda opens at Breda in the Dutch Republic.source
1646December 7 – Countess Louise Henriette of Nassau marries Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, on her 19th birthday at The Hague.source
1647January 17 – Posten Norge is founded as Postvesenet.source
1647June 16 – Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans, is crowned as the King of Hungary and Croatia at Pressburg, now the Slovakian capital of Bratislavasource
1648January 15 – Alexis, Tsar of Russia, marries Maria Miloslavskaya, who later gives birth to two future tsars (Feodor III and Ivan V) as well as Princess Sophia Alekseyevna, the regent for Peter I.source
1648Sabbatai Zevi declares himself the Messiah at Smyrna.source
1648Giacomo Carissimi composes Historia di Jephte, one of the first significant Latin oratorios.source
1650February 1 – The French verse play Andromède, commissioned by Cardinal Mazarin, written by Pierre Corneille and with elaborate sets designed by Giacomo Torelli, premieres before the royal family at the Théâtre Royal de Bourbon.source
1650June 9 – The Harvard Corporation, the more powerful of the two administrative boards of Harvard, is established (the first legal corporation in the Americas).source
1650June 23 – Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland (at Garmouth), the only one of the three kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler.source
1650July 1 – Einkommende Zeitungen, the first daily printed newspaper, begins publication in Leipzig (ceases 1918).source
1650October 20 – Christina, Queen of Sweden, who has been the legal ruler of Sweden for almost 18 years, has an elaborate coronation ceremony at the castle of Jacobsdal near Stockholm. The coronation had originally been planned for her 18th birthday in 1644 but was delayed by a war with Denmark-Norway.source
1650The first modern Palio di Siena horserace is held in Italy.source
1651January 1 – Charles II is crowned King of Scots at Scone (his first crowning).source
1651April 25 – Thomas Hobbes publishes his magnum opus, the political tract Leviathan, in England.source
1652June 13 – George Fox preaches to a large crowd on Firbank Fell in England, leading to the establishment of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).source
1653October 25 – Erdeni Bumba, the wife and chief consort of China's Shunzhi Emperor, is demoted from being the empress to being a concubine.source
1653November 16 – The Krishnanattam, a series of eight dance dramas written by Mana Veda, Zamorin of Calicut in India to tell the epic of the Hindu god Krishna, is completed.source
1653The gardens surrounding the Taj Mahal mausoleum are completed at Agra.source
1654January 6 – In India, Jaswant Singh of Marwar (in the modern-day state of Rajasthan) is elevated to the title of Maharaja by Emperor Shah Jahan.source
1654June 3 – Louis XIV of France is crowned at Reims.source
1655February 16 – Dutch Grand Pensionary advisor Johan de Witt marries Wendela Bicker.source
1655June 13 – Adriana Nooseman-van de Bergh becomes the first actress, in Amsterdam theater.source
1655November 24 – English Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell announces measures against the Laudian party, which are enforced starting on January 1.source
1655The Bibliotheca Thysiana is erected, the only surviving 17th century example in the Netherlands, of a building designed as a library.source
1656February 23 – London's Lord Mayor Christopher Packe suggests to Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector and chief executive of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, that the monarchy should be restored with Cromwell as its King. Cromwell declines to become King Oliver, but his right to name his successor becomes effective on May 25, 1657 with the commencement of the Humble Petition and Advice.source
1656June 15 – Bertuccio Valier is elected as the new Doge of the Venetian Republic in Venice.source
1656September 15 – Köprülü Mehmed Pasha becomes Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.source
1656Physician Samuel Stockhausen of the metal mining town of Goslar, Lower Saxony publishes his Libellus de lithargyrii fumo noxio morbifico, ejusque metallico frequentiori morbo vulgò dicto die Hütten Katze oder Hütten Rauch ("Treatise on the Noxious Fumes of Litharge, Diseases caused by them and Miners' Asthma"), a pioneering study of occupational disease.source
1656Adams' Grammar School at Newport, Shropshire, England is founded by William Adams.source
1657February 23 – In England, the Humble Petition and Advice offers Lord Protector Cromwell the crown.source
1657Thomas Middleton's tragedy Women Beware Women (c. 1623–24) is published posthumously in London.source
1657The Accademia del Cimento is founded in Florence, Italy.source
1657Andreas Gryphius' drama Katharina von Georgien is published in Breslau.source
1658April 16 – In Skåneland, a region recently ceded by Denmark to the Swedish Empire, representatives of the nobility of the provinces of Blekinge, Halland and Scania gather at the Scanian city of Malmö to swear their allegiance to King Charles X Gustav of Sweden.source
1658August 1 – The coronation of Leopold I takes place in Frankfurt.source
1659January 24 – Pierre Corneille's Oedipe premieres in Paris.source
1659March 1 – In exile in the Netherlands while plotting the restoration of the monarchy to England, Scotland and Ireland, Charles, son of the late King Charles I appoints seven royalists (including six from the "Sealed Knot" group) to a "Great Trust and Commission" to make plans for a post-restoration government. The Great Trust is led by Charles's trusted advisor, Edward Hyde.source
1659July 16 – Princess Henriette Catherine of Nassau marries John George II, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, in Groningen.source
1659September 30 – Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherland forbids tennis playing during religious services, marking the first mention of tennis in what will become the United States.source
1659Diego Velázquez's portrait of Infanta Maria Theresa is first exhibited.source
1659Peter Swink, the first known non-white settler to own land in Massachusetts, and first known African to live in Springfield, Massachusetts, arrives. He holds a seat in the town meetings.source
1660April 2 – The Merces baronets, a British nobility title is created.source
1660May 29 – King Charles II of England arrives in London and assumes the throne, marking the beginning of the English Restoration.source
1660November 28 – At Gresham College in London, twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray meet after a lecture by Wren, and decide to found "a College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning" (later known as the Royal Society).source
1660December 8 – The first English actress appears on the professional stage in England in a non-singing role, as Desdemona in Othello at Vere Street Theatre in London, following the reopening of the theatres (various opinions have been advanced that the actress was Margaret Hughes, Anne Marshall or Katherine Corey). Historian Elizabeth Howe notes, however, that both William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew had women in their acting companies before 1660, and that Anne Marshall might be just one of the first rather than the actual first.source
1660Hopkins School is founded in New Haven, Connecticut.source
1661June 1 – At Edinburgh, the public execution of Presbyterian minister James Guthrie, followed by Captain William Govan, takes place at the Mercat Cross at Parliament Square, days after both have been convicted of treason for their roles in the execution of King Charles I. The heads are severed from the corpses and displayed on spikes in the square.source
1661December 16 – Abraham Cowley's comedy The Cutter of Coleman Street premieres at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Playhouse in London as a production of the Duke's Company.source
1662May 9 – Samuel Pepys witnesses a Punch and Judy show in London (the first on record).source
1662May 21 – (May 31 N.S.); Princess Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King João IV of Portugal, marries Charles II of England. As part of the dowry, Portugal cedes Bombay in India, and Tangier in Morocco, to England.source
1662June 21 – The Pierce baronets British nobility title is created.source
1662July 15 – The Royal Society, founded by King Charles II of England and Scotland receives an official charter in London.source
1662November 28 – The English Royal Society holds its first meeting.source
1662December 26 – Molière's play, The School for Wives, is given its première in Paris.source
1662The Akademie der Bildenden Künste Nürnberg is founded in Germany.source
1663November 6 – The Kingdom of Sweden adopts a law creating the flag in use in the nation now, a yellow Nordic cross on a blue background. The original version, used as a state flag and on ships, had three pennants.source
1663The Prix de Rome scholarship is established in France for students of the arts.source
1664May 12 – The original version of Tartuffe, a comedy by French playwright and actor Molière, is given its first performance, staged at the Palace of Versaillessource
1664June 3 – In the city of Mantua in Italy, the world's oldest continuously published private newspaper, Gazzetta di Mantova, publishes its first-known issue. The newspaper would celebrate its 350th anniversary in 2014.source
1664October 28 – The "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of foot" is formed in London and serves as a precursor to the Royal Marines of the United Kingdom.source
1664John Evelyn's Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber is published in London, in book form.source
1665February 15 – Molière's comedy Dom Juan ou le Festin de pierre, based on the Spanish legend of the womanizer Don Juan Tenorio and Tirso de Molina's Spanish play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra, premieres in Paris at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal.source
1665August 27 – Ye Bare & Ye Cubbe, the first play in English in the American colonies, is given its first performance. The presentation takes place at Cowles Tavern in Pungoteague, Virginia. The event is documented in 1958 in a historical marker with the heading "The Bear and the Cub" which says "This first play recorded in the United States was presented August 27, 1665. The Accomack County Court at Pungoteague heard charges against three men 'for acting a play,' ordered inspection of costumes and script, but found the men 'not guilty.'"source
1665September 22 – Molière's L'Amour médecin is first presented, before Louis XIV, at the Palace of Versailles, with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully.source
1665September – Robert Hooke's Micrographia is published in London, first applying the term 'cell' to plant tissue, which he discovered first in cork, then in living organisms, using a microscope.source
1665October 5 – Kiel University is founded in the Duchy of Holstein.source
1665November 7 – The London Gazette is first published as The Oxford Gazette.source
1665December 10 – The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Michiel de Ruyter.source
1665Joan Blaeu completes publication of his Atlas Maior (Theatrum Orbis Terrarum) in Amsterdam.source
1666June 4 – Molière's comedy of manners The Misanthrope is premièred at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris by the King's Players with himself in the title role.source
1666December 19 – Lund University is founded in Lund, Sweden.source
1666December 22 – The French Academy of Sciences, founded by Louis XIV, first meets.source
1667January 27 – The 2,000 seat Opernhaus am Taschenberg, a theater in Dresden (capital of the Electorate of Saxony) opens with its first production, Pietro Ziani's opera Il teseo.source
1667February 22 – The Lejonkulan ("lion's den") opens at Stockholm in Sweden as the first permanent theater in Scandinavia, with the performance of Jean Magnon's Orontes en Satira.source
1667March – Louis XIV of France abolishes the livre parisis (Paris pound), in favor of the much more widely used livre tournois (Tours pound). He also designates Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie as the first chief of "police" of Paris.source
1667April 27 – The blind, impoverished, 58-year-old John Milton seals a contract for publication of Paradise Lost with London printer Samuel Simmons, for an initial payment of £5. The first edition is published in October and sells out in eighteen months.source
1667June 27 – George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, one of the five members of the Cabal ministry in England (Lords Chudleigh, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley and Lauderdale), turns himself in after a warrant for his arrest is issued on February 25 on charges of treason (including the casting of the horoscope of King Charles II). He is held in the Tower of London for four years before being released on July 17, 1671.source
1667August 15 – John Dryden's comedy Sir Martin Mar-all, or The Feign'd Innocence is given its first performance, presented by the players of the King's Theatre in London.source
1668May 18 – Charles Sedley's comedy The Mulberry-Garden premieres at the Theatre Royal in London.source
1668June 12 – John Dryden's play An Evening's Love, or The Mock Astrologer premieres at the Theatre Royal in London in a performance by the King's Company players for King Charles and Queen Catherine.source
1668September 9 – Molière's comedy The Miser (L'Avare) is first performed, in Paris.source
1669February 13 – The first performance of the Ballet de Flore, a joint collaboration of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Isaac de Benserade is given, premiering at the Palais du Louvre in Paris. King Louis XIV finances the performance and even appears in a minor role in the production as a dancer.source
1669September 23 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor grants the status and privileges of a university to the Jesuit Academy in Zagreb, the precursor to the modern University of Zagreb.source
1669September 29 – The formal coronation of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki as King of Poland (and Grand Duke of Lithuania) takes place in Kraków.source
1669October 15 – The University of Innsbruck is chartered in Austria by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. After being reduced to a lesser function on November 29, 1781, it is rechartered in 1826.source
1669December 13 – Jean Racine's five-act tragic play Britannicus is performed for the first time, premiering at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. The play continues to be performed more than 350 years later, including a 2011 version translated by Dr. Howard Rubenstein.source
1669Antonio Stradivari makes his first violin in Cremona.source
1669Jan Swammerdam publishes his Algemeene Verhandeling van de bloedeloose dierkens, a groundbreaking work in microscopy, as well as entomology.source
1670February 27 – The royal wedding in Poland, between King Michal Wisniowiecki (who is also the Grand Duke of Lithuania) and Eleonore of Austria (daughter of the late Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor), with ceremonies taking place at the Denhoff Palace in Kruszyna.source
1670October 14 – Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, a five-act comedy and ballet authored by Molière, is given its first performance, presented before King Louis XIV at the Château de Chambord. Public performances begin on November 23 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
1671January 17 – The ballet Psyché, with music composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, premieres before the royal court of King Louis XIV at the Théâtre des Tuileries in Paris.source
1671February 1 – The Tsar Alexis of Russia marries Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, who gives birth 16 months later to the future Peter the Great.source
1671March 3 – Pomone, written by Robert Cambert and considered by modern scholars to be the first French opera, is given its first performance. Using innovative costumes, and machinery for special stage effects, the premiere performed by the Académie d'Opéra at the Salle de la Bouteille theater in Paris is a success.source
1671December 30 – The Académie royale d'architecture is founded by Louis XIV of France in Paris as the world's first school of architecture.source
1672May 2 – John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.source
1672July 4 – William III of Orange is appointed Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland.source
1672Foundation of the Chorina Comedy, the first theater in Russia.source
1673February 10 – Molière's comédie-ballet The Imaginary Invalid premiers in Paris. During the fourth performance, on February 17, the playwright, playing the title rôle, collapses on stage, dying soon after.source
1673April 27 – Cadmus et Hermione, the first opera written by Jean-Baptiste Lully, premières at the Paris Opera in France.source
1673July 24 – Edmund Halley enters The Queen's College, Oxford, as an undergraduate.source
1673November 14 – Christopher Wren is knighted in England.source
1673November 23 – James, Duke of York, marries Mary of Modena; they meet for the first time immediately before the ceremony in Dover.source
1674January 19 – The tragic opera Alceste, by Jean-Baptiste Lully, is performed for the first time, presented by the Paris Opera company at the Theatre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
1674May 21 – John III Sobieski is elected by the nobility, as King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (to 1696).source
1674June 6 – Shivaji Maharaj is crowned as Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of the Maratha Empire at Raigad Fort in India.source
1674June 12 – The British East India Company arranges a commercial treaty with the Maratha Empire after Henry Oxenden, the company's deputy governor, meets Emperor Shivaji for his recent coronation.source
1674October 4 – A second coronation is held by the Maratha Empire for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhonsle, after the Vedic priest Nischal Puri Goswami decides that the June 18 coronation was "held under inauspicious stars".source
1675February 4 – The Italian opera La divisione del mondo, by Giovanni Legrenzi, is performed for the first time, premiering in Venice at the Teatro San Luca. The new opera, telling the story of the "division of the world" after the battle between the Gods of Olympus and the Titans, becomes known for its elaborate and expensive sets, machinery, and special effects and is revived 325 years later in the year 2000.source
1675February 27 – Matthew Locke's "semi-opera" Psyche premieres at the Duke's Theatre in London.source
1675March 30 – The guild organisation Maîtresses couturières is founded in Paris.source
1676January 31 – Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, the oldest institution of higher education in Central America, is founded.source
1677January 1 – Jean Racine's tragedy Phèdre is first performed, in Paris.source
1677April 6 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor visits the University of Innsbruck.source
1677August – The French guild of the Maitresses bouquetieres is founded in Paris.source
1677September 10 – Henry Purcell is appointed a musician to the court of Charles II of England.source
1677September 18 – the Kangxi Emperor of China grants titles and ranks to all of his wives, and names Empress Xiaozhaoren as his consort.source
1677November 4 – The future Mary II of England marries William of Orange in London.source
1677Spinoza's Ethics (Ethica, ordine geometrico demonstrata) is published as part of his Opera Posthuma in Amsterdam.source
1677The use of male impotence is ended as a factor in French divorce proceedings.source
1677The John Roan School is established in Greenwich, London.source
1677Jules Hardouin Mansart begins la place Vendôme in Paris (it is completed in 1698).source
1677Elias Ashmole gifts the collection that begins the Ashmolean Museum to the University of Oxford in England.source
1678February 18 – The first part of English nonconformist preacher John Bunyan's Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress is published in London.source
1678March 21 – Thomas Shadwell's comedy A True Widow is given its first performance, at The Duke's Theatre in London, staged by the Duke's Company.source
1678June 25 – Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia becomes the first woman to be awarded a university degree, a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Padua.source
1680May 6 – King Charles XI of Sweden marries Princess Elonora, daughter of the late King Frederick III of Denmark-Norway and sister of King Christian V.source
1680August 24 – Comédie-Française is founded by decree of Louis XIV as La maison de Molière in Paris.source
1681August 10 – English sea captain Robert Knox of the East India Company publishes his book An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, about his adventures, 20-years imprisonment and escape from Ceylon.source
1681August 12 – Ahom King Gadadhar Singha (or Gadapani), who takes the Tai name Supaatphaa, ascends the throne.source
1682January 7 – The Republic of Genoa forbids the unauthorized printing of newspapers and all handwritten newssheets; the ban is lifted after three months.source
1682January 24 – The first public theater in Brussels, the Opéra du Quai au Foin, is opened.source
1682February 9 – Thomas Otway's classic play Venice Preserv'd or A Plot Discover'd is given its first performance, premiering at the Duke's Theatre.source
1682April 9 – At the mouth of the Mississippi River, near modern Venice, Louisiana, Robert de La Salle buries an engraved plate and a cross, claiming the territory as La Louisiane for France.source
1682May 6 – Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles.source
1682June 17 – The Indonesian city of Bandar Lampung is founded on the island of Sumatra.source
1682October 27 – The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded by William Penn.source
1683January 6 – The tragic opera Phaëton, written by Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault, is premiered at the Palace of Versailles.source
1683February 7 – The opera Giustino by Giovanni Legrenzi and about the life of the Byzantine Emperor Justin, premieres in Venice.source
1683May 24 – The Ashmolean Museum opens in Oxford (England), as the world's second university museum, after the establishment of the Kunstmuseum Basel in 1661 by the University of Basel.source
1683August 18 – Francesco Maria Imperiale Lercari becomes the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa.source
1683October 9 (possible date) – Louis XIV of France makes a morganatic marriage with Madame de Maintenon in a secret ceremony following the death on July 30 of his queen consort, Maria Theresa of Spain.source
1684January 5 – The earliest form of what is now the University of Tokyo (formally chartered in 1877), the Tenmongata, is established in Japan.source
1684August 15 – Louis XIV decrees the foundation of the Maison royale de Saint-Louis, a boarding school for girls at Saint-Cyr, at the urging of Madame de Maintenon.source
1685January 6 – American-born British citizen Elihu Yale, for whom Yale University in the U.S. is named, completes his term as the first leader of the Madras Presidency in India, administering the colony on behalf of the East India Company, and is succeeded by William Gyfford.source
1685The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow in the State of New York is constructed by the original Dutch settlers (later to become famous as the site of the rampage of the "Headless Horseman" spirit in the novel The Legend of Sleepy Hollow).source
1686May 4 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.source
1687July 11 – Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known as the Principia, is published by the Royal Society of London. In it, Newton describes his law of universal gravitation, explains the laws of mechanics, and gives a formula for the speed of sound. The writing of Principia Mathematica ushers in a tidal wave of changes in thought, significantly accelerating the Scientific Revolution by providing new and practical intellectual tools, and becomes the foundation of modern physics.source
1688February 28 – The French opera David et Jonathas, composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, is performed for the first time.source
1688April 18 (Julian calendar) – The Germantown Quaker Protest Against Slavery is drafted by four Germantown Quakers.source
1688May 10 – King Narai of Ayutthaya nominates Princess Sudawadi as his successor, with Constantine Phaulkon, Mom Pi and Phetracha acting as joint regents.source
1688June 10 – The birth of James Francis Edward Stuart (later known as the Old Pretender), son and heir to James II of England and his Catholic wife Mary of Modena, at St James's Palace in London, increases public disquiet about a Catholic dynasty, particularly when the baby is baptised into the Catholic faith. Rumours about his true maternity swiftly begin to circulate.source
1688Oroonoko, one of the first English novels and the first by a professional female author (Aphra Behn) is published.source
1689January 30 – The first performance of the opera Henrico Leone composed by Agostino Steffani takes place in Hannover to inaugurate the new royal theatre in the Leineschloss.source
1689February 23 (February 13, 1688 O.S.) – William III and Mary II are proclaimed co-rulers of England, Scotland and Ireland.source
1689April 11 (O.S.) – William III and Mary II are crowned in London as King and Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Ireland does not recognise them yet, while the Estates of Scotland declare King James VII deposed.source
1689May 25 – The last hearth tax is collected in England and Wales.source
1689The first documented performance of the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell takes place at Josias Priest's girls' school in Chelsea, London, with a libretto based on Virgil's Aeneid.source
1690February 21 – The opera Orphée by Louis Lully receives its first performance at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera).source
1690April 6 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor issues a document inviting Serbians to resettle in Hungary, at this time a part of the Empire.source
1690September 25 – The only issue of Publick Occurrences is published in Boston, Massachusetts, before being suppressed by the colonial authorities.source
1690October 21 – The play Amphitryon by John Dryden, based on Molière's 1668 play of the same name, receives its first performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.source
1690November 7 – The opera Énée et Lavinie (Aeneas and Lavinia) by the French composer Pascal Collasse receives its first performance at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera).source
1690The French dictionary and encyclopaedia Dictionnaire universel, contenant generalement tous les mots françois, compiled by Antoine Furetière, is published posthumously.source
1690Dutch polymath Christiaan Huygens publishes his book Treatise on Light. The book is considered a pioneering work of theoretical and mathematical physics.source
1691March 17 – The Athenian Mercury begins twice-weekly publication by The Athenian Society in London.source
1691June – The first performance takes place of the semi-opera King Arthur with a libretto by John Dryden and music by Henry Purcell.source
1691August 27 – In Scotland, King William offers the Highland clans a pardon for their part in the Jacobite rising of 1689 if they agree to pledge allegiance to him before New Year's Day.source
1691Nimavar school in Isfahan, Iran is built and opens in this era of Suleiman I.source
1691The Society for the Reformation of Manners is founded in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the aim of suppressing profanity, immorality, and other lewd activities in general, and of brothels and prostitution in particular.source
1692May 2 – The first performance of the semi-opera The Fairy-Queen by Henry Purcell, based on William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, takes place at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden in London.source
1693February 8 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a Royal charter.source
1693February 27 – The publication of the first women's magazine, titled The Ladies' Mercury, takes place in London. It is published by the Athenian Society.source
1693March 27 – Bozoklu Mustafa Pasha becomes the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, after Sultan Ahmed II appoints him as the successor of Çalık Ali Pasha.source
1693April 5 – The Order of Saint Louis, the first medal to be awarded in France to military personnel who are not members of nobility, is created by order of King Louis XIV, and named after his ancestor, King Louis IX.source
1693June 5 – The first performance of the opera Didon by French composer Henri Desmarets takes place at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
1693September 9 – Francesco Invrea, King of Corsica, begins a two-year term as the Doge of the Republic of Genoa in Italy, succeeding Giovanni Battista Cattaneo Della Volta.source
1693October – William Congreve's comedy The Double-Dealer is first performed in London.source
1693The Academia Operosorum Labacensium is established in Ljubljana, Slovenia.source
1693William Penn publishes his proposal for European federation, Essay on the Present and Future Peace of Europe.source
1693Dimitrie Cantemir presents his Kitâbu 'İlmi'l-Mûsiki alâ Vechi'l-Hurûfât (The Book of the Science of Music through Letters) to Sultan Ahmed II, which deals with melodic and rhythmic structure and practice of Ottoman music, and contains the scores for around 350 works composed during and before his own time, in an alphabetical notation system he invented.source
1693John Locke publishes his influential book Some Thoughts Concerning Education.source
1694January 21 (January 11 O.S.) – The Kiev Academy, predecessor of the national university of Ukraine, receives official recognition by Tsar Ivan V of Russia.source
1694January 28 – Pirro e Demetrio, an opera by Alessandro Scarlatti, is given its first performance, debuting at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples. The opera is adapted in 1708 in London as Pyrrhus and Demetrius and becomes the second most popular opera in 18th century London.source
1694August 24 – The Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, the first official dictionary of the French language, is presented by Jacques de Tourreil and Academy members on behalf of the Académie française to King Louis XIV.source
1695March 5 – The funeral of Queen Mary II of England takes place, accompanied by music written for the occasion by Henry Purcell.source
1696January 31 – In the Netherlands, undertakers revolt after funeral reforms in Amsterdam.source
1696January – Colley Cibber's play Love's Last Shift is first performed in London.source
1696August 13 – The Dutch state of Drenthe makes William III of Orange its Stadtholder.source
1696November 21 – John Vanbrugh's play The Relapse is first performed in London.source
1696December 19 – Jean-François Regnard's verse comedy Le Joueur ("The Gamester") premieres in Paris.source
1696A New Theory of the Earth, a book by William Whiston, is published and is well received by intellectuals of the day.source
1696Edward Lloyd probably begins publication of Lloyd's News, a predecessor of Lloyd's List, in London.source
1697July 28 – The opera Vénus et Adonis, composed by Henri Desmarets with libretto by Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, receives its first performance, premiering at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.source
1697October 7 – The opera Issé, composed by André Cardinal Destouches with libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, premieres at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France.source
1697October 24 – The first opéra-ballet, combining elements of both mediums of entertainment, is performed as L'Europe galante makes its debut at the Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. Composed by André Campra, with libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, the opera and ballet is conducted by Marin Marais.source
1697November 24 – The elaborate burial of the late King Charles XI of Sweden takes place more than seven months after his April 5 death, with interment at the Riddarholmen Church on the island of Riddarholmen near Stockholm.source
1697November 30 – Prince Eugene of Savoy, a field marshal within the Holy Roman Empire, purchases a large tract of land in Vienna for construction of the Belvedere Palace.source
1697December 7 – Louis, Duke of Burgundy, and Marie Adélaïde of Savoy marry in the royal chapel at the Palace of Versailles in France.source
1697December 11 – A ball in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles is held to celebrate the Duke of Burgundy and Marie Adélaïde's wedding.source
1697December 14 – The coronation ceremony takes place for King Charles XII of Sweden.source
1697The use of "litters" (wheelless transports that carried by four servants) increases in Europe.source
1697William Dampier's A New Voyage Round the World is published in England.source
1698March 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
1698June 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
1698Cinderella is made as a folktalesource
1699March 2 – The Edinburgh Gazette is first published in Scotland.source
1699March 26 – The first performance of Amadis de Grèce, an opera by French composer André Cardinal Destouches, takes place at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris.source
1699May 10 – Billingsgate Fish Market in London is sanctioned as a permanent institution by an Act of Parliament, with the provision "that after the tenth of May, 1699, Billingsgate Market should be, every day in the week except Sunday, a free and open market for all sorts of fish, and that it should be lawful for any person to buy or sell any sort of fish without disturbance."source
1699October 11 – The opera Marthésie, première reine des Amazones (Marthesia, First Queen of the Amazons), composed by André Cardinal Destouches, is performed for the first time, premiering at Fontainebleau near Paris.source
1699December 3 – Baron Jacob Hop is appointed as the treasurer-general of The Hague.source
1699December 20 – Peter the Great orders the Russian New Year changed, from September 1 (the start of the Byzantine year) to January 1.source