istoryworld
Events relating to europe
The Church of Scotland finally wins recognition as an independent Presbyterian body
John Strong, landing on some remote Atlantic islands, names them after Viscount Falkland, treasurer of the British navy
John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience
Government soldiers, mainly Campbells, massacre their MacDonald hosts in Glencoe
The Bank of England is founded and soon becomes the central banker for England's many private banks
The joint monarch of England, Mary II, dies - leaving her husband, William III, to reign alone
Domenico Scarlatti gets his first teacher
Peter the Great makes an unexpected raid down the river Don and captures Azov from the Crimean Tatars
Fort St William is built by the East India Company in the Ganges delta, and subsequently develops into Calcutta
The Russian tsar, Peter I, studies western European technology, working as a ship's carpenter in Dutch and English shipyards
In his opera La Caduta de' Decemviri, Alessandro Scarlatti introduces a new form of prelude, later known as the Italian overture, which is an important stage in the development of the symphony
In the Treaty of Rijswijk, Spain cedes the western half of Hispaniola to France, which names its new colony Saint-Domingue
A fleet from Oman evicts the Portuguese from Mombasa and Zanzibar
Thomas Savery creates the first practical steam engine, designed to pump water out of mines
A maker of harpsichords in Florence, Bartolomeo Cristofori, develops the piano ('soft') and forte ('loud') feature which leads to the piano
Scotland makes a disastrous attempt to establish a colony in Darien, on the isthmus of Panama
Peter the Great makes a symbolic gesture of reform in trimming his boyars' beards
In the years after the battle of the Boyne, Catholic ownership of land in Ireland is reduced to just 14% of the total
Holland and England are now producing the magnificent ocean-going merchant vessels known as East Indiamen
Charles II, the childless king of Spain. leaves all his territories to Philip of Anjou, a grandson of the French king, Louis XIV
Poland, Russia and Denmark attack Sweden, beginning the 21-year Northern War
Peter the Great sets up numerous schools and commercial enterprises to enable Russia to compete in Europe
The Act of Settlement declares that no Catholic may inherit the English crown
The War of the Spanish Succession breaks out between French and Austrian claimants to the Spanish throne
The Augustan Age begins in English literature, claiming comparison with the equivalent flowering under Augustus Caesar
