William III of Orange lands with an army at Torbay and marches to London with almost no opposition from supporters of James II

Parliament in Westminster makes the restrictive Bill of Rights the condition on which William III and Mary II are crowned

James II, landing in Ireland, is acclaimed as king in Dublin by enthusiastic Irish Catholics

The 17-year-old Peter the Great becomes co-tsar of Russia with his half-brother Ivan V

Young gentlewomen in Chelsea give the first performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

The armies of James II and William III confront each at the river Boyne, with victory going to William

The French scientist Denis Papin, while professor of mathematics at Marburg, develops the first steam engine to use a piston

The Church of Scotland finally wins recognition as an independent Presbyterian body

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

Peter the Great makes an unexpected raid down the river Don and captures Azov from the Crimean Tatars

The Russian tsar, Peter I, studies western European technology, working as a ship's carpenter in Dutch and English shipyards

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

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