Events
January–March
*
January 5
Events Pre-1600
* 1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France.
1601–1900
* 1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French ...
– The ''
Journal des sçavans'' begins publication of the first scientific journal in France.
*
February 15 –
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
'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
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
at the
Théâtre du Palais-Royal.
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
* 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
* 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The ...
– In India,
Shivaji Bhonsale of the Maratha Empire captures the English
East India Company's trading post at
Sadashivgad (now located in the Indian state of
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
).
*
February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''.
February is the third a ...
– In England,
Dr. Richard Lower performs the first blood transfusion between animals. According to his account to the Royal Society journal ''Philosophical Transactions'' in December, Dr. Lower "towards the end of February... selected one dog of medium size, opened its jugular vein, and drew off blood, until its strength was nearly gone. Then, to make up for the great loss of this dog by the blood of a second, I introduced blood from the cervical artery of a fairly large mastiff, which had been fastened alongside the first, until this latter animal showed it was overfilled by the inflowing blood."
*
March 4 – The
Second Anglo-Dutch War begins.
*
March 6 – The ''
Philosophical Transactions'' of the
Royal Society of London begins publication in England, the first scientific journal in English and the oldest to be continuously published.
*
March 11 – A new legal code is approved for the Dutch and English towns of New York, guaranteeing all Protestants the right to continue their religious observances unhindered.
*
March 16 –
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
allows Jews to settle in the city, in exchange for an annual tax of 16 guilders.
April–June
*
April 12 – The burial of Margaret Porteous is recorded; hers is the first known death during the
Great Plague of London. This last major outbreak of
Bubonic plague in the British Isles has possibly been introduced by
Dutch prisoners of war. Two-thirds of Londoners leave the city, but over 68,000 die. The plague spreads to
Derbyshire.
*
May 19 – Great fire of
Newport, Shropshire,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
*
June 11 –
Shivaji, leader of the Bhonsale clan of the Marathas in India, signs the
Treaty of Purandar with the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
, giving up 23 of the 35 forts under his control, agreeing to pay reparations to the Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb, and sending his son to stay as a hostage at
Agra
Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
.
*
June 12 – England installs a municipal government in New York City (the former
Dutch settlement of
New Amsterdam).
*
June 13 (
June 3 O.S.) –
Second Anglo-Dutch War –
Battle of Lowestoft: The English Navy, under
James Stuart, Duke of York, is victorious against the Dutch.
*
June 17 –
Battle of Montes Claros between
Spanish and a combined
Anglo-
Portuguese force ends with a decisive Portuguese victory.
*
June 30 – King
Charles II of England issues a second charter for the
Province of Carolina, which clarifies and expands the borders of the
Lords Proprietors' tracts.
July–September
*
July 3 – The first documented case of
cyclopia
Cyclopia (named after the Greek mythology characters cyclopes), also known as alobar holoprosencephaly, is the most extreme form of holoprosencephaly and is a congenital disorder (birth defect) characterized by the failure of the embryonic prosen ...
is diagnosed in a horse.
*
July 7 – King Charles II of England leaves London with his entourage, fleeing the
Great Plague. He moves his court to
Salisbury
Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
, then
Exeter.
*
July 9 – The colonization of the south Indian Ocean island
Réunion
Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...
begins, with the
Compagnie des Indes Orientales sending 20 permanent settlers, under the command of Etienne Regnault, from the French ship ''Taureau''.
*
July 11 – Pierre de Beausse, an envoy of France's King
Louis XIV, formally claims possession of the African island of
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
on behalf of the
French East India Company after landing on the coast in the 32-gun frigate ''Saint-Paul''.
*
August 2 – The Dutch fleet defeats the English in the
Battle of Vågen off Norway in the
Second Anglo-Dutch War.
*
August 8 – The Great Plague forces the closure of the
University of Cambridge, where
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...
is a student. Newton retires to his home in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
for safety, and stays there for two years. During this time alone, Newton will make groundbreaking discoveries in
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
calculus
Calculus is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithmetic operations.
Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the ...
,
mechanics and
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...
, and lay the foundations for his books ''
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' and ''
Optiks''.
*
August 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.'"
*
September 17 –
Charles II of Spain becomes king while not yet four years old.
*
September 22 –
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
's ''
L'Amour médecin'' is first presented, before
Louis XIV of France, at the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
, with music by
Jean-Baptiste Lully.
*
September
September is the ninth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days.
September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere are seasonally equivalent.
In the Northern hemisphere, the b ...
–
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
A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...
.
October–December
*
October 5 –
Kiel University is founded in the
Duchy of Holstein.
*
October 21 –
Louis XIV of France and
Jean-Baptiste Colbert found the ''Manufacture royale des glaces of
Saint Gobain'', which is the oldest French company of the
CAC 40, with 350 years in
2015.
*
October 29 –
Battle of Mbwila: Portuguese forces defeat and kill King
António I of Kongo.
*
November 7 – ''
The London Gazette'' is first published as ''The Oxford Gazette''.
*
December 10 – The
Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by
Michiel de Ruyter.
Date unknown
*
Joan Blaeu completes publication of his ''
Atlas Maior'' (''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'') in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
.
Births
*
February 6
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Hormizd IV, king of the Sasanian Empire, is overthrown and blinded by his brothers-in-law Vistahm and Vinduyih.
* 1579 – The Diocese of Manila is erected by papal bull, with Domingo de Salazar appointe ...
–
Anne, Queen of Great Britain (d.
1714)
*
February 12
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Pope Urban II confirms the foundation of the abbey of La Roë under Robert of Arbrissel as a community of canons regular.
* 1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sofia performed the first post- ...
–
Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d.
1721)
*
March 4 –
Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (d.
1694)
*
March 17 –
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichordist and composer (d.
1729)
*
April 19 –
Jacques Lelong, French bibliographer (d.
1721)
*
April 29 –
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman and soldier (d.
1745)
*
June 4 –
Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian soldier (d.
1733)
*
July 2 –
Samuel Penhallow, English-born American colonist, historian (d.
1726)
*
August 21
Events Pre-1600
* 959 – Eraclus becomes the 25th bishop of Liège.
*1140 – Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song War ...
–
Giacomo F. Maraldi, French-Italian astronomer (d.
1729)
*
August 27 –
John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (d.
1751)
*
December 25 –
Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (d.
1746)
*
December 28 –
George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English general (d.
1716)
* ''date unknown'' –
Ingeborg i Mjärhult, Swedish soothsayer (d.
1749)
Deaths

*
January 1
January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__
Events ...
–
Christian William of Brandenburg, administrator of the bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt (b.
1587)
*
January 4
Events Pre-1600
*46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.
* 871 – Battle of Reading (871), Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred the Great, Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasi ...
–
Herman Fortunatus, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern (b.
1595)
*
January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: Muhammad and his ...
–
Louise de La Fayette, French courtier, friend of King Louis XIII (b.
1618)
*
January 12 –
Pierre de Fermat
Pierre de Fermat (; ; 17 August 1601 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his d ...
, French mathematician (b.
1607)
*
January 29
Events
Pre-1600
* 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher.
* 946 – Caliph al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler ...
–
Jeanne des Anges, French Ursuline nun in Loudun (b.
1602)
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
* 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on th ...
–
Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (b.
1622)
*
March 1 –
Thomas Wentworth, 5th Baron Wentworth, English baron and politician (b.
1612)
*
March 11 –
Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (b. c.
1575)
*
March 15 –
Christian Louis, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (b.
1622)
*
April 21 –
Jean-Joseph Surin, French Jesuit writer (b.
1600)
*
May 24 –
Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess and spiritual writer (b.
1602)
*
May 31 –
Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (b.
1597)
*
June 3
**
Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth, son of Charles Berkeley (b.
1630)
**
James Ley, 3rd Earl of Marlborough, English nobleman, sailor, and mathematician (b.
1618)
*
June 6 –
George Christian, Prince of East Frisia, prince of Ostfriesland (b.
1634)
*
June 13 –
Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, Dutch admiral (b.
1604)
*
June 17 –
Maria Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt (b.
1634)
*
June 25 –
Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria, regent of Tyrol and Further Austria (b.
1630)
*
July 11 –
Kenelm Digby, English privateer (b.
1603)
*
July 18 –
Stefan Czarniecki, Polish general (b.
1599)
*
August 14 –
Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, son of Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers of Rethel (b.
1629)
*
August 28 –
Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter (b.
1638)
*
September 1 –
Walter Erle, English politician (b.
1586)
*
September 2 –
Juan Alonso de Cuevas y Davalos, Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop of Mexico and Antequera (b.
1590)
*
September 12 –
Jean Bolland, Flemish Jesuit writer (b.
1596)
*
September 17 – King
Philip IV of Spain (b.
1605)
*
September 25 –
Maria Anna of Austria, Electress of Bavaria (b.
1610)
*
October 22 –
César, Duke of Vendôme, French nobleman (b.
1594)
*
November 1 –
Sir John Perceval, 1st Baronet, Irish nobleman (b.
1629)
*
November 10 –
Samuel Capricornus, Czech composer (b.
1628)
*
November 17 –
John Earle (bishop), English bishop (b.
1601
This Epoch (reference date)#Computing, epoch is the beginning of the 400-year Gregorian leap-year cycle within which digital files first existed; the last year of any such cycle is the only leap year whose year number is divisible by 100.
Jan ...
)
*
November 19 –
Nicolas Poussin, French painter (b.
1594)
*
November 20 –
Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b.
1586)
*
November 24 –
Simon Le Moyne, French missionary (b.
1604)
*
December 2
**
Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, French socialite (b.
1588)
**
Maria Angela Astorch, Spanish
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
religious figure, mystic and blessed (b.
1592)
*
December 10 –
Tarquinio Merula, Italian composer (b. c.
1594)
*
December 29 –
George Wilde, Irish bishop (b.
1610)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1665