The 17th century lasted from January 1,
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 ...
(represented by the
Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
MDCI), to December 31,
1700 (MDCC).
It falls into the
early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the
Baroque cultural movement, the latter part of the
Spanish Golden Age, the
Dutch Golden Age, the French ''
Grand Siècle'' dominated by
Louis XIV, the
Scientific Revolution, the world's first public company and
megacorporation known as the
Dutch East India Company, and according to some historians,
the General Crisis.
From the mid-17th century, European politics were increasingly dominated by the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...
of
Louis XIV, where royal power was solidified domestically in the
civil war of
the Fronde. The semi-feudal territorial
French nobility was weakened and subjugated to the power of an
absolute monarchy through the reinvention of the
Palace of Versailles from a hunting lodge to a gilded prison, in which a greatly expanded royal court could be more easily kept under surveillance. With domestic peace assured, Louis XIV caused the borders of France to be expanded. It was during this century that the
English monarch became increasingly involved in conflicts with the
Parliament - this would culminate in the English civil war and an end to the dominance of the English monarchy.

By the end of the century, Europeans were masters of
logarithms,
electricity, the
telescope and
microscope,
calculus,
universal gravitation,
Newton's Laws of Motion,
air pressure, and
calculating machines due to the work of the first scientists of the
Scientific Revolution, including
Galileo Galilei,
Johannes Kepler,
René Descartes,
Pierre Fermat,
Blaise Pascal,
Robert Boyle,
Christiaan Huygens,
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek,
Robert Hooke,
Isaac Newton, and
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. It was also a period of development of culture in general (especially theater, music, visual arts and philosophy). Some of the greatest inventions took place in this century.
It was during this period that the
European colonization of the Americas began in earnest, including the exploitation of the silver deposits, which resulted in bouts of inflation as wealth was drawn into Europe.
Also during this period, there would be a more intense European presence in Southeast Asia and East Asia (such as the
colonization of Taiwan). These foreign elements would contribute to a
revolution in
Ayutthaya. While the
Mataram Sultanate and the
Aceh Sultanate would be the major powers of the region, especially during the first half of the century.
In the
Islamic world, the
gunpowder empires – the
Ottoman,
Safavid, and
Mughal – grew in strength as well. The southern half of India would see the decline of the
Deccan Sultanates and extinction of the
Vijayanagara Empire. The
Dutch would
colonize Ceylon and endure hostilities with
Kandy. The end of the 17th century saw the first major surrender of Ottoman territory in Europe when the
Treaty of Karlowitz ceded most of Hungary to the
Habsburgs in 1699.
In Japan,
Tokugawa Ieyasu established the
Tokugawa shogunate at the beginning of the century, beginning the
Edo period; the isolationist
Sakoku policy began in the 1630s and lasted until the 19th century. In China, the collapsing
Ming dynasty was challenged by a series of conquests led by the
Manchu warlord
Nurhaci, which were consolidated by his son
Hong Taiji and finally consummated by his grandson, the
Shunzhi Emperor, founder of the
Qing dynasty.
Qing China spent decades of this century with economic problems (results of civil wars between the Qing and former Ming dynasty loyalists), only recovering well at the end of the century.
The greatest military conflicts of the century were the
Thirty Years' War,
Dutch–Portuguese War, the
Great Turkish War, the
Nine Years' War,
Mughal–Safavid Wars, and the
Qing annexation of the Ming.
Events
1601–1650
*
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 ...
:
4th Spanish Armada; in the
Battle of Kinsale, England defeats Irish and Spanish forces, driving the Gaelic aristocracy out of Ireland and destroying the Gaelic clan system.
*
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 ...
–
1603: The
Russian famine of 1601–1603 kills perhaps one-third of Russia.
*
1602:
Matteo Ricci produces the
Map of the Myriad Countries of the World (坤輿萬國全圖, ''Kūnyú Wànguó Quántú''), a world map that will be used throughout East Asia for centuries.
*
1602: The
Dutch East India Company (VOC) is established by merging competing
Dutch trading companies.
[Ricklefs (1991), page 28] Its success contributes to the
Dutch Golden Age.
*
1603:
Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King
James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England.
*
1603:
Tokugawa Ieyasu takes the title of ''
shōgun'', establishing the
Tokugawa shogunate. This begins the
Edo period, which will last until 1868.
*
1603: In
Nagasaki, the Portuguese Jesuit missionary
João Rodrigues publishes ''
Nippo Jisho'', the first dictionary of Japanese to a European (Portuguese) language.
*
1605: The King of
Gowa, a
Makassarese kingdom in
South Sulawesi, converts to Islam.

*
1605–
1627: The reign of
Mughal emperor
Jahangir after the death of emperor
Akbar.
*
1606: The
Long Turkish War between the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
and
Austria is ended with the
Peace of Zsitvatorok—Austria abandons
Transylvania.
*
1606:
Treaty of Vienna ends an anti-Habsburg uprising in
Royal Hungary.
*
1606:
Willem Janszoon captained the first recorded European landing on the
Australian continent, sailing from
Bantam,
Java, in the ''
Duyfken''.
*
1607:
Flight of the Earls (the fleeing of most of the native
Gaelic aristocracy) occurs from
County Donegal in the west of
Ulster in Ireland.
*
1607:
Iskandar Muda becomes the Sultan of
Aceh for 30 years. He will launch a series of naval conquests that will transform Aceh into a great power in the western
Malay Archipelago.
*
1610: The
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army defeats combined Russian–Swedish forces at the
Battle of Klushino and conquers Moscow.
*
1610:
King Henry IV of France is assassinated by
François Ravaillac.
*
1611: The Pontifical and Royal
University of Santo Tomas, the oldest existing university in Asia, is established by the
Dominican Order in Manila
[History of UST](_blank)
UST.edu.ph. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
*
1611: The first publication of the
King James Bible.
*
1612: The first
Cotswold Olympic Games, an annual public celebration of games and sports begins in the
Cotswolds, England.
*
1613: The
Time of Troubles in Russia ends with the establishment of the
House of Romanov, which rules until 1917.
*
1613–
1617:
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is invaded by the
Tatars dozens of times.

*
1613: The
Dutch East India Company is forced to evacuate
Gresik due to the
Mataram siege in neighboring
Surabaya. The dutch negotiates with Mataram and is allowed to set up a trading post in
Jepara.
*
1614–
1615: The
Siege of Osaka (last major threat to
Tokugawa shogunate) ends.
*
1616: The last remaining
Moriscos (Moors who had nominally
converted to Christianity) in Spain are
expelled.
*
1616: English poet and playwright
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
dies.
*
1618:
The Defenestration of Prague.
*
1618: The
Bohemian Revolt precipitates the
Thirty Years' War, which devastates Europe in the years 1618–48.
*
1618: The
Manchus start invading China. Their
conquest eventually topples the
Ming dynasty.
*
1619: European slaving reaches America when the first Africans are brought to the present-day United States.
*
1619: The
Dutch East India Company storm
Jayakarta and withstand a months-long siege by the combined
English,
Bantenese and Jayakartan forces. They are relieved by
Jan Pieterszoon Coen and a fleet of ships from
Ambon. The dutch destroys
Jayakarta and builds its new headquarters,
Batavia, on top of it.
*
1620–
1621:
Polish–Ottoman War over
Moldavia.
*
1620:
Bethlen Gabor allies with the Ottomans and an invasion of
Moldavia takes place. The Polish suffer a disaster at
Cecora on the River
Prut.
*
1620: The
Mayflower sets sail from
Plymouth, England to what became the
Plymouth Colony in
New England.

*
1621: The
Battle of Chocim: Poles and
Cossacks under
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz defeat the Ottomans.
*
1622:
Jamestown massacre:
Algonquian natives kill 347 English settlers outside
Jamestown, Virginia (approximately one-third of the colony's population) and burn the
Henricus settlement.
*
1624–
1642: As chief minister,
Cardinal Richelieu centralises power in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
*
1626:
St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican completed.
*
1627:
Aurochs go extinct.
*
1628–
1629:
Sultan Agung of
Mataram launches a failed campaign to
conquer Dutch Batavia.
*
1629:
Abbas I, the
Safavids king, died.
*
1629:
Cardinal Richelieu allies with Swedish Protestant forces in the
Thirty Years' War to counter
Ferdinand II's expansion.
*
1630: Birth of
Shivaji at
Shivneri fort, in present day Maharashtra, India, who later founded
Maratha Empire in year 1674.
*
1631:
Mount Vesuvius erupts.
*
1632:
Battle of Lützen, death of king of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
Gustav II Adolf.
*
1632:
Taj Mahal building work started in
Agra, India.
*
1633:
Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the
Inquisition.
*
1633–
1639: Japan transforms into
"locked country".
*
1634:
Battle of Nördlingen results in Catholic victory.
*
1636:
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
is founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
*
1637:
Shimabara Rebellion of Japanese Christians,
rōnin and peasants against Edo.
*
1637: The first opera house,
Teatro San Cassiano, opens in Venice.
*
1637:
Qing dynasty attacked the Joseon dynasty.
*
1639: Naval
Battle of the Downs –
Republic of the United Provinces fleet decisively defeats a Spanish fleet in English waters.
*
1639: Disagreements between the
Farnese and
Barberini Pope Urban VIII escalate into the
Wars of Castro and last until 1649.
*
1639–
1651:
Wars of the Three Kingdoms, civil wars throughout Scotland, Ireland, and
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 ...
.
*
1640–
1668: The
Portuguese Restoration War led to the end of the
Iberian Union.
*
1641: The
Irish Rebellion, by Irish Catholics who wanted an end to discrimination, greater self-governance, and reverse ownership of the
plantations of Ireland.
*
1641:
René Descartes publishes ''Meditationes de prima philosophia''
Meditations on First Philosophy.
*
1642: Beginning of
English Civil War, conflict will end in 1649 with the execution of
King Charles I, the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the supremacy of Parliament over the king.
*
1643:
L'incoronazione di Poppea,
Monterverdi
*
1644: The
Manchu conquer China ending the
Ming dynasty. The subsequent
Qing dynasty rules until 1912.
*
1644–
1674: The
Mauritanian Thirty-Year War.
*
1645–
1669: Ottoman war with
Venice. The Ottomans invade
Crete and capture
Canea.
*
1647–
1652: The
Great Plague of Seville.
*
1648: The
Peace of Westphalia ends the
Thirty Years' War and the
Eighty Years' War and marks the ends of
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and the
Holy Roman Empire as major European powers.

*
1648–
1653:
Fronde civil war in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
*
1648–
1657: The
Khmelnytsky Uprising – a Cossack rebellion in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
.
*
1648–
1667:
The Deluge wars leave
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in ruins.
*
1648–
1669: The
Ottomans capture
Crete from the
Venetians after the
Siege of Candia.
*
1649:
King Charles I is executed for high treason, the first and only English king to be subjected to legal proceedings in a
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
and put to death.
*
1649–
1653: The
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.
1651–1700
*
1651:
English Civil War ends with the Parliamentarian victory at the
Battle of Worcester.
*
1656–
1661:
Mehmed Köprülü is
Grand Vizier.
*
1655–
1661: The
Northern Wars cement
Sweden's rise as a
Great Power.
*
1657 :
Sambhaji, the second King of Maratha Empire and eldest son of King Shivaji was born at
Purandar Fort on 14 May.
*
1658: After his father
Shah Jahan completes the
Taj Mahal, his son
Aurangzeb deposes him as ruler of the
Mughal Empire.
*
1659: King
Shivaji killed
Adil Shahi dynasty's general
Afzal Khan at
Pratapgad fort on 9 November.
*
1660: The
Commonwealth of England ends and the monarchy is brought back during the
English Restoration.
*
1660: The
Royal Society is founded.
*
1660: The
Bruneian Civil War begins
*
1661: The reign of the
Kangxi Emperor of China begins.
*
1663:
Ottoman war against
Habsburg Hungary.
*
1664: The
Battle of St. Gotthard: count
Raimondo Montecuccoli defeats the Ottomans. The
Peace of Vasvar – intended to keep the peace for 20 years.
*
1665:
Maratha King
Shivaji signed the
Treaty of Purandar with Mughal general
Jai Singh I after
Battle of Purandar.
*
1665:
Robert Hooke discovers cells using a microscope.
*
1665:
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
defeats the
Kongo Empire at the
Battle of Mbwila.
*
1665–
1667: The
Second Anglo-Dutch War fought between
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 ...
and the
United Provinces.
*
1666: The
Great Fire of London.
*
1666:
Shivaji visited
Aurangzeb at
Agra Fort and forced him into house arrest. Shivaji later escaped and returned to the
Maratha kingdom.
*
1667: The
Raid on the Medway during the
Second Anglo-Dutch War.
*
1667–
1668: The
War of Devolution: France invades the Netherlands. The
Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) brings this to a halt.
*
1667–
1699: The
Great Turkish War halts the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
's expansion into Europe.
*
1672–
1673: Ottoman campaign to help the
Ukrainian Cossacks.
John Sobieski defeats the Ottomans at the second
battle of Khotyn (1673).
*
1672–
1674: The
Third Anglo-Dutch War fought between
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 ...
and the
United Provinces
*
1672–
1676:
Polish–Ottoman War.

*
1672–
1678:
Franco-Dutch War.
*
1673: The
Bruneian Civil War ends with
Muhiyiddin winning the war.
*
1674:
Shivaji founded the
Maratha Empire and crowned himself as first
Chatrapati of the empire.
*
1676–
1681: Russia and the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
commence the
Russo-Turkish Wars.
*
1678: The
Treaty of Nijmegen ends various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and the Holy Roman Empire.

*
1680: The
Pueblo Revolt drives the Spanish out of
New Mexico until 1692.
*
1680: Prince
Sambhaji crowned himself as the second ''
Chatrapati'' of
Maratha Empire 20 July.
*
1682: French explorer
Robert La Salle claims all the land east of the Mississippi River.
*
1683:
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
conquers the
Kingdom of Tungning and annexes
Taiwan.
*
1683: The Ottoman Empire is defeated in the second
Siege of Vienna.
*
1683–
1699: The
Great Turkish War leads to the conquest of most of
Ottoman Hungary by the Habsburgs.
*
1687:
Isaac Newton publishes ''
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica''.
*
1688: The
Siege of Derry, the first major event in the
Williamite War in Ireland.
*
1688:
Siamese revolution of 1688 ousted French influence and virtually severed all ties with the West until the 19th century.
*
1688–
1689: The
Glorious Revolution starts with the
Dutch Republic invading England, England becomes a
constitutional monarchy.
*
1688–
1691:
The War of the Two Kings in Ireland.
*
1688–
1697: The
Grand Alliance sought to stop French expansion during the
Nine Years' War.
*
1689: The
Battle of Killiecrankie is fought between
Jacobite and
Williamite forces in Highland
Perthshire.
*
1689: The
Karposh rebellion is crushed in present-day
North Macedonia, Skopje is retaken by the Ottoman Turks. Karposh is killed, and the rebels are defeated.

*
1689:
Bill of Rights gains royal consent.
*
1689:
John Locke publishes ''
Two Treatises of Government'' and ''
A Letter Concerning Toleration.''
*
1690: The
Battle of the Boyne in Ireland.
*
1692:
Port Royal in Jamaica is struck by an earthquake and a tsunami. Approximately 2,000 people die and 2,300 are injured.
*
1692–
1694: Famine in France kills two million.
*
1693:
College of William & Mary is founded in
Williamsburg, Virginia, by a royal charter.
*
1694: The
Bank of England is established.
*
1695: The
Mughal Empire nearly bans the
East India Company in response to pirate
Henry Every's capture of the trading ship ''
Ganj-i-Sawai''.
*
1696–
1697:
Famine in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
wipes out almost one-third of the population.
[Karen J. Cullen (2010). "]
Famine in Scotland: The 'Ill Years' of the 1690s
'". Edinburgh University Press. p. 20.
*
1697–
1699:
Grand Embassy of Peter the Great to Western Europe.
*
1699:
Thomas Savery demonstrates his first
steam engine to the
Royal Society.
Gallery
File:Albrecht Wallenstein.jpeg, Catholic general Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583–1634), supreme commander of the armies of the Imperial Army during the Thirty Years War
File:Jan Pieterszoon Coen.jpg, Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587–1629), the founder of Batavia, was an officer of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), holding two terms as its Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
File:René Descartes i samtal med Sveriges drottning, Kristina.jpg, René Descartes (1596–1650) with Queen Christina of Sweden (1626–1689)
File:Cardinal Mazarin by Pierre Mignard (Musée Condé).jpg, Cardinal Mazarin (1602–1661), who served as the chief minister to the kings of France Louis XIII and Louis XIV
File:Aurangzeb-portrait.jpg, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (1618–1707), who ruled over almost the entire Indian subcontinent for a period of 49 years
File:Shivaji British Museum.jpg, Chhatrapati Shivaji (1630–1680) founder of Maratha Empire is widely regarded as one of the greatest Hindu rulers
File:Portrait of the Kangxi Emperor in Court Dress.jpg, Kangxi Emperor (1661–1722) one of the most influential emperors of the Qing dynasty
File:Tokugawa Ieyasu2.JPG, '' Shōgun'' Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder of Japan's final shogunate, which lasted well into the 19th century
Inventions, discoveries, introductions
Major changes in philosophy and science take place, often characterized as the
Scientific Revolution.
*
Banknotes reintroduced in Europe.
*
Ice cream.
*
Tea and
coffee become popular in Europe.
*
Central Banking in France and
modern Finance by Scottish economist
John Law.
*
Minarets,
Jamé Mosque of Isfahan,
Isfahan,
Persia (Iran), are built.
*
1604: Supernova
SN 1604 is observed in the
Milky Way.
*
1605:
Johannes Kepler starts investigating
elliptical orbits of planets.
*
1605:
Johann Carolus of Germany publishes the 'Relation', the first newspaper.
*
1608:
Refracting telescopes first appear. Dutch spectacle-maker
Hans Lippershey tries to obtain a patent on one, spreading word of the invention.
*
1610: The
Orion Nebula is identified by
Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc of France.
*
1610:
Galileo Galilei and
Simon Marius observe
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
's
Galilean moons.
*
1611:
King James Bible or 'Authorized Version' first published.
*
1612: The first
flintlock musket likely created for
Louis XIII of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
by
gunsmith Marin Bourgeois.
*
1614:
John Napier introduces the
logarithm to simplify calculations.
*
1616:
Niccolò Zucchi describes experiments with a bronze
parabolic mirror trying to make a
reflecting telescope.
*
1620:
Cornelis Drebbel, funded by
James I of England, builds the first '
submarine' made of wood and greased leather.
*
1623: The third English dictionary, ''English Dictionarie'', is published by
Henry Cockeram, listing difficult words with definitions.
*
1628:
William Harvey publishes and elucidates his earlier discovery of the
circulatory system.
*
1637: Dutch Bible published.
*
1637:
Teatro San Cassiano, the first public opera house, opened in Venice.
*
1637:
Pierre de Fermat formulates his so-called
Last Theorem, unsolved until 1995.
*
1637: Although Chinese
naval mines were earlier described in the 14th century ''
Huolongjing'', the ''Tian Gong Kai Wu'' book of
Ming dynasty scholar
Song Yingxing describes naval mines wrapped in a
lacquer bag and ignited by an ambusher pulling a rip cord on the nearby shore that triggers a steel-wheel
flint mechanism.
*
1642:
Blaise Pascal invents the mechanical calculator called
Pascal's calculator.
*
1642:
Mezzotint engraving introduces grey tones to printed images.
*
1643:
Evangelista Torricelli of Italy invents the mercury
barometer.
*
1645:
Giacomo Torelli of
Venice, Italy invents the first rotating stage.
*
1651:
Giovanni Riccioli renames the
lunar maria.
*
1656:
Christiaan Huygens describes the true shape of the
rings of Saturn.
*
1657:
Christiaan Huygens develops the first functional
pendulum clock based on the learnings of
Galileo Galilei.
*
1659:
Christiaan Huygens first to observe surface details of
Mars.
*
1662:
Christopher Merret presents first paper on the production of sparkling wine.
*
1663:
James Gregory publishes designs for a reflecting telescope.
*
1669: The first known operational reflecting telescope is built by
Isaac Newton.
*
1676:
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovers
Bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
.
*
1676: First measurement of the
speed of light.
*
1679:
Binary system developed by
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
*
1684:
Calculus independently developed by both Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and
Sir Isaac Newton and used to formulate
classical mechanics.
References
Further reading

* Chang, Chun-shu, and Shelley Hsueh-lun Chang. ''Crisis and Transformation in Seventeenth-Century China'' (1998).
* Langer, William. ''An Encyclopedia of World History'' (5th ed. 1973); highly detailed outline of event
online free* Reid, A. J. S. ''Trade and State Power in 16th & 17th Century Southeast Asia'' (1977).
* Spence, J. D. ''The Death of Woman Wang: Rural Life in China in the 17th Century'' (1978).
Focus on Europe
*
Clark, George. ''The Seventeenth Century'' (2nd ed. 1945).
* Hampshire, Stuart. ''The Age of Reason the 17th Century Philosophers, Selected, with Introduction and Interpretive Commentary'' (1961).
*
* Lewitter, Lucian Ryszard. "Poland, the Ukraine and Russia in the 17th Century." ''
The Slavonic and East European Review'' (1948): 157–171
in JSTOR*
Ogg, David. ''Europe in the Seventeenth Century'' (6th ed. 1965).
*
Rowbotham, Sheila. ''Hidden from history: Rediscovering women in history from the 17th century to the present'' (1976).
*
Trevor-Roper, Hugh R. "The general crisis of the 17th century." ''
Past & Present'' 16 (1959): 31–64.
External links
Vistorica Timelines of 17th century events, science, culture and persons
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