Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek declared his discovery of microorganisms to the Royal Society in London.
Englishman William Penn founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Captain William Penn set sail from Deal, England, on his famous voyage to the New World on his ship named 'Welcome.'
English composer Henry Purcell was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal, London.
The first Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, was arrested for high treason in England.
A first-of-its-kind boxing match took place to settle a feud between a butler and a butcher.
German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovered the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet sighted using a telescope.
Under the rule of King Charles II of England, the Habeas Corpus Parliament was dissolved.
The Habeas Corpus Act passed.
King Charles II shut down England's first Parliament, the Cavalier Parliament.
Danish astronomer Ole Rømer presented the first measurements of the speed of light.
Bacon's Rebellion set Jamestown, Virginia, on fire after a year of conflict to change Virginia's Native American-Frontier policy.
The war between English Colonists and Native Americans in New England ended.
German polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz demonstrated integral calculus for the first time.
The pocket watch patent was awarded to Dutch mathematician and scientist Christiaan Huygens.
The New England Confederation declared war on the Wampanoag Indians.
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, was founded by King Charles II.
King Charles II appoints John Flamsteed to 'The Kings Astronomical Observator' – the first English Astronomer Royal, with an allowance of £100 a year.
The naval battle of Texel took place in the North Sea.
Admiral Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge led Dutch forces to recapture New York from the English.
A Dutch pensions advisor, Johan de Witt, was severely wounded in a knife attack.
Under the command of Gustavus Adolphus, Swedish forces defeated the Holy Roman Empire's armies in the Battle of Rain.
Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini discovered Iapetus, Saturn's third-largest moon.
An attempt was made to steal the Crown Jewels.
Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France signed the Secret Treaty of Dover.
English civil servant Samuel Pepys recorded his last diary entry.
More than 20,000 people were killed after Mount Etna erupted in Sicily.
Sir Isaac Newton gained a master's degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, England.
John Dryden was appointed as England's first Poet Laureate by King Charles II.
The US held its first horse race in Long Island, New York.
A fatal earthquake killed 80,000 people near the city of Shamakhi, Azerbaijan.
The Great Fire of London was extinguished after destroying around 70,000 homes.
The Great Fire of London began.
The London Gazette published its first edition under the name The Oxford Gazette.
British Parliament met at the University of Oxford rather than the Palace of Westminster during the Great Plague of London.
During the Great Plague of London, infected persons' homes were marked with crosses.
The Second Anglo-Dutch War began as England fought the Dutch republic for the control of seas and trade routes.
Maryland passed its first anti-amalgamation law.
King Charles II of England gave a land grant to James Duke of York, which meant that New Jersey became a British colony.
King Charles II chartered the Royal Society in London, England.
English scientist Robert Hooke was appointed Curator of Experiments at The Royal Society, London, England.
Portugal and the Dutch Republic signed the Treaty of The Hague.
The bank of Stockholm issued the first banknotes in Europe.
Isaac Newton was admitted as a student to Cambridge University’s Trinity College.
The first-ever licensed kosher butcher opened in New York City.
Nine regicides of King Charles I were sentenced to death.
The Declaration of Breda document was issued by the exiled King Charles II of England.
The first known British check was written for the amount of £400.
The 'Flushing Remonstrance' petition was signed in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which protested the ban on Quaker worship.
The British Parliament offered Oliver Cromwell the British throne.
