In the year 1659, Jan van Riebeeck produces the first South African wine, at the Cape of Good Hope (Feb 2), Swedish forces attack Copenhagen, but suffer heavy losses (Feb 11), the first known cheque in existence is written, in London (Feb 16), Christiaan Huygens’s important work on astronomy, Systema Saturnium, is published (Jul), Maria Theresa brings cocoa to Paris - and all these fine peope were born:

1659-xxxx Lawrence Washington* plantation owner/grandfather of George Washington - Bridges Creek, Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia, British America (1698/c.38)

1659-0113 Johann Arnold Nering* German architect - Weles, Duchy of Cleves, Holy Roman Empire (1695/36)
1659-0118 Damaris Cudworth Masham* writer/ philosopher/proto-feminist - Cambridge, England (1708/49)

1659-0201 Jacob Roggeveen* Dutch explorer - Middelburg, the Netherlands (1729/68)

1659-0304 Pierre Lepautre* sculptor - Paris, France (1744/84)

1659-0429 Sophia Elisabet Brenner* (b Weber) salon hostess/ writer/feminist - Stockholm, Sweden (1730/71)

1659-0504 John Dunton* bookseller/ author/publisher - Grafham, Huntingdonshire, England (1733/c.74)

1659-0603 David Gregory* mathematician/ astronomer - Aberdeen, Scotland (1708/49)

1659-0716 Anne Wharton* poet - Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire, England (1685/26)
1659-0718 Hyacinthe Rigaud* painter - Perpignan, France (1743/84)

1659-0801 Sebastiano Ricci* painter - Belluno, Republic of Venice (1734/74)

1659-0910 Henry Purcell* composer - Westminster, England (1695/36)

1659-1022 Georg Ernst Stahl* chemist/ physician/philosopher - Ansbach, Brandenburg (1734/74)

1659-1110 Albert Borgard* renowned artillery and engineer officer - Holbæk, Denmark (1751/91)

1659-1212 Francesco Galli Bibiena* architect - Bologna, Papal States (1739/79)

Updated 9.3.2021
Search for another year here