The grand stairway of the Palais Garnier Opera in Paris, photo credt isogood In the year 1637, the tragicomedy Le Cid is first performed in Paris, France (Jan), Tulip mania - generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble - collapses in the Dutch Republic (Feb 3), the first English venture to China is attempted, with six ships to Macau and Canton (Jun 27), Pierre de Fermat makes a notation claiming to have proof of what will become known as Fermat’s Last Theorem, world’s first public opera house opens in Venice, Italy - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1689, the Protestant William III and Mary II are proclaimed co-rulers of England, Scotland and Ireland (Feb 13), the pro-British New England Governor Sir Edmund Andros and other officials are overthrown by a “mob” of Bostonians (Apr 18), Peter the Great decrees the construction of the Great Siberian Road to China (Nov 22), Isaac Newton becomes a Member of Parliament - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Captain Kidd in New York Harbor. By J.L.G. Ferris, picture courtesy of Library of Congress In the year 1699, The Edinburgh Gazette is first published in Scotland (Mar 2), Thomas Savery demonstrates his first steam pump to the Royal Society of London (Jun 14), pirate Captain William Kidd is arrested and imprisoned in Boston, Massachusetts Bay (Jul 6), the Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye calls for the partition of the Swedish Empire - the Great Northern War follows (Sep 22), Peter the Great orders the Russian New Year changed, from 1 September to 1 January (Dec 20) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1627, the Dutch ship ’t Gulden Zeepaert makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia (Jan), England lands the first European settlers on Barbados (Feb 17), Ottoman pirates start raiding Iceland (Jun 20) and capture hundreds of Icelanders to be sold into slavery on the Barbary Coast (by Jul 19), rock blasting is invented - and all these fine people were born: 1627-0125 Robert Boyle* chemist/physicist/ inventor - Lismore Castle, County Waterford, Ireland (1691/64) Continue reading

Battle of Narva in 1700 Protestant Western Europe, except England, start using the Gregorian calendar (Jan 1), the Great Northern War begins (Feb 12), Protestant Germany and Denmark-Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar (Mar 1), Russian army invades Swedish Estonia in Narva (Aug), the militaristic Swedish King Charles XII defeats the Russian army at the Battle of Narva (Nov 30), this is the year when calendars get switched, at different times in different countries - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Sweden gains new areas in 1617 (Ingria in yellow, Kexholm in gray) In the year 1617, with the Treaty of Stolbovo, Sweden gains Ingria and Kexholm from Russia (Feb 27), the Spanish navy defeats a Dutch fleet in the Philippines (Apr 24), a naval battle between the Sicilians and Venetians ends inconclusively (Nov 17), at least seven women are sentenced to death by burning for witchcraft in Sweden – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

St. Laurence’s gate in Drogheda, Ireland (photo by [Kieran Campbell](http://By Kieran Campbell, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13762085)) King Charles I is is beheaded for high treason in London (Jan 30), an act declaring England to be a Commonwealth is passed (May 19), Tsar Alexis throws English merchants out of Moscow (Jun 1), Oliver Cromwell lands in Dublin, and begins the bloody Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (Aug 15) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1691, a new governor arrives from England in New York (Mar 20), the Spanish Inquisition forcibly baptizes 219 Xuetas in Palma, Majorca, and burn alive at the stake the ones who try to escape (May 6), in New York, Jacob Leisler is hanged for treason by the English (May 16), Rolle’s Theorem is invented, the textile factory Barnängens Manufaktur is established in Stockholm, Sweden - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1653, New Amsterdam - later renamed New York City - is incorporated (Feb 2), The Morning Star Rebellion breaks out in Sweden, against Queen Christina, the Taj Mahal mausoleum, the construction of which began in 1630, is completed at Agra, India - and all these fine people were born: 1653-xxxx Kaappo Matinpoika Saukko* (b Laurila) father of Elias Kaaponpoika Saukko - Laurila farm, Haapakoski, Lapua, Sweden-Finland (c. 1720/58-75) Continue reading

In the year 1608, Quebec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain (Jul 3), the first official English representative to India, Captain William Hawkins, lands at Surat, India (Aug 24), the University of Oviedo in Spain opens its doors to students (Sep 21), the first telescope (which Galileo later improves upon) is demonstrated by a Dutch spectacle maker in the Netherlands (Oct 2), the first cheques are used in the Netherlands (1608) – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1696,** Peter the Great becomes the sole tsar of Russia** (Jan 29), fleet of the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire clash near the Greek island of Andros (Aug 22), a famine wipes out almost a third of the population in Finland, window tax is introduced in England, construction of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna begins - and all these fine people were born: 1696-0105 Giuseppe Galli Bibiena* Italian architect/designer - Parma (1757/61) 1696-0402 Francesca Cuzzoni* opera singer - Parma, Italy (1778/82) 1696-0611 James Francis Edward Keith* soldier/Prussian field marshal/Governor of Berlin - Inverugie Castle, Scotland (1758/62) 1696-0714 William Oldys* antiquarian/bibliographer - London, England (1761/64) 1696-0724 Benning Wentworth* governor - Portsmouth, Province of New Hampshire (1770/74) 1696-08xx Maria Tuomaantytär Västilä** (b Seppänen) mother of Jaakko Heikinpoika Renko - Seppänen farm, Hyyppä, Kauhajoki, Sweden-Finland (1779/83) 1696-0801 1696-0810 1696-0812 Maurice Greene* composer/organist - London, England (1755/59) 1696-0817 Jacob af Forselles* (b Forssell) merchant/ industrialist/mayor of Loviisa - Vehkalahti, Sweden-Finland (1768/72) 1696-0820 1696-0831 1696-1001 Simo Antinpoika Rasku* (b Seppälä) father of Valpuri Simontytär Renko - Ilmajoki, Sweden-Finland (1745/48) 1696-1010 Chen Hongmou* scholar/philosopher - Lingui, Guangxi, China (1771/74) 1696-1020 1696-1031 1696-1222 James Oglethorpe* soldier/philanthropist/founder of the colony of Georgia - Godalming, Surrey, England (1785/88) Updated 17. Continue reading

In the year 1677, the first medical publication in America is produced (Jan 21), the Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local natives (May 29), Sweden defeats the Danes in the Battle of Landskrona (Jul 14), ice cream becomes popular in Paris - and all these fine people were born: 1677-xxxx Deborah Churchill* pickpocket and prostitute executed for being an accomplice to murder - Norfolk, England (1708/c. Continue reading

**Mohegan leader Samoset greets the English settlers in Plymouth Colony **(Mar 16), first treaty between the Native Americans and the settlers is signed (Apr 1), the Dutch East India Company is founded (Jun 3), the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and Wampanoags celebrate a harvest feast, later regarded as the First Thanksgiving (Oct), Gothenburg in Sweden is founded, the Dutch forces massacre thousands in Java for_ nutmeg _- and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_7986” align=“alignleft” width=“341”]The Coat of Arms of the Romanov Dynasty[/caption] In the year 1613, the Romanov Dynasty begins in Russia (Mar 3), the first English child is born in Canada (Mar 27), fire destroys London’s famed Globe Theatre (Jun 29), the Algonquian princess Pocahontas is kidnapped by the English in Passapatanzy, Virginia, in order to ransom her for English prisoners - she later marries an Englishman (Apr 13), an agreement between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the East India Company permits English merchants to live and trade in Japan (Oct) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1635, the Académie française is constituted (Feb 22), France declares war on Spain (May), the Royal Mail service - established in 1516 - is made available to the public in England (Jul 31), Thomas Parr, dead at the alleged age of 152, is buried in Westminster Abbey (Nov 15), Boston Latin School is founded as the oldest school in the United States, Japan forbids merchants to travel abroad under penalty of law – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1644, the first livestock branding law in America is passed (Feb 5 ), Chinese rebels sack Beijing, causing ultimately the collapse of the Ming Dynasty (Apr 25), Beijing is recaptured, and Manchu rule over China proper begins (Jun 6), the English Civil War goes on, Sigismund Column is erected in Warsaw, Abel Tasman maps the north coast of Australia, and all these fine people were born: 1644-xxxx Antonio Stradivari* luthier/ violin maker – Cremona, Italy (1737/ca92-93) Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_5156” align=“alignleft” width=“369”]Amsterdam Town Hall by Gerrit Berckheyde (today the Royal Palace)[/caption] In the year 1655, Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is discovered (Mar 25), the Dutch West India Company denies Peter Stuyvesant’s request to exclude Jews from New Amsterdam (Manhattan) (Apr 26), English troops land on Jamaica (May 10), the Amsterdam Town Hall is inaugurated (Jul 20), Peter Stuyvesant, as the governor of New Netherland, attacks the New Sweden (Delaware) colony (Aug), Swedish King Karl X Gustav occupies Warsaw (Sep 8) and Krákow (Oct 19) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_3295” align=“alignleft” width=“238”]Sapling of the original Newton apple tree in Cambridge, England[/caption] In the year 1666, the English court returns to London with the Great Plague of London subsiding (Feb 1), Isaac Newton witnesses the falling of an apple which leads him to discover gravity (May 3), the Great Fire of London occurs (Sep 2-5), Newton uses a prism to split sunlight, contributing to the scientific understanding of light, the first census in North America is completed - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_4224” align=“alignleft” width=“357”]Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow, New York[/caption] Catholic James Stuart becomes King James II of England and Ireland, and King James VII of Scotland (Feb 6), but his nephew James Scott wants the throne and starts the Monmouth Rebellion (Jun 11), James Scott is executed for treason (Jul 15), the first organised street lighting is introduced in London with oil lamps to be lit on moonless winter nights outside every tenth house (Sep), the Morean War between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire goes on, construction begins of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_3116” align=“alignnone” width=“3162”]Aerial view of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida[/caption] In the year 1672, the Kingdom of England declares war on the Dutch Republic (Mar 17), France invades the Dutch Republic (Apr 29), Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis are slaughtered by a mob in The Hague, Holland, accused of being responsible for major Dutch defeats of late (Aug 20), Spain begins the construction on the fort of Castillo de San Marcos in order to protect St. Continue reading