istoryworld
All Events
George Fox begins preaching in England, in a movement which develops into the Society of Friends - or Quakers
The British, settling in Jamaica, soon turn the island into the major slave market of the West Indies
Christiaan Huygens, using a home-made telescope, describes accurately the rings of Saturn and discovers the planet's largest moon, Titan
Jews return to England after Cromwell repeals the law of 1290 forbidding their residence in the country
Pitcarne dies in 1640 and York House is eventually sold by his family to the Earl of Manchester.
After a six-month siege, the Dutch capture Colombo from the Portuguese in Sri Lanka
Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens constructs the first pendulum clock, on Christmas Day in the Hague
Velazquez, in Las Meninas, paints himself painting the king and queen of Spain
John Bunyan engages in a fierce war of pamphlets with the Quakers, with whose doctrines he profoundly disagrees
John Bunyan's first wife dies, leaving him with four young children
The Dutch in South Africa purchase slaves to do domestic and agricultural work
Andrew Marvell works as assistant Latin secretary to Milton in Cromwell's department for foreign affairs
John Bunyan becomes an itinerant preacher, supporting himself by mending pots and pans
For the final years of his life the emperor Shah Jahan is held a prisoner, by his son Aurangzeb, in Agra's Red Fort
Samuel Pepys has a two-ounce stone cut from his bladder, in an operation carried out at home in the presence of his family
Parliamentary reprisals against the rebellious Irish result in two thirds of Ireland's land being owned by the English or the Scots
Cromwell dies after naming his son Richard to succeed him in the office of Lord Protector
Athanasius Kircher describes 'liitle worms' seen through his microscope in the blood of plague victims, and concludes they are microorganisms carrying the disease (he probably saw blood cells)
Prince Rupert of the Rhine pioneers mezzotint, the first half-tone technique in printing
The Dutch expel the Portuguese from the last of their trading posts in Sri Lanka
The ineffective Richard Cromwell goes into voluntary retirement, an event linked to the strong possibility of a military coup
John Bunyan marries his second wife, Elizabeth
General George Monck marches south from Scotland to London, to intervene in England's unresolved political crisis
On the first day of the new year Samuel Pepys gets up late, eats the remains of the turkey and begins his diary
Monck, reaching London, dissolves the Long Parliament and convenes a new one
