Denis Papin, a French scientist working in England, demonstrates a pressure cooker fitted with a safety valve

English naturalist John Ray begins publication of his Historia Plantarum, classifying some 18,600 plants in 'mutual fertility' species

Newton publishes Principia Mathematica, proving gravity to be a constant in all physical systems

A son (the future 'Old Pretender') is born to James II, giving Britain a Catholic heir to the throne

Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko makes an early protest against the inhumanity of the African slave trade

English grandees invite William III of Orange and his wife Mary, daughter of James II, to claim the British throne

John Bunyan dies during a preaching visit to London, and is buried in the Nonconformist cemetery, Bunhill Fields

William III of Orange lands with an army at Torbay and marches to London with almost no opposition from supporters of James II

Parliament in Westminster makes the restrictive Bill of Rights the condition on which William III and Mary II are crowned

William III and Mary II embark on extensive work at Hampton Court including demolition of the old Royal lodgings and building of new South and East Fronts around a new quadrangle, the Fountain Court

The Great Fountain Garden at Hampton Court, occupying the semi-circle of land between the East Front and the park, is designed with 13 fountains powered by the Longford River

The Great Fountain Garden at Hampton Court, occupying the semi-circle of land between the East Front and the park, is designed with 13 fountains powered by the Longford River

Young gentlewomen in Chelsea give the first performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

The Church of Scotland finally wins recognition as an independent Presbyterian body

John Locke publishes his Essay concerning Human Understanding, arguing that all knowledge is based on experience

Government soldiers, mainly Campbells, massacre their MacDonald hosts in Glencoe

The Bank of England is founded and soon becomes the central banker for England's many private banks

Mary II dies of smallpox and building work at Hampton Court is suspended for 3 years due to William's grief and also for financial reasons due to the enormous expenditure

The joint monarch of England, Mary II, dies - leaving her husband, William III, to reign alone

Barn Elms is demolished by Thomas Cartwright, who replaces it with a country house in a contemporary style

The new Privy Garden at Hampton Court is built (the Mount had previously been levelled) including a new elm bower and a new Great Parterre of complex design and an Orangery

The Russian tsar, Peter I, studies western European technology, working as a ship's carpenter in Dutch and English shipyards

On the death of Elizabeth, Duchess of Lauderdale, Ham House is inherited by her Tollemache descendants who manage the estate for the next 250 years

Thomas Savery creates the first practical steam engine, designed to pump water out of mines

Grinling Gibbons begins work on carving decorative features and architectural mouldings in the King's Appartments at Hampton Court