Explore 101 historical events from 1680–1689.
The Monmouth Rebellion in June 1685 was an attempt to depose James II, who in February had succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ireland. Dissident Prot…
Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater
The Battle of Sedgemoor was the final and decisive engagement of the Monmouth Rebellion, between forces loyal to James II and rebel forces led by the Duke of Monmouth. It was fough…
Battle of Sedgemoor: Last battle of the Monmouth Rebellion. Troops of King James II defeat troops of James Scott, 1st…
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain…
John Gay, English poet and playwright (died 1732)
Charles II was Elector Palatine from 1680 to 1685. He was the son of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine of the House of Wittelsbach, and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.
Charles II, German elector palatine (born 1651)
General James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, Duke of Buccleuch was an English Army officer and courtier. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the …
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, Dutch-born English general and claimant to the throne, executed (born 1649)
Charles II was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Succeeding Charles II, his late brother, James II was crowned King of England, becoming last Catholic to hold the title
Field Marshal Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet was a British Army officer and politician. As a junior officer he fought at the Battle of Schellenberg and at the Battle of Blenheim duri…
Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, English field marshal and politician (died 1768)
Bajo Pivljanin, born Dragojlo Nikolić, was a Serbian hajduk commander mostly active in the Ottoman territories of Herzegovina and southern Dalmatia. Born in Piva, a Serbian Herzego…
Bajo Pivljanin (born 1630)
Ivan Ančić was a Croatian Franciscan priest and religious writer in the Catholic Revival tradition. Ančić, a native of Lipa in the region of Duvno, joined the Franciscan order in B…
Ivan Ančić, Croatian Franciscan and religious writer (born 1624)
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington was an English politician and army officer. A supporter of the Royalists during the English Civil War, he joined the royal family in exile befor…
Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department…
James II and VII was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from February 1685 until he was deposed in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The last Cat…
Troops loyal to James II of England defeated those of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth at the Battle of Sedgemoor,…
Baroness Françoise Charlotte Amable d'Aubigné-Maintenon, Duchess of Noailles was a French aristocrat, the wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles. She was the niec…
Françoise Charlotte d'Aubigné, French wife of Adrien Maurice de Noailles (died 1739)
Francesco Onofrio Manfredini was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and church musician.
Francesco Manfredini, Italian violinist and composer (died 1762)
Edme Mariotte was a French physicist and priest (abbé). He is particularly well known for formulating Boyle's law independently of Robert Boyle. Mariotte is also credited with desi…
Edme Mariotte, French physicist and priest (born 1620)
Peregrine Palmer was an English politician who sat as MP for Bridgwater on 7 December 1669.
Peregrine Palmer, English politician (born 1605)
Peter Gunning was an English Royalist church leader, Bishop of Chichester and Bishop of Ely.
Peter Gunning, English bishop (born 1614)
Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia or Elena Lucrezia Corner, also known in English as Helen Cornaro, was a philosopher of noble descent in the Republic of Venice who in 1678 became on…
Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician and philosopher (born 1646)
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one …
The charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is revoked via a scire facias writ issued by an English court
John Nevison, also known as William Nevison or Nevinson, was one of England's most notorious highwaymen, a gentleman rogue supposedly nicknamed Swift Nick by King Charles II after …
John Nevison, English criminal (born 1639)
The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabine…
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum
Johann David Heinichen was a German Baroque composer and music theorist who brought the musical genius of Venice to the court of Augustus II the Strong in Dresden. After he died, H…
Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (died 1729)
Étienne Fourmont was a French Orientalist who served as professor of Arabic at the Collège de France and published grammars on the Arabic, Hebrew, and Chinese languages.
Étienne Fourmont, French orientalist and sinologist (died 1745)
Edward Young was an English poet, best remembered for Night-Thoughts, a series of philosophical writings in blank verse, reflecting his state of mind following several bereavements…
Edward Young, English poet, dramatist and literary critic (Night-Thoughts) (died 1765)
William Penn was an English writer, theologian, religious thinker, and influential Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania. An advocate of democracy and religious freedom, …
William Penn signs a friendship treaty with Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania