Explore 90 historical events from 1690–1699.
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, also widely known as Madame de Sévigné or Mme de Sévigné, was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her let…
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (born 1626)
Robert Plot was an English naturalist and antiquarian who was the first professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum.
Robert Plot, English chemist and academic (born 1640)
Mariana of Austria was Queen of Spain from 1649 until her husband Philip IV of Spain died in 1665. Appointed Regent for their infant son Charles II, she remained an influential fig…
Mariana of Austria, Queen consort of Spain (born 1634)
Henry Capell, Baron Capell of Tewkesbury, KB, PC was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1692. He was then created Baron Capell.
Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1638)
John III Sobieski was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.
John III Sobieski, Polish king (born 1629)
The 1695 Linfen earthquake struck Shanxi Province in North China, Qing dynasty on May 18. Occurring at a shallow depth within the continental crust, the surface-wave magnitude 7.8 …
The 1695 Linfen earthquake in Shannxi, Qing dynasty causes extreme damage and kills at least 52,000 people
Jean-Nicolas Servan, also known as Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, was an Italian decorator, architect, painter, firework designer and trompe-l'œil specialist.
Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, Italian-French painter and architect (died 1766)
Henri Pitot was a French hydraulic engineer and the inventor of the pitot tube.
Henri Pitot, French physicist and engineer, invented the Pitot tube (died 1771)
Count Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg was a German nobleman.
Christian Karl Reinhard of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Falkenburg-Heidesheim (died 1766)
Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana, better known as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, was a Hieronymite nun and a Novohispanic writer, philosopher, composer and poet of the Baro…
Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet and scholar (born 1651)
Sir John Trenchard was an English politician and landowner.
John Trenchard, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (born 1640)
André Félibien, sieur des Avaux et de Javercy, was a French chronicler of the arts and official court historian to King Louis XIV.
André Félibien, French historian and author (born 1619)
Johannes Camphuys was the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1684 to 1691. Camphuys was born in Haarlem, in the Republic of the United Netherlands.
Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (born 1634)
Henry Vaughan was a Welsh metaphysical poet, author and translator writing in English, and a medical physician. His religious poetry appeared in Silex Scintillans in 1650, with a s…
Henry Vaughan, Welsh poet and author (born 1621)
Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. In physic…
Christiaan Huygens, Dutch mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (born 1629)
The 1695 Linfen earthquake struck Shanxi Province in North China, Qing dynasty on May 18. Occurring at a shallow depth within the continental crust, the surface-wave magnitude 7.8 …
An earthquake measuring
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous exampl…
A Royal charter is granted to the Bank of England.
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington was a British architect and politician often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the 2nd Earl of Burlington a…
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland (died 1753)
Daniel Gran was an Austrian painter. His pictures ornament several public buildings in his native city. He was of some consideration in his time and after a century of Italian domi…
Daniel Gran, Austrian painter (died 1757)
Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui was a Genevan legal and political theorist who popularised a number of ideas propounded by other thinkers.
Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, Swiss author and theorist (died 1748)
François Quesnay was a French economist and physician of the Physiocratic school. He is known for publishing the "Tableau économique" in 1758, which provided the foundations of the…
François Quesnay, French economist and physician (died 1774)
Georg Brandt was a Swedish chemist and mineralogist who discovered cobalt c. 1735. He was the first person to discover a metal unknown in ancient times. He is also known for exposi…
Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (died 1768)
Louis-Claude Daquin was a French composer, writing in the Baroque and Galant styles. He was a virtuoso organist and harpsichordist.
Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (died 1772)
John George IV was Elector of Saxony from 1691 to 1694. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin and was the eldest son of John George III, Elector of Saxony and …
John George IV, Elector of Saxony (born 1668)