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The Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III concludes an alliance with Poland to check the aggressions of Sweden's Karl X Gustav, who is driven out of Poland (see 1656). The emperor dies at Vienna April 2 at age 48 and is succeeded by his son, 16, who will reign until 1704 as Leopold I.
Transylvania's György Rákóczi II retreats from Poland under pressure from the Crimean Tatars and is deposed later in the year by the diet, which takes its orders from Constantinople (see 1656). He will be reinstated next year (but see 1660).
Cossack leader Bogdan Chmielnicki prepares to conclude a secret treaty with Sweden against the Poles but dies at Chigirin August 16 (August 6 Old Style) at age 62 (approximate), having tried to gain autonomy for the Cossacks but succeeded rather in devastating the territory along the Dnieper and subjecting his people to Russian rule (see Mazepa, 1687).
The Ottoman Turks defeat a Venetian fleet in the Dardanelles July 19, retake Tenedos September 4, and retake Lemnos November 15, gaining prestige for the grand vizier Mehmed Köprülü, who came to power last year in his late 70s.
English royalist George Villiers, 2nd duke of Buckingham, returns in secret from exile and marries the daughter of Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Baron Fairfax (of Cameron), the parliamentary general to whom his lands were assigned after he fought beside Charles II at the Battle of Worcester in 1651; now 29, Buckingham is imprisoned by the Commonwealth government and will not be released until February 1659.
Onetime Leveller propagandist John "Free-born John" Lilburne dies at Eltham, Kent, August 29 at age 43 (approximate).
Sweden and Denmark go to war as Karl X Gustav tries to extend his holdings on the southern coast of the Baltic (see 1644). The Swedish royal chancellor Per Brahe moves south from the town of Laholm into the province of Scania with a 3,000-man army. The Göinge chieftain Svend Povlsen marshals a small force of two companies and tries to stop him at the Ridge of Hallandsasen, all but 30 of the defenders are killed at the town of Hemmerslöv, the survivors escape to Engelholm, and the Dutch intervene under the leadership of their councillor pensionary Johan de Witt to prevent the Swedes from gaining exclusive control of the Baltic fishery (see 1658).
A Royal Navy force under the command of Admiral Robert Blake attacks the Spanish West Indian fleet April 20 off Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Blake destroys the Spanish ships and coastal defenses without losing even one ship but dies at sea August 7 at age 57 just an hour before his triumphant fleet enters Plymouth Harbor. He has introduced Articles of War that will serve for generations as the basis of naval discipline.
A 4-year Dutch-Portuguese war begins over conflicting interests in Brazil, but Johan de Witt will end the hostilities with a peace advantageous to the Dutch.
The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan falls ill in September at age 66 after a 30-year reign that has raised the power of the empire to its zenith and seen the growth of Delhi. Rumors spread that he has died (see 1658).
Plymouth colony governor William Bradford dies at Plymouth May 9 at age 67.
Universal Mathematics (Mathesis Universalis) by John Wallis amplifies the English mathematician's system of notation, applying it to algebra, arithmetic, and geometry (see 1655). Wallis will be credited with inventing and introducing the symbol for infinity; he has demonstrated the utility of exponents, notably negative and fractional exponents (see Barrow, 1670).
On Ratiocination in Dice Games (De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae) by Christiaan Huygens pioneers a modern theory of probability (see Moivre, 1718).
Coffee advertisements at London claim that the beverage is a panacea for scurvy, gout, and other ills.
Public sale of tea begins at London as the East India Company undercuts Dutch prices (see food, 1615). Thomas Garrway's coffeehouse in Exchange Alley between Cornhill and Lombard Street advertises that tea will "helpeth the Headache, giddiness, and heavyness thereof; it removeth the obstructions of the Spleen; it is good against Crudities, strengthening the weakness of the Ventricle or Stomack, causing good Appetite and Digestion, and particularly for Men of a corpulent Body, and such as are great eaters of Flesh, it vanquishes heavy dreams, easeth the Brain, and strengtheneth the Memory. It overcometh superfluous Sleep and prevents Sleepiness in general, a draught of the Infusion being taken so that without trouble whole nights may be spent at study without hurt to the Body, in that it moderately heateth and bindeth the mouth of the Stomack (it being prepared with Milk and Water), strengtheneth the inward parts, and prevents Consumptions, and powerfully assuages the pains of the Bowels, or griping of the Guts and Loosening." Garroway advertises tea as a panacea for apoplexy, catarrh, colic, consumption (tuberculosis), drowsiness, epilepsy, gallstones, lethargy, migraine, paralysis, and vertigo (see food and drink, 1658).
Physician William Harvey dies at London June 3 at age 79, having revolutionized medical thinking about blood circulation; he is buried at Hempstead, near Saffron Walden.
A Polyglot Bible published at London has been compiled by scholar Brian Walton with help from other contemporary scholars (see Complutensian Bible, 1522; Biblia Regia, 1572). Financed by public subscription, the six-volume work is in Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopian, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Persian, and Syriac.
Oliver Cromwell tacitly permits Jews to return to England (see 1306; Bevis Marks synagogue, 1701).
The Flushing Remonstrance written to Nieuw Amsterdam's governor Peter Stuyvesant December 27 is probably the first declaration of religious tolerance by any group of ordinary citizens in America. Governor Stuyvesant has imposed restrictions on Quakers because they were not members of the Dutch Reformed Church, but about 30 freeholders of the Long Island settlement of Vlissingen (later Flushing) tell Stuyvesant that they will not accept his command. The town sheriff, town clerk, and two magistrate present the Remonstrance to Stuyvesant's colonial government December 29. They are promptly arrested, but although they are soon released, five Quakers who have arrived at Nieuw Amsterdam are shipped off to Rhode Island (see Bowne, 1662).
England's University of Durham has its beginnings (see 1832).
Nonfiction: The History of the Empire of Constantinople Under the French Emperors (Histoire de l'empire de Constantinople sous les empereurs français) by French scholar Charles du Fresne, 47, seigneur du Cange, who inherited the sinecure of Amiens town treasurer from his father-in-law in 1645 and will retain the position until next year.
Japanese scholar Razan Hayashi dies at Edo February 4 at age 73, having established the thinking of the 12th century Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi) as the official doctrine of the Tokugawa shōgunate.
Painting: The Birth of Bacchus by Nicolas Poussin; L'Umana Fragilita by Italian painter Salvator Rosa, 40.
Fire destroys most of Edo and its castle buildings January 18 to 19, killing more than 100,000 Japanese (see 1601; 1772).
The first London chocolate shop opens to sell a drink known until now only to the nobility. The June 16 London Public Advertiser carries a notice reading, "In Bishopsgate, in the Queen's Head Alley, at a Frenchman's house is an excellent West India drink called chocolate—where you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade, at reasonable rates" (see 1656; 1659).
Japanese who have heretofore sold prepared food from carts establish shops where patrons can sit down and eat rice, soup, broiled fish, and vegetables. The first one opens in front of Konryu Temple in the Asakusa district and gains quick popularity (see Paris, 1765).
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