1702
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England's William III dies at London March 8 at age 51 after falling from his horse and suffering a chill. He is succeeded by his sister-in-law Anne, now 37, who will reign until 1714, the last monarch of the House of Stuart. "As I know my heart to be entirely English, I can very sincerely assure you that there is not one thing you can expect or desire of me, which I shall not be ready to do for the happiness or prosperity of England," she says March 11 in her first speech to Parliament. She names John Churchill, 52, husband of her court favorite Sarah (née Jennings), 42, and younger brother of the late James II's mistress, Arabella, as captain-general of England's land forces in Flanders, raising him from earl of Marlborough to duke of Marlborough December 14 after he has forced the surrender of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine in June, Venlo on the Meuse in September, and Liège October 29. His wife has been managing his estates at Sandrich with great efficiency in his absence.
The War of the Spanish Succession widens in Europe as the Grand Alliance declares war on France May 14.
A Royal Navy squadron of seven ships under the command of Admiral John Benbow sights nine French vessels off Santa Marta August 19. Benbow chases them for 5 days, but four of his captains refuse to engage the enemy, and French fire shatters Benbow's right leg August 24. He remains on deck until his captains force him to return to Jamaica, where two of them are court-martialed and shot. Benbow dies of his wounds at Port Royal November 4 at age 49 and is buried at Kingston.
Sir George Rooke, 52, captures part of the Spanish treasure fleet at Vigo Bay in October after failing to take Cádiz. Admiral François-Louis Rousselet, marquis de Château-Renault, has convoyed the fleet from the Western Hemisphere but is absolved of blame for its loss. Rooke returns to port after destroying French and Spanish warships.
Warsaw and Kraków fall to Sweden's Karl XII, who has invaded Poland in the Great Northern War that will be fought largely on Polish soil.
Dutch jurist Cornelis van Bynkershoek, 29, establishes the three-mile territorial sea zone, ruling that a nation's territory extends three miles offshore (see Grotius, 1609). Next year Van Bynkershoek will be made a member of the Supreme Council of Holland, Zeeland, and West Friesland (see 1793).
Edward Hyde, viscount Cornbury, 40, arrives at New York to take up his duties as provincial governor of New York and New Jersey, replacing Lord Bellomont, who has died of natural causes. A first cousin of Queen Anne, Lord Cornbury supports opponents of the late Jacob Leisler and wins favor with the provincial assembly, which will give him a gift of £2,000, but he antagonizes some formerly influential politicians by merging the proprietary colonies of East and West Jersey into the royal colony of New Jersey (see exploration, colonization, 1665; exploration, colonization, 1676; Cornbury, 1703).
The Chusingura "Forty-Seven Ronin" incident December 14 stirs Japan as retainers of the late lord of Ako Asano Naganori kill Kira Yoshinaka. The 47 ronin (unemployed samurai) have followed Confucian ethic in avenging the death at 62 of their lord, who was ordered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) last year for fighting at Edo Castle, but they have broken the law in killing the kinsman of the shōgun and will be ordered to commit seppuku.
An English court-martial finds explorer-buccaneer William Dampier guilty of improper procedure and unfit to command a naval vessel (see 1701). Now 49, he will devote the next few years to leading several unsuccessful privateering expeditions in the Pacific (see Selkirk, 1704).
Mobile, Alabama, has its beginnings in the Fort Louis settlement founded by the Lemoyne brothers (see 1699). First French settlement on the Gulf Coast, Mobile will take its name from that of the Mauvilia Indians who inhabit the region (see 1704).
Landowner Frederick Philipse dies at New York November 6 at age 76, leaving his daughter Anna (Mrs. Philip French) his New York City and New Jersey properties; his son Adolphus, and Barbados-born grandson Frederick (orphan son of the late Philip and Maria Philipse), now 7, inherit the manor of Philipseborough—some 90,000 acres of fertile Hudson River Valley land operated by 200 tenant farmers. The younger Frederick, whose maternal grandfather is governor of Barbados, has been sent to England for his education and will remain there until early manhood.
A yellow fever epidemic kills 570 New Yorkers; many die also in a smallpox epidemic.
The Daily Courant begins publication at London March 11. Published by Elizabeth Mallet, it is the first English-language daily and will have 20 competitors by the end of the century.
Fire destroys important scientific papers at Sweden's great center of learning at Uppsala.
Magnalia Christi Americana by Cotton Mather is a well documented history of New England compiled to show that God is at work in the new land (see 1693; smallpox inoculation, 1721).
Japanese painter Korin Ogota, 41, unites the two imperial schools of Japanese painting, the Kano and the Yamato.
Theater: The Inconstant; or, The Way to Win Him by George Farquhar in February at London's Drury Lane Theatre; She Wou'd and She Wou'd Not; or, The King Imposter by Colley Cibber 11/26 at the Drury Lane Theatre.
England's Queen Anne gives royal approval to horseracing and originates the sweepstakes idea of racing for cash prizes (see Ascot, 1711)
Salzburg's Church of the Holy Trinity is completed by J. B. Fischer von Erlach after 8 years of work.
India's Deccan plateau has a disastrous crop shortfall, causing a famine that will take an estimated 2 million lives in the next 2 years.
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