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The Battle of Ramillies 10 miles north of Namur May 22 gives the duke of Marlborough a victory over French forces commanded by the duc de Villeroi, whose 60,000-man army is slightly outnumbered by Marlborough's English, Dutch, German, and imperial infantry, cavalry, and artillerymen. Some 8,000 of the French are killed or wounded; 7,000 are taken prisoner; and 50 of the 70 French guns are captured (allied losses total 1,066 killed, 3,633 wounded). Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, loses the Lowlands and becomes a refugee at the French court. Louis XIV replaces the duc de Villeroi with Marshal Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme. Marlborough follows up his triumph at Ramillies by obtaining the submission of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, and other major cities, taking another 14,000 prisoners in the continuing War of the Spanish Succession.
English forces raise a French siege of Barcelona May 23. Portuguese forces invade Spain in June and install the Austrian archduke Karl (Carlos) as king at Madrid, but Felipe V drives them out in October.
Eugene of Savoy vanquishes a French army at Turin September 7 with help from Prussian forces under Leopold of Dessau. Prince Eugene has 18,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, 5,000 militia, and some artillery, far outnumbering the 8,500 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 20 guns under the command of Marshal Ferdinand, comte de Marsin (who is mortally wounded) and the duc d'Orleans. Some 3,000 of his men are killed or wounded, but Eugene inflicts equally heavy casualties on the French, takes 6,000 prisoners, breaks the siege of Turin, and captures the French guns. Lombardy submits to him, Charles III is proclaimed king at Milan, and the French are driven out of Italy. Having been ruled by Spain since 1535, Milan will be under Austrian rule until 1797.
Saxony's elector Augustus II abdicates the Polish crown September 24 in the Treaty of Altranstadt, recognizes Stanislaw Lesczynski as king of Poland, and breaks his alliance with Russia's czar Peter I (but see 1709).
French naval officer Claude de Forbin, 51, attacks a Dutch convoy in the Baltic off the Dogger Bank in October, creating panic among the Dutch in the continuing War of the Spanish Succession (see 1707).
Portugal's Pedro II dies at his native Lisbon December 9 at age 58 after a 23-year reign. His 17-year-old son succeeds to power and will reign until his death in 1750 as João V.
Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d'Iberville, prepares a French fleet for an expedition against British forts in the Carolinas but dies at Havana July 9 at age 44.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, has its origin in the town of Alburquerque founded in the northern part of New Spain. The town is named in honor of New Spain's new viceroy the duke of Alburquerque (the first "r" will be dropped in years to come).
Diarist John Evelyn dies at his native Wotton, Surrey, February 27 at age 85; philosopher Pierre Bayle at Rotterdam December 28 at age 59.
Theater: The Lady's Last Stake; or, The Wife's Revenge by Colley Cibber 12/13 at the Haymarket Theatre; The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar 4/8 at London's Drury Lane Theatre.
Tom's Coffee House opens at 216 the Strand, London. Operated by merchant Thomas Twining, it will become a major importer of tea.
New England's white colonist population reaches 120,000, having doubled since 1678 (see 1734).
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