History
1690
General
Population: 620 Million*
- Entertainment: Writers include Dryden (comedy) Nathaniel Lee (tragedy), John Locke Essay Concerning Human Understanding - proposes social contract,
Sir William Petty (political arithmetic),
Art includes Hobbema "The Mill"
Music includes Purcell
- Science: Huyghens publishes theory of undulation of light
- Technology: Denis Papin devises steam-powered piston pump
- Deaths: Composer Giovanni Legrenzi, Architect Charles Lebrun, Artist David Teniers the Younger,
Americas
- Antilles: Earthquake - Tsunami hits Nevis
- Brazil: Major gold and diamond strikes are made in the Minas Gerais region of Portugese Brazil
Asia
- China: Imperial forces defend Khalka against Dzungars
- India: English East India Company official, Job Charnock, founds the city of Calcutta
Height of Mughol Empire of India
Europe
- England: William III victorious in Scotland
Battle of the Boyne – William's army defeats James II, also father-in-law and French
Act of Grace passed
William starts entertaining Dutch nobles fueling rumors of collusion and homosexuality
"Athenian Gazette" first English periodical to answer readers' letters
Calico printing introduced to Great Britain from France
- France: Battle of Beachy Head – France defeats Anglo-Dutch fleet
- Holy Roman Empire: Turks retake Belgrade from Empire
- Ireland: Battle of the Boyne - William III defeats exiled James II
Disease and famine
- Italian States: Joseph I elected King of Romans
Academia dell' arcadia founded in Rome
- Spain: Spain joins Great Alliance against France
Middle East
- Ottoman Empire: Turks reconquer Belgrade
East
- General: New England Primer fir reading first published
- New York: Yellow fever outbreak
Schnectady Massacre - French and Algonquins kill 60 settlers