From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century
Decades: 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s - 1660s - 1670s 1680s 1690s 1700s 1710s
Years: 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 - 1660 - 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665
Events
- February 23 - Charles XI becomes king of Sweden.
- March 16 - The Long Parliament disbands
- May 8 - The Parliament of England declares Prince Charles Stuart King Charles II of England.
- May 23 - King Charles II of England reaches the shores of his Kingdom. On May 29 he arrives in London and assumes the throne, marking the beginning of the English Restoration.
- November 28 - At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray meet after a lecture by Wren and decide to found "a College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning}" (later known as the Royal Society).
- Blaise Pascal's The Provincial Letters, a defense of the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld, was ordered shredded and burned by King Louis XIV of France.
Year in topic
Births
- January - Pierre Helyot, French historian
- February 19 - Friedrich Hoffmann, physician and chemist (+ 1742)
- April 16 - Hans Sloane, British physician
- May 2 - Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (+ 1725)
- May 28 - George I, King of Great Britain (+ 1727)
- September - Daniel Defoe, British writer (Robinson Crusoë)
- December 4 - André Campra, French composer
- Andreas Schlueter, Polish sculptor and architect
Deaths
- February 23 - Charles X of Sweden
- August 6 - Diego Velásquez - Spanish painter
- October 14 - Thomas Harrison, British soldier
