1688
| Years: 1685 1686 1687 - 1688 - 1689 1690 1691 | |
| Decades: 1650s 1660s 1670s - 1680s - 1690s 1700s 1710s | |
| Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century 1688 in topic: | |
| Contents |
Events
- A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the "Immortal Seven", invite William and Mary to depose James II of England.
- November 5 - Glorious Revolution begins: William of Orange lands at Brixham but James II of England was prevented from meeting him in battle because many of his officers and men were deserting to the other side.
- November - Hearing that William has landed in England, Louis XIV declares war on Holland. Perhaps revealingly, he does not attack Holland but instead strikes at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire with about 100,000 soldiers.
- Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
- December 11 - After a series of defeats King James II of England flees England for Ireland.
- The Nine Years War begins in Europe and America.
- Austria occupies Belgrade.
- Friedrich I of Prussia becomes Kurfürst (Elector) of Brandenburg.
- Francesco Morosini becomes Doge of Venice.
- James, Callinicus II, and Neophytus IV are Patriarchs of Constantinople.
- Gerasimus I succeeds Parthenius I as Patriarch of Alexandria.
- Jan Stanislaw Zbaski succeeds Mikolaj Stefan Radziejowski as bishop of Warmia.
- Peter Delanoy succeeds Stephanus Van Cortlandt as mayor of New York City.
- Asmus Bremer becomes mayor of Kiel.
- Toleration Act is passed in England.
- Bungay in England is nearly destroyed by fire.
- Neuruppin becomes a Prussian garrison town.
- Etienne Baluze publishes Marca hispanica.
- David Abercromby publishes Ars explorandi medicas facultates plantarum ex solo sapore.
- Antonio Verrio begins work on the Heaven Room at Burghley House.
- William Dampier makes first recorded visit to Christmas Island.
- Janez Vajkard Valvasor becomes a member of the Royal Society.
- The Austrians incite a rebellion against the Ottomans in Bulgaria.
Births
- January 18 - Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1765)
- January 29 - Emanuel Swedenborg Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian (d. 1772)
- February 2 - Queen Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)
- February 4 - Pierre de Marivaux, French playwright (d. 1763)
- April 4 - Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer (d. 1768)
- April 15 - Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (d. 1758)
- May 21 - Alexander Pope, English poet (d. 1744)
- June 10 - James Francis Edward Stuart, "The Old Pretender" (d. 1766)
- August 15 - King Frederick William I of Prussia (d. 1740)
- October 22 - Nadir Shah (d. 1747)
- William Burnet, British colonial administrator (d. 1728)
- Charles Rivington, English publisher (d. 1742)
Deaths
- April 29 - Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg (b. 1620)
- June 26 - Ralph Cudworth, English philosopher (b. 1617)
- July 11 - Narai of Thailand
- July 21 - James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman (b. 1610)
- August 25 - Henry Morgan, Welsh privateer and Governor of Jamaica
- August 31 - John Bunyan, English writer (b. 1628)
- November 26 - Philippe Quinault, French dramatist (b. 1635)
Publications
- John Locke has the first abstract of his semenal Essay concerning Human Understanding appear in Leclerc's Bibliotheque universelle
- Fourth (and illustrated) edition of John Milton's Paradise Lost
- The Bucharest Bible - Biblia de la Bucureşti, first complete translation of the Bible into Romanian
- Aphra Behn seminal female writer on slavery, Oroonoko The Royal Slave
- First printing of John Bunyans Pilgrim's Progress