1680 CE

Rev. Ralph Davenant's will provides for foundation of the Davenant Foundation School for poor boys in Whitechapel, in the East End of London. In the Pueblo Revolt, the native Pueblo people capture Santa Fe (now in New Mexico) from the Spanish colonists. At the request of King Charles XI of Sweden, the Riksdag in Sweden enacts the Great Reduction, returning fiefs which had been granted to the Swedish nobility to the Crown. The nation becomes an absolute monarchy under the rule of Charles.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

February 12 – The Marquis de Croissy, Charles Colbert, becomes France's Minister of Foreign Affairs and serves for 16 years until his death, when he is succeeded as Foreign Minister by his son Jean-Baptiste Colbert.source
June 10 – England and Spain sign a mutual defense treaty.source
September 15 – A treaty is concluded between the Dutch Republic and the Ottoman Empire for Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV and his subjects to apply Dutch law to Dutch visitors to Ottoman territory.source
October 29 – At the request of King Charles XI of Sweden, the Riksdag in Sweden enacts the Great Reduction, returning fiefs which had been granted to the Swedish nobility to the Crown. The nation becomes an absolute monarchy under the rule of Charles.source
Chambers of Reunion (French courts under Louis XIV) decide on the complete annexation of Alsace.source
The first Portuguese governor is appointed to Macau.source

Conflict & Security

January 2 – King Amangkurat II of Mataram (located on the island of Java, part of modern-day Indonesia), invites Trunajaya, who had led a failed rebellion against him until his surrender on December 26, for a ceremonial visit to the royal palace. After Trunajaya arrives, King Amangkurat stabs his guest to death.source
March 25 – Troops sent by the Sultan of Morocco, Ismail Ibn Sharif, begin a blockade of the port of Tangier, occupied by the English and located on the North African coast. Palmes Fairborne is dispatched to defend Tangier as the colonial governor and commander-in-chief of English forces.source
March 30 – A total eclipse of the Sun takes place and is visible over central Africa, with totality over the Opala Territory in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.source
April 27 – Prince Sambhaji and fellow prisoners kill the commander of the Panhala prison and take control of the fort, as he makes plans to become ruler of the Maratha Empire.source
June 16 – Sambhaji Bhosle and his troops capture Raigad, the capital of the Maratha Empire and Sambhaji becomes the new Chhatrapati or Emperor. Sambhaji deposes his younger brother Rajaram I and places Rajaram and Rajaram's mother under house arrest.source
September 15 – A four month truce between England and Morocco expires and the Alcaid Omar, Viceroy of Morocco, begins a bombardment of the English fort at Tangier.source
September 21 – Spanish troops make a counterattack on Santa Fe in the modern-day U.S. state of New Mexico, allowing the remaining Spanish troops in the besieged city to flee to El Paso (now in Texas).source

Exploration & Expansion

April 30 – The first French Huguenots in the New World arrive at Charleston, South Carolina, as 45 of the religious exiles arrive at Oyster Point on the ship Richmond, after being sent there by King Charles II of England.source
August 20 (August 10 Old Style) – The settlement of Karlskrona in Sweden is founded, as the Royal Swedish Navy relocates there.source
August 21 – In the Pueblo Revolt, the native Pueblo people capture Santa Fe (now in New Mexico) from the Spanish colonists.source

Religion & Belief

February 16 – Rev. Ralph Davenant's will provides for foundation of the Davenant Foundation School for poor boys in Whitechapel, in the East End of London.source
March 24 – The Earl of Shaftesbury informs the Privy Council of England that the Roman Catholics of Ireland were about to launch a rebellion, backed by France. The investigation leads to the arrest and ultimate execution of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Oliver Plunkett.source
June 22 – The Sanquhar Declaration, written by Richard Cameron, leader of the Covenanters who oppose the control of religion in Scotland by King Charles, is read aloud by Richard's brother Michael Cameron at the public square in the village of Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire.source
November 17 – The Green Ribbon Club, a predecessor of the British Whigs, organizes a procession to burn an effigy of the Pope in London for the second year running.source
Johann Pachelbel writes his Canon in D Majorsource

Technology & Infrastructure

March 27 – The London Penny Post delivery service begins operations after being created by Robert Murray and William Dockwra, with a policy of delivering letters to any part of London or its suburbs for the price of one English penny.source

Science & Discovery

September 30 – Robert Boyle, having rediscovered the process of manufacturing phosphorus from bone ash, deposits his summary of the directions with The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. Boyle's assistant, Ambrose Godfrey, later develops Boyle's discovery to produce phosphorus commercially.source
November 14 – The Great Comet of 1680 is first sighted by Gottfried Kirch, the first comet discovered by telescope.source

Health & Medicine

August 10 – A Pueblo medicine man named Popé begins an attack by the Puebloans and their Apache allies on Spanish outposts throughout what is the modern-day U.S. state of New Mexico, choosing the campaign to begin before a supply caravan can reach the Spaniards.source

Crime & Justice

February 22 – Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin, a fortune teller in France who organized a ring of killers in what became known as the "Affair of the Poisons" that killed at least 1,000 people, is burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft. In all, 36 people are executed for their role in the poisoning.source
June 11 – Elizabeth Cellier, an English Catholic midwife, is tried and acquitted of treason for pamphleting against the government.source
June 30 – During the Spanish Inquisition, an auto-da-fé takes place in the Plaza Mayor, Madrid.source
December 17 (December 7 O.S.) – The trial for treason of William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford before his fellow members of the House of Lords having concluded after seven days, the Lords vote on whether to convict him of the articles of impeachment. The Lords vote, 55 to 31 to convict him and to impose the death sentence and Lord Stafford is beheaded on 29 December (8 January 1681 N.S.)source

Climate & Environment

May – The volcano Krakatoa erupts, probably on a relatively small scale.source
July 8 – The first documented tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts.source
September 11 – Emperor Go-Mizunoo spent his later years in relative seclusion as a retired emperor, continuing to participate in courtly and cultural activities until his passing away.source
October 9 – A massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake destroys part of Málaga and other cities in the province of the same name.source

Culture & Society

May 6 – King Charles XI of Sweden marries Princess Elonora, daughter of the late King Frederick III of Denmark-Norway and sister of King Christian V.source
August 24 – Comédie-Française is founded by decree of Louis XIV as La maison de Molière in Paris.source

Births

January 23 – Joseph Ames, English author (d. 1759)source
February 14 – John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, English privy councillor (d. 1737)source
February 23 – Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, French colonizer and Governor of Louisiana (d. 1767)source
April 9 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French dramatist (d. 1754)source
April 23 – Anna Canalis di Cumiana, morganatic spouse of Victor Amadeus II of Savoy (d. 1769)source
June 22 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish religious dissenter (d. 1754)source
September 22 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (d. 1747)source
October 19 – John Abernethy, Irish Protestant minister (d. 1740)source
date unknown – Bulleh Shah, Sufi poet (d. 1757)source
date unknown – Julianna Géczy, Hungarian heroine (d. 1714)source
approximate – Blackbeard (Edward Teach), English pirate (d. 1718)source

Deaths

January 2 – Trunajaya, Maduran prince and rebel leader, murdered (b. 1649)source
January 24 – William Harris, one of the four English Puritans who established the Plymouth Colony and then the Providence Plantations at Rhode Island in 1636, is captured by Algerian pirates, when his ship is boarded while he is making a voyage back to England. After being sold into slavery on February 23, he remains a slave until ransom is paid. He dies in 1681, three days after his return to England.source
February 11 – Elisabeth of the Palatinate, German princess, philosopher and Calvinist (b. 1618)source
February 17 – Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles, English statesman and writer (b. 1599)source
February 22 – Catherine Monvoisin, French fortune teller and poisoner (b. c. 1640)source
February – Ralph Davenant, English rector and founder of Davenant Foundation Schoolsource
April 3 – Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhosale, founder of the Maratha Empire (b. 1630)source
April 21 – Prince Rajaram Bhosle, the 10-year-old son of the Shivaji, the Chhatrapati (Emperor) of the Maratha Empire in India, is installed on the throne as the new Emperor, less than three weeks after the death of his father. Sambhaji Bhosle, the eldest son of Shivaji, learns the news while imprisoned at Panhala and makes plans to escape prison and take over the throne.source
April 29 – Nicolas Cotoner, Spanish 61st Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller (b. 1608)source
June 4 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi becomes the new Shōgun of Japan upon the death of his older brother, Tokugawa Ietsuna, who had been shōgun for 29 years.source
July 26 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet (b. 1647)source
September 30 – Johann Grueber, Austrian Jesuit missionary and astronomer (b. 1623)source
November 27 or November 28 – Athanasius Kircher, German Jesuit scholar (b. 1602)source
December 29 – William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford of England (b. 1614)source