1688 CE

The Nine Years' War begins in Europe and America after Louis XIV attacks Philippsburg in the Holy Roman Empire. (November 1 OS) – Glorious Revolution: William III of Orange sets sail a second time from Hellevoetsluis, the Netherlands, to take over England, Scotland and Ireland from King James II of England. A group of 1,500 Old Believers immolate themselves to avoid capture, when troops of the tsar lay siege to their monastery on Lake Onega.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

November 15 (November 5 OS) – The Glorious Revolution begins: William of Orange lands at Torbay, England with a multinational force of 20,000 soldiers. He makes no claim to the British Crown, saying only that he has come to save Protestantism and to maintain English liberty, and begins a march on London.source

Conflict & Security

January 11 – The Patta Fort and the Avandha Fort, located in what is now India's Maharashtra state near Ahmednagar, are captured from the Maratha clan by Mughul Army commander Matabar Khan. The Mughal Empire rules the area 73 years.source
January 17 – Ilona Zrínyi, who has defended the Palanok Castle in Hungary from Austrian Imperial forces since 1685, is forced to surrender to General Antonio Caraffa.source
January 30 (January 20, 1687 old style) – King James II of England and Scotland issues a proclamation offering amnesty to pirates in the West Indies who surrender to Sir Robert Holmes.source
February 23 – Abaza Siyavuş Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, is assassinated by the Janissaries, the Turkish troops who had placed him in power in September, after the new Sultan fails to make payment of an expected bonus.source
April 9 – Morean War: The Venetian forces under Francesco Morosini evacuate Athens and Piraeus.source
May 17 – The arrest of King Narai of Ayutthaya launches a coup d'état.source
June 24 – French forces under Chevalier de Beauregard abandon their garrison at Mergui, following repeated Siamese attacks; this ultimately leads to their withdrawal from the country.source
June 30 – A high-powered conspiracy of notables (the Immortal Seven) invite Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange and Princess Mary to "defend the liberties of England", and depose King James VII and II.source
July 13 – The siege of Negroponte by the Venetians begins.source
August 1 – Phetracha becomes king of Ayutthaya, after a coup d'état.source
August 27 – The funding of the armed invasion of William III in England causes a financial crisis in the Dutch Republic.source
September 6 – Great Turkish War: The Habsburg army captures Belgrade.source
September 27 – The Nine Years' War begins in Europe and America after Louis XIV attacks Philippsburg in the Holy Roman Empire.source
October 21 – The Venetians raise the siege of Negroponte.source
November 19 (November 9 OS) – William of Orange captures Exeter, after the magistrates flee the city.source
November 20 (November 10 OS) – The Wincanton Skirmish between forces loyal to James II led by Patrick Sarsfield and a party of Dutch troops is one of the few armed clashes in England during the Glorious Revolution.source
November 26 – Hearing that William of Orange has landed in England, Louis XIV declares war on the Netherlands.source
December 7 – The gates of Derry are shut by the "Brave Thirteen" Apprentice Boys in front of the Jacobite Earl of Antrim and his "redshanks". This initiates the siege of Derry, which is the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland.source
December 9 – The Battle of Reading takes place in Reading, Berkshire. It is the only substantial military action in England during the Glorious Revolution and ends in a decisive victory for forces loyal to William of Orange.source
December 11 – Having led his army to Salisbury and been deserted by his troops, James VII and II attempts to flee to France.source
December 18 – William of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and the future King William III of the United Kingdom, enters London.source
The Austrians incite the Chiprovtsi Uprising against the Ottomans in Bulgaria after the siege of Belgrade.source
Neuruppin becomes a Prussian garrison town.source

Exploration & Expansion

January 5 – Pirates Charles Swan and William Dampier and the crew of the privateer Cygnet become the first Englishmen to set foot on the continent of Australia.source
March – William Dampier makes the first recorded visit to Christmas Island, now a territory of Australia, located south of the island of Java (now part of Indonesia).source
November 11 (November 1 OS) – Glorious Revolution: William III of Orange sets sail a second time from Hellevoetsluis, the Netherlands, to take over England, Scotland and Ireland from King James II of England.source

Religion & Belief

February 17 – James Renwick, the last of the Covenanters in Scotland to be martyred for opposing the authority of King Charles II, is publicly hanged at Grassmarket square in Edinburgh.source
April 3 – Francesco Morosini becomes Doge of Venice.source
May 4 – King James II of England orders his Declaration of Indulgence, suspending penal laws against Catholics, to be read from every Anglican pulpit in England. The Church of England and its staunchest supporters, the peers and gentry, are outraged; on June 8 the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Sancroft, is imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to proclaim it.source
September 24 – Louis XIV publishes his manifesto Memoire de raisons, which lists his grievances and demands. He cites three major things as grievances: Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg, who had been earlier elected to be the coadjutor-archbishop of Cologne with support of Louis being vetoed by the pope, the continued aggressions and forming of alliances against France and providing an alternative to Fürstenberg in the Cologne election by the Holy Roman Empire, and Philip William becoming Elector Palatine and seizing the territory, which he believed belonged to Elizabeth Charlotte.source
November 23 – A group of 1,500 Old Believers immolate themselves to avoid capture, when troops of the tsar lay siege to their monastery on Lake Onega.source

Science & Discovery

February 7 – Six French Jesuit scientists, Joachim Bouvet, Jean-François Gerbillon, Louis-Daniel Lecomte, Guy Tachard, Claude de Visdelou and the leader, Jean de Fontaney, arrive in Beijing and are welcomed by the Emperor of China, Kangxi.source
The earliest known mention of the balalaika is made.source

Health & Medicine

October 26 – King James II of England dismisses his minister Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland.source

Crime & Justice

January 29 – Madame Jeanne Guyon, French mystic, is arrested in France and imprisoned for seven months.source
June 5 – Constantine Phaulkon is beheaded after having been arrested in May.source

Disasters & Accidents

January 2 – Fleeing from the Spanish Navy, French pirate Raveneau de Lussan and his 70 men arrive on the west coast of Nicaragua, sink their boats, and make a difficult 10 day march to the city of Ocotal.source
March 1 – A great fire devastates Bungay, England.source

Climate & Environment

June 5 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes southern Italy at 6:30 in the evening and kills at least 10,000 people in the Kingdom of Naples in what is now the province of Benevento.source

Culture & Society

February 28 – The French opera David et Jonathas, composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, is performed for the first time.source
April 18 (Julian calendar) – The Germantown Quaker Protest Against Slavery is drafted by four Germantown Quakers.source
May 10 – King Narai of Ayutthaya nominates Princess Sudawadi as his successor, with Constantine Phaulkon, Mom Pi and Phetracha acting as joint regents.source
June 10 – The birth of James Francis Edward Stuart (later known as the Old Pretender), son and heir to James II of England and his Catholic wife Mary of Modena, at St James's Palace in London, increases public disquiet about a Catholic dynasty, particularly when the baby is baptised into the Catholic faith. Rumours about his true maternity swiftly begin to circulate.source
Oroonoko, one of the first English novels and the first by a professional female author (Aphra Behn) is published.source

Births

January 15 – Maria van Lommen, Dutch gold- and silversmith (d. 1742)source
January 18 – Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1765)source
January 23 – Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)source
January 29 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish scientist, philosopher and theologian (d. 1772)source
February 4 – Pierre de Marivaux, French playwright (d. 1763)source
March 14 – Anna Maria Garthwaite, British designer (d. 1763)source
March – William Burnet, British colonial administrator (d. 1729)source
April 4 – Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer (d. 1768)source
April 15 – Johann Friedrich Fasch, German composer (d. 1758)source
May 21 – Alexander Pope, English poet (d. 1744)source
June 30 – Abu l-Hasan Ali I, ruler of Tunisia (d. 1756)source
July 19 – Giuseppe Castiglione, Italian missionary to China (d. 1766)source
September 12 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (d. 1731)source
October 17 – Domenico Zipoli, Italian-born composer (d. 1726)source

Deaths

January 27 – Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, concubine of Qing Dynasty ruler Hong Taiji (b. 1613)source
January 28 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit missionary in China (b. 1623)source
February 17 – James Renwick, Scottish minister and Covenanter martyr (b. 1662)source
March 27 – Frederick, Burgrave of Dohna, Dutch officer, and governor of Orange (b. 1621)source
June 5 – Constantine Phaulkon, Greek adventurer (b. 1647)source
June 26 – Ralph Cudworth, English philosopher (b. 1617)source
June 26 – John Claypole, English politician (b. 1625)source
July 11 – King Narai of Thailand (b. 1639)source
July 21 – James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, Irish statesman (b. 1610)source
October 6 – Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, English statesman (b. 1653)source
October 14 – Joachim von Sandrart, German Baroque art-historian and painter (b. 1606)source
November 26 – Jacques Goulet, early pioneer in New France (now Québec) (b. 1615)source
December 4 – Sir Edward Seymour, 3rd Baronet, Member of Parliament (b. 1610)source
December 15 – Louis Victor de Rochechouart de Mortemart, French military man, brother of Madame de Montespan (b. 1636)source