1700 CE

This calendar, being ten days behind the Gregorian and one day ahead of the Julian, lasts until 1712.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

March 24 – The Treaty of London is signed between France, England and the Dutch Republic.source
May – In Rhode Island (American colony), Walter Clarke, three-term former Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is elected deputy governor for the second time, serving under his brother-in-law Samuel Cranston.source
August 18 (August 7 O.S.) – The Peace of Travendal is concluded between the Swedish Empire, Denmark–Norway and Holstein-Gottorp in Traventhal. On the same day, Augustus II, King of Poland, and Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, enter the war against Sweden.source
December 28 – Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, Lord President of the Council in charge of the Privy Council, is appointed to the additional job of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the highest Crown official in charge of administration of Ireland.source
December 30 (December 19, O.S.) – The 4th Parliament of King William III in England is dissolved and new elections are ordered by the King.source

Conflict & Security

February 22 (Gregorian), February 12 (Julian) – The Great Northern War begins with a joint invasion of Swedish territory in Germany and Latvia, by Denmark and Poland/Saxony. Sweden has control of the Baltic Sea and holds territory that includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia and parts of northern Germany. To challenge its power, an alliance is formed between Tsar Peter I of Russia, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Sweden's ruler is the militaristic Charles XII, known as the "Swedish Meteor".source
April 21 – In India, the siege of the fortress of Sajjangad (located in the Maharashtra state) is begun by an army led by Fateullahakhan. The fortress falls on June 6.source
July 24 – Charles XII of Sweden counter-attacks his enemies by invading Zealand (Denmark), assisted by an Anglo-Dutch naval squadron under Sir George Rooke, rapidly compelling the Danes to submit to peace.source
September – A Russian army invades Swedish Estonia, and besieges the town of Narva.source
October 3 – The Battle of Jouami' al-Ulama takes place in Algeria with a surprise attack and ambush on the army of Murad III Bey of Tunis by two Algerian defenders, Hadj Mustapha, Dey of Algiers and Ahmed ben Ferhat, Beylik of Constantine.source
November 18 – Lithuanian Civil War: Battle of Valkininkai – The anti-Sapieha coalition is victorious.source
November 30 (November 19 O.S.; November 20 Swedish calendar) – Battle of Narva in Estonia: Having led his army of 8,000 on a forced march from Denmark to Estonia, Charles XII of Sweden routs the huge Russian army.source

Exploration & Expansion

February 27 – The island of New Britain is discovered by William Dampier, in the western Pacific.source
Mission San Xavier del Bac is founded in New Spain near Tucson, as a Spanish Roman Catholic mission. Its location had first been scouted by the Spanish in 1692.source
The value of sales of English manufactured products to the Atlantic economy is £3.9 million.source

Religion & Belief

January 1 – Protestant nations in Western Europe, except England, start using the Gregorian calendar. Catholic nations have been using the Gregorian calendar since its introduction in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.source
May 5 – Within a few days of poet John Dryden's death in London (May 1 O.S.), his last written work (The Secular Masque) is performed as part of Vanbrugh's version of The Pilgrim.source
September 12 – Antioh Cantemir is deposed as the voivode of Moldavia and replaced by his predecessor Constantine Ducas.source
November 23 – Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Albani, having been ordained as a Roman Catholic priest only two months earlier, is elected by the Papal conclave to succeed Pope Innocent XII, and becomes the 243rd pope, taking the name of Clement XI.source
December 8 – The formal coronation of Pope Clement XI takes place in Rome.source

Science & Discovery

March 1 (Gregorian) – Protestant Germany and Denmark–Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar.source
An inventory made for the House of Medici of Florence is the first documentary evidence for a piano, invented by their instrument keeper Bartolomeo Cristofori.source

Crime & Justice

April 18 – Hungarian freedom activist Ferenc Rákóczi is arrested by Austrian authorities and charged with sedition. Imprisoned near Vienna and facing a death sentence, he escapes and later leads the overthrow of the Habsburg control of Hungary.source

Disasters & Accidents

February 3 – The 'Lesser Great Fire' destroys a substantial part of central Edinburgh, Scotland.source
April – Fire destroys many buildings in Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia, including two in the palace complex.source

Climate & Environment

January 26 – At approximately 9 p.m., the Cascadia earthquake occurs in the Pacific Northwest, with an estimated moment magnitude of 8.7–9.2. This megathrust earthquake ruptures about 1000 km mi of the Cascadia Subduction Zone and causes a tsunami that strikes the coast of Japan approximately 10 hours later.source
September 13-14 – The Rising-sun hurricane of 1700 strikes the coast of South Carolina, killing 98.source
Approximate date – Lions become extinct in Libya.source

Culture & Society

January 1 (Julian) (January 11, Gregorian) – The Tsardom of Russia begins numbering its calendar from the birth of Christ (Anno Domini), instead of since the Creation (Anno Mundi).source
March 1 (Swedish), March 11 (Gregorian), February 29 (Julian) – The Swedish calendar is adopted.source
March 3 – Shivaji II accedes to the throne of the Maratha Empire as the 4th Chhatrapati after his father Rajaram I's death.source
March (early) – William Congreve's comedy The Way of the World is first performed in London.source
April 15 – The coronation of King Frederick IV of Denmark takes place at Frederiksborg Castle in Copenhagen.source
July 11 – The Prussian Academy of Sciences is founded, with Gottfried Leibniz as president.source
September 6 – Edmond Halley returns to England after a voyage of almost one year on HMS Paramour, from which he has observed the Antarctic Convergence, and publishes his findings on terrestrial magnetism in General Chart of the Variation of the Compass.source
November 15 – Louis XIV of France accepts the Spanish crown on behalf of his grandson Philip of Anjou of the House of Bourbon, who becomes Philip V of Spain (reigning for 44 years – with a short break – to 1746), thus triggering the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714).source
An English translation of the novel Don Quixote, "translated from the original by many hands and published by Peter Motteux", begins publication in London. While popular among readers, it will eventually come to be known as one of the worst translations of the novel, totally betraying the spirit of Miguel de Cervantes's masterpiece.source

Births

January 14 – Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici), German poet and librettist (d. 1764)source
February 8 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born Swiss mathematician (d. 1782)source
March 3 – Charles-Joseph Natoire, French painter in the Rococo manner (d. 1777)source
March 13 – Michel Blavet, French composer and flute virtuoso (d. 1768)source
April 30 – Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish nobleman (d. 1739)source
May 12 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (d. 1773)source
May 26 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (d. 1760)source
May 31 – Stephen Bayard, 39th Mayor of New York City from 1744 to 1747 (d. 1757)source
August 17 – Clemens August of Bavaria, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (d. 1761)source
August 18 – Baji Rao I, general of the Maratha Empire in India (d. 1740)source
October 10 – Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, French sculptor born in Nancy (d. 1759)source
October 20 – Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (d. 1761)source
November 17 – Frederick William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, German nobleman (d. 1771)source
November 19 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French abbot and physicist (d. 1770)source

Deaths

January 12 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal, in the colony of New France (b. 1620)source
January 21 – Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort, English politician (b. 1629)source
March 2 – Jankibai, Empress consort of the Maratha Empire as the first wife of Rajaram Chhatrapati (b. 1675)source
March 3 – Chhatrapati Rajaram Raje Bhonsale, 3rd Maratha Emperor (b. 1670)source
July 30 – Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, member of the English royal family (b. 1689)source
July 30 – Eleven-year-old Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, dies of "a malignant fever" at Windsor Castle, leaving the Protestant succession to the British throne in doubt.source
August 17 – Thomas-Claude Renart de Fuchsamberg Amblimont, French naval officer, governor general of the French Antilles (b. 1642)source
August 22 – Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, Mexican academic (b. 1645)source
September 7 – William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford, English noble and politician (b. 1616)source
September 27 – Pope Innocent XII dies at the age of 85 after a tenure of more than nine years. Fabrizio Spada, the Cardinal Secretary of State, assumes administration of the Roman Catholic Church in order to oversee the election of a new Pope.source
November 1 – Charles II, the last Spanish king of the House of Habsburg, dies at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid aged 38, leaving no children; his last will makes Philip of Anjou his heir.source
November 5 – Edward Cranfield, English colonial official; Governor of New Hampshire (b. circa 1640s)source
November 25 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, first native-born mayor of New York City (b. 1643)source
December 13 – Inoha Seihei, bureaucrat of the Ryukyu Kingdom (b. 1648)source