1707 CE
The Treaty (or Act) of Union, of the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, is ratified by the Parliament of Scotland by a vote of 110 to 68. As part of the process of the unification of Scotland and England as Great Britain, Scotland selects 16 members to sit in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster. Scilly naval disaster: Four British Royal Navy ships run aground in the Isles of Scilly, because of faulty navigation. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and at least 1,450 sailors all drown.
Geopolitics & Diplomacy
- January 16 – The Treaty (or Act) of Union, of the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, is ratified by the Parliament of Scotland by a vote of 110 to 68.source
- February 15 – As part of the process of the unification of Scotland and England as Great Britain, Scotland selects 16 members to sit in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster.source
- March 19 – The Act of Union with Scotland is ratified by the Parliament of England; the Parliament of Scotland is adjourned for the last time on May 1, 1707.source
- May 12 (May 1 Old Style) – The new sovereign state of Great Britain comes into being, as a result of the Acts of Union, which combine the Kingdoms of Scotland and England into a single united Kingdom of Great Britain, and merge the Parliaments of England and Scotland, to form the Parliament of Great Britain.source
- June 13 – On Francis II Rákóczi's recommendation, and with Count Miklos Bercsényi's support, a meeting of the Hungarian independence activists, held at the village of Ónod declares the deposing of the House of Habsburg (and Joseph I, King of Hungary) from the Hungarian throne.source
- September 14 – Vincenzo Durazzo is elected to a 2-year term as the new Doge of the Republic of Genoa (including the island of Corsica), succeeding the outgoing Doge, Domenico Maria De Mari.source
- October 23 – The Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain first meets in London.source
- The English Parliament establishes the first turnpike trusts, which place a length of road under the control of trustees, drawn from local landowners and traders. The trusts borrow capital for road maintenance against the security of tolls, and this arrangement becomes the common method of road maintenance for the next 150 years.source
Conflict & Security
- February 4 – Great Northern War: Eighteen months after losing the Battle of Warsaw, while leading a cavalry charge for Saxony against the army of Sweden, General Otto von Paykull of Swedish Livonia is beheaded outside of Stockholm, following his conviction for treason.source
- April 25 (April 14 Old Style) – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Almansa: The Bourbon army of Spain and France (with Irish mercenaries) under the French-born Englishman James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, soundly defeats the allied forces of Portugal, England, and the Dutch Republic led by the French-born Huguenot (in English service) Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway. Following this, Philip V of Spain promulgates the first Nueva Planta decrees, bringing the Kingdoms of Valencia and Aragon under the laws of the Crown of Castile.source
- May 8 – The siege of Játiva within the Spanish kingdom of Valencia begins as 9,000 Castilian and French troops, at the direction of King Philip V attack Játiva, defended by troops of the Kingdom of Aragon. Játiva (modern Xàtiva) falls on June 6.source
- June 6 – The soldiers and officers defending the Aragonese city of Játiva are massacred after a larger force of Castilian troops breaks through the walls at the end of a 30-day siege. The rest of the town's residents are deported, and most of the dwellings are burned, with the area being renamed "San Felipe".source
- June 8 – Less than three months after proclaiming himself to be the new Emperor of India, Muhammad Azam Shah and his three sons are killed in a battle by his troops led by his half-brother Muhammad Mu'azzamsource
- July 29–August 21 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Toulon: The Allies are obliged to withdraw, but the French fleet is effectively put out of action.source
- August 27 – Charles XII of Sweden launches his campaign to conquer Russia, marching to the east from Altranstädt with 60,000 coalition troops. Another 16,000 soldiers are waiting on the outskirts of Riga, guarding the Swedish supply lines.source
- September 18–October 4 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, led by troops under the command of Alexandre Maître, begins and lasts for 16 days. On the final day, General Maitre begins the attack that takes the fortress within 45 minutes.source
- September 30 – War of the Spanish Succession: the conquest by Austrian troops, of the Italian peninsula city state of Gaeta, is accomplished after a three-month siege led by General Wirich Philipp von Daun.source
- November 30 – War of the Spanish Succession: The Siege of Pensacola ends, with the Spanish successfully defending their fort.source
- December 28 – Charles XII of Sweden and his coalition of troops begin crossing the first line of defense of the Russian Empire, the Vistula River, in their attempt to conquer Russia.source
- Battle of Yuraktau, the event that leads to the strengthening of the Bashkir rebellion of 1704–1711.source
- The Lao empire of Lan Xang officially ends, and splits into the kingdoms of Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Champasak.source
Religion & Belief
- January 1 – John V is crowned King of Portugal and the Algarves in Lisbon.source
- June 28 – Yeshe Gyatso is installed as the new Dalai Lama by his father, Lha-bzang Khan, who has recently deposed the 6th Dalai Lama. Though the justification is that the 21-year-old Yeshe was the true reincarnation of the 5th Dalai Lama, Yeshe receives no recognition from Buddhists in Tibet or Mongolia and the 7th Dalai Lama is installed in 1710.source
Technology & Infrastructure
Disasters & Accidents
- October 22 – Scilly naval disaster: Four British Royal Navy ships run aground in the Isles of Scilly, because of faulty navigation. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and at least 1,450 sailors all drown.source
Climate & Environment
- May 23 – The volcanic eruption in the Santorini caldera begins.source
- October 28 – The Hōei earthquake (the most powerful in Japan until 2011) strikes, with an estimated local magnitude of 8.6 and kills at least 5,000 people.source
- December 16 – The last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji begins in Japan.source
Culture & Society
Births
- February 25 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright (d. 1793)source
- March 7 – Stephen Hopkins, governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (d. 1785)source
- March 8 – William Irby, 1st Baron Boston, British peer and Member of Parliament (d. 1775)source
- April 10 – Sir John Pringle, 1st Baronet, Scottish physician (d. 1782)source
- July 23 – Edward Bentham, Oxford based theologian who in 1763 (d. 1776)source
- August 4 – Johann August Ernesti, German Rationalist theologian and philologist (d. 1781)source
- August 7 – Carl Günther Ludovici, German philosopher, lexicographer and economist (d. 1778)source
- August 24 – Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, English Methodist leader (d. 1791)source
- September 5 – John Forbes, British general (d. 1759)source
- September 7 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French scientist (d. 1788)source
- September 22 – John Rattray, Edinburgh surgeon who served as surgeon to Prince Charles Edward Stuart (d. 1771)source
- November 23 – Anna Karolina Orzelska, adventuress and Polish szlachcianka (noblewoman) (d. 1769)source
- December 11 – Paul von Werner, chief of the Prussian Hussar Regiment No. 6 (d. 1785)source
- December 18 – Charles Wesley, English Methodist leader, brother of John Wesley (d. 1788)source
Deaths
- January 8 – John Dalrymple, 1st Earl of Stair, Scottish politician (b. 1648)source
- January 10 – Philibert, comte de Gramont, French writer (b. 1621)source
- January 20 – Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch, Hungarian Catholic cardinal (b. 1631)source
- January 22 – Richard Towneley, English mathematician and astronomer from Towneley near Burnley (b. 1629)source
- March 30 – Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, French noble and military engineer noted for designing fortifications (b. 1633)source
- April 29 – George Farquhar, Irish dramatist (b. 1677)source
- May 9 – Dieterich Buxtehude, German composer (b. c. 1637)source
- May 27 – Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise de Montespan, mistress of King Louis XIV of France (b. 1641)source
- June 4 – On the island later known as Sri Lanka, Narendra Sinha becomes the monarch of most of the area as the new Kandyan king, succeeding to the throne upon the death of his father, King Vimaladharmasuriya II. Narendra Sinha reigns for almost 32 years until his death on May 13, 1739.source
- August 18 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier, statesman (b. 1640)source
- September 21 – Wilhelmus Beekman, Dutch politician (b. 1623)source
- October 22 – Sir Cloudesley Shovell, British admiral, drowned (b. 1650)source
- December 1 – Jeremiah Clarke, English composer and organist, suicide (b. 1674)source
- December 27 – Robert Leke, 3rd Earl of Scarsdale, English earl, politician (b. 1654)source