| February 9 | Thomas Otway's "Venice Preserved," premieres in London |
| March 19 | Nationally Council accept independence of French church |
| April 9 | Robert La Salle claims lower Mississippi (Louisiana) for France |
| May 1 | Louis XIV and his court inaugurates Paris Observatory |
| June 10 | Tornado in Connecticut uproots a 3' diameter oak tree |
| June 18 | William Penn founds Philadelphia |
| June 29 | Sofia names herself regent of Russia |
| July 14 | Henry Purcell appointed organist of Chapel Royal, London |
| August 24 | Duke James of York gives Delaware to William Penn |
| August 30 | William Penn left England to sail to New World |
| September 4 | English astronomer Edmund Halley sees his namesake comet |
| October 19 | English Lord Shaftesbury flees to Holland |
| October 26 | William Penn accepts area around Delaware River from Duke of York |
| October 29 | William Penn lands at what is now Chester Pennsylvania |
| November 12 | Swedish king Karel XI establishes absolute monarchy |
| December 2 | English earl of Shaftesbury flight to Amsterdam |
| December 4 | 1st General Assembly in Pennsylvania (Chester) |
