1664 (MDCLXIV) Overview
1664 was a leap year that began on Tuesday in the Gregorian calendar and Friday in the Julian calendar. This year marked the 1664th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, 664th year of the 2nd millennium, 64th year of the 17th century, and 5th year of the 1660s decade. As of the start of 1664, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Events
January–March
January 5 – The Battle of Surat in India: The Maratha leader, Chhatrapati Shivaji, defeats the Mughal Army Captain Inayat Khan and sacks Surat.
January 7 – Indian entrepreneur Virji Vora, regarded by the English East India Company as the richest merchant in the world, suffers substantial losses when Maratha troops plunder his residence and business warehouses in Surat.
February 2 – Jesuit missionary Johann Grueber arrives in Rome after a 214-day journey starting from Beijing, illustrating land commerce between Europe and Asia.
February 12 – The Treaty of Pisa is signed between France and the Papal States, concluding the Corsican Guard Affair.
February 14 – A peace treaty is signed in Turin to end the War of the Banished between the Duchy of Savoy and the Waldensians.
February 26 – Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy departs from La Rochelle with 1,200 men to expand French territory in the Caribbean and South America.
March 12 – King Charles II of England issues a royal charter granting his brother James, Duke of York, significant lands in the northeastern United States.
March 19 – Polish astronomer Jan Heweliusz becomes the first Pole inducted into England’s Royal Society.
April–June
April 14 – King Louis XIV revokes all development grants for French-claimed Caribbean islands, including Martinique and Saint Lucia.
April 28 – Juan Alonso de Cuevas y Dávalos is appointed as the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Mexico.
May 9 – Robert Hooke discovers Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
May 12 – The original version of Tartuffe by Molière is performed at the Palace of Versailles.
May 15 – The Dutch fortress at Cayenne in South America falls to French commander Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy.
May 28 – King Louis XIV establishes the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales to replace the canceled Compagnie des Isles de l’Amerique.
June 3 – The world’s oldest continuously published private newspaper, Gazzetta di Mantova, publishes its first issue.
June 5 – The Croatian fortress at Novi Zrin falls to the Ottoman Empire after a 32-day siege.
June 9 – The Kronenbourg Brewery is founded in Strasbourg.
June 24 – The Second Anglo-Dutch War extends to North America as the English Army invades the Dutch colony of New Netherland.
July–September
August 1 – In the Battle of Saint Gotthard, the Habsburg army defeats the Ottoman Empire, leading to the Peace of Vasvár.
August 11 – Sir John Lisle is assassinated in Switzerland on orders from King Charles II.
August 27 – The French East India Company is established.
September 8 – Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam to an English naval squadron, which is subsequently renamed New York.
September 23 – The French Navy ship Tigre sinks near Sardinia, resulting in the loss of 64 men.
October–December
October 4 – New Netherland is captured by England.
October 28 – Formation of the “Duke of York and Albany’s maritime regiment of foot,” a precursor to the Royal Marines.
October 31 – The French Navy evacuates the presidio of Jijel due to Berber army threats.
November 6 – The oldest hospital in India, the Government General Hospital, opens in Madras.
November 17 – Jacob Kettler cedes his rights to the African colony at St Andrew’s Island to King Charles II.
December 3 – Dutch shipwrecks occur when the HMS Nonsuch and HMS Phoenix sink at Gibraltar.
December 20 – The Dutch ship Kennemerland sinks in a storm, killing most of its crew.
Date Unknown
- Austere reforms introduced in the Cistercian La Trappe Abbey by Armand de Rancé.
- John Evelyn’s Sylva is published in London.
Births
January 1 – Alvise Pisani, 114th Doge of Venice (d. 1741)
January 4 – Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (d. 1742)
January 14 – Johann Jakob Schudt, German theologian (d. 1722)
Deaths
January 10 – Antoon Sanders, Dutch priest and historian (b. 1586)
January 14 – Françoise Madeleine d’Orléans, French princess (b. 1648)
January 27 – Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria, Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1649)
References
Sources:
- Southey, Captain Thomas (1827). Chronological History of the West Indies. Vol. I. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green. ISBN 978-1-136-99066-3.