1664
English Take New Amsterdam
An English fleet under Colonel Richard Nicolls anchored off Manhattan and demanded the surrender of New Netherland. Peter Stuyvesant wanted to fight; the burghers refused. The town was handed over without a shot and renamed New York after the king's brother, James, Duke of York. The Dutch commercial capital of North America became English overnight, though it kept its pluralist character.
Hooke Publishes Micrographia
Robert Hooke's richly illustrated folio showed Londoners their first close look at a flea, a louse's leg, the eye of a fly, and the chambers of cork which he called cells. Samuel Pepys sat up reading it until two in the morning, declaring it the most ingenious book he had ever read.
French East India Company Refounded
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's indefatigable finance minister, chartered a new Compagnie des Indes Orientales with royal backing and a monopoly on French trade east of the Cape. Factories at Surat, Pondicherry, and Chandernagore would follow. France was entering the scramble for Asian commerce sixty years behind the Dutch, but with the Sun King's purse.
Moliere's Tartuffe Banned
Moliere's new comedy about a pious hypocrite exploiting a gullible family was performed once at Versailles and promptly banned after complaints from the Company of the Holy Sacrament. Louis XIV, though amused, could not afford to offend the Church publicly. The play would not be staged in Paris for five years.
Great Comet Terrifies Europe
A blazing comet with a tail stretching across a quarter of the sky appeared over Europe in December, sending astrologers into frenzies and preachers to their pulpits. In London, where plague was already stirring, diarist Samuel Pepys recorded widespread terror. Within months the Great Plague and the Great Fire would make the comet's omen feel earned.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1664?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1664. The most significant is English Take New Amsterdam: An English fleet under Colonel Richard Nicolls anchored off Manhattan and demanded the surrender of New Netherland.
What era was 1664 part of?
1664 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1664?
The curated events from 1664 span North America and Europe.