1668
English Acquire Bombay
Charles II, who had received the seven islands of Bombay as part of Catherine of Braganza's Portuguese dowry, leased them to the East India Company for an annual rent of ten pounds in gold. A sleepy fishing archipelago began its transformation into western India's greatest port, and by the nineteenth century the city built on those islands would be the commercial heart of British India.
Redi Refutes Spontaneous Generation
The Tuscan physician Francesco Redi showed by experiment that maggots did not appear on rotten meat by themselves but only if flies could reach it. It was a small, careful blow to an ancient doctrine. Biology began its slow progress toward cells, germs, and hereditary molecules, and Redi's controlled experiment became a model of how to test a hypothesis scientifically.
La Fontaine Publishes Fables
The French poet Jean de La Fontaine published the first six books of his verse Fables, adapting Aesop and Bidpai into elegant, witty, and often subversive little allegories. The grasshopper, the fox, and the wolf became characters in the cultural education of every French child for the next three centuries.
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
The Triple Alliance forced Louis XIV to accept a compromise peace ending the War of Devolution. France kept a dozen fortified towns in Flanders, Spain kept most of the Netherlands. Louis, humiliated at having to stop, began plotting the destruction of the Dutch Republic as private vengeance, and the next war would devastate the Low Countries within four years.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1668?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1668. The most significant is English Acquire Bombay: Charles II, who had received the seven islands of Bombay as part of Catherine of Braganza's Portuguese dowry, leased them to the East India Company…
What era was 1668 part of?
1668 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1668?
The curated events from 1668 span South Asia and Europe.