1693
Sicily Earthquake Kills Sixty Thousand
A pair of massive earthquakes struck the Val di Noto in southeastern Sicily, leveling Catania, Ragusa, and dozens of towns across the island's limestone…
College of William and Mary Founded
A royal charter established the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the second oldest college in the English-speaking Americas after Harvard.
French Famine
A catastrophic harvest failure across northern France killed an estimated one and a half million people over two years, perhaps six percent of the population.
Salem Afterward
The Massachusetts governor Sir William Phips dissolved the special court that had tried the Salem witches, released remaining prisoners, and privately…
Ambroise Pare's Surgical Legacy Codified
French military surgeons, building on the revolutionary techniques of the sixteenth-century barber-surgeon Ambroise Pare, formalized battlefield triage…
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1693?
Saeculum lists 5 events from 1693. The most significant is Sicily Earthquake Kills Sixty Thousand.
What era was 1693 part of?
1693 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1693?
The events from 1693 span Europe and North America.