What Happened in 1655

Major Events

  • Jan 25 Duchy of Savoy orders expulsion or conversion of non-Catholic householders in Waldensian communities in Piedmont
  • Mar 25 Astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovers Saturn's largest moon, Titan
  • Apr 4 Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis: English fleet beats Barbary pirates
  • Apr 4 The miraculous statue entitled the Infant of Prague is solemnly crowned by command of Cardinal Harrach
  • Apr 7 Fabio Chigi replaces Pope Innocent X as Pope Alexander VII
  • Apr 19 Adriana Nooseman becomes Dutch 1st actress to perform on stage professionally in the Netherlands in the play "Onvergelijkelijke Ariana" at Amsterdam Schouwburg
  • Apr 24 Piedmontese Easter Massacre: Troops of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, slaughter upwards of 4,000 Waldensian civilians for non-compliance with the Edict of 25 January 1655, which called for the expulsion or conversion of non-Catholic householders in Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy
  • Apr 26 Dutch West Indies Company denies Peter Stuyvesant's desire to exclude Jews from New Amsterdam colony
  • Apr 28 English General-at-Sea Robert Blake (he was never titled Admiral) beats North African pirate fleet
  • May 10 Jamaica captured by the English
  • More 1655 Events

Born in 1655

  • Jan 1 Christian Thomasius, German jurist (d. 1728)
  • Jan 6 Eleonore-Magdalena of Neuburg, Holy Roman Empire Empress, born in Düsseldorf, Germany (d. 1720)
  • Jan 6 Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician, born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1705)
  • Jan 14 Angelo Predieri, Italian composer, born in Bologna, Papal States (d. 1731)
  • Jan 22 Geleyn Evertsen, Dutch admiral (Commander of Zealand) (d. 1721)

More People Born in 1655

More 1655 Deaths

Famous Weddings in 1655



Famous People in 1655

World Leaders in 1655