Major Events
- Jan 14 Battle at Elvas: Portuguese beat Spanish
- Jan 24 Pierre Corneille's play "Oedipe" premieres in Paris
- Feb 11 The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces is beaten back with heavy losses
- Feb 16 First known cheque written (£400), now on display at Westminster Abbey
- Apr 22 Lord Protector Richard Cromwell disbands English parliament
- May 22 France, England & Netherlands sign "Hedges Concerto" treaty
- May 25 Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England, earning the nickname "Tumbledown Dick" as a result of his abrupt fall from power
- May 31 Netherlands, England and France sign Treaty of The Hague
- Jun 29 The Russians, led by Prince Trubetskoy are defeated by the Ukrainian armies of Ivan Vyhovsky in the Battle of Konotop
- Aug 10 Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb has his brother and competitor for the throne Dara Shukoh executed on religious grounds
- More 1659 Events
Did You Know?
Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherlands forbids tennis playing during religious services (1st mention of tennis in US)
Born in 1659
- Jan 17 Antonio Veracini, Italian violinist and Baroque composer, born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (d. 1733)
- Jan 21 Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter, engraver and architect, born in Kralingen, Dutch Republic (d. 1722)
- Feb 1 Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch navigator and explorer (1st European to discover Easter Island), born in Middleburg, Netherlands (d. 1729)
- Mar 8 Isaac de Beausobre, French Protestant pastor, born in Niort, France (d. 1738)
- May 16 Campegius Vitringa, Dutch theologian (wrote work on prophetic theology - Anacrisis Apocalypseos Joannis Apostoli), born in Leeuwarden, Dutch Republic (d. 1722)
More People Born in 1659
Abel TasmanMore 1659 Deaths
Rembrandt van Rijn
Louis XIV