Major Events
- Jan 1 Jean Racine's five-act tragedy play "Bajazet" premieres in Paris, France
- Feb 8 Isaac Newton reads first optics paper before the Royal Society in London
- Feb 23 Joan Blaeus publishers destroyed by fire in Amsterdam
- Mar 15 King Charles II of England enacts the Declaration of Indulgence in an unsuccessful attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms
- Apr 6 France declares war on Netherlands
- Apr 29 Franco-Dutch War: Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands
- May 2 John Maitland becomes Duke of Lauderdale and Earl of March.
- May 6 Brandenburg monarch Frederik Willem signs treaty with Netherlands
- May 15 1st copyright law enacted by Massachusetts
- May 17 Frontenac becomes Governor of New France (Canada)
- More 1672 Events
Richard Steele
Joseph Addison
Peter the Great
Johan de Witt
Charles II
Louis XIV