Major Events
- Jan 5 The Great Frost begins during the night, a sudden cold snap that remains Europe's coldest ever winter. Thousands are killed across the continent and crops fail in France.
- Jan 11 Colley Cibber's play "Rival Fools" premieres in London
- Feb 2 British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued by William Dampier after being marooned on a desert island for 5 years, his story inspires "Robinson Crusoe
- Mar 27 Dike at Hardinxveld breaks (Alblasserwaard flooded)
- Apr 12 Richard Steele's British literary and society journal "The Tatler" is first published establishing a new type of journalism featuring essays on contemporary manners
- May 1 Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe first opens its doors in Mexico City on the site of two apparitions of the Virgin - now a basilica and the holiest church in Mexico
- Jun 27 Great Northern War: Peter the Great of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava; Charles goes into exile in Bender, Ottoman Empire
- Jul 8 Battle of Poltava; Russians defeat Swedes, end of Swedish empire as a major power
- Aug 8 1st known ascent in hot-air balloon, Bartolomeu de Gusmao (indoors)
- Sep 3 1st major group of Swiss German colonists reaches North and South Carolina
- More 1709 Events
Did You Know?
British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued by William Dampier after being marooned on a desert island for 5 years, his story inspires "Robinson Crusoe
Samuel Johnson
Elizabeth of RussiaMore People Born in 1709
Who Died in 1709
- Jan 20 François de la Chaise, French confessor of Louis XIV of France, dies at 84
- Jan 24 George Rooke, English admiral, captured Spanish treasure fleet at Battle of Vigo Bay, dies at 58 or 59
- Feb 8 Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (Concerti Grossi), dies at 50
- Feb 9 François Louis, Prince of Conti, French general, dies at 44
- Feb 11 Louise Hollandine, Abbess and painter, daughter of King Frederik V of the Palatinate and Elizabeth Stuart, dies at 86
More 1709 Deaths
Famous Weddings in 1709
- Apr 26 Frisian Stadtholder and Prince of Orange John William Friso (21) weds Dutch Countess Maria Louise van Hessen-Kassel (21), until his death in 1702
Antonio Vivaldi
Johann Sebastian Bach
Anne Stuart
Louis XIV
Peter the Great