What happened in 1660–1669

World7

• 1661Guru Har Krishan becomes eighth of the ten Sikh gurus, and at age 5 the youngest, following the death of his father Guru Har Rai.
• 1665The Second Anglo-Dutch War begins.
• 1665Battle of Mbwila: Portuguese forces defeat and kill King António I of Kongo.
• 1667The Treaty of Breda goes into effect after having been signed on July 31, bringing an end to hostilities between England and its three opponents.
• 1667A devastating earthquake rocks Caucasia and kills 80,000 people.
• 1668The Treaty of Breda, signed in 1667 and ending the Second Anglo-Dutch War, goes into effect worldwide.
• 1669Pope Clement IX dies at the age of 69 after a reign of two and a half years.

North America2

• 1664The Second Anglo-Dutch War carries over to North America as soldiers of the English Army invade the Dutch colony of New Netherland, promised by King Charles II of England to his brother, the Duke of York.
• 1669The English ship Nonsuch returns to London with the first products acquired from trade around Canada's Hudson Bay, a cargo of fine furs. The bounty from the Nonsuch expedition attracts investors for the soon-to-be-chartered Hudson's Bay Company.

Europe73

• 1660In the Treaty of Oliva, peace is made between the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburgs and Brandenburg-Prussia.
• 1662Carrosses à cinq sols, a short-lived experiment of the first public bus system (horse-drawn wagons holding eight passengers) begins in Paris as the idea of mathematician Blaise Pascal and financed by the Duc de Rouanez, with transportation to and from the Royal Square for the cost of five sous.
• 1665The burial of Margaret Porteous is recorded; hers is the first known death during the Great Plague of London. This last major outbreak of Bubonic plague in the British Isles has possibly been introduced from the Netherlands. Two-thirds of Londoners leave the city, but over 68,000 die. The plague spreads to Derbyshire.
• 1665June 13 (June 3 O.S.) – Second Anglo-Dutch War – Battle of Lowestoft: The English Navy, under James Stuart, Duke of York, is victorious against the Dutch.
• 1665King Charles II of England leaves London with his entourage, fleeing the Great Plague. He moves his court to Salisbury, then Oxford.
• 1665The Dutch fleet defeats the English in the Battle of Vågen off Norway in the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1666The joint English and Scottish royal court returns to London as the Great Plague of London subsides.
• 1666June 14 (June 4 Julian calendar) – The Four Days' Battle between the Dutch Republic fleet (84 ships under the command of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter) and the English Royal Navy (79 ships led by the Duke of Albemarle) in the North Sea, one of the longest naval engagements in history, ends with a retreat by the English after having started on June 11. A part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the battle ends with a Dutch victory, but heavy losses are sustained on both sides: the English lose 1,000 men and 10 ships are sunk, while the Dutch lose four ships and 1,550 men. Damaged, but not destroyed, the English fleet sets about repairs and refitting, and meets the Dutch fleet again on July 25 in the St. James's Day Battle.
• 1666August 4 (July 25 Julian calendar) – In the St. James's Day Battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the English Royal Navy, under the command of Prince Rupert of the Rhine and George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, defeats the Dutch Republic navy off the North Foreland of England. The victory comes 6 weeks after the British fleet had sustained a heavy loss in the Four Days' Battle. The Dutch ships Sneek and Tholen are sunk, with the loss of 800 men, while 300 Englishmen die in the sinking of HMS Resolution.
• 1666The Great Fire of London begins as a blaze in a bakery owned by Thomas Farriner on Pudding Lane, near London Bridge. Over a period of four days, the fire destroys more than 13,000 buildings (including Old St Paul's Cathedral), but only six people are known to have died, while at least 80,000 are left destitute and homeless. The events are recorded by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The resurveying of property is credited with advancing both cartography and the practices of surveying, as well as resulting in the modern definition by John Ogilby of the statute mile, as 1,760 yards.
• 1667The first part of the Rebuilding of London Act 1666, following the destruction by the Great Fire of London of 1666, goes into effect as royal assent is given to the Fire of London Disputes Act 1666, which establishes the Fire Court. The Court, sitting at Clifford's Inn near Fleet Street, hears cases starting on February 27 and continuing until the end of 1668.
• 1667After King Philip IV of Spain reneges on payment of a large dowry to King Louis XIV of France, promised to Louis as a gift for Louis' marriage to Philip's daughter Princess Maria Theresa, the War of Devolution begins between France and Spain. The French Army invades the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium), entering Flanders and Franche-Comté. By the time the war ends on May 2, 1668, parts of the Spanish Netherlands are ceded to France.
• 1667The Siege of Lille, at this time part of the Spanish Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) begins and becomes the only major engagement of the "War of Devolution" between France and Spain. The Spanish Army surrenders after 16 days.
• 1668The first Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of Devolution.
• 1669Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn dies at the age of 63, after completing his final known work Self-Portrait at the Age of 63. Despite his wealth, is buried in an unmarked grave in Amsterdam's Westerkerk. After 20 years, his remains are removed and destroyed in accordance with church custom.

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USSR / Russia1

• 1666A sobor (church council) of the Russian Orthodox Church deposes Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, but accepts his liturgical reforms. Dissenters from these, known as Old Believers, continue into the 21st century.

Asia10

• 1660(Ashadh Vadya 1 of Shaka 1582) The Battle of Pavan Khind takes place in India when a 600-member contingent of the Maratha Empire army, commanded by Baji Prabhu Deshpande, works to rescue Maratha General Shivaji, who had escaped the night before from the fort of Panhala, which was under siege by the Adilshah Sultanate. The Bijapur Sultanate, commanded by Siddi Masud with a force of 10,000 men, loses 5,000 in a fight against a vastly outnumbered contingent of Adilshah.
• 1661The Shunzhi Emperor of the Chinese Qing Dynasty dies, and is succeeded by his 7-year-old son the Kangxi Emperor.
• 1661The siege of Fort Zeelandia, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) headquarters on the Chinese island of Taiwan (near modern Taoyuan City) is started by Koxinga and his invading force from China.
• 1661General Zheng Chenggong of China takes control of most of the island of Taiwan from the Dutch East India Company and proclaims the Kingdom of Tungning, with himself as the ruler.
• 1662Chinese general Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) captures the Dutch East India Company's settlement at Fort Zeelandia (now Tainan) on the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege, ending the company's rule on the island, then establishes the Kingdom of Tungning. In response, the Kangxi Emperor of the mainland Qing dynasty relocates all residents along the southern coast, by 50 miles.
• 1662Chinese warlord Zheng Chenggong sends a message to the Spanish government of the Philippines demanding payment of tribute and threatening to send a fleet of ships to conquer the area. The message reaches the Spanish Governor-General on May 5, and preparations are made to resist the invasion.
• 1662Koxinga, who had founded the Kingdom of Tungning on the island of Taiwan a year earlier, names his successor while on his deathbed. He appoints his son, Zheng Jing, whom he had earlier ordered unsuccessfully to be executed, as the new King.
• 1665Shivaji, leader of the Bhonsale clan of the Marathas in India, signs the Treaty of Purandar with the Mughal Empire, giving up 23 of the 35 forts under his control, agreeing to pay reparations to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, and sending his son to stay as a hostage at Agra.
• 1666In India, General Shivaji Bhonsale of the Maratha Empire arrives at the Agra Fort for a meeting with Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal Empire, as part of the terms of peace under the 1665 Treaty of Purandar. After taking offence at the disrespect shown to him, he gets angry and attempts to leave; he and his son Sambhaji are immediately placed under arrest and imprisoned at the fort.
• 1668The magnitude 8.5 Shandong earthquake kills at least 43,000 people in China's Shandong province.

Middle East4

• 1661Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha is appointed as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire at the request of his late father, the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, serving under the Sultan Mehmed IV for 15 years and continuing the Köprülü family dynasty whose members will serve as Viziers until 1711.
• 1662Ignatius Andrew Akijan is installed as the new Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church for Christians within the Muslim-ruled Ottoman Empire after his appointment is confirmed by the Sultan Mehmed IV.
• 1666Abbas II, the Shah of Iran, dies at the age of 34 after a reign of 24 years, without designating a successor. His 18-year old son Sam Mirza is crowned as the new Safavid dynasty emperor six days later.
• 1668The magnitude 8.0 North Anatolia earthquake causes 8,000 deaths in northern Anatolia, Ottoman Empire, and is the most powerful earthquake recorded in Turkey.

Africa3

• 1663Queen Ana Nzinga of the Kingdom of Ndongo and the Kingdom of Matamba, both located in the northern part of what is now the Republic of Angola in Africa, dies after a 39-year reign in Ndongo and 32 years after conquering Matamba. She is succeeded by her sister, Barbara Mukambu Mbandi, who rules for less than three years.
• 1666Moulai al-Rashid is let into Fes by the city's Jews, establishing the power of Morocco's Alawi dynasty, which will continue into the 21st century.
• 1667Yohannes I becomes king of Ethiopia, following the death of his father Negus Fasilides.