- Jan 11 Most powerful earthquake in Italian recorded history strikes Sicily and Southern Italy with an estimated magnitude of 7.4. Tsunamis followed and devastated coastal villages on the Ionian Sea and the Straits of Messina.
- Feb 8 William & Mary College is chartered in Williamsburg in the Dominion and Colony of Virginia (second in North America)
- Feb 13 College of William & Mary opens in Williamsburg, Virginia
- Feb 27 The first women's magazine "Ladies' Mercury", is published in London
- Apr 1 Cotton Mather's four-day-old son dies, and witchcraft is blamed
- Jun 27 1st sea battle of Lagos: a French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet under George Rooke
- Jul 4 Battle at Boussu-lez-Walcourt: French-English vs Dutch army
- Jul 8 NYC authorizes 1st police uniforms in American colonies
- Jul 25 Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México
- Jul 29 War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen/Neerwinden - France wins Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands
- Aug 4 Date traditionally ascribed to Dom Pérignon's invention of Champagne
- Oct 4 Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops are defeated by the French.
- Oct 5 Haarlem people's revolution due to food shortages
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