The first arrests are made in the case that will develop into the "
Affair of the Poisons" in France, as
Magdelaine de La Grange and her accused accomplice, Father Nail, are detained on suspicion of poisoning her lover, a Messr. Faurie.[1] While in prison in the Bastille and awaiting trial Mademoiselle La Grange writes letters accusing other persons of carrying out murders by poison as well.
August 28 – During
war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, Russian troops led by
Grigory Romodanovsky and Ukrainian Cossacks led by
Ivan Samoylovych arrive at the besieged Ukrainian city of
Chigirin (modern-day Chyhyryn) and inflict heavy casualties on the encamped Turkish and Tatar troops.[3] Ibrahim Pasha, leader of the 45,000 member Ottoman force, retreats the next day and, by the time of the relief of Chigirin on September 5, the Ottoman Army has lost 20,000 men. Ottoman Sultan
Mehmed IV, outraged by the defeat, sends 200,000 troops the following year and destroys the city.
September 17 – Troops from
Denmark invade and capture the Swedish island of
Rügen and drive out the local population. Five months later, on January 18, 1678, Sweden recaptures the island. Nine months later, troops from Denmark and Brandenburg invade for a third time and capture the island again on October 22, 1678. Eight months later, Denmark is given the island back under a
treaty ending the Swedish-Brandenburg War on June 29, but by then, the island of Rügen is in ruins. In modern times, the island becomes a vacation resort in Germany.
December 7 – Father
Louis Hennepin of Belgium, exploring North America, becomes the earliest known European person to discover
Niagara Falls, and the first to report its existence. In his book A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, published in 1698, Hennepin writes "Betwixt the lakes Ontario and Eire there is a vast prodigious Cadence of water which falls down after a surprising and astonishing manner, inasmuch that the Universe does not afford its parallel."[4]
December 9 – The French Navy, led by
Charles de Courbon de Blénac with a land force of 950 men, lands at the Caribbean island of
Tobago, lays siege to the Dutch fort defending the territory during the
Franco-Dutch War, and destroys the structure when it fires a cannon overlooking the fort, striking the gunpowder arsenal. The explosion kills 250 of the defenders, including Dutch Admiral
Jacob Binckes and 16 officers. Combined with the sinking of four ships of the Netherlands Navy, the victory at Tobago ends Dutch military power in the Antilles.
December 15 – The Siege of Stettin (the modern-day Polish city of
Szczecin but, at this time, a possession of Sweden) ends after almost five months with Sweden's surrender of the city to Prussia's
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. The siege, part of the
Scanian War, had begun on June 25.
A
Megalosaurus femur is found in England marking it the first dinosaur fossil found even though they were found for millennia beforehand. But the interest in
Paleontology wouldn’t be for another 140 years.
^"The Women of the Bastille", anonymous excerpt from Memoires Historiques et Authentiques sur la Bastille (1789), in New Monthly Magazine (April 1864) p. 435
^Olaf van Nimwegen, The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688 (Boydell Press, 2010) p. 504
^Grun, Bernard (1991). The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 308–309.
OL1756160M. Ice cream becomes popular as dessert in Paris.
^Oechslin, Werner (1972).
"BUONAMICI, Francesco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 15. Archived from
the original on January 23, 2020.
The first arrests are made in the case that will develop into the "
Affair of the Poisons" in France, as
Magdelaine de La Grange and her accused accomplice, Father Nail, are detained on suspicion of poisoning her lover, a Messr. Faurie.[1] While in prison in the Bastille and awaiting trial Mademoiselle La Grange writes letters accusing other persons of carrying out murders by poison as well.
August 28 – During
war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, Russian troops led by
Grigory Romodanovsky and Ukrainian Cossacks led by
Ivan Samoylovych arrive at the besieged Ukrainian city of
Chigirin (modern-day Chyhyryn) and inflict heavy casualties on the encamped Turkish and Tatar troops.[3] Ibrahim Pasha, leader of the 45,000 member Ottoman force, retreats the next day and, by the time of the relief of Chigirin on September 5, the Ottoman Army has lost 20,000 men. Ottoman Sultan
Mehmed IV, outraged by the defeat, sends 200,000 troops the following year and destroys the city.
September 17 – Troops from
Denmark invade and capture the Swedish island of
Rügen and drive out the local population. Five months later, on January 18, 1678, Sweden recaptures the island. Nine months later, troops from Denmark and Brandenburg invade for a third time and capture the island again on October 22, 1678. Eight months later, Denmark is given the island back under a
treaty ending the Swedish-Brandenburg War on June 29, but by then, the island of Rügen is in ruins. In modern times, the island becomes a vacation resort in Germany.
December 7 – Father
Louis Hennepin of Belgium, exploring North America, becomes the earliest known European person to discover
Niagara Falls, and the first to report its existence. In his book A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, published in 1698, Hennepin writes "Betwixt the lakes Ontario and Eire there is a vast prodigious Cadence of water which falls down after a surprising and astonishing manner, inasmuch that the Universe does not afford its parallel."[4]
December 9 – The French Navy, led by
Charles de Courbon de Blénac with a land force of 950 men, lands at the Caribbean island of
Tobago, lays siege to the Dutch fort defending the territory during the
Franco-Dutch War, and destroys the structure when it fires a cannon overlooking the fort, striking the gunpowder arsenal. The explosion kills 250 of the defenders, including Dutch Admiral
Jacob Binckes and 16 officers. Combined with the sinking of four ships of the Netherlands Navy, the victory at Tobago ends Dutch military power in the Antilles.
December 15 – The Siege of Stettin (the modern-day Polish city of
Szczecin but, at this time, a possession of Sweden) ends after almost five months with Sweden's surrender of the city to Prussia's
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. The siege, part of the
Scanian War, had begun on June 25.
A
Megalosaurus femur is found in England marking it the first dinosaur fossil found even though they were found for millennia beforehand. But the interest in
Paleontology wouldn’t be for another 140 years.
^"The Women of the Bastille", anonymous excerpt from Memoires Historiques et Authentiques sur la Bastille (1789), in New Monthly Magazine (April 1864) p. 435
^Olaf van Nimwegen, The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688 (Boydell Press, 2010) p. 504
^Grun, Bernard (1991). The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 308–309.
OL1756160M. Ice cream becomes popular as dessert in Paris.
^Oechslin, Werner (1972).
"BUONAMICI, Francesco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 15. Archived from
the original on January 23, 2020.