Category Archives: 17th Century

Historical Facts from 1601 to 1700 CE

January 6, 1681

On January 6, 1681, the 2nd Duke of Albemarle of Britain, Christopher Monck, put on the first recorded boxing match in history. He ‘convinced’ his butler and his butcher to fight. It did take the promise and actual payment of money. The only rules were… Continue reading

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November 24, 1615

On November 24, 1615, French King Louis XIII married Ann of Austria. They were both fourteen years old. Many non-historians have pointed to the relatively young age of some of the royal weddings to insisted that everyone was… Continue reading

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November 21, 1676

On November 21, 1676, famous Danish astronomer Ole Romer presented the first quantitative measurement of the speed of light. He said it was “Hurtigere end smurt gåseskit” which equated to 212,000 km/s. This was amazingly… Continue reading

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October 5, 1607

On October 5, 1607 Pope Paul V sent secret assassins to Venice to kill the Venetian statesman and scientist Paolo Sarpi. Why? Was it because he had invented a secret death ray using a huge magnifying glass capable of sinking… Continue reading

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August 6, 1675

On August 6, 1675, Russian Tsar Alexis was getting irritated with his Russian boyars. The boyars were the old Russian aristocrats. They were starting to adopt the latest customs from the bourgeois Polish and German foreign ministers. Those Poles and… Continue reading

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June 22, 1633

On June 22, 1633, Pope Urban VIII forced Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Earth orbits the Sun. Why did Galileo recant? Because he didn’t want to die. At that time the Church had their own courts, and police, and… Continue reading

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June 15, 1667

On June 15, 1667, French physician and scientist, Jean-Baptiste Denys, successfully administered the first documented case of blood transfusion into a human. He transfused twelve ounces of sheep’s blood into a 15-year old… Continue reading

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May 23, 1618

On May 23, 1618, a new word entered the World’s lexicon. The Protestant citizens of Prague got mad at their ruling elite and decided to throw the two Regents and their secretary out of a third-floor window. The three men… Continue reading

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April 21, 1649

On April 21, 1649, the English colony, Maryland, passed the Maryland Toleration Act, which allowed all in the colony to worship freely. Well, if they were Christian. Moslems, pagans, atheists, Native Americans, and Jews weren’t allowed the right to worship or even NOT worship. This law actually made it a crime to blaspheme the Christian … Continue reading

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April 20, 1653

On April 20, 1653, in England, Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell got really ticked off at the Long Parliament and expelled them. History reported that it was because the members of Parliament kept trying to pass the Perpetuation Bill, which would have kept the seats of Parliament in the hands of only a few members. What … Continue reading

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