Explore 130 historical events from 1650–1659.
The Polish–Russian War of 1654–1667 was a major conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Swedish invasion was also …
Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it…
The Battle of Sobota took place near Sobota, Poland, on 23 August 1655, between the armies of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on the one hand and of Sweden on the other.
Battle of Sobota: The Swedish Empire led by Charles X Gustav defeats the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
George St Lo was a British naval officer and politician.
George St Lo(e), Royal Navy officer and administrator (died 1718)
Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano.
Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (died 1731)
Antonio Cifrondi was an Italian painter of the late Baroque, mainly of genre themes. He was active in Brescia and near Bergamo.
Antonio Cifrondi, Italian painter (died 1730)
Eustache Le Sueur or Lesueur was a French artist and one of the founders of the French Academy of Painting. He is known primarily for his paintings of religious subjects. He was a …
Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (born 1617)
Eleonora Gonzaga, was born a princess of Mantua as a member of the House of Gonzaga, and by marriage to Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Quee…
Eleonora Gonzaga, Holy Roman Empress (born 1598)
Girolamo Rainaldi was an Italian architect who worked mainly in a conservative Mannerist style, often with collaborating architects. He was a successful competitor of Bernini. His …
Girolamo Rainaldi, Italian architect (born 1570)
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.
Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet and playwright (born 1619)
Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo, marqués de Bedmar was a Spanish diplomat, bishop and Roman Catholic cardinal. He was born in Bedmar, in what is now the province …
Alfonso de la Cueva, 1st Marquis of Bedmar, Spanish cardinal and diplomat (born 1572)
The Anglo-Spanish War was fought between England and Spain between 1654 and 1660. It was driven by the economic and religious rivalry between the two countries, with each side atta…
Anglo-Spanish War: England invaded Spanish Jamaica, capturing it a week later
Christina, a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and refusal to marry led her to relinquish her t…
Swedish Queen Christina abdicated her throne in favour of her cousin Charles Gustav and converted to Catholicism
Louis XIV was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. He is a symbol of the Age of Absolutism in Europe for styling himself as "The Sun King", which portrayed him …
Louis XIV is crowned King of France
Cromwell's Act of Grace, or more formally the Act of Pardon and Grace to the People of Scotland, was an Act of the Parliament of England that declared that the people of Scotland w…
Cromwell's Act of Grace, aimed at reconciliation with the Scots, proclaimed in Edinburgh
Cort Sivertsen Adeler, known in Denmark as Coort Sifvertsen Adelaer, in the Netherlands as Koert Sievertsen Adelaer and in Italy as Curzio Suffrido Adelborst, was the name of honou…
A Venetian fleet under Admiral Cort Adeler breaks through a line of galleys and defeats the Turkish navy
Christina, a member of the House of Vasa, was Queen of Sweden from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and refusal to marry led her to relinquish her t…
Swedish Queen Christina abdicates her throne in favour of her cousin Charles Gustav and converts to Catholicism
Jacob Barsimson was one of the earliest Jewish settlers at New Amsterdam and the earliest identified Jewish settler within the present limits of the state of New York. He was an As…
Jacob Barsimson arrives in New Amsterdam. He is the first known Jewish immigrant to America.
Charles Blount was an English deist and philosopher who published several anonymous essays critical of the existing English order.
Charles Blount, English deist and philosopher (died 1693)
Satohito , posthumously honored as Emperor Reigen was the 112th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Reigen's reign spanned the years from 1663 thro…
Emperor Reigen of Japan (died 1732)
Pedro Calungsod, also known as Peter Calungsod and Pedro Calonsor, was a Catholic Filipino-Visayan migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with the Spanish Jesuit mi…
Pedro Calungsod, Filipino catechist and sacristan; later canonized (died 1672)
Agostino Steffani was an Italian bishop, polymath, diplomat and composer.
Agostino Steffani, Italian composer and diplomat (died 1728)
Alessandro Algardi was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome. In the latter decades of his life, he was, along with Francesco Borromini and Pietro da C…
Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (born 1598)
Johannes Valentinus Andreae, also known as Johannes Valentinus Andreä or Johann Valentin Andreae, was a German theologian and writer.
Johannes Valentinus Andreae, German theologian (born 1586)
Ferdinand IV was made and crowned King of Bohemia in 1646, King of Hungary and Croatia in 1647, and King of the Romans on 31 May 1653. He also served as Duke of Cieszyn.
Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (born 1633)