Year 1666 (MDCLXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). [edit] Events of 1666 [edit] January–June [edit] July–December [edit] Undated - Expulsion of the Portuguese from the Bengal port city of Chittagong by Mughal forces of Emperor Aurangzeb under General Bujurg Umed Khan and renaming the city as Islamabad.
- Sir Isaac Newton uses a prism to split sunlight into its component colors, which helps us understand the nature of light more comprehensively (see optical spectrum).
- Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer paints The Art of Painting, his largest and most complex work.
- Lund University is founded in Lund, Sweden.
- Moulay al-Rashid conquers Fes, marking the beginning of Morocco's still-reigning Alaouite Dynasty.
- Jean Talon completes a census of New France, the first census in North America.
- The Russian Orthodox Church holds a sobor (church council) which deposes Patriarch Nikon, but accepts his liturgical reforms. Dissenters from his reforms, known as Old Believers, continue to this day.
- The year is also known for having all the Roman numerals, used only once, in order from biggest to smallest value (MDCLXVI = 1666).
[edit] Births - February 1 – Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, Princess of Conti and titular queen of Poland (d.1732)
- February 9 – George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney, British soldier (d. 1737)
- March 15 – George Bähr, German architect (d. 1738)
- May 14 – Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (d. 1732)
- July 10 – John Ernest Grabe, German-born Anglican theologian (d. 1711)
- August 13 – William Wotton, English scholar (d. 1727)
- September 6 – Tsar Ivan V of Russia (d. 1696)
- December 26 – Guru Gobind Singh, Punjabi scholar, theologian, social reformist, poet, head of a faith, representative of an ethnicity and a military head (d. 1708)
- date unknown
- See also Category: 1666 births.
[edit] Deaths - See also Category: 1666 deaths.
[edit] Culture Often called Annus Mirabilis, the year 1666 is mentioned in the poem Annus Mirabilis. Charles the second was king at the time |