Early Modern
The Forty-Seven Ronin (1701-1703): Japan's Famous Revenge Story
The ronin killed Kira in January 1703 and were ordered to commit seppuku; their act became Japan's most famous story of loyalty, retold as Chūshingura.
Era · c. 1500 – 1800
Early Modern
Voyages of exploration, the Reformation and the age of revolutions that reshaped Europe and the wider world.
Early Modern
Osei Tutu and the Golden Stool: Founding of the Asante Empire
The Asante states united under Osei Tutu, defeated Denkyira and became the dominant power of the Gold Coast interior.
Early Modern
War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714): The Fight for Spain
Philip V kept Spain and its American empire but renounced the French throne; Austria took Spain's European lands in Italy and the Netherlands, and Britain gained Gibraltar and Menorca.
Early Modern
Chengde Mountain Resort (1703): The Qing Emperors' Summer Capital
A vast summer palace and ring of temples became the Qing court's second political centre, used to receive Mongol, Tibetan and foreign envoys.
Early Modern
Great Storm of 1703: The Hurricane That Struck England
An estimated 8,000-15,000 people died, most of them seamen; the Royal Navy lost 13 ships and the first Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed.
Early Modern
Founding of Saint Petersburg (1703): Peter the Great's Capital
A fortress on the Neva grew into a planned European-style city that became the capital of the Russian Empire from about 1712 to 1918.
Early Modern
Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement in Kongo (1704-1706)
Kimpa Vita was burned as a heretic in 1706, but her followers' reoccupation of São Salvador helped Pedro IV reunite Kongo by 1709.
Early Modern
Capture of Gibraltar (1704): How Britain Gained the Rock
The Spanish garrison surrendered on 4 August 1704; Gibraltar was held against a Franco-Spanish siege and ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
Early Modern
Battle of Blenheim (1704): Marlborough's Great Victory in Bavaria
Decisive Allied victory; the Franco-Bavarian army was destroyed, Marshal Tallard was captured, Vienna was saved and Bavaria was knocked out of the war.
Early Modern
Halley's Comet Prediction (1705): The Return of 1758
The comet returned as predicted, reaching perihelion on 13 March 1759 and providing powerful confirmation of Newtonian gravitation.
Early Modern
Hōei Eruption (1707): The Last Eruption of Mount Fuji
About two weeks of explosive eruptions created the Hōei craters, spread ash across the Kantō region including Edo, and ruined farmland for decades.
Early Modern
Acts of Union 1707: England and Scotland Become Great Britain
The parliaments of England and Scotland were merged into a single Parliament of Great Britain, while Scotland kept its own law, church and education system.