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Jamestown, Virginia
The Jamestown Colony settled on the banks of Virginia's James River in 1607 and founded the first permanent English settlement -
Invention of the first refracting telescope
German-Dutch spectacle-maker Hans Lippershey invents the first refracting telescope. -
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei sees the moons of Jupiter through his telescope. Galileo also showed the Copernican system in which the planets circle the sun was correct. -
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was a war fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. One of the most destructive conflicts in human history, it resulted in eight million fatalities not only from military engagements but also from violence, famine, and plague. -
Bishop's War
Two brief campaigns that were fought between Charles I and the Scots. The wars were the result of Charles's endeavor to enforce Anglican observances in the Scottish Church and of the determination of the Scots to abolish episcopacy. -
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster, largely ending the European wars of religion, including the Thirty Years' War. -
Invention of the air pump
Scientist and inventor Otto von Guericke invents an air pump. -
Great Plague
Great Plague in London kills 75,000. -
King Phillips War
King Philip's War was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between Indian inhabitants of New England and New England colonists and their Indian allies. The war is named for Meta comet, the Wampanoag chief who adopted the name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Mayflower Pilgrims. -
Invention of the steam pump
English inventor and engineer Thomas Savery invents a steam pump.
