Events from the year 1690 in England.
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Transcription
Back in the 1690s there were only two countries on the island of Great Britain: The Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England. England and the other great european powers were doing rather well for themselves by expanding their empires through the cunning use of flags. Scotland had no empire but wanted to join in the game, and thus needed to establish a colony of her very own. But where to build it? "Panama!" declared Scotland. She imagined the colony's strategic location would make trade with the far east safer and faster by eliminating the long journey around the hazardous Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn where both wind and wave delight in smashing ships against rock and ice. "Who will lend me money to make this great idea a reality?" asked Scotland. No one, was the answer. Instead of helping, the european empires started trade wars with Scotland to limit the power of their future rival. So, poor Scotland had to fund the project herself. She gathered up all the money she could, literally put it all in a big box and, capital thusly raised, sent off a colonial ship. 400,000 pounds, 8,000 kilometers and 111 days later, 2,500 Scotsmen landed on the shores of Panama, named it 'New Caledonia' and immediately discovered a few small problems with their plan: First, the mountains on the western side of Panama were a wee bit larger than expected, making overland trade pretty much impossible. Even if they had thought of building a canal, the technology to do so was still 200 years away. Second, The woolen goods brought to trade with the locals was useless in the endless heat and humidity. Third, the Spanish Conquistadors had already planted flags on the sandy beaches and weren't too happy to see the scots arrive. And fourth, without adequate supplies, disease such as the perennial tropical favorite, Dysentery, spread quickly. Two years and 2,000 dead scots later, they abandoned the project. Now, this wasn't the first failed attempt at Scottish empire -- early colonies had been tried and abandoned in Nova Scotia, New Jersey and Carolina, but the Panama debacle was particularly devastating to Scotland because she was over-invested. Remember that money-in-a-box? Turns out it was a fifth of the wealth of the whole country. Oops. Scotland's sudden impoverishment proved a golden opportunity for The Kingdom of England who was growing increasingly worried that her neighbor to the North would ally with an enemy. England offered Scotland a deal that would reimburse Scotland for her losses if she voted for union. In 1707 Scotland agreed and the Kingdom of Great Britain was born. While the surrender of independence was unpopular in Scotland, her economy improved with access to once English (now British) trade routes and she played a formative role in what would soon be the largest empire in human history. That being said, still more than 300 years later, Scotland has never fully given up her national identity and thoughts of independence.
Incumbents
- Monarchs – William III and Mary II
Events
- 7 January – The first recorded full peal is rung, at St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London, marking a new era in change ringing.
- March – London, Quo Warranto Judgment Reversed Act 1689 ("An Act for Reversing the Judgment in a Quo Warranto against the City of London and for Restoreing the City of London to its antient Rights and Privileges") passed by Parliament.[1]
- 20 May – The Act of Grace passed, forgiving followers of the deposed James II.
- 30 June – War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Beachy Head: French naval victory over the English and Dutch.[2][3]
- 1 July (O.S.) – Battle of the Boyne in Ireland: William III defeats the deposed James II who returns to exile in France.[4][5]
- 25 July – War of the Grand Alliance: French raiders burn Teignmouth in Devon.[3]
- 24 August – In India, Sutanuti – which later becomes Kolkata – is founded by Job Charnock of the English East India Company.[5]
- December – Earliest recorded sighting of the planet Uranus, by John Flamsteed, who mistakenly catalogues it as the star 34 Tauri.
- 10 December – Playwright Henry Nevil Payne is tortured for his role in the Montgomery Plot to restore James II to the throne, the last time a political prisoner is subjected to torture in Britain.
- Quakers John Freame and Thomas Gould form a partnership as bankers in the City of London, origin of Barclays.
- Probable date – Planting of Hampton Court Maze.
Publications
- An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke[5] (dated this year but published in 1689).
- Political Arithmetic by William Petty.[5]
Births
- 3 February – Richard Rawlinson, minister and antiquarian (died 1755)
- 12 March – George Lee, 2nd Earl of Lichfield (died 1742)
- 22 April
- John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, statesman (died 1763)
- (baptised) – Robert Raikes the Elder, printer (died 1757)
- 29 October – Martin Folkes, English antiquarian (died 1754)
- 1 December – Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor (died 1764)
- 2 December – Robert Shafto, Member of Parliament (died 1729)
- date unknown
- Charles Bridgeman, garden designer (died 1738)
- Hester Santlow, dancer and actress (died 1773)
Deaths
- 4 February – Sir John Child, 1st Baronet, governor of Bombay (year of birth unknown)
- 7 February – Sir William Morice, 1st Baronet, Royalist statesman (born c.1628)
- March – Sir Philip Parker, 1st Baronet, Member of Parliament (born c. 1625)
- 21 May – John Eliot, Puritan missionary to Native Americans, died in Massachusetts Bay Colony (born 1604)
- 12 July – George Walker, soldier, killed in action at the Battle of the Boyne (born (1645)
- 9 October – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, illegitimate son of King Charles II, military commander, died of wounds received at Siege of Cork (born 1663)
- 15 October – Thomas and Ann Rogers, counterfeiters, executed
- By 10 December – Sir Richard Willis, 1st Baronet, Royalist double agent (born 1614)
- 15 December – Sir Thomas Allen, 1st Baronet, Member of Parliament (born c. 1633)
References
- ^ Noorthouck, John (1773). "Chapter 17: From the Revolution to the death of William III". A New History of London Including Westminster and Southwark. Vol. 1. London: R. Baldwin. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
- ^ Equivalent to 10 July in the "new style" Gregorian calendar.
- ^ a b Palmer, Alan; Palmer, Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd. pp. 197–198. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ Equivalent to 11 July in the "new style" Gregorian calendar, although today commemorated on 12 July.
- ^ a b c d Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 285. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.