1691
Events
January–March
- January 6 – King William III of England, who rules Scotland and Ireland as well as being the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, departs from Margate to tend to the affairs of the Netherlands.
- January 14 – A fleet of ships carrying 827 Spanish Navy sailors and marines arrives at Manzanillo Bay on the island of Hispaniola in what is now the Dominican Republic and joins 700 Spanish cavalry, then proceeds westward to invade the French side of the island in what is now Haiti.
- January 15 – King Louis XIV of France issues an order specifically prohibiting play of games of chance, specifically naming basset and similar games, on penalty of 1,000 livres for the first offence.
- January 23 – Spanish colonial administrator Domingo Terán de los Ríos, most recently the governor of Sonora y Sinaloa on the east side of the Gulf of California, is assigned by the Viceroy of New Spain to administer a new province that governs lands on both sides of the Río Bravo del Norte, "Coahuila y Tejas", and effectively becomes the first Governor of Texas.
- February 13 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony issues the first paper money in North America, in lieu of coins, two months after a December 20 law authorizing the printing. The oldest known specimen, for 20 Massachusetts shillings bears the date "Feb. 3, 1690" based on the British old style calendar in use at the time.
- February 28 – An annular solar eclipse is visible across the Philippines, North Borneo and eastern Sumatra.
- March 5 – Nine Years' War: French troops under Marshal Louis-Francois de Boufflers besiege the Spanish-held town of Mons.
- March 14 – The Public Security Police Force of Macau is founded.
- March 17 – The Athenian Mercury begins twice-weekly publication by The Athenian Society in London.
- March 20 – Leisler's Rebellion: A new governor arrives in New York – Jacob Leisler surrenders, after a standoff of several hours.
- March 29 – The Siege of Mons ends in the city's surrender.
April–June
- April 9 – A fire at the Palace of Whitehall in London destroys its Stone Gallery.
- May 6
- * The Spanish Inquisition condemns and forcibly baptizes 219 Xuetas in Palma, Majorca. When 37 try to escape the island, they are burned alive at the stake.
- * The Province of New York establishes the New York Supreme Court as the Supreme Court of Judicature. It is the oldest Supreme Court with general original jurisdiction.
- May 16 – Jacob Leisler is hanged for treason.
- June – The first performance takes place of the semi-opera King Arthur with a libretto by John Dryden and music by Henry Purcell.
- June 23 – Ahmed II succeeds Suleiman II, as Ottoman Emperor.
July–September
- July 12
- * Pope Innocent XII becomes the 242nd pope, succeeding Pope Alexander VIII.
- * Williamite War in Ireland – Battle of Aughrim: Protestant Williamite forces, led by Godert de Ginkell, decisively defeat Jacobites under the Marquis de St Ruth.
- August 11 – Battle of La Prairie in Canada: An English and Iroquois force come north from Albany, New York to attack Montreal, but are repulsed with significant casualties by the French and their First Nations allies.
- August 19 – The Battle of Slankamen takes place between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire and allies at Syrmia, and 25,000 Ottomans are killed, including Köprülüzade Fazıl Mustafa Pasha, the Grand Vizier.
- August 23 – A total solar eclipse is visible across South America, Central America and Mexico.
- August 27 – In Scotland, King William offers the Highland clans a pardon for their part in the Jacobite rising of 1689 if they agree to pledge allegiance to him before New Year's Day.
- September 3 – HMS Coronation and HMS Harwich are lost in a storm while making for shelter in Plymouth Sound with 900 killed.
- September 18 – War of the Grand Alliance: English and Dutch forces are defeated by the French in the Battle of Leuze.
October–December
- October 3 – The Treaty of Limerick, ending the Williamite War in Ireland and guaranteeing civil rights to Roman Catholics, is signed. The Flight of the Wild Geese follows.
- October 17 – In New England, the two separate colonies of Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony are united into a single entity by an act of the King and Queen of England.
- November 26 – In Limerick, "A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to the Almighty God for the Preservation of Their Majesties, the Success of Their Forces in the reducing of Ireland, and for His Majesties Safe Return" is celebrated in all Anglican churches in Britain and Ireland by order of Archbishop Tillotson.
- December 6 – During the Morean War, Captain Luca Dalla Rocca of Naples betrays Venice by surrendering the fortress of Gramvousa, on the island of Crete to the Ottoman Turks, in return for a large amount of money and sanctuary in Istanbul.
- December 22 – Patrick Sarsfield and 19,000 troops of the Irish Army who had been supporters of the Jacobite Rebellion leave the country and relocate to France.
Date unknown
- HMNB Devonport, currently one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy and the largest naval base in Western Europe, opens.
- Michel Rolle invents Rolle's theorem, which states that any real-valued differentiable function that attains equal values at two distinct points must have at least one stationary point somewhere between them.
- The Khalkha submit to the Manchu invaders, bringing most of modern-day Mongolia under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.
- Nimavar school in Isfahan, Iran is built and opens in this era of Suleiman I.
- The textile factory Barnängens manufaktur is founded in Stockholm, Sweden.
- The Society for the Reformation of Manners is founded in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the aim of suppressing profanity, immorality, and other lewd activities in general, and of brothels and prostitution in particular.
Births
January–March
- January 8 – George Charles of Hesse-Kassel, Prince of Hesse-Kassel and Prussian general
- January 16 – Peter Scheemakers, Flemish sculptor
- January 18 – William Finch, British diplomat
- January 19 – Reinier Boitet, Delft publisher and writer
- January 25 – John Folliot, officer of the British Army
- January 27 – Christian Ulrich II, Duke of Württemberg-Wilhelminenort
- February 3 – George Lillo, British writer
- February 4 – Louis-Basile de Bernage, French jurist
- February 6 – Francisco Cajigal de la Vega, Spanish general and Viceroy
- February 8 – John Adams Sr., British colonial farmer, minister, father of the U.S. president, John Adams
- February 10 – Samuel Wesley, English poet and cleric
- February 17 – Julius Valentyn Stein van Gollenesse, Governor of Zeylan
- February 27 – Edward Cave, English editor and publisher
- March 1 – Conrad Beissel, German-American religious leader
- March 4 – Pierre-Herman Dosquet, Catholic bishop
- March 7 – Francesco Alborea, Italian composer and cellist
- March 12 – Dionisia de Santa María Mitas Talangpaz, Filipino saint
- March 16 – Michel Baudouin, Canadian missionary
- March 20 – Princess Dorothea Wilhelmine of Saxe-Zeitz, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel
- March 22 – Philipp von Stosch, Prussian antiquarian
- March 28 – Charles Emil Lewenhaupt, Swedish general
- March 30 – Charles Hamilton, Count of Arran, English collector of manuscripts
- March 31 – Franz Hunolt, German preacher
April–June
- April 2 – Christian Ernest of Stolberg-Wernigerode, Count
- April 5
- * Franz Joseph Spiegler, German painter
- * Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
- April 6 – Johann Heinrich Zopf, German historian
- April 8 – John Bampfylde, British politician
- April 9
- * Paul Egell, German sculptor and plasterer
- * Johann Matthias Gesner, German classical scholar and schoolmaster
- April 13
- * Joseph-Charles Roettiers, French engraver and medallist
- * Johann Friedrich Weidler, German astronomer and mathematician
- April 23 – René Hérault, French police chief
- April 30 – Henry Ingram, 7th Viscount of Irvine, Scottish peer and politician
- May 1 – Kasimir Wedig von Bonin, German military personnel
- May 23 – Giuseppe Orsoni, Italian artist, 1691–1755
- May 25 – Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja, Portuguese prince of the second House of Braganza
- May 27 – James Alexander, American lawyer in colonial New York
- June 2 – Nicolau Nasoni, Italian architect
- June 4 – Daniel Horsmanden, American judge
- June 8 – James Cecil, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English Earl
- June 14 – Jan Francisci, Slovak organist and composer
- June 17
- * George August, Count of Erbach-Schönberg, German noble
- * Giovanni Paolo Panini, Italian painter and architect
- June 20 – Pietro Antonio Magatti, Italian painter
- June 23 – John Thomas, English bishop of Lincoln and bishop of Salisbury
July–September
- July 17 – Peder von Todderud, Danish autobiographer
- July 24 – Harry Powlett, 4th Duke of Bolton, British politician
- July 26 – Sir John Trelawny, 4th Baronet, British politician
- July 31 – Bartolomé Rull, Spanish bishop
- August 5 – Charles d'Orléans de Rothelin, French priest and scholar
- August 8 – Christina Beata Dagström, Swedish baroness and glass works owner
- August 21 – Anne Coventry, Countess of Coventry, English plaintiff in a marriage settlement case
- August 25 – Alessandro Galilei, Italian architect, mathematician
- August 28 – Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress consort
- August 29 – Richard Challoner, English Catholic prelate
- August 30 – Louis-Jean Lévesque de Pouilly, French philosopher
- September 1 – James Burrough, English academic and architect
- September 3
- * Ana Maria de Lorena, 1st Duchess of Abrantes, Portuguese noblewoman
- * Armande Félice de La Porte Mazarin, French noblewoman, courtier and duelist
- * Antoine-Alexis Perier de Salvert, French naval officer
- September 20 – Giovanni Francesco Crivelli, Italian mathematician and priest
- September 22 – Louis-Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis of Vaudreuil, French Navy officer