| 1607–1700 | North America, UK [food and drink] | Fruits introduced to the North American colonies from England include apples, which adapt well in New England, and peaches, which grow easily in Virginia and other warmer regions. Native vegetables like pumpkins, squash, and beans are favoured over European vegetables. |
| 1640–1700 | North America [literature and language] | Literacy rates in the colonies, particularly in New England, are high relative to those in the Old World. Shipton, New England has a 95% literacy rate; males in Virginia have a literacy rate between 54% and 60%. |
| 1660 | UK [thought and scholarship] | English poet John Milton publishes The Readie and Easie Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, a tract in favour of Republicanism. After the Restoration later this year his books are publicly burnt. |
| 1660 | Germany [earth sciences] | The German scientist Otto von Guericke discovers the sudden drop in air pressure preceding a violent storm – a discovery that will revolutionize weather forecasting. He also suggests comets might return periodically, pre-empting Edmond Halley's work on this subject by 45 years. |
| 1660 | North America [Judaism] | Asser Levy, whose shop is on Wall Street in New Amsterdam (modern New York City), is the first kosher butcher in the Americas. |
| 1660 | England [births and deaths] | Daniel Defoe, English novelist and journalist, author of Robinson Crusoe (1719–22) and Moll Flanders (1722), born in London, England (–1731). |
| 1660 | Italy [architecture] | The Chapel San Ivo della Sapienza (attached to Rome University), designed by the Italian architect Francesco Borromini, is completed in Rome, Italy. |
| c. 1660 | Netherlands [art] | The Dutch artist Jan Vermeer paints View of Delft. |
| 1 January 1660 | England [thought and scholarship] | English diarist Samuel Pepys begins his Diary, which he keeps until May 1669. |
| 23 February 1660 | Sweden [administration] | A regency is established in Sweden when, after the death of his father Charles X, the four-year-old Charles XI becomes king. |
| 25 April - 29 December 1660 | UK [administration] | The Convention Parliament assembles and on 8 May the accession of Charles II as king of England is proclaimed in London, England. |
| May 1660 | Transylvania, Ottoman Empire [wars] | Despite his appeal to the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I for assistance in his fight against the Ottoman Turks, the ousted György II Rákóczy, Prince of Transylvania, is left to fight on alone for his crown. He is defeated and seriously wounded in a battle at Fenes, near Koloszvár, and dies a fortnight later. |
| 3 May 1660 | France, Sweden, Poland, Denmark-Norway, Russia, Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire, Germany [diplomacy] | Assisted by French mediation, the Peace of Oliwa is signed. It ends the war between Sweden and the allied forces of Brandenburg, Poland, and Denmark. Under its terms, the Elector of Brandenburg Frederick William's sovereignty in East Prussia is recognized, King John II Casimir of Poland renounces his claim to the Swedish throne, Sweden retains Estonia and Livonia, and Sweden and Poland recognize Russian claims to Lithuania and Courland. |
| 28 May 1660 | Hanover [births and deaths] | George I, Elector of Hanover 1698–1727 and first Hanoverian king of Great Britain 1714–27, born in Osnabrück, Hanover, Germany (–1727). |
| 6 June 1660 | Sweden, Denmark-Norway [treaties] | The Peace of Copenhagen formally ends the second war between Sweden and Denmark. Denmark's loss of lands in southern Sweden is confirmed and the Concert of The Hague successfully negotiates for the Baltic to be reopened to foreign ships. |
