| 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%. |
| 1667–1685 | France [law and government] | A substantial reform of French law takes place with the introduction of a new Civil Code, the Code Louis, in 1667. It is followed by the Criminal Code in 1670, the Maritime Code in 1672, the Commercial Code in 1673, and the Code Noir in 1685, which caters for slaves in the colonies. It remains the basis of French law until the Code Napoléon is introduced in 1804. |
| 1673 | England [literature and language] | The English poet John Milton publishes Poems Upon Various Occasions. |
| 1673 | [maths] | German mathematician Gottfried von Leibniz presents a calculating machine to the Royal Society. It is the most advanced yet, capable of multiplication, division, and extracting roots. |
| 1673 | France [music] | The opera Cadmus and Hermione by the French composer Jean Baptiste Lully is first performed, in Paris, France. |
| 1 January 1673 | North America [postal services] | The first regular mounted mail service is begun, between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. The trip takes three weeks, with the rider changing horses along the way at scattered posts. This road, the Boston Post Road, is the first of many post roads in the North American colonies. |
| 17 February 1673 | France [births and deaths] | Molière (real name Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), French comic dramatist, whose best-known works include Le Tartuffe, ou l'imposteur/Tartuffe, or the Impostor (1664) and L'Avare/The Miser (1668), dies in Paris, France (51). |
| March 1673 | United Netherlands, Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire, Germany, France [diplomacy] | Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg, breaks his alliance with the United Netherlands when, prompted partly by the fact that Dutch subsidy payments have fallen into arrears, he makes a preliminary peace with King Louis XIV of France. |
| 11 August 1673 | France, UK, United Netherlands [Anglo–Dutch Wars (1652–74)] | The last important engagement of the third Anglo-Dutch war takes place between the allied British and French navies and the Dutch fleet off Texel in the United Netherlands. The result is inconclusive but it marks the end of allied efforts to land troops in the United Netherlands. |
