| 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. |
| 1674 | France [literature and language] | French poet and critic Nicolas Boileau Despréaux publishes L'Art poétique/The Art of Poetry, a defence of the classical tradition. |
| 1674 | Netherlands [technology] | The Dutch scientist and instrumentmaker Christiaan Huygens makes a watch using a balance wheel controlled by the oscillations of a spring to keep time. |
| 1674 | France [thought and scholarship] | French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche publishes De La Recherche de la vérité/On the Search for Truth, his major work. An English translation, The Search for Truth, appears in 1694. |
| 1674 | North America [thought and scholarship] | English-born North American judge Samuel Sewall (one of the judges in the Salem witch trials) starts his Diary, covering both his private life and the public affairs of Massachusetts, which he keeps (with some long gaps) until 1729. It is first published in 1878. |
| c. 1674 | North America [art] | An anonymous North American artist paints two portraits of a young Boston family: John Freake and Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary. The second of these portraits is widely considered one of the finest paintings of the Colonial period. |
| 1674 | Netherlands [biology] | The Dutch microscopist Anton van Leeuwenhoek uses single-lens microscopes to study the composition of organisms. He discovers an extensive fauna of minute organisms, which he describes as ‘very little animalcules’. |
| 9 February 1674 | UK, United Netherlands [treaties] | Owing to parliamentary pressure, King Charles II of England is forced to negotiate the Treaty of Westminster, thereby bringing the third Anglo-Dutch war to an end. The Dutch accept the British right of salute in the Channel and agree to pay a small indemnity. New York City is returned to Britain but the Dutch monopoly of trade in the East Indies is preserved. |
| 21 May 1674 | Poland [administration] | Following his victory over the Ottoman Turks at Chocim, John Sobieski is elected king of Poland as John III. |
| 28 May 1674 | Germany, Holy Roman Empire [wars] | The Imperial German diet (assembly) at Ratisbon (modern Regensburg) declares war on France. |
| 11 August 1674 | France, United Netherlands, Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Spanish Netherlands [wars] | The important Battle of Seneffe, near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, takes place between French and allied Dutch, Imperial, and Spanish forces. Though the two sides fight to a stalemate, the Dutch Captain-General William of Orange emerges with an enhanced reputation as a military leader. |
| 8 November 1674 | England [births and deaths] | John Milton, English poet, scholar, historian, and republican whose best-known work is Paradise Lost (1667), dies in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, England (66). |
