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1685| 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. | | May 1682 - August 1689 | Russia [administration] | After several days of unrest, the newly proclaimed Tsar Peter I the Great of Russia is overthrown by a faction led by the family of Tsar Alexis's first wife, Maria Miloslavsky, and backed by the Moscow Streltsy (musketeers). Peter and his mentally disabled half-brother Ivan V are proclaimed as joint tsars, with his half-sister Sofia as regent. | | c. 1685 | UK [music] | The opera Venus and Adonis, with music by the English composer John Blow, is first performed, in London, England. | | 6 February 1685 | UK [administration] | James II succeeds as king of England on the death of his brother Charles II. | | 6 February 1685 | UK [births and deaths] | Charles II, King of Great Britain and Ireland 1660–85, who was restored to the throne after the Puritan Commonwealth, dies in London, England (54). | | 23 February 1685 | Germany, England [births and deaths] | George Frideric Handel, German-born English baroque composer, whose best-known works include the oratorio Messiah (1741), born in Halle, Germany (–1759). | | 21 March 1685 | Germany [births and deaths] | Johann Sebastian Bach, leading German composer of the baroque period, born in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany (–1750). | | 30 June 1685 | England [births and deaths] | John Gay, English poet and dramatist, author of The Beggar's Opera (1728), born in Barnstaple, Devonshire, England (–1732). | | 18 October 1685 | France, UK, Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire, Germany, United Netherlands [law and government] | After a period of increasing persecution, King Louis XIV of France issues the Edict of Fontainebleau which revokes the Edict of Nantes of 1598 and makes it illegal to be a Protestant in France. As a result, thousands of Huguenot refugees flee to Britain, the United Netherlands, and Brandenburg. | | 8 November 1685 | France, Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire, Germany [diplomacy] | A breakdown of the Franco-Brandenburg alliance occurs when, in response to King Louis XIV of France's revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg, issues the Edict of Potsdam, offering refuge to Huguenots in his dominions. Subsequently the Great Elector pursues an anti-French foreign policy. |
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