| 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%. |
| 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. |
| 1688 | England [literature and language] | The English writer Aphra Behn publishes her novel Oroonoko. She is the first English woman to earn her living as a writer. |
| 1688 | France [literature and language] | French writer Jean de la Bruyère publishes his collection of satirical sketches Les Caractères de Théophraste traduits de Grec avec les caractères ou les moeurs de ce siècle/The Characters of Theophrastus Translated from Greek, with the Characters or Manners of the Age. |
| 9 May 1688 | Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire, Germany, Prussia [administration] | Frederick III succeeds as Elector of Brandenburg on the death of Frederick William, the Great Elector. He becomes King Frederick I of Prussia in 1701. |
| 21 May 1688 | England [births and deaths] | Alexander Pope, English poet and satirist, author of ‘Essay on Man’, born in London, England (–1744). |
| 31 August 1688 | England [births and deaths] | John Bunyan, English Puritan minister and preacher, author of The Pilgrim's Progress (1678), dies in London, England (59). |
| 30 September 1688 | UK, United Netherlands [diplomacy] | The Dutch stadtholder William of Orange accepts the Whig lords' invitation to intervene in British affairs. He issues a manifesto denouncing evil counsellors, who he claimed had subjected the country to arbitrary government, and calling for a free Parliament. |
| 26 November 1688 | France, United Netherlands [War of the League of Augsburg (1688–97)] | King Louis XIV of France declares war on the United Netherlands. |
| 11 December 1688 | UK [political events] | An assembly of peers and bishops meets at the Guildhall to secure order and take on the government of London, England. They invite the Dutch stadtholder William of Orange to enter the city. Many other provincial centres have already fallen to William's supporters. |
