1687

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Newton's own copy of his July 5th 1687 edition of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (or his Principia), with hand-written corrections for the second edition.

1687 (MDCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter E) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday (dominical letter B) of the Julian calendar, the 1687th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 687th year of the 2nd millennium, the 87th year of the 17th century, and the 8th year of the 1680s decade. As of the start of 1687, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1918.

Events

January–June

• March 19 – The men under explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, murder him while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River.
• April 4 – King James II of England issues the Declaration of Indulgence (or Declaration for the Liberty of Conscience), suspending laws against Roman Catholics and nonconformists.^[1]
• May 6 – Emperor Higashiyama succeeds Emperor Reigen on the throne of Japan.

July–December

• July 5 – Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known as the Principia, is published by the Royal Society of London. In it, Newton describes his theory of universal gravitation, explains the laws of mechanics and gives a formula for the speed of sound. The writing of Principia Mathematica ushers in a tidal wave of changes in thought, significantly accelerating the scientific revolution by providing new and practical intellectual tools and becomes the foundation of modern physics.
• August 12 – Battle of Mohács (Great Turkish War): The Habsburg imperial army and allies under Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, defeat the Ottoman Turks and enables Austria to conquer most of Ottoman-occupied Hungary.
• September – The navy of the Republic of Venice raids the Dalmatian coast and attacks Ottoman Turkish strongholds in Greece as part of the Morean War. On 28 September, the Parthenon in Athens is badly damaged when Venetian mortar fire explodes a Turkish powder magazine housed in the building.
• November 8 – Suleiman II (d. 1691) succeeds the deposed Mehmed IV as Ottoman Emperor.
• December 31 – In response to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, a group of Huguenots set sail from France and settle in the recently established Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope where, using their native skills, they establish the first South African vineyards.

Births

• January 27 – Johann Balthasar Neumann, German architect (d. 1753)
• March 7 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian (d. 1760)
• May 12 – Johann Heinrich Schulze, German professor and polymath (d. 1744)
• June 24 – Johann Albrecht Bengel, German scholar (d. 1752)
• September 7 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (d. 1772)
• October 4 – Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician (d. 1768)
• October 21 – Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1759)
• November 7 – William Stukeley, English archaeologist (d. 1765)
• December 5 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1762)
• December 26 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German musician (d. 1755)

date unknown

• Gabriel de Clieu, French naval officer and governor of Guadeloupe from 1737 to 1752 (d. 1774)
• Shahzada Assadullah Khan Abdali, Persian Governor of Herat (d. 1720)

Deaths

• January 13 – Jean Claude, French Protestant clergyman (b. 1619)
• January 28 – Johannes Hevelius, astronomer (b. 1611)
• March 19 – René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, French explorer (b. 1643)
• March 22 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, French composer who established opera in France (b. 1632)
• March 28 – Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer (b. 1596)
• April 12 – Ambrose Dixon, Virginia Colony pioneer (b. c. 1628)
• April 16 – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (b. 1628)
• September 1 – Henry More, English philosopher (b. 1614)
• September 12 – John Alden, Mayflower pilgrim (b. c. 1599)
• September 28 – Francis Turretin, Swiss theologian (b. 1623)
• October 13 – Geminiano Montanari, Italian astronomer (b. 1633)
• October 21 – Edmund Waller, English poet (b. 1606)
• November 14 – Nell Gwyn, English mistress of Charles II of England (b. 1650)
• December 16 – Sir William Petty, English philosopher (b. 1623)

References