1678
Years:
1675 1676 1677 - 1678 - 1679 1680 1681Decades:
1640s 1650s 1660s - 1670s - 1680s 1690s 1700sCenturies:
16th century - 17th century - 18th century 1678 by topic: Science - State leaders - Literature - Music
Events
- August 10 - Treaty of Nijmegen ends the Dutch War.
- September 6 - Titus Oates begins to present allegations of the "Popish Plot", a Catholic conspiracy to assassinate king Charles II of England
- October 17 - British magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey is found murdered in Primrose Hill, London. Titus Oates claims it as a proof of his allegations.
- About 1200 Irish families sail from Barbados to Virginia and the Carolinas
- First chrysanthemums in Europe
- John Bunyan publishes his novel, The Pilgrim's Progress.
Births
- March 4 - Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer (d. 1741)
- March 7 - Filippo Juvara, Italian architect (d. 1736)
- May 16 - Andreas Silbermann, organ builder (d. 1734)
- July 26 - Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1711)
- September 16 - Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (d. 1751)
- September 29 - Adrien-Maurice, 3rd duc de Noailles, French soldier (d. 1766)
- October 10 - John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, Scottish soldier (d. 1743)
- November 26 - Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (d. 1771)
- December 8 - Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole of Wolterton, English diplomat (d. 1757)
- December 13 - Yongzheng Emperor of China (d. 1735)
- December 14 - Daniel Neal, English historian (d. 1743)
- December 30 - William Croft, English composer (d. 1727)
Deaths
- January 29 - Jeronimo Lobo, Portuguese Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
- August 5 - Juan García de Zéspedes, Mexican musician and composer (b. 1619)
- August 16 - Andrew Marvell, English writer (b. 1621)
- August 28 - John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, English soldier (b. 1602)
- October 12 - Edmund Berry Godfrey, English magistrate (b. 1621)
- October 18 - Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (b. 1593)
- October 19 - Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten, Dutch painter
- November 1 - William Coddington, first Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1601)