1659
| Years: 1656 1657 1658 – 1659 – 1660 1661 1662 | |
| Decades: 1620s 1630s 1640s – 1650s – 1660s 1670s 1680s | |
| Centuries: 16th century – 17th century – 18th century 1659 in topic: | |
Table of contents |
Events
- May 25 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth.
- November 7 – 24-year war between France and Spain ends with French acquisition of Roussillon and most of Artois under the Treaty of the Pyrenees.
- The Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa brings cocoa to Paris
- Diego Velázquez's portrait of Infanta Maria Theresa is first exhibited
- Thomas Hobbes publishes De Homine
- Parisian police raid a monastery, sending monks to prison for eating meat and drinking wine during Lent
- Drought in India
Science
- Christiaan Huygens – Systema Saturnium
Births
- July 28- Charles Ancillon, French protestant (d. 1715)
- Henry Purcell, English composer (d. 1695)
Deaths
- Abel Tasman, Dutch explorer (b. 1603)
- Willem Drost, Dutch painter and printmaker (b. 1633)
Categories: 1659