Year by year · 17th century

1687

1687 in world history: 6 events, 2 births, 5 deaths, 1 work and 1 state that came to an end. 1,145 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 19 March

    René-Robert de La Salle killed by his own men

    The explorer who had claimed the Mississippi basin for France was shot by mutineers in east Texas after his colony went astray. His Fort Saint Louis was soon destroyed.

  2. 5 July

    Isaac Newton publishes the Principia

    Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was published in London. It set out the laws of motion and universal gravitation, giving physics the framework that dominated science for more than two centuries.

    London

  3. 26 September

    A Venetian shell blows apart the Parthenon

    During the Venetian siege of the Acropolis, a mortar shell ignited Ottoman gunpowder stored in the Parthenon. The explosion destroyed the temple's centre and killed some 300 people.

ProfileState989 states with a known seat in 1687Open the atlas at 1687 →

In the profiles

  • Mughal EmpireAurangzeb annexes Golconda, bringing the empire near its greatest extent
  • LatinIsaac Newton publishes his Principia in Latin

Wars and longer events

Born in 1687 2

Died in 1687 5

Works 1

States that came to an end 1

All years → The 17th century →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1687. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1687
MLA
“1687.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1687. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1687.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1687.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1687’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1687 (Accessed: ).