1669
Aurangzeb Bans Hindu Practices
The puritanical Mughal emperor issued orders to destroy newly built Hindu temples, reimposed the jizya tax on non-Muslims, and banned public religious festivals. The policies alienated Rajput, Maratha, and Sikh communities across the empire and sowed the resistance that would, within decades, tear Mughal India apart. Akbar's pluralist legacy was being dismantled by his own great-grandson.
Hudson's Bay Company Founded
Charles II granted Prince Rupert and a group of investors a monopoly over the fur trade of the vast drainage basin of Hudson Bay. The Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay would become the oldest continuously operating commercial corporation in North America and a de facto government of the Canadian north.
Hennig Brand Discovers Phosphorus
A German alchemist boiling down enormous quantities of urine in search of the philosopher's stone was startled by a glowing white residue that burst into flame in air. He had isolated a new element: phosphorus, the first discovered since antiquity. Chemistry gained a new substance, and alchemy a small posthumous triumph.
Venice Loses Candia
After twenty-one years of siege, the longest in European history, the Venetian garrison of Candia on Crete surrendered to the Ottomans. Venice kept a handful of outposts on the Aegean; the Ottomans gained their last great Mediterranean prize. The maritime republic's long decline was beyond disguising, and the loss of Crete closed a chapter in Venetian history that had lasted over four centuries.