1661 in England

Events from the year 1661 which occurred in the Kingdom of England.

Incumbents

*Monarch - Charles II of England

Events

* 6 January - The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London. George Monck's regiment defeats them.
* 30 January Bodies of Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton exhumed and subjected to a posthumous execution.cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan & Veronica |year=1992 |title= The Chronology of British History|publisher= Century Ltd|location=London|pages= 188-189|isbn= 0-7126-5616-2]
* 14 February - George Monck's regiment becomes "The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards" (which later becomes Coldstream Guards).
* 15 April - Savoy Conference of bishops and Presbyterians fails to agree on a new revision of the Prayer Book.
* 19 April - the Post Office introduces post marks.cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-141-02715-0|year=2006]
* 23 April - King Charles II of England, Scotland, Ireland crowned in Westminster Abbey.cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=269–270]
* 8 May - first meeting of the Cavalier Parliament.
* 5 June - Isaac Newton admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge.
* 1 October - Yacht race from Greenwich to Gravesend between King Charles and James, Duke of York makes the sport fashionable.
* December - Convocations at Canterbury and York complete the new Anglican Prayer Book (forcibly imposed in 1662).
* 20 December - Parliament passes the Corporation Act 1661 restricting public office to members of the Church of England.

Undated

* King Charles II appoints Peter Lely as his court painter.
* Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre opens in London.

Publications

* Robert Boyle publishes "The Sceptical Chymist" in London, in which he developed the idea of elements and 'corpuscles' (atoms).
* John Evelyn's pamphlet "Fumifugium" is one of the earliest descriptions of air pollution."The London Encyclopaedia", Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, Macmillan, 1995, ISBN 0-333-57688-8]

Births

* 16 April - Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, poet and statesman (died 1715)
* 28 November - Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, Governor of New York and New Jersey (died 1723)
* 5 December - Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, statesman (died 1724)
* Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, supporter of William III of Orange (died 1722)
* "date unknown"
** Samuel Garth, physician and poet (died 1719)
** Nicholas Hawksmoor, architect (died 1736)

Deaths

* 19 January - Thomas Venner, Fifth Monarchist (executed) (year of birth unknown)
* 1 March - Richard Zouch, jurist (born 1590)
* 7 April - William Brereton, soldier and politician (born 1604)
* 16 August - Thomas Fuller, churchman and historian (born 1608)
* 19 November - Brian Walton, clergyman and scholar (born 1600)

References

ee also