September 2, 1666 – September 6, 1666
A fire starting in a bakery on Pudding Lane destroys much of the medieval City of London, including Old St Paul's Cathedral.
Date given in the Julian calendar.
The monarchy is restored in England, Scotland and Ireland as Charles II returns to London to take the throne.
Using microscopes of his own making, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek describes single-celled organisms in water and reports them to the Royal Society.
Jesuit missionary Alexandre de Rhodes publishes in Rome a Vietnamese–Portuguese–Latin dictionary, a milestone in the development of the Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet.
Convicted of high treason, King Charles I is beheaded at Whitehall, London, and England becomes a republic.
A coalition army led by King John III Sobieski of Poland relieves the siege of Vienna, defeating the Ottomans and halting their advance into Central Europe.
The treaties of Westphalia end the Thirty Years' War and lay foundations for the modern concept of state sovereignty.