- 1580 Bernal Díaz del Castillo finishes his Historia verdadera de la conquista de México (True History of the Conquest of Mexico).
- 1673 Moliére feels unwell while performing his play The Imaginary Sick Man. He dies shortly afterwards.
- 1720 Spain joins the Quadruple Alliance and abides by the Treaty of Utrecht.
- 1745 Alexandro Volta (d. 1827), inventor of the electric battery, is born in Como, Italy.
- 1815 The Expedición Pacificadora leaves Cadiz to re-establish control over the colonies.
- 1894 Premiere of La verbena de la Paloma. It will run for half a century.
Featured articles