1703

Events

* February 2 - An earthquake hits the town of L'Aquila, Italy.
* February 4 - In Japan, the 47 samurai commit seppuku, a ritual suicide.
* February 14 - An earthquake hits Norcia, Italy.
* April 21 - Company of Quenching of Fire (i.e., a fire brigade) founded in Edinburgh, Scotland.
* May 27 - Founding of St Petersburg in Russia.
* May 26 - Portugal joins the Grand Alliance.
* July 29-31 - Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet.
* September 12 - War of the Spanish Succession – Habsburg Archduke Charles proclaimed King of Spain.
* October - A whirlwind blows down the tower of the Gan Takal in Gondar, capital of Ethiopia, killing 30.
* November 19 - Unknown masked prisoner dies in Bastille.
* November 24 to December 2 - the Great Storm of 1703 ravages southern England and the English Channel, killing thousands.
* December 27 - Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England.
* A Tale of a Tub, first major satire by Jonathan Swift, published
* George Psalmanazar arrives in London
* Isaac Newton becomes the chairman of Royal Society
* Ahmed III (1703-1730) succeeds Mustafa II (1695-1703) as emperor of the Ottoman Empire.

Births

*February 5 - Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader (died 1764)
*March 5 (N. S.) - Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (died 1768)
*May 14 - David Brearly, delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention (died 1785)
*June 17 - John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (died 1791)
*June 26 - Thomas Clap, first president of Yale University (died 1767)
*August 2 - Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (died 1775)
*October 5 - Jonathan Edwards, American preacher (died 1758)
*October 28 - Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (died 1768)
*November 25 - Jean-François Séguier, French astronomer and botanist (died 1784)
*November 26 - Theophilus Cibber, English actor and writer (died 1758)
*December 2 - Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer (died 1759)
*François Boucher, French painter (died 1770)

Deaths

*Phetracha, king of Ayutthaya
*January 11 - Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (born 1632)
*March 3 - Robert Hooke, English scientist (born 1635)
*March 31 - Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (born 1642)
*April 20 - Lancelot Addison, English royal chaplain (born 1632)
*May 16 - Charles Perrault, French author (born 1628)
*May 26 - Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (born 1633)
*June 14 - Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (born 1625)
*September 22 - Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician and scientist (born 1622)
*September 25 - Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, Scottish privy councillor (born 1658)
*September 29 - Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier (born 1610)
*October 28 - John Wallis, English mathematician (born 1616)
*November 30 - Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (born 1672)
*December 28 - Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (born 1664)