1708 - Definition and Overview

Events

• March 23 - James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth
• Kandahar conquered by Mir Wais
• In Masuria one third of the population die during the plague
• September 28: Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya
• J.S. Bach appointed as chamber musician and organist at the court in Weimar, Germany

Ongoing events

• Great Northern War (1700-1721)
• War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713)

Births

• April 23 - Friedrich von Hagedorn, German poet (died 1754)
• October 16 - Albrecht von Haller, Swiss anatomist and physiologist (died 1777)
• November 15 - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, British politician (died 1778)
• December 8 - Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1765)
• Pompeo Batoni, Italian painter (died 1787)
• Richard Dawes, British classical scholar (died 1766)

Deaths

• October 1 - John Blow, British composer (born 1648)
• October 7 - Guru Gobind Singh, Indian religious leader (born 1666)
• October 11 - Ehrenfried Walter von Tschirnhaus, mathematician
• Seki Kowa, mathematician