Anniversarial — 2011
1661
On the 30 January, the body of Oliver Cromwell was exhumed and given a posthumous execution, along with other regicides, just over two years after his death (3 September 1658). In March, Louis XIV of France began personal rule following the death of his mentor and prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin; one of his first acts was creation of the Académie Royale de Danse (30 March). 24 August, Samuel Pepys records seeing a performance of Hamlet by Sir William Davenant's company, the Duke's Company, which included the introduction of stage scenery; the actor Thomas Betterton's prince was "beyond imagination". Also in 1661, Robert Boyle published The Sceptical Chymist, a landmark in scientific thought: Boyle argued for the kenetic/molecular model of matter, where all phenomena result from the collision of particles in motion. He also urged experimentation among those claiming scientific interest, arguing that no hypothesis should be regarded as true without experimental demonstration. Experimentation, he said, demonstrates the error of thinking of matter in terms of the four classical "elements" (earth, fire, air, water).
Here are some of those correspondents whose birth or death is marked in 2011:
Births
- Appeals in Excise, Commissioners of (founded 1661–disbanded 1841), English — government department
- Berkeley, Elizabeth [formerly Burnet; née Blake] (born 1661–died 1709), English — gentlewoman, philanthropist, author
- Burnet, Elizabeth [formerly Berkeley; née Blake] (born 1661–died 1709), English — gentlewoman, author
- Burridge, Ezekiel (born c. 1661–died 1707), Irish — churchman, translator
- Cornand de La Croze, Reverend Jean (born 1661–died 1705), French — churchman, journalist
- Digby, William, 5th Baron Digby (born 1661–died 1752), English — politician, philanthropist
- Douglas, Robina, countess of Forfar [née Lockhart] (born c. 1661–died 1741), English — aristocrat
- Fleuriau, Joseph Jean Baptiste, seigneur d’Armenonville (born 1661–died 1728), French — aristocrat, government minister
- Garth, Sir Samuel (born 1661–died 1719), English — physician, poet
- Hamilton, James, 6th earl of Abercorn (born c. 1661–died 1744), Scottish — aristocrat, politician, member of Parliament
- Harcourt, Sir Simon, 1st Viscount Harcourt (born 1661–died 1727), English — lawyer, politician, member of Parliament, civil servant
- Harley, Robert, 1st earl of Oxford (born 1661–died 1724), English — civil servant, patron, politician, member of Parliament
- Molyneux, Sir Thomas, 1st baronet (born 1661–died 1733), Irish — physician, academy member, politician, member of Parliament
- Montagu, Charles, 1st earl of Halifax (born 1661–died 1715), English — politician, member of Parliament
- Paulet, Charles, 2nd duke of Bolton (born c. 1661–died 1722), English — politician, member of Parliament
- Pigott, Nathaniel (born 1661–died 1737), English — lawyer
- Schulenburg, Johann Matthias von, graf von Schulenburg (born 1661–died 1747), German — aristocrat, army officer, patron
- Tournemine, René Joseph (born 1661–died 1739), French — churchman, Jesuit, university teacher, newspaper editor
- Veyssière La Croze, Mathurin (born 1661–died 1739), French — librarian, historian, Orientalist, archivist
Deaths
- Buitendijck, Gosuinus van (born c. 1585–died 1661), Dutch — churchman, Protestant, university administrator
- Digby, Kildare (born c. 1627–died 1661), Irish — aristocrat
- Harcourt, Lady Anne (died 1661), English — aristocrat
- Locke, John [senior] (born 1606–died 1661), English — lawyer, army officer
- Plemp, Vopiscus Fortunatus (born 1601–died 1661), Dutch — physician, philosopher