Events
- 9 January – Charles II gives orders establishing the dates on which he will perform the "Touching the King's Evil" ceremony.[1]
- 22 March – great fire in Newmarket, Suffolk.
- 24 May – the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, opens as the world's first purpose-built university museum.[2]
- 12 June – the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II is discovered;[3] at least 11 people will be executed for their connections with it.
- 21 July – Lord Russell is beheaded by Jack Ketch at Lincoln's Inn Fields for his part in the Rye House Plot.[4][5]
- 28 July – The Lady Anne, the King's niece and fourth in line of succession, marries Prince George of Denmark in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, London.
- 12 December – start of exceptional cold spell. The River Thames freezes, allowing a frost fair to be held (pictured).
Undated
- Wild boars are hunted to extinction in Britain.[3]
- The London Jilt; or, the Politick Whore, probably by Alexander Oldys, is published.