With 30,000 to 100,000 victims, this earthquake is among the most devastating natural disasters in European history.
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The first nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) plants are cultivated in Jamestown, Virginia.
In Sylvicultura Oeconomica, written in response to the widespread scarcity of wood throughout Europe, Hans Carl von Carlowitz summarizes extant forestry knowledge and supplements it with his own observations.
English engineer Thomas Savery patents a steam engine for removing water from mine shafts; with subsequent improvements, the device would later drive the Industrial Revolution.
The term describes wild or uncultivated land.
A severe famine hits the Deccan region in India from 1630–1632.
In 1651, a series of floods kills as many as 15,000 people and leads to widespread destruction.
Pompeii is buried by materials from the volcano Vesuvius.
English taxonomist John Ray’s History of Plants classified biological species in a new systematic way.
Former World Bank Chief Economist Nicholas Stern predicts the rapid growth of the costs of measures to combat climate change.