1696

Year 1696 () was a (link will display the full calendar) of the  (or a  of the 10-day slower ).

The year 1696 had the earliest dates for es and s for 400 years in the, because this year was the last of the century, and subsequent years (by skipping leap day, also in 1700) allowed the equinoxes to edge towards later dates. However, prior to the Gregorian reform, the equinoxes were even much earlier, by the extra 10-day shift. See.

January - June

 * - In, the ship HMS Royal Sovereign (formerly  1638) caught fire and burned at , after 57 years of service.
 * - becomes sole  of, upon the death of Tsar
 * - In the, s revolt after funeral reforms in.
 * January - In, the passed in Parliament.
 * January - 's play "Love's Last Shift" is performed at the Theatre Royal.
 * - English king Willem III departs from the.
 * April - Fire destroys the Gra Bet (or Left Quarter) of, the capital of.
 * - John Salomonsz is elected chief of Saint-Eustatius.

July - December

 * - The fleet of Tsar occupies  at mouth of.
 * - French king and Victor Amadeus van Savoye sign peace treaty.
 * - State of announces Willem III as mayor.
 * - Forces of and  troops clash near.
 * - is founded in Kettering, England.
 * - 's "" premieres in.
 * - 's "Le Joueur" premieres in.
 * - The burns a number of  in,.

Undated

 * replaces as an  of the.
 * A wipes out almost a third of the population of  and a fifth of the population of.
 * is settled.
 * offers an elaborate plan for intercolonial cooperation largely in trade, defense, and criminal matters.
 * The occurred.
 * captured and destroyed.

Births

 * -, Italian / (died )
 * -, French Huguenot minister (died )
 * -, Italian painter (died )
 * -, Scottish soldier and Prussian field marshal (died )
 * -, English colonial soldier (died )
 * -, English antiquarian and bibliographer (died )
 * -, (died )
 * -, English composer (died )
 * -, Italian founder of the Redemptionist order (died )
 * -, English statesman and writer (died )
 * -, Pennsylvania's ambassador to the (died )
 * -, English general and founder of the state of Georgia (died )
 * date unknown -, colonial governor of New Hampshire (died )


 * See also .

Deaths

 * -, French missionary explorer in Canada (born )
 * - Tsar (born )
 * , King  or
 * -, French jurist (born )
 * -, English conspirator (born c.)
 * -, French writer (born )
 * -, British naturalist (born )
 * -, French writer (born )
 * -, regent of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe (born )
 * -, First Lord of the British Admiralty (born )
 * - (born )
 * -, Scottish military commander at the Massacre of Glencoe (born )
 * - (born )
 * -, empress of Japan (born )
 * date unknown - (born )


 * See also .