1666

Years: 1663 1664 1665 - 1666 - 1667 1668 1669
Decades: 1630s 1640s 1650s - 1660s - 1670s 1680s 1690s
Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century 1666 in science

Events

September 2 - Great Fire of London: A large fire breaks out in London in the house of Charles II's baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. The fire burns for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul's Cathedral, but only 16 people are known to have died.
Sir Isaac Newton uses a prism to split sunlight into its component colours, which helped us understand the nature of light more comprehensively. (See optical spectrum).
Lund University founded in Lund, Sweden
Newark, New Jersey founded
Jean Talon completes a census of New France, the first census in North America
Louis XIV founds the French Academy of Sciences.