John Evelyn

John Evelyn made a presentation to the Royal Society on the deforestation of England and the need to plant trees; this was the germ of his Sylva, Or A Discourse Of Forest Trees, which...

John Evelyn first saw Scheets (skates) used in St James's Park in London, after the manner of the Hollanders.

As a sporting event, a very gallant horse was to be baited to death by dogs, on the pretext that it had killed a man.

The divorce of Lord Ros or Roos, on grounds of his wife's adultery, passed the House of Lords : the first such occasion since Henry VIII , said John Evelyn .

The Bear Garden in London, re-opened since the Restoration for bear-baiting, bull-baiting, and fights staged between dogs and cocks, was seen in operation for the first time in twenty years by John Evelyn .

Italian opera was performed for the first time in London (with John Evelyn among the audience). It gained popularity quickly.

John Evelyn observed Charles II , a week before he died, sitting and toying with three of his mistresses, listening to a french boy singing love songs, while courtiers played basset (a card game) for...

John Evelyn witnessed a demonstration on Blackheath near London of those devilish murdering mischiefe-doing engines, bombs.

The son of Mary of Modena and James II was born; the date became one of annual importance to Jacobites.

A satire on women, Mundus Muliebris: or, The Ladies Dressing-room Unlock'd, and her Toilette Spread, by Mary Evelyn the younger , was posthumously published by her father .

The Bank of England was established, against violent parliamentary opposition, with the primary object of lending money to the nation rather than to individuals: this was the beginning of the National Debt.

John Evelyn included in his Numismata. A Discourse of Medals, Ancient and Modern a list of women famed for writing: Margaret Cavendish , Katherine Philips , Aphra Behn , Bathsua Makin , and Mary Astell .

John Evelyn , scientific enquirer and man of letters, died. He is now best-known for the diary which was not discovered till a century after his death.