archbishops, bishops, vicars general, deans, jesuits, monks, friars, and other regular popish clergy" to have reported to Irish ports for deportation. Re-entry to Ireland after May 4, 1698, is a criminal offense with a penalty of 12 months imprisonment and expulsion, while a second re-entry is punishable by death as treason. May 4 – At the imperial capital at Inwa, Sanay Min of the Toungoo dynasty becomes the new King of Burma upon the death of his father, Minye Kyawhtin. May 17 – The British Royal Navy ship HMS Hastings, a 32-gun fifth rate, is launched. June 20 – An earthquake of magnitude 7.2–7.9 damages an extended region around Ambato, Ecuador, including the Tungurahua, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo provinces. Ambato and Latacunga are completely destroyed and several thousand casualties are reported. June 21 – John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough is reinstated in the English Army, with readmission to the Privy Council by King William III. On July 26, he is selected as one of the Lords Justice. June 24 – The Trade with Africa Act 1697 goes into effect in the British Empire, ending the monopoly of the Royal African Company in the African slave trade by opening trade to any English merchants who pay a 10 percent fee to the company. July–September July 7 – The English House of Commons is dissolved and new elections are held between July 19 and August 10 for a parliament to be summoned on August 24. July 14 – Darien scheme: The first Scottish settlers leave for an ill-fated colony in Panama. July 25 – English engineer Thomas Savery obtains a patent for a steam pump. August 24 – King William III opens the newly elected House of Commons at Westminster. August 25 – Peter the Great arrives back in Moscow; General Patrick Gordon has already crushed the Streltsy Uprising, with 341 rebels sentenced to be decapitated. September 5 – In an effort to move his people away from Asiatic customs, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a beard tax. A charter is granted by King William III of England to the new East India Company of England, called "the New Company" or "the English Company" to break the monopoly that has existed in India since 1689 with the existing British East India Company. October–December October 11 – The Treaty of the Hague is signed between the Dutch Republic, England and France. October 24