Castle in the north west of England. The English East India Company expands its influence, and a Committee of the House of Commons is formed to deal with the concerns of the Company. Valvasor's The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola is printed in Nuremberg. The first documented performance of the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell takes place at Josias Priest's girls' school in Chelsea, London, with a libretto based on the ''Aeneid by Virgil. Boston suffers a smallpox epidemic. Births January January 7 – Robert Murray, Brigadier-General, Scottish soldier, Member of Parliament (d. 1738) January 11 – Charles Parkin, English clergyman and antiquarian (d. 1765) January 15 – Giovanni Gaetano Bottari, Italian scholar and critic (d. 1775) January 16 – Edmond Jean François Barbier, French historian (d. 1771) January 18 Montesquieu, French social commentator and political thinker (d. 1755) Jan Abel Wassenbergh, painter from the Northern Netherlands (d. 1750) January 21 – Daniel Henchman, bookseller (d. 1761) January 22 – Philibert Orry, French politician (d. 1747) January 23 – Joseph Ames, English bibliographer and antiquary (d. 1759) January 24 – Gaspare Diziani, Italian painter (d. 1767) January 29 – James Rait, Bishop of Brechin (d. 1777) February February 1 – Thomas Jenner, English academic (d. 1768) February 3 – Blas de Lezo, admiral of the Spanish Empire (d. 1741) February 23 – Leonardo Antonio Olivieri, Italian painter (d. 1752) c. February 23 – Samuel Bellamy, English pirate captain (d. 1717) February 27 Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer (d. 1775) John Roosevelt, American businessman and alderman (d. 1750) Maximilian Emanuel of Württemberg-Winnental, German noble (d. 1709) March March 3 – Thomas Ingoldsby, British politician (d. 1768) March 7 – Charles-Michel Mesaiger, Jesuit priest (d. 1766) March 11 Roger Handasyd, British Army officer (d. 1763) Nanbu Toshimoto, mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, the 6th daimyō of Morioka Domain (d. 1725) March 19 – Pierre-Joseph Alary, French ecclesiastic and writer (d. 1770) March 20 – Thomas Robie, Colonial American scientist and physician (d. 1729) March 25 – Peder Hersleb, Norwegian bishop (d. 1757) March 26 – Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria, Austrian Royal (d. 1743) April April 2 – Arthur Dobbs, Irish politician, governor of the Province of North Carolina (d. 1765) April 5 – William Holmes, English academic and Dean of Exeter (d. 1748) April 14 – William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine, Scottish army officer and Jacobite leader (d. 1746) April