Events January–March January 2 – Fleeing from the Spanish Navy, French pirate Raveneau de Lussan and his 70 men arrive on the west coast of Nicaragua, sink their boats, and make a difficult 10 day march to the city of Ocotal. January 5 – Pirates Charles Swan and William Dampier and the crew of the privateer Cygnet become the first Englishmen to set foot on the continent of Australia. January 11 – The Patta Fort and the Avandha Fort, located in what is now India's Maharashtra state near Ahmednagar, are captured from the Maratha clan by Mughul Army commander Matabar Khan. The Mughal Empire rules the area 73 years. January 17 – Ilona Zrínyi, who has defended the Palanok Castle in Hungary from Austrian Imperial forces since 1685, is forced to surrender to General Antonio Caraffa. January 29 – Madame Jeanne Guyon, French mystic, is arrested in France and imprisoned for seven months. January 30 (January 20, 1687 old style) – King James II of England and Scotland issues a proclamation offering amnesty to pirates in the West Indies who surrender to Sir Robert Holmes. February 7 – Six French Jesuit scientists, Joachim Bouvet, Jean-François Gerbillon, Louis-Daniel Lecomte, Guy Tachard, Claude de Visdelou and the leader, Jean de Fontaney, arrive in Beijing and are welcomed by the Emperor of China, Kangxi. February 17 – James Renwick, the last of the Covenanters in Scotland to be martyred for opposing the authority of King Charles II, is publicly hanged at Grassmarket square in Edinburgh. February 23 – Abaza Siyavuş Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, is assassinated by the Janissaries, the Turkish troops who had placed him in power in September, after the new Sultan fails to make payment of an expected bonus. February 28 – The French opera David et Jonathas, composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, is performed for the first time. March 1 – A great fire devastates Bungay, England. March – William Dampier makes the first recorded visit to Christmas Island, now a territory of Australia, located south of the island of Java (now part of Indonesia). April–June April 3 – Francesco Morosini becomes Doge of Venice. April 10 – Morean War: The Venetian forces under Francesco Morosini evacuate Athens and Piraeus. April 18 (Julian calendar) – The Germantown Quaker Protest Against Slavery is drafted by four Germantown Quakers. April 29 – Friedrich Wilhelm, the Great Elector of