Year 1703 (MDCCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). 1703 of the Swedish calendar was a common year starting on Wednesday, one day ahead of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1703

Feb. 4: 47 samurai.

January - June

• February 2 - An earthquake hits the town of L'Aquila, Italy.
• February 4 - In Japan, the Forty-seven Ronin commit seppuku, a ritual suicide.
• February 14 - An earthquake hits Norcia, Italy.
• February - Soldiers at Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrate Mardi Gras in Mobile, starting the tradition for Mobile, Alabama.
• April 21 - The Company of Quenching of Fire (i.e., a fire brigade) is founded in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• May 27 - The city of Saint Petersburg is founded in Russia.
• May 26 - Portugal joins the Grand Alliance.

July - December

July 29: Defoe.

November 24: Great Storm of 1703.

• July 29-31 - Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory, then imprisoned 4 months for the crime of seditious libel, after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet (his release is granted in mid-November).
• September 12 - War of the Spanish Succession - Habsburg Archduke Charles is proclaimed King of Spain.
• October - A whirlwind blows down the tower of the Gan Takal in Gondar, capital of Ethiopia, killing 30.
• November 19 - The The Man in the Iron Mask dies in the Bastille.
• November 24 to December 2 - The Great Storm of 1703, an Atlantic hurricane, ravages southern England and the English Channel, killing nearly 8,000, mostly at sea.
• December 27 - Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty, which gives preference to Portuguese wines imported into England.

Undated

• A Tale of a Tub, the first major satire by Jonathan Swift, is published.
• George Psalmanazar arrives in London.
• Isaac Newton becomes the chairman of the Royal Society.
• Ahmed III (1703-1730) succeeds Mustafa II (1695-1703) as Ottoman Emperor.
• The Hungarians rebel under Prince Francis II Rákóczi.

Births

• February 5 - Gilbert Tennent, Irish-born religious leader (d. 1764)
• March 5 (N. S.) - Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (d. 1768)
• May 14 - David Brearly, delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention (d. 1785)
• June 17 - John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (d. 1791)
• June 26 - Thomas Clap, first president of Yale University (d. 1767)
• August 2 - Lorenzo Ricci, Italian Jesuit leader (d. 1775)
• September 29 - François Boucher, French painter (d. 1770)
• October 5 - Jonathan Edwards, American preacher (d. 1758)
• October 28 - Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (d. 1768)
• November 25 - Jean-François Séguier, French astronomer and botanist (d. 1784)
• November 26 - Theophilus Cibber, English actor and writer (d. 1758)
• December 2 - Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian explorer (d. 1759)

See also Category: 1703 births.

Deaths

• January 11 - Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (b. 1632)
• March 3 - Robert Hooke, English scientist (b. 1635)
• March 31 - Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (b. 1642)
• April 20 - Lancelot Addison, English royal chaplain (b. 1632)
• May 16 - Charles Perrault, French author (b. 1628)
• May 26 - Samuel Pepys, English civil servant and diarist (b. 1633)
• June 14 - Jean Herauld Gourville, French adventurer (b. 1625)
• July 17 - Roemer Vlacq I, Dutch naval captain (b. 1637)
• September 22 - Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician and scientist (b. 1622)
• September 25 - Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, Scottish privy councillor (b. 1658)
• September 29 - Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier (b. 1610)
• October 28 - John Wallis, English mathematician (b. 1616)
• November 19 - The Man in the Iron Mask
• November 30 - Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (b. 1672)
• December 28 - Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1664)
• date unknown - Phetracha, king of Ayutthaya (b. 1632)

See also Category: 1703 deaths.