Year 1706 (MDCCVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). Year 1706 of the Swedish calendar was a common year starting on Monday, one day ahead of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1706

January - June

• March 27 - Concluding that Emperor Iyasus I of Ethiopia has abdicated by retiring to a monastery, a council of high officials appoint Tekle Haymanot I Emperor of Ethiopia.
• May 23 - War of Spanish Succession - Battle of Ramillies: English, Dutch, and German troops defeat the French.

July - December

• September 7 - War of Spanish Succession - Battle of Turin: Forces of Austria and Savoy defeat the French.
• November 5 - The Dublin Gazette publishes its first edition.

Births

• January 7 - Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (d. 1751)
• January 17 - Benjamin Franklin, American (d. 1790)
• January 28 - John Baskerville, English printer (d. 1775)
• March 6 - Sir George Pocock, British admiral (d. 1792)
• April 24 - Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (d. 1784)
• May 17 - Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)
• May 20 - Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
• June 10 - John Dollond, English optician (d. 1761)
• October 18 - Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (d. 1785)
• November 8 - Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher (d. 1772)
• December 17 - Emilie du Chatelet, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1749)
• date unknown - James Abercrombie, British general (d. 1781)

Deaths

• January 21 - Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
• January 29 - Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (b. 1638)
• February 27 - John Evelyn, English writer, gardener and diarist (b. 1620)
• March 1 - Heino Heinrich Graf von Flemming, German field marshal and Governor of Berlin (b. 1632)
• March 3 - Johann Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1653)
• April 10 - Arthur Chichester, 3rd Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1666)
• August 23 - Edward Nott, British Colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1654)
• September 9 - Ferdinand de Marsin, Marshal of France (mortally wounded at the battle of Turin) (born 1656)
• October 13 - Iyasus I of Ethiopia (b. 1682)
• November 15 - Tsangyang Gyatso, 6th Dalai Lama (b. 1683)
• December 9 - Peter II of Portugal (b. 1648)
• December 28 - Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (b. 1647)