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The 17th Century

Can you guess these notable people, places, and things from the 17th century?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: August 31, 2016
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First submittedMarch 30, 2014
Times taken42,566
Average score70.0%
Rating4.44
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Year
Description
Answer
1688
The Glorious Revolution brings this Dutch king to England
William of Orange
1687
This English scientist explains gravity
Isaac Newton
1683
This Middle East empire reaches its maximum territorial extent
Ottoman Empire
1670
This fur trading company, Canada's oldest, is established
Hudson's Bay Company
1666
A fire in Pudding Lane spreads and destroys much of this city
London
1662
This flightless bird of Mauritius goes extinct
Dodo
1653
This white marble mausoleum is completed in Mughal India
Taj Mahal
1653
This military leader becomes Lord Protector of England
Oliver Cromwell
1618–1648
This war devastates most of Germany
Thirty Years' War
1644
This dynasty comes to power in China
Qing
1643
This "Sun King" is crowned
Louis XIV
1637
Dutch speculators go wild for this type of flower
Tulip
1637
This philosopher writes "Cogito ergo sum" - I think, therefore I am
René Descartes
1633
This scientist is punished by the Roman Inquisition
for espousing heliocentrism
Galileo Galilei
1620
This ship carries the first Pilgrims to Massachusetts
Mayflower
1611
This very popular English bible is completed
King James Version
1605
Miguel de Cervantes publishes this novel
Don Quixote
1605
Guy Fawkes and other radicals launch this plot to blow up Parliament
Gunpowder Plot
1603
The Edo period begins in this country
Japan
1602–
This country dominates the spice trade
Netherlands
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56 Comments
Uncle2fire
+3
Level 55
Jun 24, 2014
The answer should be "Thirty Years' War", with the apostrophe.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Jun 25, 2014
Fixed
kalbahamut
+12
Level 81
Jun 24, 2014
Hey! Finally a quiz where Newton describes gravity rather than inventing it. Huzzah!
smartcookie17
+1
Level 45
Jun 24, 2014
Oh yeah.
Quizmaster
+10
Level ∞
Jan 15, 2023
Before Newton, we would just sort of float a few feet above the surface of the surface. Some people would stop paying attention and drift off into space. It was rough. Newton doesn't get nearly enough credit, IMO.
Kaljavaasi
+1
Level 46
Jun 24, 2014
I have no idea how I got Qing-dynasty. Just typed in Qin, didn't work, added g and there it was.
fuanacdc
+13
Level 87
Jun 24, 2014
You just answered your own question.
sciencyguy
+2
Level 46
Oct 5, 2014
I typed in Qin and didn't get it, and gave up. So there you go!
Account
+5
Level 59
Mar 31, 2018
The Qin were the first chinese dynasty, while the Qing are the last.
Findlay
+7
Level 81
Apr 10, 2018
First imperial dynasty. There were the Zhou, Shang and possibly the Xia.
ander217
+6
Level 75
May 9, 2017
I had plenty of time left so I just typed "ing" with every letter of the alphabet. I almost skipped q thinking that wouldn't be it. Glad I kept to the plan. :)
cranbeckh
+10
Level 69
Jun 24, 2014
"And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart, I drink therefore I am". I learned all I need to know about philosophy from Monty Python.
Tecumseh94
+3
Level 47
Jun 24, 2014
Would like to see more questions that include more of the world. Too much is focused on Europe as usual.
joeythelemur
+2
Level 82
Jun 24, 2014
Too US-centric!! :-)
brandybuck96
+7
Level 83
Oct 27, 2015
The 17th century /was/ focused on Europe. It owned really quite a lot of the world back then.
Quizmaster
+17
Level ∞
Aug 31, 2016
If you think this quiz is too Euro-centric, then please suggest a question we should add (and a corresponding question to remove). The explosion of science, technology, and culture in Europe that began with the Renaissance was unique in world history. That alone justifies the heavy emphasis on Europe. But the real reason this quiz is so Euro-centric is that at least 95% of our users come from a Western cultural heritage. It's only appropriate that this is what we focus us. Surely we wouldn't complain about a quiz on a Chinese quiz site being to China-centric?
dunkinggandalf2
+7
Level 70
Oct 6, 2020
"Which southern cold continent was largely irrelevant during the 17th century?" - Answer: Antarctica. Boom, there you have it. I should be quizmaster.
sillie
+3
Level 76
Jun 26, 2014
Ming, Ting, Ling, Ping, Xing... Nope. Gave up too early :P
kariannepizza
+13
Level 50
Aug 25, 2015
Could you please accept Don Quijote?
kalbahamut
+4
Level 81
May 9, 2017
and "Donkey Oats"
Baltimorean
+8
Level 66
May 9, 2017
Or, if you're British, "Don Quicks oat." If massacring others' languages were a crime, the entire island would be in prison.
kiwiquizzer
+3
Level 68
Jan 31, 2017
1642 - Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer, officially recognised as the first European to discover New Zealand.
tourwoorden
+2
Level 69
May 9, 2017
But with the questions about William of Orange, tulips and spice trade, people will probably complain that this quiz becomes too Dutch-centric. :)
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Sep 12, 2018
My question: Why is it that when it comes to William of Orange, you refuse to "Willem", which is his name? - Or more correctly: Willem van Oranje. Yet you accept innumerable type-in for other names? Mao Tse Tung, Zedong, Mao, Qing, Manchu, Zhou, Quixote, Quijote...?
InterAlia
+3
Level 78
Apr 9, 2023
Are you sure there was a refusal? Maybe a polite suggestion/request would be appropriate in case it was simple oversight. It appears you don't have the perspective of what is involved in creating a quiz here. That might help you understand how such a thing could happen.
Yanni47
+1
Level 78
Sep 13, 2020
Second that. Although I wrote Wil(l)helm, which wouldn't work either. Gave up after that. So, more type-ins for William would be nice.
ecky
+1
Level 72
May 9, 2017
I am not going to argue...got all of them with 3.34 to spare :)
HectorVortac
+2
Level 47
May 9, 2017
Couldn't think of the Canadian fur company so I tried 'Molson'.
InterAlia
+1
Level 78
Apr 9, 2023
Fair strategy: stick to what you know. ;)
Swanbabe
+2
Level 38
May 9, 2017
There's debate as to whether Galileo was actually persecuted, or whether he just kept stirring the pot until he caught backlash. A lot of scholars purport that noone ever thought the world was flat, but rather a clever ploy but Galileo to illustrate how ignorant the church were. The church were surprisingly tolerant of him despite his constant provocative treatises.

I'll see if i can find some links to endorse this

Djilas
+8
Level 84
Oct 23, 2018
The dispute wasn't about flat earth (debunked since antiquity) but about heliocentrism as the bible says the sun goes around the earth
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Sep 12, 2020
the Bible also suggests that the Earth is flat, but... as said, even the ancient Egyptians realized that that was stupid. Look up Flat Earth Society on YouTube to find some Biblical literalists who still believe in this.
RuthlessCosmo
+2
Level 75
Apr 9, 2023
Dante puts Mount Purgatory on an island on the other side of the globe from Jerusalem. Finished in the 1320s.
Gildarts
+6
Level 56
May 9, 2017
Could you accept Don Quijote? It's the original title.
brandybuck96
+2
Level 83
Feb 5, 2018
As far as I know, Descartes wrote "je pense donc je suis" in 1637, translating it into Latin only in later works.
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Jun 11, 2018
Given that Descartes was French, your comment makes sense.
RuthlessCosmo
+6
Level 75
Apr 9, 2023
Pascal and Descartes walk into a bar. Pascal says "I am the greatest mathematician of the day," at which point Descartes replies "I don't think. . ." and disappears in a puff of smoke.
Cordelia75
+2
Level 56
Apr 11, 2023
RuthlessCosmo— Hope you don’t mind that I emailed this to some friends who would appreciate it and included your screen name.
brandybuck96
+1
Level 83
Nov 13, 2023
Not necessarily. Most scientific and philosophical writers at the time did in fact write in Latin. Descartes's choice to write in French was active and explicit, he wanted to reach a wider audience
SWATkun
+1
Level 59
Sep 12, 2020
Netherlands dominated the spice trade as if they imported most of the spices I believe because I can't believe Netherlands producing so much spice
rustwat
+1
Level 63
Sep 13, 2020
Importing and exporting, so yeah they dominated the spice trade.
carrow
+2
Level 51
Sep 12, 2020
Hardcore mode: a question for all 100 years https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/212340/17th-century-events
BlazingWinter
+2
Level 59
Sep 13, 2020
accept Dutch Republic instead of the Netherlands?
kalbahamut
+5
Level 81
Nov 13, 2020
Is the Ottoman Empire really a "Middle Eastern" Empire??

Particularly at its "greatest territorial extent." Its capital straddled the Bosporus, though it was mostly on the Western side which is Thrace and firmly in Europe. The Eastern side is on the extreme northwest corner of Anatolia - Asia Minor - also known as the Near East. Only very recently and then only sometimes conceptualized as belonging to the Middle East, even though it probably shouldn't be. The Ottomans had extensive territory in the Middle East including most of the coastline of the Arabian peninsula and Iraq, but then they had substantially more territory in North and East Africa and also in Europe - pressing as far into that continent as Vienna, completely overrunning the Balkans and encircling the entire Black Sea.

I know historically the Europeans thought of the Ottoman Empire as "the Orient," aka the East, but to me it seems very odd to characterize it as Middle Eastern.

kalbahamut
+5
Level 81
Nov 13, 2020
I might call it a Near Eastern, Eurasian, Afro-Eurasian, Anatolian, or Balkan Empire. I think I'd even call it a European Empire before referring to it as a Middle Eastern one. In the early 20th Century the Ottoman Empire was known as "the sick man of Europe"... not the sick man of the Middle East, or even the Near East.

A proper Middle Eastern Empire would be... the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the AlSauds, or the Persians. Some of which are what I thought of first. But then the clue didn't fit...

JZG77
+1
Level 34
Jan 24, 2025
Exactly. Ottoman Empire was never a Middle Eastern Empire. They were established in Western Anatolia and conquered some Balkan territories before they even conquered Constantinople lmao. QM should edit this nonsense, historically inaccurate title. Call them Muslim Empire.
Amilcar
+1
Level 69
Apr 22, 2022
I think 'Muslim empire' works best, given it straddled three continents.
stylus
+3
Level 78
Jul 22, 2021
i don't think just Louis should be accepted, given how many Louises there were - surely the point of the question is to know which one it was?
Charlieamycat
+1
Level 77
Feb 7, 2023
Could you accept King James rather than King James Version?
Clara04
+1
Level 42
Mar 15, 2023
For the "Sun King" I disagree. Louis XIII died in 1643 but Louis XIV (his son) was to young to be king so the Mother (Anne d'Autriche) ruled the country with other people (like Mazarin) (because she is not alone do it alone). The age for a king to actually become a king is 13 so it is only at 13 years old that Louis XIV became king in 1651. So 1643 is a wrong date.
DukeOfLorraine
+3
Level 65
Apr 9, 2023
He was the king, but a regent ruled.
nsoper
+1
Level 66
Apr 13, 2023
Can you accept "Authorised Version" for the KJV answer? Authorised Version or AV is what it is called in England where it was written. It is Americans who call it the KJV.
JamesVI
+1
Level 65
Dec 1, 2023
I'm British and call it the KJV.
GeoGuy8
+1
Level 66
Jan 19, 2024
Can you please accept ‘Dutch’ or ‘Dutch Empire’ for the Netherlands?
JZG77
+2
Level 34
Jan 24, 2025
Was Eastern Rome/Byzantine Middle Eastern as well? You labeling Ottomans as a Middle Eastern Empire is both historically and geographically incorrect. They were essentially a Balkan state, almost always. They stretched to Africa & Europe as well and again, originally they were Balkan + Western Anatolian. Please update this and call them "Muslim Empire" or sth that is more fitting.
Raissac
+1
Level 27
Mar 25, 2025
Seemed pretty weird to me too.
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