1708

In the Swedish calendar it was a leap year starting on Wednesday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. January 1 – Charles XII of Sweden invades Russia, by crossing the frozen Vistula River with 40,000 men. January 12 – Shahu I becomes the fifth Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire in the Indian subcontinent. February 26 – HMS Falmouth, a 50-gun fourth-rate ship of the line built at Woolwich Dockyard for the Royal Navy, is launched. March 11 – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation. March 23 – James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite pretender to the throne of Great Britain, unsuccessfully tries to land from a French fleet in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. April 8 – Easter Sunday: The first performance of George Frideric Handel's oratorio La resurrezione takes place in Rome. April 9 – Ottoman princess Emine Sultan, daughter of Sultan Mustafa II, marries Grand Vizier Çorlulu Ali Pasha. April 28 – The Great Hoei fire breaks out in Kyoto, Japan, destroying the Imperial Palace and a large portion of the old capital. June 8 – War of Spanish Succession: Wager's Action, a naval confrontation, takes place between a British squadron under Charles Wager and the Spanish treasure fleet. July 1 – Tewoflos becomes Emperor of Ethiopia. July 11 – War of the Spanish Succession – Battle of Oudenarde: Allied forces under the command of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, defeat the French. August – The future Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor weds Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. August 3 – In the Battle of Trenčín, 8,000 soldiers of the Imperial Army of the Habsburgs are victorious over the 15,000 Hungarian Kuruc forces of Francis II Rákóczi. August 18 – War of the Spanish Succession: Menorca is captured by British forces. August 23 – Meidingu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur. August 29 – A French-Native American attack in Haverhill, Massachusetts kills 16 settlers. September 28 (O.S.