1679 in England

Incumbents

• Monarch – Charles II
• Parliament – Cavalier, Habeas Corpus

  Events

• 24 January – King Charles II dismisses the Cavalier Parliament after nearly 18 years in an attempt to avoid the impeachment of Lord Danby by the House of Commons.
• 6 March-27 May – Charles II's third parliament meets and is led by the Privy Council Ministry.
• 15 May – Exclusion Crisis: The supporters of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, introduce an Exclusion Bill into the House of Commons with the aim of excluding the king's brother, the Catholic James, Duke of York, from the succession to the English throne.
• 26 May – Parliament passes the Habeas Corpus Act "for the better securing the liberty of the subject".
• 22 June – Battle of Bothwell Bridge in Scotland: Royal forces led by the Duke of Monmouth and John Graham of Claverhouse subdue the Scottish Covenanters.
• 12 July – Exclusion Crisis: the "Habeas Corpus Parliament" is dissolved while in recess by Royal prerogative to prevent it passing the Exclusion Bill.
• 24 July – Charles II's fourth parliament is summoned, but prorogued until 1680.
• 17 November – after a large procession through the streets of London, an effigy of the Pope is burned.
• 27 November – The Duke of Monmouth enters London amid scenes of widespread celebration.
• Undated – Bristol Baptist College, the world's first Baptist College, is founded by local merchant Edward Terrill.
• Approximate date – first bagnio opens in London.

  Births

• 18 March – Matthew Decker, merchant and writer
• 21 March – Benedict Calvert, 4th Baron Baltimore, politician
• 23 June – Sir Cholmeley Dering, 4th Baronet, politician
• 29 September – Thomas Chubb, Deist

  Deaths

• 3 January – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, soldier and politician
• 24 January – William Ireland, martyr
• 3 May – James Sharp, archbishop
• 11 July – William Chamberlayne, poet
• 17 July – James Duport, scholar
• 19 July – John Plessington, martyr
• 6 August – John Snell, royalist
• 22 August – John Kemble, martyr
• September – John Mayow, chemist and physiologist
• 2 September – Thomas Modyford, colonial governor
• 29 September – John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, Earl
• 12 October – William Gurnall, writer
• 26 October – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, soldier, statesman and dramatist
• 4 December – Thomas Hobbes, philosopher
• Hannah Ayscough, mother of Isaac Newton
• Praise-God Barebone, Fifth Monarchist
• Thomas Blount, lexicographer
• Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway, philosopher
• William Goffe, parliamentarian
• John Hayls, painter
• John Wall, martyr