Editing 1702 (section)

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 2]] &ndash; A total solar eclipse is visible from the southern [[Pacific Ocean]].
* [[January 12]] &ndash; In North America, ships from [[Fort Maurepas]] arrive at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff to build ''[[Fort Louis de la Mobile]]'' (future [[Mobile, Alabama]]), to become the capital of [[French Louisiana]].
* [[February 1]] &ndash; The [[François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy|Duc de Villeroy]], commander of the French Army, is taken as a prisoner of war by the Austrian Army during the [[Battle of Cremona]] ([[War of the Spanish Succession]]).
* [[March 3]] (February 20 O.S.) &ndash; King [[William III of England]] is fatally injured in an accident when he is thrown from his horse, "Sorrel", when it trips on a molehill in [[Hampton Court Park]] near London. Already in poor health before the accident, he dies from complications 16 days later at the age of 51.<ref>Arthur Lyon Cross, ''A History of England and Greater Britain'' (Macmillan, 1917) p. 648</ref>  
* [[March 14]] &ndash; An earthquake in the middle of the [[Calore Irpino|Calore]] valley in Italy, east of [[Benevento]], kills 400 people.
* [[March 19]] (March 8 [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]]) &ndash; [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Princess Anne Stuart]], daughter of the late [[James II of England|King James II]] and younger sister of his successor, [[Mary II of England]] (who had reigned jointly with her husband, William III, as William and Mary until her death in 1694), ascends the English, Scottish and Irish thrones upon William's death. In her first speech to the English Parliament, made three days later, she tells the assembly "As I know my heart to be entirely English, I can very sincerely assure you there is not anything you can expect or desire from me which I shall not be ready to do for the happiness and prosperity of England."<ref>Maureen Waller, ''Sovereign Ladies: The Six Reigning Queens of England'' (John Murray, 2006) p. 313</ref> Anne is the mother of 17 children by her husband, [[Prince George of Denmark]] and Norway, but none will survive childhood, and she will die without an heir, bringing an end to the reign of the House of Stuart and enabling the [[Hanoverian Succession]]. After the death of William, the [[States General of the Netherlands]] do not appoint a new [[stadtholder]], and so the [[Dutch Republic]] becomes a true [[republic]] again, starting the [[Second Stadtholderless Period]].
* [[March 22]] (March 11 [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]]) &ndash; The first regular English-language national newspaper, ''[[The Daily Courant]]'', begins publication<ref name="Pocket On This Day">{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=0-14-102715-0|year=2006}}</ref> on [[Fleet Street]] in the [[City of London]], initially by [[Elizabeth Mallet]]; it covers only foreign news.
* [[March 24]] &ndash; [[Great Northern War]]: [[Battle of Darsūniškis]] &ndash; The [[Sweden|Swedish]] army of about 240 men under the command of Alexander Hummerhielm is defeated by the Polish–Saxon army of 6,000 men under [[Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki]].