Editing 1709 (section)

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 1]] &ndash; [[Battle of St. John's]]: The [[France|French]] capture [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]], the capital of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] [[colony of Newfoundland]].
* [[January 6]] &ndash; Western Europe's [[Great Frost of 1709]], the coldest period in 500 years, begins during the night, lasting three months, with its effects felt for the entire year.<ref name="newscientist">Pain, Stephanie. "[https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126942.100-1709-the-year-that-europe-froze.html?full=true 1709: The year that Europe froze]." ''[[New Scientist]]'', 7 February 2009.</ref> In France, the Atlantic coast and [[Seine]] River freeze, crops fail, and 24,000 Parisians die. Floating ice enters the [[North Sea]].
* [[January 10]] &ndash; [[Abraham Darby I]] successfully produces [[cast iron]] using [[coke (fuel)|coke fuel]] at his [[Coalbrookdale]] [[blast furnace]] in [[Shropshire]], England.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mott|first=R. A.|title=The earliest use of coke for ironmaking|journal=The Gas World, Coking Section Supplement|volume=145|pages=7–18|date=5 January 1957}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Arthur|last=Raistrick|title=Dynasty of Ironfounders: the Darbys and Coalbrookdale|location=London|publisher=Longmans, Green|year=1953|page=34}}</ref><ref name="Cassell's Chronology292">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|location=London|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/292 292]|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/292}}</ref>
* [[February 1]] or [[February 2|2]] &ndash; During his first voyage, Captain [[Woodes Rogers]] encounters marooned privateer [[Alexander Selkirk]], and rescues him after four years living on one of the [[Juan Fernández Islands]], inspiring [[Daniel Defoe]]'s novel ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]''.<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><ref>{{cite book|last=Ober|first=Frederick A.|title=Our West Indian Neighbors: the Islands of the Caribbean Sea|location=New York|publisher=James Pott & Company|year=1912|page=11}}</ref> After sacking [[Guayaquil]], he and Selkirk will visit the [[Galápagos Islands]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Michael H.|title=Galapagos: a Natural History|publisher=University of Calgary Press|year=1993|isbn=1-895176-07-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/galapagos00mich}}</ref>
* [[February 19]] &ndash; [[Tokugawa Ienobu]] becomes the sixth ''[[shōgun]]'' of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa dynasty]] of [[Japan]], after the death of the shōgun [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi|Tsunayoshi]], who had been head of government since 1680.
* [[February]] &ndash; In America, [[Mardi Gras]] is celebrated one more time with ''[[Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama|Masque de la Mobile]]'' in the capital of [[Louisiana (New France)|French Louisiana]], [[Mobile, Alabama]], before Mobile is moved 27 miles (43&nbsp;km) down the [[Mobile River]] to [[Mobile Bay]] in [[1711]].
* [[March 28]] &ndash; [[Johann Friedrich Böttger]] reports the first production of [[hard-paste porcelain]] in Europe, at [[Dresden]].