Events of 1651

January–June

• January 1 – Charles II is crowned King of Scotland in Scone (this is his first crowning).

• June 28 – June 30 – Battle of Beresteczko: The Poles defeat the Ukrainians (the biggest battle of the 17th century).

July–December

• September 3 – English Civil War – Battle of Worcester: Charles II of England is defeated in the last major battle of the war.

• October 14 – Laws are passed in Massachusetts forbidding poor people from adopting excessive styles of dress.

• October – An English diplomatic team headed by Oliver St John went to The Hague to negotiate an alliance between the English Commonwealth and the Dutch Republic.

Ongoing events

• Fronde civil war in France (1648–1653)

• Khmelnytsky Uprising in Ukraine (1648–1654)

Undated

• The Keian Uprising fails in Japan.

• Possible year of the disappearance of the island Buise in St. Peter's Flood.

Births

• January 3 – Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English politician (d. 1694)

• March 4 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1716)

• March 31 – Karl II, Elector Palatine (d. 1685)

• April 6 – André Dacier, French classical scholar (d. 1722)

• April 10 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician (d. 1708)

• April 21 – Blessed Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Ceylon (d. 1711)

• April 30 – Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, French educational reformer (d. 1719)

• May 27 – Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles (d. 1729)

• September 1 – Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of Russia (d. 1694)

• September 16 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (d. 1716)

• October 21 – Jean Bart, French admiral (d. 1702)

• Gorgin Khan, Persian Governor of Kandahar (d. 1709)

Deaths

• April 7 – Lennart Torstenson, Swedish soldier and engineer (b. 1603)

• September 3 – Kösem, sultane and regent of the Ottoman empire

• September 27 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1573)

• October 7 – Jacques Sirmond, French Jesuit scholar (b. 1559)

• October 25 – Saint Job of Pochayiv, Ukrainian Orthodox Christian saint (b. 1551)

• November 20 – Mikołaj Potocki, Polish soldier (b. 1595)

• November 26 – Henry Ireton, English Civil War leader (b. 1611)

• December 14 – Pierre Dupuy, French scholar (b. 1582)

• Marubashi Chūya and Yui Shōsetsu (b. 1605), Japanese rebels