1646
Born June 21 in Leipzig, son of Friedrich Leibniz (1597-1654),
professor of moral philosophy at the University of Leipzig
1653-61
Early education at the Nicolai School in Leipzig
1661-63
Studies under Jacob Thomasius at the University of Leipzig;
bachelor's thesis on scholastic theories of individuation (1663);
attends lectures of Erhard Weigel at the University of Jena (summer 1663)
1663-66
Legal studies in Leipzig; receives doctorate of law from University of Altdorf (1666);
publication of On the Art of Combinations
1667-1671
Resides in Nuremburg, Mainz, and Frankfurt;
secretary to Johann Christian von Boineburg, minister to the elector of Mainz
1671
Letters to Hobbes, Arnauld; publication of the New Physical Hypothesis
1672-76
Travels to Paris on diplomatic mission for the elector of Mainz;
begins mathematical studies under Christiaan Huygens;
first trip to England (1673), where he is elected to the Royal Society
on the basis of his model of a four-function calculating machine
1675
Discovery of the differential and integral calculus
1676
Second trip to England; visits Spinoza at The Hague; enters
service of Duke Johann Friedrich of Hanover as court librarian and legal advisor
1679
Death of Johann Friedrich, who is succeeded by his brother Ernst August;
Leibniz becomes a trusted friend and correspondent of Ernst's wife, Sophie, and their daughter
Sophie Charlotte, later Queen of Prussia
1684
On a New Method for Maxima and Minima, first published account of the calculus
1686-87
Composition of Discourse on Metaphysics; correspondence
with Arnauld.
1687-90
Journey through Austria and Italy to research the history of
the House of Brunswick;
formulation of the science of dynamics
1695
Publication of Specimen dynamicum and
New System of the Nature and Communication of Substances,
and of the Union of the Soul and the Body
1698
Death of Ernst August, who is succeeded by his son Georg Ludwig;
publication of On Nature Itself
1700
Founding of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, with Leibniz as its first president
1703-4
Composition of New Essays on Human Understanding,
a commentary on Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
1710
Publication of Essays on Theodicy,
Concerning the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man, and the Origin of Evil
1714
Composition of Monadology and Principles of Nature and
of Grace;
ascension of Georg Ludwig to the British throne as George I;
Leibniz left in Hanover to complete his history of the House of Brunswick
1715-16
Correspondence with Samuel Clarke;
Leibniz dies in Hanover on November 14, 1716