31 January — the “Sovereign’s Cabinet” — the Kunstkamera — was established. During his visits to England and the Netherlands, Tsar Peter I took a keen interest in the new fashion of a “cabinet of curiosities” (“kunst” meaning a rarity, a wonder). Peter decided to organize a similar cabinet in Russia. He immediately acquired the first exhibits, which later became the first holdings of the “Sovereign’s Cabinet.” Even the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg did not disrupt the great reformer’s plans: the “Cabinet of Rarities” moved together with its founder. By the tsar’s order, the Kunstkamera was housed in the Summer Palace. The collections grew; from all corners of Russia and from abroad, a wide variety of curiosities flowed into the museum.
9 March — Peter I issued a decree forbidding the promotion to officer ranks of those who, relying on their noble birth, had not served at all as soldiers. Some members of the noble estate in Petrine Russia, taking advantage of their noble происхождение, either did not serve in the lowest soldier rank at all, or limited themselves to a short term of a few months or even weeks, and then served in officer ranks. Among the nobility there arose the view that, simply by virtue of origin, they should perform only commanding posts in service.