Political/Military/Religious
1453 Fall of Constantinople to the Turks 1492 Columbus lands in the New World Jews and Moslems expelled from Spain 1492 Vasco Da Game lands in Goa (Indian subcontinent) 1500 Birth of Charles V of Hapsburg, who became Lord of the Netherlands in 1515, King of Spain in 1516, and was elected Holy Roman Emperor (German-speaking region) in 1519. He ruled most of Europe until his abdication in 1556.
1509 Henry VIII ascends the throne of England. He rules
until 1547.
1517 Martin Luther nails his 95 theses to the door of the
castle church in Wittenberg. Beginning of the Protestant
Reformation.
1520 Cortez conquers Mexico.
1520-22 First circumnavigation of the world.
1529 Turks besiege Vienna.
1534 Luther publishes his German bible.
1536 John Calvin (1509-1564) publishes his Institutes of
Christian Religion.
1540 Pope Paul III authorizes the Society of Jesus, founded by
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556).
1541 Calvin becomes the reformer (and de facto ruler) of
Geneva. He occupies this function until his death in
1564.
1543 Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) published De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium.
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) publishes De Humani Corporis Fabrica.
1545 Beginning of the Council of Trent, which met 1545-1547,
1551-1552, 1562-1563. (Last church council until Vati-
can Council of 1870.)
1551 Foundation of the University of Lima.
1553 Michael Servetus (1511-1553), who denied the Trinity, burned at the stake by Calvin in Geneva.
Foundation of the University of Mexico.
1555 Peace of Augsburg: victory for the Lutheran cause in
Germany.
1558 Elizabeth I of Tudor becomes Queen of England. Her rule
lasts until her death in 1603.
1562 Beginning of wars of religion in France. These last
until Henry IV of Navarre ascends the throne in 1589.
1564 Death of Calvin (b. 1509).
Death of Michelangelo (b. 1475).
Birth of Shakespeare (d. 1616).
1568 Beginning of the revolt of the northern Low Countries
against Philip II, King of Spain.
1571 Birth of Johannes Kepler (d.1630).
Defeat of the Turks in the naval battle of Lepanto.
1572 New star (nova stella, or nova) in Cassiopeia, fully des-
cribed by Tycho Brahe (hence "Tycho's star"). This was,
in fact, a supernova.
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, in which thousands of
French Protestants (Huguenots) were killed on the order.
1575 Foundation of the University of Leyden.
1577 Comet of 1577, fully described by Tycho Brahe.
1582 Pope Gregory XIII institutes the Gregorian Calendar.
1588 Spanish Armada defeated by the weather and the English
fleet.
1589 Henry of Navarre (1553-1610) becomes the first Bourbon king, Henry IV,
of France.
1597 Johannes Kepler publishes Cosmographic Mystery.
1598 Edict of Nantes, under which Protestants in France
are allowed to practice their religion in peace.
1600 Giordano Bruno burned at the stake in Rome.
William Gilbert (1540-1603) publishes On the Magnet.
1603 Elizabeth I, Queen of England, dies, and with her the
Tudor line. Her successor is James I of the House of
Stuart, who ruled until 1625.
1604 New star (supernova), fully described by Kepler in
De stella nova (1606), hence "Kepler's star."
1605 Francis Bacon (1561-1626) publishes Two Books of
Francis Bacon, of the Proficiencie and Advancement
of Learning, Divine and Human.
1607 Foundation of Virginia by the English.
1608 Foundation of Quebec by the French
1609 Kepler publishes The New Astromomy, in which he
introduces elliptical astronomy.
1610 Henry IV, King of France, is murdered. He is succeeded
by his son, Louis XIII (d. 1643), during whose reign Cardinal Richelieu ruled France de facto.
1611 King James Bible is published.
1612 Foundation of New York by the Dutch.
1618 Beginning of the Thirty Years' War, which devastates
much of the German region.
1619 First African slaves in Virginia.
1620 Francis Bacon publishes his New Organum.
1625 Hugo Grotius publishes Law of War and Peace.
Beginning of the reign of Charles I of England.
1627 Francis Bacon's New Atlantis is published posthumously.
1636 Foundation of Harvard College
1637 René Descartes (1596-1650) publishes his Discourse on Method.
Birth of Isaac Newton (1642-1727).
Beginning of civil war in England (ended 1649).
1644 Descartes publishes Principles of Philosophy.
1648 Peace of Westphalia, end of the Thirty Years' War.
1649 Charles I of England beheaded by Cromwell and the
"Rump" Parliament.
1651 Publication of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
1657 Foundation of the Accademia del Cimento in Florence, whose meetings last until 1667.
1660 Restoration of the English Monarchy.
Foundation of the Royal Society of London.
1661 Charles II (d. 1685) crowned king of England
Louis XIV (1643-1715) begins governing France.
Robert Boyle (1625-1692) publishes The Skeptical Chymist.
1665 First issue of Philosophical Transactions published
by Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the Royal Society.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703) publishes Micrographia.
Fire of London
1666 Foundation of the Académie Royale des Sciences by Louis XIV.
London Plague
1667 First issue of Journal des Sçavans published by the
French Academy.
1673 Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) publishes Horologium Oscillatorium.
1684 Repeal of the Edict of Nantes.
1685 Repeal of the Edict of Nantes in France.
James II ascends the throne of England.
1687 Isaac Newton publishes his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
1688 Glorious Revolution in England.
1689 Beginning of the rule of William and Mary in England.
