A traffic sign in Spitsbergen: “Applies to the whole of Svalbard”
In the year 1596, the Dutch navigator Willem Barents begins his third and final Arctic voyage (May 18), Willem Barents discovers Spitsbergen (Jun 17), the German lay astronomer David Fabricius discovers Mira (Aug), Diego de Montemayor founds the city of Monterrey, Mexico (Sep 20), the Cudgel War begins in Finland, when poor peasants rise up against the Swedish troops, nobles and cavalry who taxed them (Nov 25), Elizabeth I of England decrees that all Africans should be removed from the British realm, in reaction to the food crisis - and all these fine people were born:
1596-xxxx Pocahontas (b Matoaka) daughter of chief Powhatan/married to John Rolfe - Werowocomoco (in present day Virginia) (1617/c.21)
1596-0101 Elizabeth Ribbing* noblewoman/ lady-in-waiting - Finnekumla, Swedish Empire (1662/66)
1596-0113 Jan van Goyen* landscape painter - Leiden, Dutch Republic (1656/60)
1596-0202 Carew Hervey Mildmay* (b Mildway) politician - Moulsham, Essex, England (1676/80)
1596-0202 Jacob van Campen* nobleman/ painter/architect - Haarlem, Dutch Republic (1657/61)
1596-0227 Johan Stiernhök* (b Johan Olofsson Dalkarl) lawyer/“the Swedish Justice father” - Rättvik, Dalarna, Swedish Empire (1675/79)
1596-0301 Duke Frederick of Saxe-Weimar* prince/ army colonel - Altenburg, Thuringia (1622/26)
1596-0311 Isaac Elzevir* printer/ publisher - Leiden, Dutch Republic (1651/55)
1596-0331 René Descartes* philosopher/scientist - Indre-et-Loire, France (1650/53)
1596-0408 Juan van der Hamen (B) still life painter/w Flemish heritage - Madrid, Spanish Empire (1631/34)
1596-0411 Moritz Gudenus* German Catholic preacher - Cassel, Hesse (1680/83)
1596-0509 Abraham van Diepenbeeck (B) painter - ’s-Hertogenbosch, Dutch Republic (1675/79)
1596-0605 Peter Wtewael* painter - Utrecht, Dutch Republic (1660/63)
1596-0623 Johan Banér* field marshal - Djursholm Castle, Swedish Empire (1641/44)
1596-0629 Emperor Go-Mizunoo* 後水尾天皇 the 108th Emperor of Japan - Japan (1680/84)
1596-0701 Bertuccio Valier* the 102nd Doge of Venice - Venice, Republic of Venice (1658/61)
1596-0722 Michael of Russia* the first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov - Moscow, Tsardom of Russia (1645/49)
1596-0810 Lorentz Eichstadt* German mathematician/ astronomer/calendar maker - Stettin, Holy Roman Empire (1660/63)
1596-0818 Jean Bolland* Jesuit priest/theologian/hagiographer - Julémont, Spanish Netherlands (1665/69)
1596-0819 Elizabeth Stuart* Electress of the Palatinate/Queen of Bohemia - Dunfermline Palace, Fife, Kingdom of Scotland (1662/65)
1596-09xx James Shirley* poet/ dramatist - London, England (1666/70)
1596-0903 Nicola Amati* master luthier/of all the Amati Family violins, those of Nicola are often considered most suitable for modern playing - Cremona, Italy (1684/87)
1596-0904 Constantijn Huygens* poet/ composer/father of the scientist Christiaan Huygens - Den Haag, Dutch Republic (1687/90)
1596-0911 Francis Eaton (B) carpenter/ Mayflower passenger/to America at age 24 - Bristol, England (1633/c.36)
1596-0923 Joan Blaeu* cartographer - Alkmaar, Dutch Republic (1673/77)
1596-1001 Cesare Dandini* painter - Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1657/60)
1596-1005 Pieter van Mierevelt* painter - Delft, Dutch Republic (1623/26)
1596-1023 Daniel Hay du Chastelet de Chambon* clergyman/mathematician/ - Laval, Kingdom of France (1671/74)
1596-1026 Robert Coe (B) colonist/to America at age 36/forefather of Winston Churchill and Barbaba Bush - Thorpe Morieux, Suffolk, England (1689/92)
1596-1101 Pietro da Cortona* painter/ architect - Cortona, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1669/72)
1596-1106 Jeanne Chezard de Matel* French nun/mystic - Roanne, Kingdom of France (1670/73)
1596-1121 René de Voyer de Paulmy d’Argenson* lawyer - Kingdom of France (1651/54)
1596-1212 Edward Osborne (B) nobleman/ politician - Kiveton, South Yorkshire, England (1647/50)
1596-1221 Petro Mohyla* Eastern Orthodox theologian/reformer/Metropolitan of Kyiv, Halych and All Rus' - Suceava, Moldavia (1647/50)
1596-1224 Leonaert Bramer* Dutch painter/ draftsman - Delft (1674/77)
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Updated 2025-0412 Helsinki
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