In the year 1608, Quebec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain (Jul 3), the first official English representative to India, Captain William Hawkins, lands at Surat, India (Aug 24), the University of Oviedo in Spain opens its doors to students (Sep 21), the first telescope (which Galileo later improves upon) is demonstrated by a Dutch spectacle maker in the Netherlands (Oct 2), the first cheques are used in the Netherlands (1608) – and all these fine people were born:

1608-0128 Giovanni Alfonso Borelli* physiologist/ physicist/mathematician – Naples, Italy (1679/71) 1608-0206 António Vieira* diplomat/philosopher/writer- Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal (1697/89) 1608-0221 Elizabeth Barnard* (B) granddaughter of William Shakespeare - Stratford upon Avon (1670/61) 1608-0423 Thomas Minor* an early Colonial New England diarist/founder of New London, CT – Chew Magna, Somerset, England (1690/82) 1608-0501 Pieter Post* architect/painter/printmaker - Haarlem, the Dutch Republic (1669/61) 1608-0830 Alonzo Pérez de Léon* conquistador/ explorer/a man of letters – Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico (1661/52) 1608-0901 Giacomo Torelli* stage designer/engineer/architect - Fano, Italy (1678/69) 1608-1015 Evangelista Torricelli* physicist/mathematician/inventor of the barometer - Rome, Papal States (1647/39) 1608-1105 Margareta Huitfeldt* Norwegian-Swedish noblewoman/ estate owner/ philatnhropist – Fiskum, Norway (1683/) 1608-1109 Tiberio Fiorilli* actor/comedian - Naples, Italy (1694/86) 1608-1206 George Monck* soldier/politician – Merton, England (1670/61) 1608-1208 Vendela Skytte* salonist/writer/Lady of Letters - Sweden (1629/20) 1608-1209 John Milton* poet/polemicist /civil servant - Cheapside, London, England (1674/65) Updated 15.6.2021 Search for another year here