xxxx 1580-xxxx William White* Mayflower passenger/father of the first English child born in America (onboard the Mayflower) – England (1621/c.40) 1580-xxxx Edward Wightman* the last person to be burned at the stake in England for heresy – Hinckley, Leicestershire, England (1612/c.31) 1580-0112 Jan Baptist van Helmont* chemist/ physiologist/physician – Brussels, Spanish Netherlands (1644/64) 1583 Individual post 1585-0909 Cardinal Richelieu* (b Armand Jean du Plessis) clergyman/ statesman – Paris, Kingdom of France (1642/57) Continue reading

In the year 1514, a huge exotic embassy sent by King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X arrives in Rome, including Hanno, an Indian elephant (Mar 12), Louis XII of France makes peace with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (Mar 13), Henry Grace à Dieu, the largest warship in the world at the time, is dedicated (Jun 13), Christian II is crowned King of Norway - this coronation will be the last in Norway for 304 years until the crowning of King Karl XIV Johan in 1818 (July 20), King Louis XII of France marries Mary Tudor (sister of King Henry VIII of England), as part of the Kingdom of England’s peace with France (Oct 9), Mary Tudor is formally crowned as the Queen consort of France (Nov 5) – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

[caption id=“attachment_3160” align=“alignright” width=“373”]Stortorget in Stockholm’s Old Town - scene of the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1520[/caption] In the year 1520, King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Åsunden in Sweden (Jan 19), Pope Leo X threatens Martin Luther with excommunication (Jun 15), the Spaniards defeat the Aztecs at Otumba (Jul 20), Christian II makes his triumphant entry into Stockholm (Sep 7) and is crowned king of Sweden (Nov 4), whereupon the Stockholm Bloodbath takes place (Nov 8-10), Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan with crew become the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific through the South American strait (Nov 28) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Costa Rica in Central America In the year 1522, the Spanish conquistador Gil González Dávila sets out from the gulf of Panama to explore the Pacific coast of Central America, later naming Costa Rica as he finds copious quantities of gold on that beach (Jan 26), Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament into Early New High German is published in Germany, selling thousands in the first few weeks (Sep 21), the Ottomans break into Rhodes (Dec 18), with Suleiman the Magnificent accepting the surrender of the surviving Knights there - these eventually re-settle on Malta, and become known as the Knights of Malta (Dec 20) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Guanabara Bay in Brazil In the year 1502, Portuguese explorers sail into Guanabara Bay, mistaking it for the mouth of a river, which they name Rio de Janeiro (Jan 1), Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his fourth and final trip to the “New World” (May 11), the first encounter between Europeans and the Maya people of Central America takes place when the Columbus brothers anchor at Guanaja (Jul 30), Ismail I founds the Safavid dynasty (Nov 7), Moctezuma II is elected emperor of the Aztecs - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Battle of Brännkyrka, a painting by Johan Gustaf Sandberg (1830) In the year 1518, Swedish forces defeat the Danes in the Battle of Brännkyrka in southern Stockholm (Jul 27), a case of dancing mania breaks out in Strasbourg in Alsace, in which many people die from constant dancing (Jul-Sep), Kristian II of Denmark and his navy attempts to take Stockholm, and failing, leave Stockholm with hostages (Oct), the Tomb of Sikandar Lodi in Delhi, India, is completed - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1532, São Vicente is established as the first permanent Portuguese settlement in Brazil (Jan 22), Atahualpa wins the civil war in the Inca Empire, defeating his brother, shortly before (Apr) the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro lands on the northern coast of Peru (May 13) and captures him in Cajamarca (Nov 16), Niccolò Machiavellis The Prince is published posthumously, and the Paris Parlement arrests the city’s beggars and force them to work in the sewers, chained together in pairs - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The Strait of Malacca (in red, in today’s Malaysia), the vital sea passage between China and India In the year 1511, Portugal conquers Malacca - the first city in Southeast Asia to be taken by a Western nation - and gains control over the Strait of Malacca through which all sea-going trade between China and India is concentrated (Aug 15), the Treaty of Westminster creates an alliance between Henry VIII of England and Ferdinand II of Aragon against France (Nov), Diego Velázquez and Hernán Cortés conquer Cuba, the first black slaves arrive in Colombia, the Spanish conquest of Yucatán begins - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1534, Jacques Cartier explores Newfoundland, while searching for the Northwest Passage (May 10), Copenhagen opens its gates to the army of Lübeck and the Hanseatic League (Jun 23), leading the Danish nobility to recognize Christian III as King (Jul 4), over 200 Spanish settlers found what becomes Quito, Ecuador (Dec 4), Martin Luther’s translation of the complete Christian Bible into German is printed in Wittenberg, the first book in Yiddish is printed, translating difficult phrases in biblical Hebrew, the Ottoman army captures the city of Baghdad from the Safavids – and all these fine people were born: 1534-xxxx Lodovico Agostini* Italian priest/ singer/composer - Ferrara (1590/c. Continue reading

Atahualpa (c.1502-1533), the last effective Inca emperor In the year 1533, King Henry VIII of England formally but secretly marries Anne Boleyn who becomes his second queen consort (Jan 25), and his marriage with Catherine of Aragon is declared annulled, not by the Pope though (May 23), Henry VIII is excommunicated by Pope Clement VII (Jul 11), the last effective Inca Emperor Atahualpa is executed at the orders of the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro (Jul 26), Pizarro arrives in Cusco, Peru (Nov 15) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

June 6th is the Swedish National Day In the year 1523, Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway (Jan 20), Gustav Eriksson is crowned King Gustav Vasa of Sweden, whereby Kalmar Union is no more - and the modern Swedish nation is thus established, exactly 500 years ago today (Jun 6), Jan van Essen and Hendrik Vos, burned at the stake by Roman Catholic authorities in Brussels, become the first Flemish Lutheran martyrs (Jul 1), Chinese navy captures two Western ships whose cannons are later copied by them - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn, opened for traffic in 1964, was named in honor of the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano In the year 1524, the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazano’s expedition makes landfall in Cape Fear (March) and sights later as the first Europeans the island of Manhattan (April), the Swiss physician Paracelsus visits Salzburg (summer), Protestant theologians Martin Luther and Andreas Karlstadt dispute at Jena (Aug), the Spanish conquistador Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba founds the city of Granada, Nicaragua, the oldest Hispanic city in the mainland of the Western Hemisphere (Dec 8) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

World Globe by Gerardus Mercator. Made in 1541 in Leuven, Belgium. Picture credit [Paul Hermans](http://Paul Hermans) In the year 1541, Santiago del Nuevo Extremo, the future capital of Chile, is founded (Feb 12), after three years of exile, John Calvin returns to Geneva to reform the church under a body of doctrine that comes to be known as Calvinism (Sep 13), Iceland adopts the Lutheran faith, the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator makes his first globe - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1544, the estates of Sweden swear loyalty to King Gustav Vasa and to his heirs, ending the traditional electoral monarchy in Sweden (Jan 13), French forces defeat forces of the Holy Roman Empire near Turin (Apr 11), Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, again invades eastern France (May), Mongols burn the suburbs of Peking, Portuguese explorers encounter the island of Taiwan, and call it Ilha Formosa (“Beautiful Island”), rats make their first appearance in North America - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1546, Trinity College in Cambridge is founded by Henry VIII of England (Dec 19), Michelangelo is made chief architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Spanish conquest of Yucatán is completed , Antonio Musa Brassavola of Ferrara publishes the first definitely recorded successful tracheostomy - and all these fine people were born: 1546-xxxx Sancho Dávila Toledo* bishop – Ávila, Old Castile (1625/79) 1546-0127 Joachim Frederick* (House of Hohenzollern) Elector of Brandenburg - Cölln, Margraviate of Brandenburg (1608/62) Continue reading

The Lighthouse of Genoa In the year 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus publishes On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, offering mathematical arguments for the existence of the heliocentric universe, and dies shorty after (May), King Henry VIII of England gets married for the sixth and last time (Catherine Parr), with princess Elizabeth attending the wedding (Jul 12), Mary Stuart is crowned the Queen of Scots at nine months old (Sep 9), the Lighthouse of Genoa is completed in present form, Mikael Agricola publishes his first book, Abckiria - the first book that was published in the Finnish language - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1550, Helsinki, the future capital of Finland, is founded by Gustav Vasa (Jun 12), chocolate is introduced to Europe (Jul 7), the first grammatical description of the French language is published by Louis Maigret, Nostradamus' first almanac is written (1550) - and all these fine people were born: 1550-xxxx William Barentsz* Dutch navigator/ cartogapher/Arctic explorer (Barents Sea) - Terscheling, Seventeen Provinces (1597/c.47) 1550-xxxx Matti Heikinpoika Seppälä** Finnish farmer/father of Jooseppi Matinpoika Seppälä - Sweden-Finland (after 1598) Continue reading

In the year 1551, the first officially established university in the Americas, the National University of San Marcos, is founded in Lima (May 12), Ottoman Turks and Barbary pirates invade the island of Gozo (Malta), enslave all inhabitants and transport them to the modern-day Libya (Jul), the Siege of Tripoli ends as the Knights of Malta surrender the town to the Ottoman Empire (Aug 15), Portugal founds a sugar colony at Bahia - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Saint Basil’s Cathedral, built on orders from Ivan the Terrible, commemorating the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan In the year 1554, São Paulo in Brazil is founded (Jan 25), after claiming the throne of England the previous year, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason (Feb 12 ), the future queen, Princess Elizabeth, is imprisoned in the Tower of London (Mar 18), Queen Mary I of England marries King Philip of Naples (Jul 23), Mikael Agricola becomes the bishop of Turku, work begins on Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1556, Swedish forces are victorious in the Russian attack on Viborg (Jan), the deadliest earthquake on record occurs in Ming dynasty (Jan 23), the Archbishop of Canterbury is burned at the stake for treason (Mar 21) Queen Mary I of England (Bloody Mary) starts the Plantations of Ireland, the earliest attempt at systematic ethnic cleansing in Ireland, Ivan the Terrible conquers Astrakhan, thus opening the Volga River to Russian traffic and trade - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading