The celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg, as printed in an illustrated news notice in April 1561 In the year 1561, the citizens of Nuremberg see what appears to be an aerial battle, followed by the appearance of a large black triangular object and a large crash outside the city (Apr 14), the English astrologer Francis Coxe is pilloried in London for his involvement in “sinistral and divelysh artes” (Jun 25), Madrid is declared the capital of Spain (May 8), Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow is finished (Jul 12) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Council of Trent, painting in the Museo del Palazzo del Buonconsiglio in Trento In the year 1563, Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia (Feb 1), bubonic plague breaks out in London, killing thousands (Jun), the Northern Seven Years' War begins as Denmark–Norway and the Free City of Lübeck declare war against Kingdom of Sweden (Aug 13), the Council of Trent (opened in 1545) officially closes, reaffirming all major Roman Catholic doctrines (Dec 4) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1508, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, attacks the Republic of Venice (Feb), Lebna Dengel succeeds his father Na’od as Emperor of Ethiopia (Aug), Michelangelo begins painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Holy See of Rome (Dec), the Church of San Rocco in Venice is completed - and all these fine people were born: 1508-0217 Bernardo Salviati* Italian condottiero/Roman Catholic Cardinal - Florence, Republic of Florence (1568/60) Continue reading

An example of the golden ratio. Picture credit Tom Blackwell In the year 1509, the Kingdom of France declares war on the Republic of Venice (Apr 7), Henry VIII becomes King of England (Apr 21), and marries Catherine of Aragon, Luca Pacioli’s De divina proportione, concerning the golden ratio, is published in Venice, with illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci (Jun 11), Maximillian I orders all Jews within the Holy Roman Empire to destroy all books opposing Christianity (Aug 19), Erasmus writes his most famous work, In Praise of Folly - and all of these fine people were born: Continue reading

William of Orange (1533-1584), leader of the Dutch Revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs In the year 1568, the Habsburgs agree to pay tribute to the Ottomans (Feb 17), Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England (May 16), where she is arrested by Queen Elizabeth I (May 19), William I of Orange invades the southeastern Netherlands (Oct 5), the Palace of Charles V in Granada is completed - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

A product from the Beretta Gun Company: Beretta-92FS In the year 1526, the new Mughal emperor Babur begins the richest dynasty in the world, the Mughal Empire, which lasts until 1857 (Apr 21), the first complete printed translation of the New Testament into the English language by William Tyndale arrives in England from Germany (spring), Emperor Go-Nara ascends to the throne of Japan (Jun 9), gunsmith Bartolomeo Beretta establishes the Beretta Gun Company, one of the world’s oldest corporations, Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro and his brothers first reach Inca territory in South America - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Martin Luther by his friend who was struck by lightning. A painting by Ferdinand Pauwels (1830-1904) In the year 1505, Martin Luther, then 22, vows to become a monk in a moment of terror, due to a near lightning strike during a thunderstorm, near the village of Stotternheim (Jul 2), the Kalmar Bloodbath takes place in Kalmar, Sweden (Jul), Portuguese reach Colombo, Sri Lanka (1505), the construction of Archangel Cathedral in Moscow begins, Bermuda is discovered by the Spanish explorer Juan de Bermúdez - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Jean Ribault (1520-1565), painting by Calvin Bryant In the year 1562, the Huguenot wars begin in France (Mar 1), the French navigator Jean Ribault lands in Florida, in search of colony locations for French Huguenot Christians fleeing persecution in France (May 1), Bishop of Yucatan burns the sacred books of the Maya (Jul 12), John Hawkins initiates the English trans-Atlantic slave trade, shipping slaves from Sierra Leone to Hispaniola in the Caribbean (Oct) – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Abraham Ortelius World Map Typvs Orbis Terrarvm In the year 1570, Ivan the Terrible begins the Massacre of Novgorod (Jan 9), the assassination of Scottish regent James Stewart plunges Scotland into civil war (Jan 23), Abraham Ortelius publishes the first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, in Antwerp (May 20), the Kingdom of Livonia is established (Jun 10), the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus begins (Jul 3), the oldest law firm in operation, Thomson Snell & Passmore, is founded in Kent, England (Jul 22) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

SONY DSC In the year 1573, Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Battle of Mikatagahara (Jan 25), the Ottoman–Venetian War ends by a peace treaty (Mar 25), Spanish forces under the Duke of Alva capture Haarlem (Jul 12), Oda Nobunaga drives Ashikaga Yoshiaki out of Kyoto, effectively destroying the Ashikaga shogunate, and ending the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (Aug 27), Spanish forces take Tunis (Oct), the Spanish silver trade to China begins, most of the silver confiscated in the New World in Southern America - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Monument of Pedro de Mendoza in Buenos Aires. Photo courtesy: Barcex, CC BY-SA 3.0, In the year 1536, Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires (Feb 2), the Inquisition is implemented in Portugal (Apr 30), Anne Boleyn, second queen of Henry VIII of England, is arrested on the grounds of incest, adultery and treason (May 2), later executed, and Henry marries Jane Seymour (May 30), English Bible translator William Tyndale is burned at the stake in Vilvoorde, Flanders (Oct 6) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Portrait of Francisco Pizarro (1478-1541) by Amable-Paul Coutan, 1835 In the year 1538, the Kingdom of Hungary is divided between the future Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and the Voivode of Transylvania, John Zápolya (Feb 24), the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro seizes Cusco in Peru (Apr 26), the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England goes on with the dissolution of the newly founded Bisham Abbey (Jun 19), Bogotá in Colombia is founded (Aug 6), Henry VIII of England is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church (Dec 17) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

La Alameda in Seville, Spain. Atop the two columns: Hercules, the mythological founder of Seville, and Julius Caesar, referred to as the restorer of Seville during Roman rule. In the year 1574, the fifth War of Religion against the Huguenots begins in France (Feb 23), King Henry of Poland becomes King Henry III of France (May 30), Manila is made the capital of the Spanish East Indies and of the Philippines, which the Spanish Empire would control for the next three centuries (Jun 10), a plot to assassinate John III of Sweden is discovered (Sep), Chinese and Japanese forces attack Manila (Nov 29), but lose there to the Spanish colonial forces, La Alameda in Seville is laid out as Europe’s first public garden - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Summer (1572) by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (at Denver Art Museum) In the year 1572, the Sea Beggars, Netherlandish Calvinist rebels, capture the port city of Brielle, leading to a wave of uprisings in Holland and Zeeland against Spanish Habsburg rule (Apr 1), the Spanish commander in the Netherlands begins the victorious Siege of Haarlem, with the resistance nonetheless taken as an heroic example by the Orangists (Dec), the Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, the last independent remnant of the Inca Empire, is conquered by Spain, Giuseppe Arcimboldo paints Summer - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The Pagoda of Cishou Temple In the year 1576, Hungarian Transylvanian Prince Stephen Báthory is crowned king of Poland (May 1), English navigator Martin Frobisher sights Greenland (Jul 11), Mughal Empire annexes Bengal (Jul 12), Spanish soldiers sack Antwerp, nearly destroying it (Nov 4), James Burbage opens London’s first permanent public playhouse, The Theatre (Dec), the city of Laihia in Finland is founded, the Pagoda of Cishou Temple in Beijing is completed - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1528, Gustav I of Sweden is crowned king of Sweden (Jan 12), the French fleet crushes the Spanish squadron trying to run the blockade of Naples (Apr 28), Genoese admiral Andrea Doria defeats his former allies, the French, and establishes the independence of Genoa (Sep 12), Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his crew become the first known Europeans to set foot on the shores of today’s Texas (Nov 6), Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Montejo attempts an invasion of the Yucatán, but is driven out by the Maya peoples, Montenegro gains autonomy under Ottoman power - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Letters patent (still in use, this one from 1888) is a legal instrument issued by a monarch, president or other head of state granting an office, right, monopoly, title or status to a person or corporation. In the year 1578, Humphrey Gilbert is granted letters patent from the English crown to establish a colony in North America (Jun 11), Swedish forces defeat the Russians in Wenden (in today’s Latvia) and proceed to take Polotsk (in today’s Belarus) (Oct 21), Sonam Gyrso becomes the third Dalai Lama of Tibet, fur trade begins in Newfoundland in North America - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1580, King Philip II of Spain becomes King of Portugal in a personal union of the two crowns, maintaining Portuguese independence (Mar 25), England signs a commercial treaty with the Ottoman Empire (Jun), Buenos Aires is founded (Jun 11), Francis Drake returns to England after circumnavigating the globe (Sep 26) - and all these fine people were born: 1580-xxxx Casper Caspersson Reiher Jr.* rich landowner/Mayor of Helsinki - Reval, Swedish Estonia (1621/c. Continue reading

In the year 1582, Russia cedes its conquered areas in Livonia (Northern Latvia and Southern Estonia) to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Jan 15), Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar , and Thursday October 4 of Julian calendar becomes in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain Friday, October 15 of the Gregorian, skipping over 10 days (Oct 4-15), future English playwright William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway (Nov 29) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584), Grand Prince of Moscow and the first Tsar of all Russia In the year 1584, Archangelsk in northern Russia is founded (Jan-Mar), Ivan the Terrible of Russia dies, and is succeeded by his son Feodor (Mar 28), the conflict between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu culminates in the Battle of Nagakute (May 17), Roanoke Island is located by the British (Jun 4), the Siege of Antwerp by the Spanish begins (Jul), William I of Orange is assassinated (Jul 10) – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading