| 1502 |
|
Fanatical Shi'ite Islam develops under Safavids of Persia |
| 1503 |
|
Powerful Italian general Caesar Borgia defeated in Spain |
| 1506 |
|
Golden Age of Poland begins under Sigismund I and II |
| 1509 |
|
Portuguese trading empire established at Goa, South India |
| 1509 |
|
Henry VIII succedes to English throne |
| 1510 |
|
Portuguese trading empire established at Goa, India |
| 1510 |
|
Death of Sandro Botticelli (artist) |
| 1512 |
|
Spaniard Vasco Núñez de Balboa first to see Pacific Ocean (from Panama) |
| 1513 |
|
Juan Ponce de Leon claims Florida for Spain |
| 1513 |
|
James IV of Scotland killed by English forces at Flodden |
| 1513 |
|
Niccolo Machiavelli writes "The Prince" |
| 1514 |
|
Start of series of wars between Turkish and Persian Empires |
| 1515 |
|
Francis I of France takes Milan and much of Northern Italy |
| 1516 |
|
Algiers taken by pirate Barbarossa for Holy Roman Empire |
| 1516 |
|
Hapsburg Charles V now king over Germany, Netherlands and Spain |
| 1516 |
|
Death of Heironymous Bosch (artist) |
| 1516 |
|
Sir Thomas More writes "Utopia" |
| 1517 |
|
Turks conquer Egypt |
| 1517 |
|
Luther publishes 95 Theses - start of Reformation |
| 1519 |
|
Sikhism founded in India |
| 1519 |
|
Portuguese/Spaniard Ferdinand Magellan rounds South American mainland |
| 1519 |
|
Death of Leonardo da Vinci (artist and scientist) |
| 1520 |
|
Luther excommunicated |
| 1520 |
|
Death of Raphael (artist) |
| 1521 |
|
Charles V divides Hapsburg Empire between Austria and Spain |
| 1521 |
|
Death of Josquin de Pres (composer) |
| 1521 |
|
Mexico conquered for Spain by Hernando Cortes |
| 1522 |
|
Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan's expedition for Spain first to circumnavigate globe |
| 1523 |
|
Swedes expel Danish overlords |
| 1524 |
|
Death of Hans Holbein the Elder (artist) |
| 1525 |
|
Charles V of Hapsburg retakes Northern Italy from France |
| 1526 |
|
Turks under Suliman the Magnificent take Hungary |
| 1526 |
|
Babar (Babur), descendent of Mongol leader Tamerlaine founds
Mughal (Mogul) Empire in India |
| 1526 |
|
Hungarian and Bohemian crowns unite with Austrian Hapsburgs |
| 1527 |
|
Charles V retakes Northern Italy from France and sacks Rome |
| 1528 |
|
Death of Albrecht Durer and Matthias Grunewald (artists) |
| 1529 |
|
Turks lay siege to Vienna |
| 1529 |
|
Cardinal Wolsey dismissed by Henry VIII |
| 1531 |
|
Death of Ulrich Zwingli (religious reformer and statesman) |
| 1533 |
|
Ivan IV (the Terrible) crowned Tsar of Russia |
| 1533 |
|
Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn without papal approval |
| 1534 |
|
Spaniard Ignatius Loyola founds Society of Jesus (Jesuits) |
| 1535 |
|
Dissolution of English monasteries ordered by Henry VIII |
| 1535 |
|
Hapsburg Charles V drives Turks back from Hungary |
| 1535 |
|
Peru conquered for Spain by Francisco Pizarro |
| 1535 |
|
Death of Sir Thomas More (scholar and statesman) |
| 1536 |
|
Death of Erasmus (scholar) |
| 1538 |
|
Colombia conquered for Spain by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada |
| 1540 |
|
Spaniard Franciso de Coronado explores North America |
| 1541 |
|
Death of Paracelsus (physician and alchemist) |
| 1541 |
|
Reformist John Calvin regains authority in Geneva |
| 1543 |
|
Polish astronomer Nicolas Copernicus shows that Earth revolves around Sun |
| 1545 |
|
Catholic Counter-Reformation after Council of Trent |
| 1546 |
|
Death of Barbarossa, Barbary pirate who made conquests for Turkey |
| 1547 |
|
Henry VIII dies and his son Edward VI comes to English throne |
| 1548 |
|
Mary Queen of Scots flees to France |
| 1549 |
|
Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier tries to convert Japanese to Christianity |
| 1549 |
|
"Book of Common Prayer" issued |
| 1551 |
|
Portuguese monopolize trade with China from Malacca |
| 1553 |
|
Lady Jane Grey briefly made Queen by Earl of Northumberland |
| 1553 |
|
Mary succedes to English throne and restores Catholicism |
| 1553 |
|
Systematic perscution of Protestants by "Bloody Mary" |
| 1553 |
|
Death of François Rabelais (writer and satirist) |
| 1553 |
|
Death of Cranach the Elder (artist) |
| 1555 |
|
Peace of Augsburg - allows choice of religious denomination |
| 1556 |
|
Charles V leaves Austria to Ferdinand and Spain to Philip II |
| 1556 |
|
Shaanxi earthquake kills 830,000 |
| 1556 |
|
Mughal leader Akbar comes to power - controls most of India |
| 1556 |
|
Ivan the Terrible increases Russian territory in south and east |
| 1557 |
|
Portuguese have trading monopoly in China through Macao |
| 1558 |
|
Elizabeth I accedes after Mary's death |
| 1558 |
|
Philip II inherits Spain and other lands from Hapsburgs |
| 1561 |
|
Mary Queen of Scots returns to Scotland |
| 1562 |
|
Sir John Hawkins starts British slave trade in West Indies |
| 1562 |
|
Huguenots fight for right to follow Calvinism in France |
| 1564 |
|
Death of Michelangelo (artist) |
| 1568 |
|
William the Silent leads Dutch in revolt against Hapsburgs |
| 1568 |
|
Beginning of English-Spanish maritime feud - Hawkins & Drake |
| 1571 |
|
Bornu Empire in Central Sudan at its zenith under Idris III |
| 1572 |
|
Massacre of St Bartholemew - Huguenots routed |
| 1572 |
|
Poland declares itself a republic |
| 1572 |
|
Death of John Knox (Scottish religious reformer) |
| 1576 |
|
French Catholic League formed by Guise family |
| 1576 |
|
Death of Titian (artist) |
| 1577 |
|
Sir Francis Drake begins voyage around world |
| 1578 |
|
Dutch provinces fight against Spanish domination |
| 1579 |
|
Start of decline of Turkish Empire with death of Sokolli |
| 1580 |
|
Dutch sieze many Portuguese trading posts throughout the world |
| 1580 |
|
Philip II of Spain annexes Portugal and its dependencies |
| 1581 |
|
Netherlands proclaims independence from Spain and wars start |
| 1582 |
|
Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII |
| 1584 |
|
Boris Godunov temporarily takes control of Russia |
| 1585 |
|
Japan unified under dictator Hideyoshi |
| 1587 |
|
Shah Abbas the Great becomes rules of Persia |
| 1587 |
|
Mary Queen of Scots executed for treason |
| 1588 |
|
Sir Francis Drake of England defeats Spanish Armada |
| 1589 |
|
Death of Catherine de Medici ("Queen Mother of France") |
| 1589 |
|
Henry IV first Bourbon King of France |
| 1592 |
|
Moorish conquest of African Songhai Empire |
| 1594 |
|
Death of Tinteretto (artist) |
| 1594 |
|
Death of Pierluigi da Palestrina (composer) |
| 1597 |
|
Christian converts persecuted in Japan |
| 1598 |
|
Edict of Nantes allows Calvinism in France |
| 1600 |
|
British East India Company founded |
| 1603 |
|
Tokugawa period - feudal Japan finally unified and pacified |
| 1603 |
|
Elizabeth I dies - end of Tudor rule in England |
| 1603 |
|
Scottish James VI made English James I - first Stuart king |
| 1605 |
|
Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot against James' anti-Catholic laws |
| 1606 |
|
Dutch explorers land on Australian mainland |
| 1607 |
|
First permanent British settlement founded in Virginia, North America |
| 1608 |
|
Permanent French colony founded in Quebec by Samuel de Champlain |
| 1609 |
|
Dutch republic breaks away from Holy Roman Empire and Spanish rule |
| 1610 |
|
Henry IV of France assassinated by Catholic fanatic |
| 1611 |
|
"Authorized Version" of Bible printed in Britain |
| 1613 |
|
Michael Romanov (first of dynasty) becomes Tsar of Russia |
| 1616 |
|
Death of Miguel de Cervantes (writer) |
| 1616 |
|
Death of William Shakespeare (dramatist and poet) |
| 1618 |
|
Thirty Years' War in Germany to decide Bohemian succession |
| 1618 |
|
Sir Walter Raleigh executed |
| 1618 |
|
Hohenzollerns of Brandenberg (Prussia) acquire East Prussia |
| 1620 |
|
Puritan Pilgrim Father establish colony in New England |
| 1624 |
|
Cardinal Richelieu builds up French power |
| 1625 |
|
Charles I succedes James I as King of England |
| 1626 |
|
Death of Francis Bacon (philosopher and statesman) |
| 1628 |
|
Petition of Rights establishes Parliament's rights over King's |
| 1629 |
|
Charles I dismisses Parliament and rules alone |
| 1632 |
|
King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden ("Lion of the North") dies |
| 1635 |
|
Death of Lope de Vega (dramatist) |
| 1637 |
|
Death of Ben Johnson (dramatist) |
| 1637 |
|
Russian pioneers reach Pacific coast |
| 1638 |
|
Death of Peter Breugel the Younger (artist) |
| 1639 |
|
East India Company establishes city of Madras |
| 1640 |
|
Japan excludes all foreigners |
| 1640 |
|
Portugal establishes independence from Spain again |
| 1640 |
|
Long Parliament ends Charles I's personal rule |
| 1640 |
|
English Civil War starts - Royalist Cavaliers against Puritan Roundheads |
| 1640 |
|
Frederick, Great Elector of Brandenberg, expands Prussia |
| 1641 |
|
Death of Anthony Van Dyke (artist) |
| 1642 |
|
Death of Galileo Galileo (astronomer) |
| 1642 |
|
Cardinal Richelieu dies and Cardinal Mazarin takes over |
| 1642 |
|
Abel Tasman claims Tasmania for Netherlands - later claimed by Britain |
| 1643 |
|
Death of Claudio Monteverde (composer) |
| 1643 |
|
Louis XIV ("Sun King") becomes King of France at 5 years old |
| 1644 |
|
Manchu Dynasty seizes power and extends Chinese influence further |
| 1645 |
|
Death of Grotius (founder of International Law) |
| 1648 |
|
Netherlands finally achieves independence from Spain - Peace of Westphalia |
| 1648 |
|
Cossack uprising begins Polish demise as a major power |
| 1648 |
|
Taj Mahal built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan |
| 1649 |
|
Cromwell has Charles I executed and sets up Commonwealth |
| 1650 |
|
Death of René Descartes (philosopher and mathematician) |
| 1651 |
|
Charles II escapes Cromwell to France |
| 1651 |
|
Thomas Hobbes publishes "Leviathon" (philosophical treatise) |
| 1652 |
|
Strengthened British navy defeats Dutch in First Dutch War |
| 1652 |
|
Dutch establish first colony in South Africa |
| 1652 |
|
Dutch establish colony (present day New York) in North America |
| 1653 |
|
Cromwell made Lord Protector of England - subdues Ireland |
| 1659 |
|
French frontiers enlarged after treaty with Spain |
| 1660 |
|
Death of Diego Velázquez (artist) |
| 1660 |
|
Royal Society (scientific organization) founded in London |
| 1660 |
|
Restoration - Long Parliament dissolved and Charles II restores monarchy |
| 1661 |
|
Louis XIV sole ruler of France after Cardinal Mazarin dies |
| 1662 |
|
Death of Blaise Pascal (mathematician and philosopher) |
| 1664 |
|
New York taken from Dutch by British |
| 1665 |
|
Great Plague |
| 1666 |
|
Great Fire of London |
| 1667 |
|
Death of Baruch Spinoza (philosopher) |
| 1667 |
|
Louis XIV starts series of wars to expand French borders |
| 1669 |
|
Death of Rembrandt (artist) |
| 1669 |
|
Last major eruption of Mount Etna, Sicily (20,000 killed) |
| 1670 |
|
Hanseatic League abandoned |
| 1670 |
|
Britain establishes Hudson Bay Company in Canada |
| 1673 |
|
Death of Molière (dramatist) |
| 1674 |
|
Death of John Milton (poet) |
| 1675 |
|
Death of Jan Vermeer (artist) |
| 1679 |
|
Death of Thomas Hobbes (social philosopher) |
| 1680 |
|
Louis XIV annexes Alsace for France |
| 1681 |
|
Charles II tries to rule without Parliament |
| 1682 |
|
Death of Bartolemé Murillo (artist) |
| 1682 |
|
French claim large territories in Louisiana |
| 1682 |
|
Peter I (the Great) becomes Tsar of Russia |
| 1683 |
|
Second siege of Vienna - last major Turkish attack on Europe |
| 1685 |
|
Edict of Nantes revoked - Protestant Huguenots flee France |
| 1685 |
|
James II succedes to English throne after Charles' death |
| 1685 |
|
Judge Jeffries' "Bloody Assize" after Monmouth's failed coup |
| 1687 |
|
Sir Isaac Newton publishes his "Principia" |
| 1687 |
|
Lloyds of London insurance company established |
| 1688 |
|
Dutch William of Orange (III) invited to take English throne (with Mary) |
| 1688 |
|
Death of Sir Henry Morgan (buccaneer and pirate) |
| 1690 |
|
William III defeats James and Louis XIV at Boyne, Ireland |
| 1691 |
|
Death of George Fox (founder of Quaker sect) |
| 1692 |
|
Massacre of Glencoe - English "lesson" to Scottish highlanders |
| 1692 |
|
Witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts |
| 1694 |
|
Death of Bashö (haiku poet) |
| 1694 |
|
Bank of England founded |
| 1695 |
|
Death of Henry Purcell (composer) |
| 1695 |
|
Peter the Great defeats Turks at Sea of Azoz |
| 1699 |
|
Large Turkish concessions to Austria, Hungary and Poland |
| 1699 |
|
Death of Jean Racine (dramatist) |
| 1700 |
|
Charles XII of Sweden starts Great Northern War against Russia |
| 1700 |
|
War of Spanish Succession: France wins and Bourbon made King of Spain |
