: The
Battle of White Mountain. : The
Mayflower arrives at
Cape Cod.
January–March •
January 7 –
Ben Jonson's play
News from the New World Discovered in the Moon is given its first performance, a presentation to King
James I of England. In addition to dialogue about actual observations made by telescope of the Moon, the play includes a fanciful discussion of a lunar civilization, featuring a dance by the "Volatees", the lunar race. •
January 22 – In France,
Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes, and his wife, the Duchess
Marie de Rohan, sign a marriage contract on behalf of their one-year-old daughter to be engaged to the year-old son of
Charles, Duke of Guise. •
January 26 –
Karan Singh II becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of
Mewar (in the modern-day state of
Rajasthan in
India) upon the death of his father, the Maharana
Amar Singh I. •
February 4 – Prince
Bethlen Gabor secures a peace treaty with
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. •
March 22 – King
Karma Phuntsok Namgyal of
Tibet dies of smallpox after a reign of less than two years, after Ngawang Namgyal of Bhutan casts a tantric spell over him. •
March 24 – English sailor
Owen Fitzpen is captured by Turkish pirates while on a trading voyage in the Mediterranean Sea and sold into slavery. He remains a slave in North Africa for seven years until he and 10 other slaves are able to take over a Turkish ship and sail back to Europe.
April–June •
April 1 –
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and former King of Bohemia, sends a two-month ultimatum directing
King Frederick of Bohemia (who has usurped the throne in the modern-day Czech Republic) to leave
Bohemia by June 1. Frederick refuses to depart his capital at
Prague. •
April 7 – The
earliest recorded earthquake in South Africa occurs at
Robben Island. •
April 20 –
Mian Shahul Mouhammed Kalhoro begins his reign at
Karachi as the king of
Sindh, in modern-day
Pakistan, and rules until 1657. •
May 17 – The first
merry-go-round is seen at a fair in Philippapolis,
Turkey. •
June 3 – The oldest stone church in French North America,
Notre-Dame-des-Anges, is begun at
Quebec City in modern-day Canada.
July–September •
July 3 • Under the terms of the
Treaty of Ulm, the Protestant Union declares neutrality and ceases to support
Frederick V of Bohemia. • Captain
Andrew Shilling, on behalf of the English
Honourable East India Company, lays claim to
Table Bay in
Africa. •
July 25 (July 15
OS) – The armed merchant ship
Mayflower embarks about 65 emigrants for New England at or near her home port of
Rotherhithe on the Thames east of London; about July 29 (July 19 OS) she anchors in
Southampton Water. •
August 1 (July 22
OS) – The ship
Speedwell departs
Delfshaven with English separatist
Puritans from
Leiden bound to rendezvous with the
Mayflower; on August 5 (July 26 OS) she anchors in Southampton Water. •
September 2 (August 23
OS) –
Mayflower and
Speedwell depart together from Dartmouth; they are well out into the Atlantic when the
Speedwell is again found to be leaking. •
September 16 (September 6
OS) –
Mayflower departs from
Plymouth in
England on her third attempt to cross the Atlantic. The
Pilgrims on board comprise 41 "saints" (English separatists largely from Holland), 40 "strangers" (largely secular planters from London), 23 servants and hired workers, together with c. 30 crew. •
September 17–
October 7 –
Battle of Cecora: The
Ottoman Empire defeats
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth–
Moldavian troops.
October–December •
October 6 – Battle of Amedamit in
Gojjam,
Ethiopia: The
Roman Catholic Ras Sela Kristos, half-brother of Emperor
Susenyos, crushes a group of rebels, who are opposed to Susenyos' pro-Catholic beliefs. •
November 3 – The Great Patent is granted to
Plymouth Colony. •
November 8 –
Thirty Years' War:
Battle of White Mountain – Catholic Habsburg forces are victorious over Bohemian rebels two hours from
Prague. •
November 21 (November 11
OS) – The
Mayflower arrives inside the tip of
Cape Cod (named from the
Concord voyage of
1602), at what becomes known as
Provincetown Harbor, with the
Pilgrims and
Planters; 41
Plymouth Colony settlers sign the
Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the colony, on board the ship. •
November 25 – The
wedding of Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora takes place in Sweden. •
December 21 –
Plymouth Colony:
William Bradford and the
Mayflower Pilgrims land near what becomes known as
Plymouth Rock, in
Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Date unknown • "A Dutch Ship, putting in this Year [of 1620, before June], sold 20 Negroes to the Colony [as
slaves], which were the first of that Generation, that were ever brought to
Virginia." • A severe frost in England freezes the River
Thames; 13 continuous days of snow blanket Scotland. On
Eskdale Moor, only 35 of a flock of 20,000 sheep survive. •
History of submarines:
Cornelis Drebbel demonstrates the first navigable
undersea boat in the
Thames in England. •
Juan Pablo Bonet, teacher of deaf children in the Spanish court, creates a sign alphabet. •
Francis Bacon publishes the
Novum Organum (beyond
Aristotle's
Organon) on logical thinking. •
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by
Bartolomé de las Casas and
Origin and progress of the disturbances in the Netherlands by
Johannes Gysius are re-published in the Netherlands. • Shōgun
Tokugawa Hidetada begins restoring
Osaka Castle in Japan. Its modern-day appearance dates from this remodeling.
Ongoing • The
Thirty Years' War (
1618–
1648) continues (principally on the territory of modern-day Germany). == Births ==