1620s (1620 - 1629)

The 1620s decade ran from January 1, 1620, to December 31, 1629.

• February 4 – Prince Bethlen Gabor signs a peace treaty with Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• May 17 – The first merry-go-round is seen at a fair (Philippapolis, Turkey).
• June 3 – The oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, is begun at Quebec City, Canada.

• 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.
• August 15 (probable date; August 5 OS) – Mayflower and Speedwell depart together from Southampton, but are forced to put back into Dartmouth, Devon, for repairs to a leak in the latter ship on August 22 or 23 (August 12 or 13 OS).
• August 7
  • The mother of Johannes Kepler is arrested for witchcraft.
  • Battle of Les Ponts-de-Cé, Poitou: French king Louis XIII defeats his mother Marie de' Medici.
• 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 7 (August 28 OS)
  • Mayflower and Speedwell return again to England, anchoring at Plymouth; the latter ship is given up as a participant in the voyage and on September 12 (September 2 OS) departs for London with most of her passengers and stores having been transferred to the Mayflower.
  • The town of Kokkola (Swedish: Karleby) was founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
• 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 6 – Battle of Amedamit in Gojjam, Ethiopia: The Roman Catholic Ras Sela Kristos, half-brother of Emperor Susenyos, crushes a group of rebels, who were 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 forces are victorious in only two hours near 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.
• December 21 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what becomes known as Plymouth Rock, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

• 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.
• Witch-hunts begin in Scotland.
• History of submarines: Cornelis Drebbel demonstrates the first navigable undersea boat in the Thames in England.
• The modern violin is developed.
• 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 is re-published in the Netherlands.
• Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada restores Osaka Castle. Its modern-day appearance dates from this remodeling.

• The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) continues (principally on the territory of modern-day Germany).

• February 9 – Papal Conclave of 1621: Pope Gregory XV succeeds Pope Paul V, as the 234th pope.
• February 17 – Myles Standish is appointed as the first commander of Plymouth Colony.
• March 16 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them: "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."
• March 22 – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.
• March 31 – King Philip IV of Spain begins his 44-year rule.
• April – The Twelve Years' Truce between the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Empire expires, and both sides prepare to resume the Eighty Years' War.
• April 1 – The Plymouth, Massachusetts colonists create the first treaty with native Americans.
• April 5 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, on a return trip to England.
• May 2 – The Panama earthquake affects the Isthmus of Panama, with an estimated magnitude of 6.9, and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong).
• May 12 – The city of Tornio in Lapland is founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, becoming the northernmost city in the world at the time.
• May 24 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
• June 3 – The Dutch West India Company is founded.
• June 21 – Thirty Years' War: Twenty-seven Czech lords are executed on the Old Town Square in Prague, as a consequence of the Battle of White Mountain.
• June 24 – Huguenot rebellions: Saint-Jean-d'Angély is taken, after a 26-day siege by Royal forces.

• July 25 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Neu Titschein: Remnants of the Bohemian army temporarily hold off the Imperial advance in Silesia.
• August – Huguenot rebellions: Louis XIII of France besieges the Huguenot city of Montauban in the Siege of Montauban, but is forced to abandon his siege two months later.
• September – October – Battle of Khotyn: Polish troops hold off a large Ottoman army for over a month.
• October – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and Wampanoags celebrate a harvest feast (three days), later regarded as the First Thanksgiving, noted for peaceful co-existence.
• October 9 – The Treaty of Khotyn is signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ending the First Polish-Ottoman War.
• November 11 – The ship Fortune arrives at Plymouth Colony, with 35 more settlers.
• December – The Dutch mathematician and astronomer, Willebrord Snel van Royen (1580–1626), reveals he has rediscovered the law of refraction, also known as Snellius' law.
• December 31 – Thirty Years' War: The Peace of Nikolsburg is signed between Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and Gabor Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania. Bethlen agrees to renounce his claims to Hungary. In return Bethlen receives several counties and lands along the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire, and Moravia is granted religious freedom.

• The Venezuelan city of Petare is founded by Spanish conquistadors, as San Jose de Guanarito.
• The Swedish city of Gothenburg is founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The king also grants city rights to Luleå, Piteå and Torneå (Tornio). Riga falls under the rule of Sweden.
• Tamblot starts the Tamblot Uprising, in the Philippines.
• The Dutch East India Company sends 2,000 soldiers, under the command of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, to the Banda Islands, in order to force the local inhabitants to accept the Dutch trade monopoly on the lucrative nutmeg, grown almost exclusively on those islands. The soldiers proceed to massacre most of the 15,000 indigenous inhabitants.

• January 1 – In the Gregorian calendar, January 1 is declared as the first day of the year, instead of March 25.
• January 7 – The Holy Roman Empire and Transylvania sign the Peace of Nikolsburg.
• February 8 – King James I of England dissolves the English Parliament.
• March 12 – Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Ávila, Isidore the Farmer and Philip Neri are canonized by Pope Gregory XV.
• March 22 – Jamestown massacre: Algonquian natives kill 347 English settlers outside Jamestown, Virginia (⅓ of the colony's population), and burn the Henricus settlement. This begins the American Indian Wars.
• April 22 – Hormuz is captured from the Portuguese, by an Anglo-Persian force.
• April 27 – Thirty Years' War – Skirmish at Mingolsheim: Protestant forces under Mansfeld and Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach defeat the Imperial forces under Tilly. The Protestants win, but afterwards Tilly links up with a Spanish army under Gonzalo de Córdoba, greatly increasing his strength.
• May – Huguenot rebellions: The Huguenot city of Royan is taken by royal forces, after a short siege.
• May 6 – Thirty Years' War: While waiting for the Protestant forces of Christian the Younger of Brunswick to join them, Mansfeld and Georg Friedrich of Baden-Durlach split up their forces as a diversion for the Imperial army of Tilly. Their plan fails, as Tilly manages to cut off Georg Friedrich at Wimpfen. At the ensuing Battle of Wimpfen, Georg Friedrich's army is almost completely destroyed.
• May 13 – The Eendracht, a VOC ship and the second recorded European ship to make landfall on Australian soil, is wrecked off the western coast of Ambon Island, Dutch East Indies.
• May 20 – Ottoman Sultan Osman II is strangled by rebelling Janissaries, who revolted when they heard rumours that Osman II was planning to move against them.
• May 25 – The English ship Tryall, which left Plymouth, England for Batavia (now Jakarta), wrecks on the Tryal Rocks, nine months later (the wreck is discovered in 1969).
• June 11 – Huguenot rebellions: The Huguenot city of Nègrepelisse is taken, after a short siege by royal forces. The entire population of the city is subsequently massacred, and the city is burned to the ground.
• June 20 – Thirty Years' War: Imperial forces under Tilly attempt to prevent Christian the Younger of Brunswick from moving his army across the Main River, to link up with Mansfeld. At the Battle of Höchst, Tilly manages to inflict considerable casualties on the Protestant forces, as well as seizing Brunswick's baggage train. Nonetheless, the bulk of Brunswick's forces manage to unite with Mansfeld.
• June 24 – Dutch–Portuguese War – Battle of Macau: The outnumbered Portuguese forces successfully defend Macau from the Dutch fleet, keeping a Portuguese foothold in the Far East.

• July 13 – Thirty Years' War: After Mansfeld fails to relieve the siege of Heidelberg, Frederick V of the Palatinate cancels Mansfeld's contract and disbands his army. The unemployed army of Mansfeld and Christian the Younger of Brunswick is subsequently hired by the Dutch.
• July 13 or July 14 – English and Dutch ships defeat the Portuguese, near Portuguese East Africa.
• July 18 – Eighty Years' War: Bergen op Zoom is besieged by a Spanish army, under the command of Ambrogio Spinola.
• August 29 – Thirty Years' War: While on their way to relieve the Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands, the army of Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick is blocked by a Spanish army, led by Gonzalo de Córdoba. In the Battle of Fleurus, Cordoba manages to fight off the Protestant assault. The next day, Cordoba surprises the retreating Protestant army with his cavalry, resulting in the destruction of most of the Protestant army.
• September 5 – Armand Jean du Plessis becomes Cardinal Richelieu.
• September 6 – Spanish treasure fleet sinks off Marquesas Keys in the straits of Florida. Atocha, Margarita, and Rosario are the most heavily laden treasure ships found in the 20th century.
• September 19 – Thirty Years' War: Heidelberg, the capital of the Electorate of the Palatinate, is taken by the Imperial army of Tilly' after a three-month siege.
• October 2 – Eighty Years' War: After a siege of 86 days, Bergen op Zoom is relieved by a Dutch army led by Maurice of Nassau and Ernst von Mansfeld.
• October 18 – Huguenot rebellions: The first Huguenot rebellion ends, with the signing of the Treaty of Montpellier.
• October 27 – Huguenot rebellions: The inconclusive Naval battle of Saint-Martin-de-Ré is fought between the Huguenot fleet of La Rochelle, commanded by Jean Guiton, and a royal fleet under the command of Charles of Guise.
• December 18 – Portuguese forces with Imbangala allies score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in modern-day Angola as part of the First Kongo-Portuguese War.
• December 22 – Bucaramanga, Colombia, is founded.

• Dutch ships under Jochem Swartenhont, while escorting a convoy, repel a Spanish squadron near Gibraltar.
• Portugal loses control of the island of Ormus, after 107 years.
• Albertus Magnus is beatified, and Teresa of Ávila is canonized, by the Roman Catholic Church.
• Rosicrucianism furor breaks out in Paris.
• War between the Netherlands and Spain recommences, after the Twelve Years' Truce (1609–1621).
• The Golden Horn freezes.
• First record of bottled spring water in England at Holy Well, Malvern.

• January – Forces from the Kingdom of Kongo defeat the Portuguese in the Battle of Mbanda Kasi.
• February – France, Savoy, and Venice sign the Treaty of Paris, agreeing to cooperate in removing Spanish forces from the strategic Alpine pass of Valtelline.
• February 25 – Thirty Years' War: Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria becomes Elector of the Electorate of the Palatinate.
• March 5 – The first American temperance law is enacted, in Virginia.
• March 9 – Amboyna massacre: Ten men in the service of the British East India Company, nine Japanese and one Portuguese, are executed by the Dutch East India Company.
• March 20 – Richard Frethorne begins writing a letter to his parents from Jamestown, Virginia.
• April 11 – King Gwanghaegun of Joseon is deposed in the Injo coup. He is succeeded by King Injo.
• April 29 – A fleet of 11 Dutch ships depart for the coast of Peru, seeking to seize Spanish treasure.
• June 14 – The first breach-of-promise lawsuit: Rev. Gerville Pooley, in Virginia, files against Cicely Jordan, but loses.
• June 29 – Première of Pedro Calderón de la Barca's first play, Amor, honor y poder, at the Court of Habsburg Spain.

• July – The ship Anne arrives from England at New Plymouth (Plymouth Colony), carrying more settlers, followed a week or two later by the Little James.
• July 16 - The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, when they were only 5 arc minutes apart, the closest since 4 March 1226. This conjunction likely went unobserved, as it would have occurred near the sun and the telescope had been invented only recently.
• August 6
  • Papal Conclave of 1623: Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini) succeeds Pope Gregory XV, as the 235th pope.
  • Thirty Years' War: Chased by the Count of Tilly's army, Christian of Brunswick's army attempts to flee to the Dutch Republic. Tilly's army catches Brunswick five miles from the border. In the resulting Battle of Stadtlohn, Christian's army is destroyed.
• September 10 – Murat IV (1623–1640) succeeds Mustafa I (1622–1623) as Ottoman Emperor.
• November 1 – Fire at Plymouth Colony destroys several buildings.
• Between November 8 and December 5 – The "First Folio" (Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies), a collection of 36 of the plays of Shakespeare, is published in London, England, half of which have not previously been printed.

Gabriel Bethlen (Hungarian: Bethlen Gábor; 15 November 1580 – 15 November 1629) Prince of Transylvania and King-elect of Hungary with his diploma dated in Kolozsvár/Klausenburg/Cluj he allows Jews to settle, trade freely and practice religion in Transylvania, and exempts them from wearing the usual Jewish sign.

• The Safavids recapture Baghdad.
• England first colonizes Saint Kitts and Nevis.
• Wilhelm Schickard invents his Calculating Clock, an early mechanical calculator.
• Zildjian begins the commercial manufacture of cymbals in Turkey. The company will still be operating, from Massachusetts, in the 21st century.
• Procopius' long-lost Secret History is rediscovered, in the Vatican Library.
• Giambattista Marini publishes his long poem Adone.
• Tommaso Campanella publishes The City of the Sun.
• Johannes Rudbeck founds Rudbeckianska gymnasiet, the first gymnasium in Sweden.
• The second Thanksgiving is celebrated at Plymouth Plantation.
• Erotomania is first mentioned, in a psychiatric treatise.
• On the coast of Massachusetts Bay, the settlement that will become the City of Gloucester, Massachusetts, is first inhabited by men from Dorchester, Dorset, England.
• On the coast of New Hampshire, the settlement of Hilton's Point, which will become Dover, New Hampshire, is established by men from London, England, the first European settlers in the state.
• A plague outbreak kills around 40 people in Malta.

• January 14 – After 90 years of Ottoman occupation, the Safavid Empire recaptures Baghdad.
• January 24 – Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
• April 15 – The University of Saint Francis Xavier is founded in Bolivia.
• April 29 – Louis XIII of France appoints Cardinal Richelieu to the Conseil du Roi (Royal Council).
• May 8 – Capture of Bahia: A Dutch West India Company fleet captures the Brazilian city of Salvador, Bahia from the Portuguese Empire (at this time in the Iberian Union).
• May 24
  • The city of Oslo, Norway, is destroyed by fire for the fourteenth time. King Christian IV of Denmark–Norway decrees its rebuilding on a new site, where it will be renamed Christiania.
  • After years of unprofitable operation, Virginia's charter is revoked, and it becomes a royal colony.
• May 25 – The Scottish city of Dunfermline is destroyed by fire, but The Abbey, The Palace, the Abbot House and many other buildings survive.
• June – The first Dutch settlers arrive in New Netherland; they disembark at Governors Island.
• June 10 – Treaty of Compiègne is signed between the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic.

• July or August – Portuguese Jesuit priest António de Andrade becomes the first European to enter Tibet.
• August
  • The Siege of Breda begins, and will continue for 10 months.
  • Chinese admiral Yu Zigao forces the Dutch East India Company to withdraw from their post at Penghu, to Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan).
• August 5–14 – The King's Men perform Thomas Middleton's satire A Game at Chess at the Globe Theatre, London, until it is suppressed in view of its allusions to the Spanish Match.
• August 13 – Cardinal Richelieu is appointed by Louis XIII of France to be his chief minister, having intrigued against Charles de La Vieuville, Superintendent of Finances, arrested for corruption the previous day.
• October 3 – A combined squadron of fifteen Neapolitan (Spain), Tuscan, and Papal galleys defeat a squadron of six Algerian ships on the island of San Pietro, near Sardinia. (details)
• December 24 – Denmark's first postal service is launched by order of King Christian IV.

• The Palace of Versailles is first built by Louis XIII, as a hunting lodge.
• The Japanese shōgun expels the Spanish from the land, and severs trade with the Philippines.
• Henry Briggs publishes Arithmetica Logarithmica.
• Jakob Bartsch first publishes a chart, showing the constellation Camelopardalis around the North Star.
• The French Parlement passes a decree forbidding criticism of Aristotle, on pain of death.
• Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba starts to rule.
• The Latymer School and Latymer Upper School in London are founded, by the bequest of Edward Latymer.
• Frans Hals produces the painting later known as the Laughing Cavalier.
• The German-language Luther Bible is publicly burned, by order of the Pope.

• January 17 – Led by the Duke of Soubise, the Huguenots launch a second rebellion against King Louis XIII, with a surprise naval assault on a French fleet being prepared in Blavet.
• February – Huguenot forces under the Duke of Soubise capture the Island of Ré.
• March 21 – James Ussher is appointed Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) and Primate of All Ireland.
• March 28–April 24 – First Savoine War – Relief of Genoa: The Spanish fleet aids the Republic of Genoa, by overcoming the Franco-Savoyard occupation of the city of Genoa.
• March 25 – Battle of Martqopi: The Safavids are defeated in Georgia.
• March 27 – Charles Stuart (Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland) succeeds to the throne on the death of his father, King James I of England.
• April 4 – Frederick Henry of Nassau marries Amalia, Countess von Solms-Braunfels.
• April 7 – Albrecht von Wallenstein is appointed German supreme commander.
• April 23 – Stadtholder Maurice of Nassau of the Dutch Republic dies, and is succeeded by his younger brother, Frederick Henry.
• May 1 – A Portuguese-Spanish expedition recaptures Salvador, Bahia (Bahia) from the Dutch.
• May 15–16 – Rebellious farmers are hanged in Vocklamarkt, Upper Austria.
• June 2 – Prince Frederick Henry is sworn in as the stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland.
• June 5 – Eighty Years' War: Spanish troops under Ambrogio Spinola conquer Breda, after a yearlong siege.
• June 13 – King Charles I of England marries Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France and Navarre, at Canterbury.
• June 18 – The English Parliament refuses to vote Charles I the right to collect customs duties for his entire reign, restricting him to one year instead.

• July – The Barbary pirates first attack south-western England. In August they enslave about 60 people from Mount's Bay in Cornwall.
• August 6 – Ernest Casimir of Nassau-Dietz is appointed as stadtholder of Groningen.
• August 16 – Ernest Casimir of Nassau-Dietz is appointed stadtholder of Drenthe.
• September 8 – The Treaty of Southampton makes an alliance between England and the Dutch Republic, against Spain.
• September 13 – A total of 16 rabbis (including Isaiah Horowitz) are imprisoned in Jerusalem.
• September 15 – After several skirmishes in the preceding days, troops under the Marquis of Toiras successfully recapture the island of Ré, forcing the Duke of Soubise to flee to England, and ending the second Huguenot rebellion.
• September 24 – A Dutch fleet attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• October 25 – A Dutch fleet attacks the Portuguese garrison at Elmina castle at modern-day Elmina, Ghana, but is defeated with heavy casualties. This defeat, along with the defeats at Bahia and Puerto Rico, causes a five-year-long lull in Dutch attacks on Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
• November 1–7 – Cádiz Expedition: English forces commanded by Admiral George Villiers (which set out from Plymouth on October 8) are decisively defeated by the Spanish at Cádiz.
• December 9 – Thirty Years' War: The Netherlands and England sign the Treaty of The Hague, a military peace treaty for providing economical aid to King Christian IV of Denmark, during his military campaigns in Germany.

• The Dutch settle Manhattan, founding the town of New Amsterdam. The town will transform into a piece of New York City.
• The capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo, is founded by King Andrianjaka.
• In England, a very high tide occurs, the highest ever known in the Thames, and the sea walls in Kent, Essex, and Lincolnshire are overthrown, thus great desolation is caused to the lands near the sea.
• An English colony is established in Barbados.
• The first members of the Society of Jesus move to Quebec, Canada.

• January 7 – Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army.
• January 9 – Peter Minuit sails from Texel Island for America's New Netherland colony, with two ships of Dutch emigrants.
• February 2 – King Charles I of England is crowned, but without his wife, Henrietta Maria, who declines to participate in a non-Catholic ceremony.
• February 2–10 – Battle of Ningyuan in Xingcheng, Liaoning, China: With a much smaller force, the Ming dynasty commander Yuan Chonghuan defeats the Manchu tribal leader Nurhaci, who dies soon after and is succeeded by Huang Taiji.
• February 5 – The Huguenot rebels and the French government sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the second Huguenot rebellion.
• February 11 – Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.
• April 25 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Dessau Bridge – Albrecht von Wallenstein defeats Ernst von Mansfelds army.
• May 4 – Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherland, for the Dutch West India Company.
• May 24 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan from a Native American tribe (Lenape or Shinnecock) for trade goods, valued at 60 guilders ($24.00).
• May 30 – Wanggongchang Explosion in Beijing, China: a gunpowder factory explosion destroys part of the city and kills 20,000.
• June 15 – King Charles I of England dissolves the English Parliament.

• August 1 – Eighty Years' War: Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz retakes Oldenzaal, forcing Spain to withdraw from Overijssel.
• August 27 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Lutter – Tilly defeats King Christian IV of Denmark's army.
• September 30 – Nurhaci, chief of the Jurchens and founder of the Qing dynasty, dies and is succeeded by his son Hong Taiji.
• November 6 (O.S.) – The ship Arms of Amsterdam arrives in Europe from New Netherland (left September 23) with the news: "They have purchased the Island Manhattes [Manhattan] from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders."
• November 18 – The new St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican is consecrated, on the 1,300th anniversary of the previous church in 326.
• December 1 – Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical Governor of Jerusalem, is forced out.
• December 20 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and Transylvanian monarch Bethlen Gabor sign the Peace of Pressburg.

• 1626 influenza pandemic begins in Asia, then spreads into Europe, Africa, North America, and South America
• The Würzburg and Bamberg witch trials, which will lead to the mass executions of hundreds of people until 1630/31, begin.
• Samuel de Champlain decides to build Cap tourmente (Kap toor-mont) Farm to raise livestock to provide food for settlers in Quebec, rather than depending on supplies sent from France.

• January – The Dutch ship 't Gulden Zeepaert, skippered by François Thijssen, makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia.
• February 15 – The administrative rural parish of Iisalmi (Swedish: Idensalmi) was established in Savonia by order of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
• February 17 – England lands the first European settlers on Barbados.
• March 3 – After the First Manchu invasion of Korea, the Joseon Dynasty of Korea becomes a tributary state of the Manchus, but still pays respects to the Ming Dynasty of China. After rejecting a Manchu alteration to the original diplomatic terms in 1636, the Manchus invade again in 1637.
• June 20 – Hinchingbrooke House is sold by Sir Oliver Cromwell, to Sidney Montagu.
• July 4–19 – Turkish Abductions: The Barbary pirates raid Iceland.
• July 20–August 19 – Eighty Years' War: Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, lays siege to Grol, the last Spanish stronghold in the eastern Netherlands, and captures it after a siege that lasted a month.
• July 22 – The English, under the Duke of Buckingham, invade Ré Island in support of the Huguenots in La Rochelle; the invasion fails.
• July 27 – An earthquake destroys the cities of San Severo and Torremaggiore in southern Italy.
• September – The Siege of La Rochelle begins.
• November 20 – Thirty Years' War: Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, signs the Capitulation of Franzburg, in which Pomerania is forced to pay for the Imperial army that Wallenstein sent to occupy it. Nonetheless, despite the treaty, Pomerania is devastated by the Imperial troops.
• November 28 – Polish-Swedish War – Battle of Oliwa: A Polish-Lithuanian fleet defeats a Swedish fleet.

• Habsburg Spain suffers an economic collapse.
• The last recorded aurochs die in the Jaktorów Forest of Poland.
• Rock blasting is invented: Black gunpowder is first used in mining, in a mineshaft under Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia.

• January 25 – Shah Jahan is crowned as ruler of the Mughal Empire, in Agra.
• March 1 – Writs issued in February, by King Charles I, require every county in England (not just seaport towns) to pay ship tax by this date.
• March 17 – Oliver Cromwell makes his first appearance in the English Parliament, as Member for Huntingdon.
• May–August 4 – Thirty Years' War: As a result of its refusal to accept the capitulation of Franzburg, Stralsund is besieged by Wallenstein's imperial army.
• June 7 – King Charles I reconvenes the English Parliament, and accepts the Petition of Right as a concession to gain his subsidies.

• August 4 – Thirty Years' War: With the help of Danish and Swedish reinforcements, Stralsund is able to resist Wallenstein's siege until the landing of a Danish army, led by Christian IV of Denmark, forces Wallenstein to raise the siege, and move his army to confront the new threat.
• August 10 – The Swedish 64-gun sailing ship Vasa sinks on her maiden voyage, in Stockholm Harbor.
• August 23 – George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham, is assassinated by John Felton.
• September 2 – Thirty Years' War – Battle of Wolgast: Wallenstein defeats Christian IV of Denmark's army.
• September 6 – Puritans settle Salem, which will later become part of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• September 7–8 – Eighty Years' War – Battle in the Bay of Matanzas: Dutch admiral Piet Hein captures 16 ships of the Spanish treasure fleet. The immense booty taken brings in over 11 million guilders, part of which is used to fund the entire army of the Dutch Republic for eight months.
• October 22 – Abaza Mehmed Pasha surrenders to Ottoman forces, ending the Abaza rebellion.
• October 28 – The siege of La Rochelle ends with the surrender of the Huguenots.

• The War of the Mantuan Succession breaks out over Mantua and Montferrat. The war is fought between the Duke of Savoy, who is supported by Spain, and the Duke of Nevers, who is supported by France.
• William Harvey publishes Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus in Frankfurt, containing his findings about blood circulation.
• Publication of Sir Edward Coke's Institutes of the Lawes of England begins with A Commentary upon Littleton. This will remain an influential legal text on both sides of the Atlantic for three centuries.
• The Collegiate School, the oldest surviving educational institution in North America, is established.
• The first black slaves arrive in Dutch Manhattan.

• February 11–June 19 – Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640): Around 350 English Puritans on six ships, led by Francis Higginson in the Lyon's Whelp, sail from Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to Salem, to settle in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in America.
• March 4 – Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal Charter, and the county is the first to be created in the United States. The area covers almost all of the present-day state.
• March 6 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Edict of Restitution, ordering all Catholic properties lost to Protestantism since 1552 to be restored. The Edict further provides that Catholics and Lutherans (but not Calvinists, Hussites or members of other sects) are to be allowed to practice their faith.
• March 10 – Charles I of England dissolves Parliament, starting the Eleven Years' Tyranny
• April 30 – Eighty Years' War: Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange lays siege to 's-Hertogenbosch, one of Spain's most important fortresses along the Spanish–Dutch border.
• May 14–28 – Huguenot rebellions: After a 15-day siege, Louis XIII of France captures Privas.
• May 22 – Thirty Years' War: Christian IV of Denmark and Albrecht von Wallenstein sign the Treaty of Lübeck, ending Denmark's involvement in the Thirty Years' War.
• May 29 – Thirty Years' War: Prince Frederick of Denmark, the Lutheran administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, is expelled by the Catholic League as a result of the Edict of Restitution. He is replaced by the staunch catholic Francis of Wartenberg.
• June 4 – The Dutch East India Company ship Batavia is wrecked on a reef near Beacon Island, off Western Australia, on her maiden voyage to the Indies. Following mutiny among the survivors, two exiled murderers become the first Europeans to settle in Australia. Their subsequent fate is unknown.
• June 7 – The Dutch States-General ratifies the Dutch West India Company's Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions, making it more attractive to invest in the colony of New Netherland in North America.
• June 17 – Huguenot rebellions: Alès surrenders after an intense siege. As a result, the leader of the Huguenot Rebellions, the Duke of Rohan, surrenders.
• June 17 – Anglo-Spanish War (1625–1630): A Spanish expedition, led by Fadrique de Toledo, wipes out the English colony on Nevis.
• June 28 – Huguenot rebellions: Louis XIII of France signs in his camp at Lédignan the Peace of Alès, ending the Huguenot rebellions. The Huguenots are allowed religious freedom, but lose their political, territorial and military rights.

• August 19 – Eighty Years' War: The Spanish garrison of Wesel is surprised by a small Dutch army, and the city is taken by the Dutch Republic. As Wesel functioned as the principal supply base of Hendrik van den Bergh's army, the loss of supply forces him to retreat to the Spanish Netherlands, leaving him unable to intervene in the ongoing siege of 's-Hertogenbosch.
• August 21 – Huguenot rebellions: Montauban, one of the last Huguenot strongholds, surrenders without a fight to Richelieu's troops.
• August 29 – As a result of the Cambridge Agreement, the Massachusetts Bay Colony becomes a self-governing entity.
• September 7 – Anglo-Spanish War (1625–1630): A Spanish expedition, led by Fadrique de Toledo, wipes out the English colony on St. Kitts.
• September 14 – Eighty Years' War: After a five-month-long siege, 's-Hertogenbosch surrenders to Frederick Henry. As a result of the capture of this key fortress, Spain's situation along the Spanish–Dutch border worsens greatly.
• September 25 – Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629): Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth sign the Truce of Altmark, ending the war in highly favourable terms for Sweden.
• October – 1629–1631 Italian plague: the plague arrives in Milan.
• November 8 – Emperor Go-Mizunoo of Japan abdicates the throne in favour of his daughter, who becomes Empress Meishō.

• Fort San Domingo is built in Formosa by the Spanish settlers.
• Chongzhen, the Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty, reiterates the state prohibition against female infanticide, while the empire and the Chinese economy begins to crumble. In the same year, a third of the courier stations are closed down due to lack of government funds to sustain them.
• The rule of Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba ends.
• Actresses are banned in Japan.
• William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling briefly establishes a Scottish colony at Port Royal, Nova Scotia.