Explore 76 historical events from 1540–1549.
The Prome kingdom also known as Pyay kingdom was a kingdom that existed for six decades between 1482 and 1542 in present-day central Burma (Myanmar). Based out of the city of Prome…
The Prome Kingdom falls to the Taungoo Dynasty in present-day Myanmar
Sir Richard Grenville, also spelt Greynvile, Greeneville, and Greenfield, was an English privateer and explorer. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Cornwall and Bideford, D…
Richard Grenville, English captain and explorer (died 1591)
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador, who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's…
Hernando de Soto, Spanish-American explorer (born 1496)
Leo Jud, known to his contemporaries as Meister Leu, was a Swiss reformer who worked with Huldrych Zwingli in Zürich.
Leo Jud, Swiss theologian and reformer (born 1482)
Lisa del Giocondo was an Italian noblewoman and member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany. Her name was given to the Mona Lisa, her portrait commissioned by her husba…
Lisa del Giocondo, subject of Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa (born 1479)
Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. After the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry passed legislation that severe…
King Henry VIII orders English-language Bibles be placed in every church
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador, who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's…
Hernando de Soto stops near present-day Walls, Mississippi, and sees the Mississippi River (then known by the Spanish as
Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego de Almagro the
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and his wife Isabel Neville. As a result of Margaret's marriag…
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (born 1473)
Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Francisco Pizarro, Spanish explorer and politician, Governor of New Castile (born c
Pedro de Alvarado was a Spanish conquistador, adelantado, governor and captain general of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of t…
Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish general and explorer (born 1495)
Hernando de Alarcón was a Spanish explorer and navigator of the 16th century, noted for having led a 1540 expedition to the Colorado River Delta, during which he became one of the …
Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California
Henry VIII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 22 April 1509, and King of Ireland from 18 June 1542, until his death in 1547.
English King Henry VIII commands his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, to leave the court
Henry VIII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 22 April 1509, and King of England and Ireland from the commencement of the Crown of Ireland Act 1542, creating the title of…
King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
Henry VIII was King of England and Ireland from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547.
Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.
Thomas Cromwell was an English statesman and lawyer who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 until mid-1540, at which time he was beheaded on Henry's orders, a los…
Thomas Cromwell is executed after having been condemned untried, using a bill of attainder which Cromwell had used…
Pratap Singh I, popularly known as Maharana Pratap, was king of the Kingdom of Mewar, in north-western India in the present-day state of Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 159…
Maharana Pratap, Indian ruler (died 1597)
Charles II Francis of Austria was an Archduke of Austria and a ruler of Inner Austria from 1564. He was a member of the House of Habsburg.
Charles II, Archduke of Austria (died 1590)
Barnabe Googe, also spelt Barnabe Goche and Barnaby Goodge, was a poet and translator, one of the earliest English pastoral poets.
Barnabe Googe, English poet and translator (died 1594)
John Sigismund Zápolya or Szapolyai was King of Hungary as John II from 1540 to 1551 and from 1556 to 1570, and the first Prince of Transylvania, from 1570 to his death. He was the…
John Sigismund Zápolya, King of Hungary (died 1571)
Juan Luis Vives y March was a Spanish (Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who spent most of his adult life in the southern Habsburg Netherlands. His beliefs on the soul, i…
Juan Luís Vives, Spanish scholar (born 1492)
Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renais…
Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian and politician (born 1483)
Konrad von Thüngen was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1519 until his death in 1540.
Konrad von Thüngen, German nobleman (born c
John Zápolya or Szapolyai, was King of Hungary from 1526 to 1540. His rule was disputed by Archduke Ferdinand I, who also claimed the title King of Hungary. He was Voivode of Trans…
John Zápolya, Hungarian king (born 1487)