Explore 129 historical events from 1540–1549.
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. The publication of Copernicus's model in …
Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (born 1473)
Mary Boleyn, also known as Lady Mary, was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn, whose family enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII.
Mary Boleyn, English daughter of Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (born 1499)
Magnus I of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg from the House of Ascania.
Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (born 1488)
Francis Xavier, venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative of the Portuguese Empire, led …
Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, the capital of Portuguese India at the time
Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter KG, known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician, courtier and soldier.
Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire (died 1623)
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
Guayaquil, officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. It is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic ca…
A year and a half after leaving Guayaquil on the Pacific coast, Francisco de Orellana finishes his overland journey…
The Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts also known as the Ottoman–Portuguese War, were a period of conflict during the Ottoman–Portuguese confrontations and series of armed military encou…
Turkish–Portuguese War: Battle of Wofla: The Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and…
Countess Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a German noblewoman. She was born in Lichtenberg, the eldest surviving daughter of Count Philipp IV and his wife, Countess Eleonore o…
Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (died 1580)
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)
Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland was an English nobleman, politician and Roman Catholic rebel leader, who led the Rising of the North against Elizabeth I in 1569. After the…
Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland (died 1601)
John Frederick was Duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1600, and Bishop of Cammin (Kamień) from 1556 to 1574. Elected bishop in 1556 and heir of the duchy in 1560, he remained under the…
John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania and Protestant Bishop of Cammin (died 1600)
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)
Princess Isabella Romola de' Medici, Duchess of Bracciano, was a Tuscan noblewoman, daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleanor of Toledo. She was ref…
Isabella de' Medici, Italian princess (died 1576)
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)
Gasparo Contarini was an Italian diplomat, cardinal, and Bishop of Belluno. He advocated for dialogue with Protestants during the Reformation. Born in Venice, he served as the Repu…
Gasparo Contarini, Italian cardinal (born 1483)
Cristóvão da Gama, anglicised as Christopher da Gama, was a Portuguese military commander who led an army of 400 musketeers on a crusade in Ethiopia (1541–1543) against the Muslim …
Cristóvão da Gama, Portuguese commander (born 1516)
The Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts also known as the Ottoman–Portuguese War, were a period of conflict during the Ottoman–Portuguese confrontations and series of armed military encou…
Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts: During the Battle of Wofla, the Portuguese commander Cristóvão da Gama was captured by…
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
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
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
Jacques Cartier was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawr…
French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada.
The Ottoman Turks were an Oghuz Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in whic…
The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom.