Italian Artist Caravaggio signed his first commission contract to paint the Contarelli Chapel in the French church in Rome.
English poet and playwright Ben Jonson was arrested for manslaughter after killing Elizabethan actor Gabriel Spenser in a duel.
The Dutch expedition captained by Admiral Van Warwyck first sighted Mauritius.
The government executed a group of Japanese Catholic Christians (known as the 26 Martyrs) as they were deemed too dangerous to Japan's way of life.
A peasant uprising called the Cudgel War began in Finland.
One of William Shakespeare's most acclaimed plays, ''Romeo & Juliet" was performed for the first time.
French King Henry IV declared war against Spain during the French Wars of Religion.
Henry IV took to the throne as he was crowned the King of France.
Folklore states that injured soldier Gil Pérez was mysteriously transported from the Philippines to Mexico City.
Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of treason led to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe, who was his roommate.
Pope Innocent IX was elected.
The town of Chartres in France surrendered to King Henry IV.
Scottish schoolmaster Dr. John Fian who had 'a pact with the devil,' was found guilty of witchcraft.
John White returned to England after failing to find the lost Roanoke colonists.
The English navy defeated the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Gravelines.
Mary Queen of Scots received the death sentence from cousin Queen Elizabeth I.
Tobacco arrived in England for the first time.
The English secret service discovered the Babington Plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I.
Bohemia adopted the Gregorian Calendar.
English explorer Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for the British crown.
The first day of the Gregorian calendar began in France, Italy, Portugal, and various other Catholic states.
Pope Gregory XIII introduced the concept of the Gregorian Calendar to Europe.
The Argentinian city of Salta was founded as an outpost between Buenos Aires, Peru, and Lima.
Pope Gregory XIII orders the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.
The Staten General of the Netherlands declared that the country no longer recognized Philip II of Spain as its ruler.
English Jesuit priest Edmund Campion was captured by a spy named George Eliot and taken to London.
Sir Frances Drake completed his famous circumnavigation of the world when he sailed into Plymouth aboard the Golden Hind.
England, Flanders, and Northern France experienced one of the most severe earthquakes in recorded history.
Sir Francis Drake discovered New Albion in California.
Sir Francis Drake set sail from England on a circumnavigation of the world.
Henry III became the King of France.
Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe witnessed the supernova SN 1572.
Nineteen Dutch Catholic clerics, secular and religious people, known as the Martyrs of Gorkum, were hanged in Brielle, the Netherlands, by militant Dutch Calvinists.
Valletta was made the capital city of Malta.
The Royal Exchange in London was opened by Queen Elizabeth I.
The All Saints' Day Flood destroyed the Dutch and German coastlines.
England drew it's very first lottery outside St Paul's Cathedral.
James VI became the King of England and Ireland at just one year old.
Maximilian II became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
William Shakespeare was baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.
King Charles IX of France became an adult on his 13th birthday.
Naples, Italy, banned kissing in public.
A solar eclipse occurred, which started Tycho Brahe's interest in the world of astronomy.
Queen Elizabeth I claimed the throne after her half-sister, Queen Mary I, died November 17, 1558.
Queen Elizabeth I was coronated and re-established the protestant Church of England.
The first printed edition of the Zohar (Jewish kabbalah) was published.
Mary Queen of Scots married Francis Dauphin of France.
French forces attacked Calais and took it back from English rule.
The most deadly earthquake in history was recorded in China in Shaanxi's province.
Lady Jane Grey began her 9-day reign as the Queen of England, France, and Ireland.
