16th century

From Open Encyclopedia

Centuries:	15th century - 16th century - 17th century
Decades:	1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s 1580s 1590s

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600.

See also: 16th century in literature

1 Events
2 Significant people
3 Inventions, discoveries, introductions
4 Decades and years

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Events

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1500s: Mississippian culture disappears.
1501: Safavid dynasty rules Iran until 1736.
1503: Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa and completes it three or four years later.
1509: The Battle of Diu marks the beginning of Portuguese dominance of the Spice trade.
1514: The Battle of Orsha halts Muscovy's expansion into Eastern Europe.
1515: The Ottoman Empire wrests Eastern Anatolia from the Safavids after the Battle of Chaldiran.
1516-17: The Ottomans defeat the Mamluks and gain control of Egypt, Arabia, and the Levant.
1517: The Protestant Reformation begins when Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Saxony.
1519-21: Hernán Cortés leads the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
1520-66: The reign of Suleiman the Magnificent marks the zenith of the Ottoman Empire.
1521: Belgrade is captured by the Ottoman Empire.
1523: Sweden gains independence from the Kalmar Union.
1524-25: Peasants' War in the Holy Roman Empire.
1526: The Ottomans conquer the Kingdom of Hungary at the Battle of Mohács.
1526: Mughal Empire, founded by Babur, rules India until 1857.
1527: Sack of Rome is considered the end of the Italian Renaissance.
1529: The Siege of Vienna marks the Ottoman Empire's furthest advance into Europe.

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1531-32: The Church of England breaks away from the Roman Catholic Church and recognizes King Henry VIII as the head of the Church.
1532: Francisco Pizarro leads the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
1534: Jacques Cartier claims Quebec for France.
1534: The Ottomans capture Baghdad.
1543: The Nanban trade period begins after Portuguese traders make contact with Japan.
1552: Russia conquers the Khanate of Kazan.
1553: Portuguese founded a settlement at Macau.
1555: The Muscovy Company is the first major English joint stock trading company.
1556: The Shaanxi Earthquake in China is history's deadliest known earthquake.
1556: Russia conquers the Astrakhan Khanate.
1556-1605: During his reign, Akbar expands the Mughal Empire in a series of conquests and is considered the greatest Mughal emperor.
1558-1603: The Elizabethan era is considered the height of the English Renaissance.
1558-83: Livonian War between Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.
1558: After 200 years, England loses Calais to France.
1559: With the Peace of Cateau Cambrésis, the Italian Wars conclude.
1562-98: French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots.
1566-1648: Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Netherlands.

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1568-1600: The Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan.
1569: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is created with the Union of Lublin which lasts until 1795.
1577-80: Francis Drake circles the World and claims California for England.
1580: After the struggle for the throne of Portugal, the Portuguese Empire comes to an end and the Spanish and Portuguese crowns are united for 60 years.
1582: Yermak Timofeyevich conquers the Siberia Khanate on behalf of the Stroganovs.
1584-85: After the Siege of Antwerp, many of its merchants fled to Amsterdam.
1585-1604: The Anglo-Spanish War is fought on both sides of the Atlantic.
1588: England repulses the Spanish Armada.
1589: Spain repulses the English Armada.
1592-98: Korea, with the help of the Ming Dynasty, repels two Japanese invasions during the Seven-Year War.
1598-1613: Russia descends into anarchy during the Time of Troubles.
1600: British East India Company chartered.

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Significant people

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Henry VII of England, founder of the Tudor dynasty. Introduced ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation which restored the kingdom after a state of virtual bankruptcy due to the effects of the Wars of the Roses (1457 - 1509).
György Dózsa, leader of the peasants' revolt in Hungary (1470 - 1514)
Nicolaus Copernicus, developed the heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory using scientific methods (1473 - 1543).
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter and sculptor (1475 - 1564).
Thomas More, English politician and author (1478 - 1535).
Martin Luther, German religious reformer (1483 - 1546).
Hernán Cortés, Spanish Conquistador (1485 - 1547).
King Henry VIII of England, founder of Anglicanism (1491 - 1547).
King Francis I of France, considered the first Renaissance monarch of his Kingdom (1494 - 1547).
Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Conqueror and legal reformer (1494 - 1566).
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the first to reign as King of Spain. Involved in almost constant conflict with France and the Ottoman Empire while promoting the Spanish colonization of the Americas (1500 - 1558).
Cuauhtémoc, the last Tlatoani of the Aztec, led the native resistance against the Conquistadores (1502 - 1525).
Michel Nostradamus, French astrologer and doctor, author of Les Propheties, a book of world prophecies (1503 - 1566).
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, Somali Imam and general (1507 - 1543).
John Calvin, theologian, and reformer. Founder of Calvinism (1509 - 1564).

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Mary I of England. Attempted to counter the Protestant Reformation in her domains. Nick-named Bloody Mary for her Religious persecution (1516 - 1558).
King Philip II of Spain, self-proclaimed leader of Counter-Reformation (1527 - 1598).
Ivan IV of Russia, first Russian tsar (1533-1584).
Elizabeth I of England, central figure of the Elizabethan era (1533 - 1603).
Oda Nobunaga , daimyo of the Sengoku period of Japanese civil war. First ruler of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1534 - 1582).
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , daimyo of the Sengoku period of Japanese civil war. Second ruler of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1536 - 1598).
Admiral Yi Sun-sin , respected as one of the greatest admirals and military leaders in world history. (1545 - 1598).
Edward VI of England, notable for further differentiating Anglicanism from the practices of the Roman Catholic Church (1537 - 1553).
Lady Jane Grey, Queen regnant of England and Ireland. Notably deposed by popular revolt (1537 - 1554).
Mary I of Scotland, First female head of the House of Stuart (1542 - 1587).
Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author (1547 - 1616).
King Henry IV of France and Navarre, ended the French Wars of Religion and reunited the kingdom under his command (1553 - 1610).
William Shakespeare, English author (1564 - 1616).
John Donne, English metaphysical poet (1572 - 1631)
Miyamoto Musashi, famous warrior in Japan, author of The Book of Five Rings, a treatise on strategy and martial combat. (1584 - 1645)
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus

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Inventions, discoveries, introductions

List of 16th century inventions

The Columbian Exchange introduces many plants, animals and diseases to the Old and New Worlds.
Introduction of the spinning wheel revolutionizes textile production in Europe.
Modern square root symbol (√ )
The letter J is introduced into the English alphabet.
Copernicus publishes his theory that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun (1543)
Gregorian Calendar adopted by Catholic countries (1582)
1513: Juan Ponce de León sights Florida and Vasco Núñez de Balboa sights the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean.
1519-22: Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano lead the first circumnavigation of the World.
1540: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado sights the Grand Canyon.
1541-42: Francisco de Orellana sails the length of the Amazon River.
1597: Opera in Florence by Jacopo Peri

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Decades and years

1490s	1490	1491	1492	1493	1494	1495	1496	1497	1498	1499
1500s	1500	1501	1502	1503	1504	1505	1506	1507	1508	1509
1510s	1510	1511	1512	1513	1514	1515	1516	1517	1518	1519
1520s	1520	1521	1522	1523	1524	1525	1526	1527	1528	1529
1530s	1530	1531	1532	1533	1534	1535	1536	1537	1538	1539
1540s	1540	1541	1542	1543	1544	1545	1546	1547	1548	1549
1550s	1550	1551	1552	1553	1554	1555	1556	1557	1558	1559
1560s	1560	1561	1562	1563	1564	1565	1566	1567	1568	1569
1570s	1570	1571	1572	1573	1574	1575	1576	1577	1578	1579
1580s	1580	1581	1582	1583	1584	1585	1586	1587	1588	1589
1590s	1590	1591	1592	1593	1594	1595	1596	1597	1598	1599
1600s	1600	1601	1602	1603	1604	1605	1606	1607	1608	1609