Browse Historical Events by Month:
Tragic deaths, ravaged cities, and great acts of heroism. Discover what happened this month in history and the defining moments that shaped the world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia grants significant trading privileges to the English Muscovy Company including toll exemptions actively promoting English trade. The Muscovy Company had been charted in 1555 but enjoyed much growth and support during Tsar Godunov reign.
Miguel de Cervantes’s masterpiece Don Quixote ("The Ingenious Nobleman Don Quixote of La Mancha") is published. on 1605, c. January 16 .The second portion of the book was published in 1615. His book is considered the first modern novel and a foundational work of Western literature. More
A document detailing the Gunpowder Plot is anonymously delivered to English authorities, leading to the plot's exposure.
San Agustin Church in Manila, the oldest stone church in the Philippines, is completed.
French explorer Samuel de Champlain becomes the first known to sight, map, and describe the lake Champlain in North America on July 14, 1609. He named the lake after himself.
Champlain arrived at the lake traveling up the Richelieu River (then known as the Iroquois River) with a group of Algonquin, Huron, and Montagnais allies. Shortly after, on July 29, 1609, Champlain and his allies engaged in a battle against the
Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, the fourth moon of Jupiter.
The Treaty of Bärwalde is signed between Sweden and France on January 23, 1631. The treaty aimed to prevent Habsburg dominance and advance French policy by France providing Sweden with substantial financial support for five years to maintain an army in Germany for intervention in the Thirty Years' War against the Habsburgs.
The first recorded sighting of Maryland is made by English settlers.
The Académie Française was created by Cardinal Richelieu under Louis XIII on January 29, 1635; a council for matters related to the French language and literature. The first Dictionnaire de l'Académie rançaise was published in 1694 with 18,000 terms. The most recent complete edition, the 8th, was finished in 1935 and contains 35,000 words.
The Puritan political leaders in Connecticut, representing the populations of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, approved and adopted on January 14, 1639 a set of written laws agreed upon by the colonists, known as the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.
The document stated the powers and limits of government. This document is believed by many to be the first ever, complete, written constitution in the history of the world. Although the date on the document reads 1638 due to colonial dating conventions, the orders were fully adopted in early 1639.
The Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) conquers Malacca from the Portuguese on January 14, 1641, securing Dutch control over the vital Malacca Strait and marked a significantly weakening Portuguese power in Southeast Asia and solidifying VOC dominance in the spice trade.
The Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman's expedition reaches and lands on Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga on January 21, 1643. He named the island "Eijlandt Amsterdam" (Amsterdam Island) The encounter and trading with the locals was described as friendly.
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury is executed in London for high treason on January 10, 1645, during the English Civil War. His efforts to impose stricter Anglican practices (Laudianism) on Scotland led to the Bishops' Wars, weakening Charles I and fueling opposition. He was arrested in 1640 and held in the Tower of London until his execution.
The Royalist stronghold of Bolesworth Castle surrenders to the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War in late February or early March 1646. By May 1646, the war effectively concluded when King Charles I surrendered to a Scottish army at Southwell, Nottinghamshire.
King Charles I of England is executed on January 30, 1649 by beheading, after being found guilty of treason. Thousands had perished during the seven years of fighting between Charles’ supporters and Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. More
Charles II of England is crowned king of Scotland at Scone on January 1, 1651, during the English Civil War and his father's execution. Charles swore to uphold Presbyterianism to gain Scottish support,. He was eventually exiled and later Restored in England in 1660.
The Dutch surrender Recife, Brazil, to the Portuguese on January 26, 1654 after an unsuccessful attempt to regain control.The conflict was formally concluded on August 6, 1661, with the Treaty of The Hague, where the Dutch recognized Portuguese sovereignty over the territory.
Swedish troops under Charles X Gustav invade Denmark on January 30, 1658 during the Dano-Swedish War, forcing Denmark into the harsh Treaty of Roskilde by February 1658. The war resumed later that year with a failed siege of Copenhagen in February 1659.
Peter Lely is appointed as Charles II's Principal Painter in Ordinary, c. January 20, 1661 with a stipend of £200 per year. Lely goes on to paint the first portrait of a reigning monarch, King Charles II of England, More
England's King Charles II grants a trading charter on January 20, 1663 to the Royal African Company. The charter included a monopoly on the slave trade in West Africa. More
