What Happened in July?

Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer and navigator, and the first person to sail directly from Europe to India. sails from Lisbon on his first voyage to India with a fleet of four vessels. The fleet crew three interpreters—two Arabic speakers and one who spoke several Bantu dialects. It also carried padraos, (stone pillars) to set up as marks of discovery. He eventually rounded the Cape of Good Hope on November 22 and three days later da Gama anchored in Mossel Bay and erected a padrão on an island. His trip ultimately opened a sea route from western Europe to Asia by way of the Cape of Good Hope, ushering in a new era in world history.

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama departs on his voyage to find a sea route to India. on July 8, 1497. He set sail from Lisbon with four ships and a crew of 170 men, eventually rounding the Cape of Good Hope and reaching Calicut, India, in May 1498. opening a direct maritime route from Europe to the East.

The Swiss Confederation defeats the forces of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Dornach. More

The Battle of Vedrosha is fought between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Christian II is crowned King of Denmark and Norway.

Atahualpa, the last Inca, is executed by Spanish conquistadors in Cajamarca, Peru. Atahualpa  was initially sentenced to be burned at the stake, but this was commuted to strangulation after he agreed to be baptized. The Spanish had forced him to pay a large ransom of tons of gold and silver. Although Atahualpa produced the ransom, the Spanish went ahead and executed him anyway.  Expand +

Henry VIII marries his Fifth wife, Catherine Howard at Oatlands Palace in Surrey on the same day that Thomas Cromwell, his once all-powerful minister was executed. On August 8 , Catherine was formally acknowledged as Queen at Hampton Court Palace. Catherine was the first cousin of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII second wife. The marriage was terminated on November 23, 1541 and Catherine was charged with adultery and she was executed on February 13, 1542.  More

England and Scotland sign the Treaty of Greenwich on July1, 1543, aiming to unite the two kingdoms through the marriage of King Henry VIII's son, Edward, to Mary, Queen of Scots. The Scottish Parliament rejected the treaty in December 1543. leading to renewed conflict known as the "Rough Wooing"

Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr, his sixth and final wife. She was known for her intellect and strong Protestant faith, becoming the first woman to publish an original work under her own name in England. Expand +

Abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots. After failing to quash a rebellion of Scottish peers, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle and forced to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old son. Her abdication was forced as a consequence of having taken as her third husband the man who allegedly murdered her second husband. More

The Union of Lublin treaty, uniting the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania and establishing the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, is signed on July 1, 1569, lasting for over 200 years. Expand +

The States-General of the Netherlands declare independence from Spain with the Act of Abjuration.

The Spanish Armada is defeated. The Spanish fleet was led by the Duke of Medina Sidonia and its purpose was to overthrow Elizabeth I, to reinstate Catholicism in England and to end England's support for the Dutch Republic to prevent attacks by English and Dutch privateers against Spanish interests in the Americas.  Expand +

The first representative assembly in America, the House of Burgesses, meets in Jamestown, Virginia.

The Battle of Adwalton Moor takes place during the English Civil War, resulting in a decisive victoy for the Parliamentarian forces.

The Battle of Plymouth takes place during the First Anglo-Dutch War, with the English fleet under Admiral Robert Blake repelling a Dutch attack on Plymouth.

King Charles II of England grants a charter establishing the Carolina Colony, named in honor of his father, Charles I.

The Siege of New Amsterdam ends when the Dutch surrender to the English, who then rename the settlement New York.

The Greenwich Observatory is completed by Sir Christopher Wren. The observatory, now named after the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, was completed and established on the site of a former castle on July  10, 1676

Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (The Principia) is first published on July 5, 1687, by the Royal Society in England. This foundational work in science outlined his famous three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation, establishing classical mechanics and revolutionizing physics and astronomy.