Early Modern
1450 CE to 1800 CE · 166 events
Politics (61)Astronomy (31)War (30)Culture (26)Art (24)Religion (23)Philosophy (21)Physics/Cosmology (20)
All Early Modern Events
Construction of Machu Picchu begins
c. 1450 CE · Early Modern
Politics
The Iroquois League
1450 AD · Early Modern
PoliticsCulture
Battle of Formigny
April 15, 1450 · Early Modern
War
Fall of Constantinople
May 29, 1453 · Early Modern
PoliticsReligionWar
First Battle of St Albans
1455 - 1487 · Early Modern
War
Songhai Empire: West Africa's Largest State
c. 1464–1591 · Early Modern
PoliticsCultureReligion
Spanish Inquisition Established
1478 · Early Modern
PoliticsReligion
Kingdom of Kongo Receives Portuguese Embassy and Converts to Christianity
1491 CE · Early Modern
PoliticsReligionCulture
Alhambra Decree
March 31, 1492 · Early Modern
PoliticsReligionLaw
Columbus Departs Spain with the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María
August 3, 1492 · Early Modern
Exploration
Columbus Makes First Landfall in the Americas
October 12, 1492 · Early Modern
AgricultureEconomics
Founding of La Navidad Settlement
December 25, 1492 · Early Modern
PoliticsEconomics
Treaty of Tordesillas Divides the New World
June 7, 1494 · Early Modern
PoliticsExplorationReligion
Publication of Regiomontanus's Epitome of the Almagest
August 31, 1496 · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematics
John Cabot Voyage to North America
June 24, 1497 · Early Modern
Exploration
Vasco da Gama's Voyage to India
1497 · Early Modern
Exploration
Leonardo da Vinci Completes The Last Supper
February 9, 1498 · Early Modern
Art
Christopher Columbus Imprisoned
August, 1500 · Early Modern
Law
Nilakantha Somayaji Proposes Partially Heliocentric System
c. 1500 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematics
Leonardo Da Vinci Paints Mona Lisa
1503 · Early Modern
Art
Portuguese Forces Sack Kilwa, Breaking Swahili Coast Independence
July 24, 1505 · Early Modern
WarPoliticsEconomics
Henry VIII's Reign begins
April 22, 1509 · Early Modern
Politics
Aztec Calendar Stone Carved
c. 1502-1520 · Early Modern
ArtCultureAstronomy
Sistine Chapel Ceiling Completed
1512 · Early Modern
Art
Vasco Núñez de Balboa's Pacific Expedition
September 25, 1513 · Early Modern
PoliticsExploration
Copernicus Circulates Heliocentric Commentariolus
1514 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematicsPhysics/Cosmology
The Reformation begins
1517 AD · Early Modern
CulturePoliticsReligion
Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
1519 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Magellan-Elcano Expedition Circumnavigates the Globe
1519-1522 · Early Modern
ExplorationEconomics
Suleiman the Magnificent Ascends to the Ottoman Throne
September 30, 1520 CE · Early Modern
PoliticsReligionWar
The Transatlantic Slave Trade Begins
c. 1526–1867 · Early Modern
EconomicsPoliticsCulture
Babur Defeats the Delhi Sultanate at the Battle of Panipat
April 21, 1526 · Early Modern
WarPolitics
Battle of Mohács
August 29, 1526 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Inca Civil War Begins
1527-1532 · Early Modern
War
Death of Huayna Capac During Epidemic
c. 1527 · Early Modern
PoliticsMedicine
Paracelsus Burns Avicenna's Canon at Basel
June 24, 1527 · Early Modern
MedicinePhilosophy
Battle of Cajamarca
1532 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII
1536-1541 · Early Modern
ReligionPoliticsEconomics
Invention of the Violin
1542 · Early Modern
Technology
Copernicus Publishes De Revolutionibus
1543 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematicsPhysics/Cosmology
Vesalius Publishes De Humani Corporis Fabrica
1543 CE · Early Modern
Medicine
Council of Trent Convened
1545 - 1563 · Early Modern
ReligionPolitics
Death of Henry the VIII
1547 AD · Early Modern
Politics
William Shakespeare Born
1564 AD · Early Modern
Art
Holy League Fleet Defeats Ottoman Navy at Lepanto
October 7, 1571 · Early Modern
WarPoliticsReligion
Tycho Brahe Observes Supernova
November 11, 1572 · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
Thomas Digges Proposes Infinite Copernican Universe
1576 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
Tycho Brahe Disproves Solid Celestial Spheres
November 13, 1577 · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
North's Translation of Plutarch's Lives Published
1579 · Early Modern
LanguageCultureArt
Gregorian Calendar Reform
February 24 - October 15, 1582 · Early Modern
MathematicsAstronomyReligion
Bruno Publishes 'On the Infinite Universe and Worlds'
1584 CE · Early Modern
Physics/CosmologyAstronomyPhilosophy
Spanish Armada Defeated
1588 · Early Modern
War
Tycho Brahe Proposes Geo-Heliocentric System
1588 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
Richard III Performed
1593 AD · Early Modern
Art
Romeo and Juliet First Performed
1595 AD · Early Modern
Art
The Merchant of Venice Published
1596 AD · Early Modern
ArtCultureEconomics
Shah Abbas I Establishes Isfahan as the Safavid Capital
1598 CE · Early Modern
PoliticsArtEconomics
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar First Performed
1599 AD · Early Modern
Art
Hamlet First Performed
1600 AD · Early Modern
ArtPhilosophy
Giordano Bruno Executed for Heresy
February 17, 1600 · Early Modern
ReligionPhilosophyAstronomy
Tokugawa Ieyasu Establishes the Edo Shogunate; Sakoku Isolation Edicts Follow
1603 CE · Early Modern
CulturePoliticsWar
Death of Elizabeth I
March 24, 1603 · Early Modern
Politics
Don Quixote Published
January 1605 · Early Modern
ArtCultureLanguage
Antony and Cleopatra Published
1607 AD · Early Modern
ArtCultureLanguage
Jamestown is Founded
May 14, 1607 · Early Modern
PoliticsEconomics
Invention of the Telescope
1608 · Early Modern
AstronomyTechnology
Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
1609 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematicsPhysics/Cosmology
Publication of Astronomia Nova
August 1609 · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematicsPhysics/Cosmology
Galileo Discovers Jupiter's Moons and Venus's Phases
January-September 1610 · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
Henry VIII Performed and Globe Theatre Fire
1613 AD · Early Modern
Art
Mughal Conquest of Mewar
1615 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Roman Inquisition Declares Copernican Theory Heretical
February 24, 1616 · Early Modern
ReligionAstronomyPolitics
First Africans Arrive in Virginia
1619 · Early Modern
War
Kepler Publishes Harmonices Mundi
Summer 1619 · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematicsPhysics/Cosmology
Shakespeare's First Folio Published
1623 AD · Early Modern
ArtCultureLanguage
Papal Basilica of Saint Peter Constructed
November 18, 1626 · Early Modern
Engineering
William Harvey Describes the Circulation of Blood
1628 CE · Early Modern
Medicine
Galileo Publishes Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems
February 22, 1632 · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/CosmologyReligion
Galileo's Trial and Recantation
June 22, 1633 · Early Modern
AstronomyReligionPhilosophy
Swedish Instrument of Government
July 29, 1634 · Early Modern
PoliticsLaw
Pequot War
1636-1638 · Early Modern
WarPolitics
Descartes and the Birth of Analytic Geometry
1637 · Early Modern
MathematicsPhilosophy
Peace of Westphalia
1648 CE · Early Modern
PoliticsLawReligion
Taj Mahal Completed
1653 AD · Early Modern
Art
Birth of Probability Theory
1654 · Early Modern
Mathematics
Huygens Discovers Saturn's Moon Titan
March 25, 1655 · Early Modern
AstronomyTechnology
Boyle Publishes The Sceptical Chymist
1661 · Early Modern
ChemistryPhilosophy
Invention of Calculus
1665-1675 · Early Modern
TechnologyMathematics
Cassini Measures Mars's Parallax to Determine Solar Distance
September 1672 · Early Modern
AstronomyMathematicsPhysics/Cosmology
Leeuwenhoek Begins Correspondence with Royal Society
1673 · Early Modern
Biology
Discovery of Microorganisms
1674 · Early Modern
Biology
Leeuwenhoek Measures Red Blood Cell Diameter
1674 · Early Modern
BiologyMedicine
Ottoman Siege of Vienna Repelled by Allied Relief Force
July-September 1683 · Early Modern
WarPolitics
Age of Enlightenment Begins
1685 AD · Early Modern
ArtReligionPhilosophy
Newton's Principia Published
July 5, 1687 · Early Modern
Physics/CosmologyAstronomyMathematics
English Bill of Rights Passed
1689 · Early Modern
CultureLawPolitics
English Bill of Rights
1689 · Early Modern
CultureLawPolitics
Publication of Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding
1690 · Early Modern
Philosophy
Jethro Tull Develops the Seed Drill
1701 · Early Modern
AgricultureTechnology
Osei Tutu Unifies the Akan States and Founds the Asante Empire
c. 1701 CE · Early Modern
PoliticsEconomicsCulture
Great Storm of 1703
November 26, 1703 · Early Modern
Climate
Galland Publishes First European Translation of One Thousand and One Nights
1704-1717 · Early Modern
ArtCulture
Acts of Union 1707
1707 · Early Modern
Politics
Newcomen Atmospheric Engine Installed at Dudley
1712 · Early Modern
EngineeringTechnology
Commercium Epistolicum Published
January 1713 · Early Modern
MathematicsPhilosophy
Halley Discovers Proper Motion of Stars
1718 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
Robinson Crusoe Published
April 25, 1719 · Early Modern
ArtCultureLanguage
First English Translation of One Thousand and One Nights Published
1721 · Early Modern
ArtCultureLanguage
Death of Peter the Great
1725 AD · Early Modern
Politics
Bradley Discovers Aberration of Starlight
January 1729 · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
Crop Rotation Introduced in Norfolk
c. 1730 · Early Modern
Agriculture
John Bevis Discovers the Crab Nebula
1731 · Early Modern
Astronomy
Stono Rebellion
1739 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Nader Shah of Persia Sacks Delhi and Seizes the Peacock Throne
March 1739 · Early Modern
WarPoliticsEconomics
Negro Act of 1740
May 10, 1740 · Early Modern
PoliticsLaw
Battle of Fontenoy
May 11, 1745 · Early Modern
War
Battle of Prestonpans
September 21, 1745 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
1748 · Early Modern
Politics
Jumonville Glen Incident
May 28, 1754 · Early Modern
War
Kant's Island Universes Theory
1755 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/CosmologyPhilosophy
Great Lisbon Earthquake
November 1, 1755 · Early Modern
Geology
Seven Years' War Begins
1756 · Early Modern
WarPolitics
Catholic Church Lifts Ban on Heliocentric Works
1758 · Early Modern
AstronomyReligion
Battle of Kunersdorf
August 12, 1759 · Early Modern
WarPolitics
Harrison's H4 Marine Chronometer Sea Trial
November 18, 1761 · Early Modern
TechnologyEngineeringExploration
Bayes' Theorem
1763 · Early Modern
MathematicsPhilosophy
Horace Walpole Publishes The Castle of Otranto
December 24, 1764 · Early Modern
ArtCulture
Eli Whitney Born
1765 · Early Modern
TechnologyAgricultureEconomics
Burmese Forces Sack and Destroy Ayutthaya
April 7, 1767 · Early Modern
WarCulture
James Cook's First Voyage
1768-1771 · Early Modern
Exploration
Watt Patents the Improved Steam Engine
January 5, 1769 · Early Modern
TechnologyEngineeringEconomics
Boston Massacre
March 5, 1770 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Boston Tea Party
December 16, 1773 · Early Modern
Economics
Lavoisier Demonstrates Conservation of Mass
1774 · Early Modern
Chemistry
Priestley Isolates Oxygen
August 1, 1774 · Early Modern
Chemistry
American Revolution Begins
April 19, 1775 · Early Modern
Politics
Declaration of Independence Adopted
July 4, 1776 · Early Modern
LawPolitics
Battle of Saratoga
September-October 1777 · Early Modern
War
Lavoisier Names Oxygen and Overturns Phlogiston Theory
1777-1778 · Early Modern
Chemistry
Gordon Riots in London
1780 · Early Modern
CultureReligion
Beethoven Meets Neefe
1781 · Early Modern
Art
William Herschel Discovers Uranus
March 13, 1781 · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
First Hot Air Balloon Flight
1783 · Early Modern
TechnologyExploration
Herschel Determines the Sun's Motion Through Space
1783 · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
Treaty of Paris
September 3, 1783 · Early Modern
Politics
Edmund Cartwright Invents the Power Loom
1784 · Early Modern
TechnologyEconomics
William Herschel Maps the Milky Way Galaxy
1785 CE · Early Modern
AstronomyPhysics/Cosmology
William Jones Proposes Indo-European Language Family
February 2, 1786 · Early Modern
LanguagePhilosophy
Northwest Ordinance Establishes Northwest Territory
1787 · Early Modern
PoliticsExploration
U.S. Constitution Ratified
June 21, 1788 · Early Modern
CultureLawPolitics
Storming of the Bastille
1789 AD · Early Modern
PoliticsPhilosophy
Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier Illustrates Traite Elementaire de Chimie
1789 · Early Modern
ChemistryArt
Declaration of the Rights of Man
1789 · Early Modern
CultureLawPolitics
Haitian Revolution
August 22, 1791 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
French Constitution of 1791
September 3, 1791 · Early Modern
PoliticsLaw
U.S. Bill of Rights Ratified
December 15, 1791 · Early Modern
CultureLawPolitics
Cotton Gin Invented by Eli Whitney
1793 · Early Modern
TechnologyAgricultureEconomics
Godwin Publishes An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
February 1793 · Early Modern
PhilosophyEconomics
Edward Jenner Demonstrates the Smallpox Vaccine
May 14, 1796 · Early Modern
Medicine
Principle of Population Published
February, 1798 · Early Modern
BiologyEvolutionEconomics
Irish Rebellion
May 23, 1798 · Early Modern
PoliticsWar
Death of George Washington
1799 AD · Early Modern
Politics
George Cayley Engraves Fixed-Wing Aircraft Design on Silver Disc
1799 · Early Modern
EngineeringTechnology
Alexander von Humboldt's South American Expedition
1799-1804 · Early Modern
ExplorationBiologyClimate
Rosetta Stone Discovered at Fort Julien
July 19, 1799 · Early Modern
LanguageCulture
Coup of 18 Brumaire
November 9, 1799 · Early Modern
Politics