The 16th century
5,848 sourced entries across 100 documented years, grouped into 10 decades. A century here runs 1900–1999 rather than 1901–2000, so its decades sit inside it exactly.
Decades
- The 1500s — 10 years, 597 entries
- The 1510s — 10 years, 568 entries
- The 1520s — 10 years, 601 entries
- The 1530s — 10 years, 571 entries
- The 1540s — 10 years, 605 entries
- The 1550s — 10 years, 572 entries
- The 1560s — 10 years, 557 entries
- The 1570s — 10 years, 600 entries
- The 1580s — 10 years, 548 entries
- The 1590s — 10 years, 629 entries
By subject
- Conflict & Security in the 16th century — 1,025 entries
- Religion & Belief in the 16th century — 535 entries
- Geopolitics & Diplomacy in the 16th century — 385 entries
- Culture & Society in the 16th century — 371 entries
- Exploration & Expansion in the 16th century — 328 entries
- Crime & Justice in the 16th century — 126 entries
- Science & Discovery in the 16th century — 74 entries
- Health & Medicine in the 16th century — 64 entries
- Climate & Environment in the 16th century — 48 entries
- Technology & Infrastructure in the 16th century — 39 entries
- Disasters & Accidents in the 16th century — 37 entries
- Economy & Finance in the 16th century — 19 entries
A few of the years
- 1501March 25 – Portuguese navigator João da Nova discovers Ascension Island. It is definitely sighted and named on May 20, 1503 (Feast of the Ascension) by Afonso de Albuquerque.
- 1512June 15 – Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate that controls Egypt and what is now Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and parts of Syria, receives an envoy from King George II of Kakheti (now located in the Republic of Georgia) and decides to reopen the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
- 1524May 26 – Atiquipaque, the most important city of the Xinca people, is conquered by the Spanish, resulting in a significant reduction in the Xinca population.
- 1535June 1 – The Conquest of Tunis by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, begins with the destruction of Barbarossa's fleet. Following the eventual capture of the city from the Ottoman Empire, around 30,000 inhabitants are massacred.
- 1547January 28 – King Henry VIII of England dies in London, and is succeeded by his 9-year-old son Edward VI, as King of England.
- 1559May 2 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland, to become the leader of the beginning Scottish Reformation.
- 1570March 28 – The ambassador of the Ottoman Sultan Selim II goes before the governing Council of the Venetian Republic and requests that Venice surrender the island of Cyprus. The Council rejects the demand and prepares to go to war with the Ottoman Empire.
- 1581May 15 – Zsigmond Báthory, the 8-year-old son of Kristóf Báthory, ruler of the Principality of Transylvania, is elected by the Diet of Transylvania as the new voivode at the request of Kristóf, who dies 12 days later.