/year

The 1620s

632 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 17th century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

1620 CE62 entries

  • May 17 – The first merry-go-round is seen at a fair in Philippapolis, Turkey.
  • July 3 – Captain Andrew Shilling, on behalf of the English Honourable East India Company, lays claim to Table Bay in Africa.
  • December 21 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what becomes known as Plymouth Rock, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1621 CE60 entries

  • March 22 – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.
  • April 5 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, on a return trip to England.
  • May 12 – The city of Tornio in Lapland is founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, becoming the northernmost city in the world at the time.

1622 CE64 entries

  • May – Huguenot rebellions: The Huguenot city of Royan is taken by royal forces, after a short siege.
  • June 24 – Dutch–Portuguese War – Battle of Macau: The outnumbered Portuguese forces successfully defend Macau from the Dutch fleet, keeping a Portuguese foothold in the Far East.
  • November 25 – King Christian IV of Denmark invites the Sephardic Jews of Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic to settle in the newly-built Danish town of Lykstad, promising them the free exercise of their religion without persecution. The city remains part of Denmark until 1864 until it is captured in the Second Schleswig War and is now part of Germany as Glückstadt.

1623 CE71 entries

  • May 8 – A Dutch East India Company party, led by explorer Jan Carstenszoon, fights a skirmish with 200 indigenous Australian Wik peoples.
  • September 10 – Murat IV, age 11, succeeds his deposed uncle Mustafa I as Ottoman Emperor. Because Murat is a minor, his mother, Kösem Sultan, serves as regent until 1632.
  • November 1 – The Battle of Anjar is fought in modern-day Lebanon as the Druze emir Fakhr al-Din II defeats an invasion by Mustafa Pasha al-Hannaq, the Ottoman Governor of Damascus, and takes him prisoner.

1624 CE69 entries

  • January 14 – After 90 years of Ottoman occupation, Baghdad is recaptured by the Safavid Empire.
  • February 19 – King Filipe III of Portugal issues a decree prohibiting the enslavement of Chinese people in Portugal or in its colonies.
  • May – The first Dutch settlers arrive in New Netherland; they disembark at Governors Island.

1625 CE61 entries

  • February 11 – Dutch–Portuguese War: The Battle of Hormuz, one of the largest naval battles ever fought in the Persian Gulf takes place in the Straits of Hormuz as fleets of the Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company defend Persia against an attack by ships from the colony of Portuguese India.
  • July 1 – The Safavid Empire in Iran defeats an invasion from the Kingdom of Georgia in the Battle of Marabda with heavy losses on both sides, including the Georgian commander, Teimuraz I, Prince of Mukhrani. when the Iranian Safavid army defeated a Georgian force.
  • July – The Barbary pirates first attack south-western England. In August they enslave about 60 people from Mount's Bay in Cornwall.

1626 CE54 entries

  • February 10 – Battle of Ningyuan: In Xingcheng in China, after an 8-day battle, Ming dynasty commander Yuan Chonghuan defeats the much larger force of Manchu leader Nurhaci, who dies soon after and is succeeded by Huang Taiji.
  • February 11 – Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.
  • September 30 – Nurhaci, chief of the Jurchens and founder of the Qing dynasty, dies and is succeeded by his son Hong Taiji.

1627 CE61 entries

  • June 20 – Turkish Abductions: Barbary corsairs from Salé raid the fishing village of Grindavík in Iceland and take captives into slavery, the first of several raids.
  • July 27 – An earthquake destroys the cities of San Severo and Torremaggiore in southern Italy.
  • November 28 – Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Oliwa – A Polish-Lithuanian fleet defeats a Swedish fleet.

1628 CE64 entries

  • February 5 – The Chongzhen Era begins in Ming dynasty China after the October 2 ascension of Zhu Youjian, the Chongzhen Emperor, on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and the Tianqi era formally ends.
  • March 17 – Oliver Cromwell makes his first appearance in the English Parliament, as Member for Huntingdon.
  • August 10 – The Swedish 64-gun sailing ship Vasa sinks 20 minutes into her maiden voyage, in Stockholm Harbor.

1629 CE66 entries

  • March 6 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Edict of Restitution, ordering all Catholic properties lost to Protestantism since 1552 to be restored. The Edict further provides that Catholics and Lutherans (but not Calvinists, Hussites or members of other sects) are to be allowed to practice their faith.
  • May 29 – Thirty Years' War: Prince Frederick of Denmark, the Lutheran administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, is expelled by the Catholic League as a result of the Edict of Restitution. He is replaced by the staunch catholic Francis of Wartenberg.
  • October 2 – In what is now the state of Western Australia, administered at the time by the Dutch East India Company, seven members of the crew of the Batavia are hanged on the Abrolhos Islands for their massacre of 125 passengers and crew.