1596
1596 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. As of the start of 1596, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
- January 6–20 - An English attempt led by Francis Drake to cross the Isthmus of Panama ends in defeat.
- January 28 - Francis Drake dies of dysentery off Portobelo.
- February 14 - Archbishop John Whitgift begins building his hospital at Croydon.
- April 9 - Siege of Calais: Spanish troops capture Calais.
- May 18 - Willem Barents leaves Vlie, on his third and final Arctic voyage.
- June - Sir John Norreys and Sir Geoffrey Fenton travel to Connaught, to parley with the local Irish lords.
- June 10 - Willem Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk discover Bear Island.
- June 17 - Willem Barents discovers Spitsbergen.
- June 24 - Cornelis de Houtman arrives in Banten, the first Dutch sailor to reach Indonesia..
July–December
- July 5 - An English fleet, commanded by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Lord Howard of Effingham, sacks Cádiz.
- July 14 - King Dominicus Corea is beheaded by the Portuguese in Colombo, Ceylon.
- August - David Fabricius discovers the star Mira.
- September 17 - The Spanish capture Amiens.
- September 20 - Diego de Montemayor founds the city of Monterrey, Mexico.
- October 8-10 - The Union of Brest: The Ukrainian Church west of the Dnieper becomes known as the Ukrainian Rite of Catholicism, whereas the East officially renounces the authority of the Pope.
- October 18 - The Second Armada, a Spanish fleet sent to attack England in revenge for the raid on Cadiz, is wrecked in storms between Corcubion and Cape Finisterre; 2,000 men are lost.
- October 19 - The Spanish galleon San Felipe founders in Japan, leading to 26 Christians being martyred the next year.
- October 24-26 - Battle of Keresztes: The Turks defeat a combined Habsburg–Transylvanian army.
Date unknown
- Elizabeth I of England decrees that all Africans should be removed from the British realm, in reaction to the food crisis.
- The first water closet, by Sir John Harington, is installed in a manor near Kelston in England.
- King Sigismund III Vasa moves the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw.
- Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, is founded.
- The Black Death hits parts of Europe.
- Dutch ships, commanded by Frederick de Houtman, reach Sumatra and Java for the first time.
- The fourth of a five year run of poor harvests, largely caused by the weather, a pattern typical of the last third of the century. This causes famine throughout Europe, which leads to food riots in Britain.
- Serb Uprising of 1596–97
- First mention of a family name Miklavc/Miklave ,
Births
January–June
- January 1 - Elizabeth Ribbing, Swedish noble
- January 13 - Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter
- February 2
- * Jacob van Campen, Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age
- * Carew Mildmay, Member of the Parliament of England
- February 3 - Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas, soldier, poet and writer
- February 8 - Louis Giry, French lawyer, classical scholar
- February 27 - Johan Stiernhöök, Swedish lawyer
- March 1 - Duke Frederick of Saxe-Weimar, German prince and colonel
- March 10 - Princess Maria Elizabeth of Sweden
- March 11 - Isaac Elzevir, Dutch printer and publisher
- March 16 - Ebba Brahe, Swedish countess
- March 24 - Elizabeth of Hesse-Kassel, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Gütsrow
- March 26 - Catherine Henriette de Bourbon, French noble
- March 31 - René Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician
- April 8 - Juan van der Hamen, Spanish artist
- April 11 - Moritz Gudenus, German Catholic preacher
- May 9 - Abraham van Diepenbeeck, Dutch painter
- May 21 - John Louis II, Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein
- June 5 - Peter Wtewael, Dutch painter
- June 6 - Michel Particelli d'Emery, French politician
- June 23 - Johan Banér, Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War
- June 27 - Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein, German prince
- June 29 - Emperor Go-Mizunoo of Japan
July–December
- July 1 - Bertuccio Valiero, Doge of Venice
- July 12 - Michael I of Russia, Russian Tsar
- August 10 - Lorentz Eichstadt, German mathematician and astronomer
- August 26 - Frederick V, Elector Palatine
- August 18 - Jean Bolland, Belgian Jesuit, Founder of the Bollandist
- August 19 - Elizabeth Stuart, later Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia
- September
- * James Shirley, English dramatist
- * Moses Amyraut, French Protestant theologian
- September 4 - Constantijn Huygens, Dutch Golden Age poet and composer
- September 3 - Nicola Amati, Italian luthier from Cremona
- September 7 - John Casimir, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau
- September 11 - Francis Eaton, Mayflower passenger and New World colonist
- September 23 - Joan Blaeu, Dutch cartographer
- October 1 - Cesare Dandini, Italian painter
- October 5 - Pieter van Mierevelt, Dutch painter
- October 18 - Edward Winslow, American Pilgrim leader
- October 23 - Daniel Hay du Chastelet de Chambon, French mathematician
- October 26 - Robert Coe, American colonial
- November 1
- * Albert, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, joint ruler of Nassau-Dillenburg 1623–1626
- * Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter
- November 5 - Charles II, Duke of Elbeuf, French noble
- November 6 - Jeanne Chezard de Matel, French mystic
- November 21 - René de Voyer de Paulmy d'Argenson, French politician
- December 12 - Sir Edward Osborne, 1st Baronet, English politician
- December 13 - António Luís de Meneses, 1st Marquis of Marialva, Portuguese general and noble
- December 21
- * Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano
- * Peter Mohyla, Ruthenian Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia
- December 24 - Leonaert Bramer, Dutch painter
Date unknown
- John Dury, Scottish-born Calvinist minister
- Franz von Hatzfeld, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
- Lucas Holstenius, German humanist
- Georg Jenatsch, Swiss political leader
- Richard Mather, American clergyman
- Horio Tadaharu, Japanese warlord
Deaths
- January 27 - Sir Francis Drake, English explorer, sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, pirate and politician
- February 7 - George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
- February 17 - Friedrich Sylburg, German classical scholar
- February 19 - Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer, diplomat, scientist, and author
- March 23 - Henry Unton, English diplomat
- March 27 - Frederick IV of Liegnitz, German noble
- April 4 - Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
- May - Janet Fockart, Scottish merchant and moneylender
- May 5 - Catherine de Montpensier, politically active French duchess
- May 6 - Giaches de Wert, Flemish composer
- May 31 - John Lesley, Scottish bishop
- June 10 - John Louis I, Count of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein, Germany noble
- July 10 - Alessandro Alberti, Italian painter
- July 23 - Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon
- August 11 - Hamnet Shakespeare, son of William Shakespeare
- September 9 - Anna Jagiellon, queen of Poland
- September 14 - Francisco de Toledo, Spanish Catholic cardinal
- September 15 - Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist
- October 3 - Florent Chrestien, French writer
- October 26 - István Esterházy, Hungarian noble
- November 1 - Pierre Pithou, French lawyer and scholar
- November 10 - Peter Wentworth, English Puritan politician
- November 29
- * William Gibson, English Catholic martyr
- * Venerable William Knight, English Catholic martyr
- December 27 - Pietro Pontio, Italian music theorist and composer
- date unknown
- * Jean Bodin, French jurist
- * Anna Wecker, German writer
- * Hattori Hanzō, Japanese ninja under Tokugawa Ieyasu
- probable - Henry Willobie, English poet