1600s Timeline

  • The First Modern Novel

    Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote de la Mancha, the first modern novel.
  • Jamestown is Established

    Jamestown, Virginia, established-first permanent English colony on American mainland. Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, saves life of John Smith.
  • Laws Of Planetary Motion

    Johannes Kepler publishes his Laws of Planetary Motion which explained the movement of planets around the sun.
  • Discovery of Jupiter

    Galileo Galilei sees the moons of Jupiter through his telescope. Galileo also showed the Copernican system in which the planets circle the sun was correct.
  • William Shakespeare dies.

    William Shakespeare dies.
  • Start Of The Thirty Years War

    Start of the Thirty Years' War - Protestants revolt against Catholic oppression; Denmark, Sweden, and France invade Germany in later phases of war. Johannes Kepler proposes last of three laws of planetary motion.
  • Pilgrims Arrive From England

    Pilgrims from England arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower.
  • Boston Is Founded 10 Years After Colonists Arrive

    Boston is founded by Massachusetts colonists led by John Winthrop.
  • The Taj Mahal Is Built

    The Taj Mahal is built in India (1631 - 1653)
  • End Of Ming Dynasty - 1644

    End of Ming Dynasty in China-Manchus come to power. René Descartes's Principles of Philosophy.
  • Oliver Cromwell dies

    Oliver Cromwell dies; son Richard resigns and Puritan government collapses.
  • Louis XIV takes Monarchy

    Charles II is crowned King of England. Louis XIV begins personal rule as absolute monarch; starts to build Versailles.
  • New York Is Founded & Issac Newton Experiments

    Isaac Newton's experiments with gravity. The English seize New Amsterdam from the Dutch. The city is renamed New York.
  • Thousands Die In London

    Great Plague in London kills 75,000.
  • French Settlers Move

    French settlers move into Mississippi and Louisiana.