This article is about the year 1608.
Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
---|---|
Centuries: | 16th century – 17th century – 18th century |
Decades: | 1570s 1580s 1590s – 1600s – 1610s 1620s 1630s |
Years: | 1605 1606 1607 – 1608 – 1609 1610 1611 |
1608 by topic: | |
Arts and Science | |
Architecture - Art - Literature - Music - Science | |
Lists of leaders | |
Colonial governors - State leaders | |
Birth and death categories | |
Births - Deaths | |
Establishments and disestablishments categories | |
Establishments - Disestablishments | |
Works category | |
Works | |
Gregorian calendar | 1608 MDCVIII |
Ab urbe condita | 2361 |
Armenian calendar | 1057 ԹՎ ՌԾԷ |
Assyrian calendar | 6358 |
Bengali calendar | 1015 |
Berber calendar | 2558 |
English Regnal year | 5 Ja. 1 – 6 Ja. 1 |
Buddhist calendar | 2152 |
Burmese calendar | 970 |
Byzantine calendar | 7116–7117 |
Chinese calendar | 丁未年 (Fire Goat) 4304 or 4244 — to — 戊申年 (Earth Monkey) 4305 or 4245 |
Coptic calendar | 1324–1325 |
Discordian calendar | 2774 |
Ethiopian calendar | 1600–1601 |
Hebrew calendar | 5368–5369 |
Hindu calendars | |
- Vikram Samvat | 1664–1665 |
- Shaka Samvat | 1530–1531 |
- Kali Yuga | 4709–4710 |
Holocene calendar | 11608 |
Igbo calendar | 608–609 |
Iranian calendar | 986–987 |
Islamic calendar | 1016–1017 |
Japanese calendar | Keichō 13 (慶長13年) |
Julian calendar | Gregorian minus 10 days |
Korean calendar | 3941 |
Minguo calendar | 304 before ROC 民前304年 |
Thai solar calendar | 2150–2151 |
1608 (MDCVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter FE) of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday (dominical letter CB) of the Julian calendar, the 1608th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 608th year of the 2nd millennium, the 8th year of the 17th century, and the 9th year of the 1600s decade. Note that the Julian day for 1608 is 10 calendar days difference, which continued to be used from 1582 until the complete conversion of the Gregorian calendar was entirely done in 1929.
Events
January–June
- January
- At Jamestown, Virginia, Christopher Newport returns in a ship with the First Supply and about 100 new settlers; he finds only 38 survivors.
- Powhatan releases Captain John Smith.
- January 7 – Fire destroys "all the houses in the fort" at Jamestown; the fort is repaired in March.
- January 8 – Ensign Thomas Savage arrives in Jamestown with the First Supply under Christopher Newport.
- January 17 – Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia defeats an Oromo army at Ebenat; 12,000 Oromo are reportedly killed at a cost of 400 Amhara.
- March 18 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia at the ancient city of Axum.
- April 10 – Jamestown, Virginia: Christopher Newport again sails for England.
- April 19 – The Burning of Derry launched O'Doherty's Rebellion in the Kingdom of Ireland
- May 14 – The Protestant Union is founded in Auhausen.
July–December
- July 3 – Quebec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
- July – The English ship Mary and Margaret, captained by Christopher Newport, leaves England bound for Jamestown, Virginia.[1]
- August 24 – The first official English representative to India, Captain William Hawkins, lands at Surat.
- September 10 – John Smith is elected council president of Jamestown, and begins expanding the fort.
- September 21 – The University of Oviedo, Spain is founded.
- October 1 – At Jamestown, a second supply ship, the Mary and Margaret, arrives with Christopher Newport, including 70 settlers, bringing the population back up to 120; the passengers include 8 glassmen.
- October 2 – Dutch lens maker Hans Lippershey demonstrates the first telescope in the Dutch parliament.
- December – Jamestown: Christopher Newport returns to England carrying cargo with "tryals of Pitch, Tarre, Glasse, Frankincense, Sope Ashes ..."
Date unknown
- The first cheques are used in the Netherlands.
- Old Bushmills Distillery is founded in Bushmills, County Antrim, Ireland.
- Uniform Land-Tax Law is imposed in Korea.
- Five Royal Schools in Ulster are given Royal Charter by King James I
Births
January–March
- January 10 – Henry Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay company (d. 1630)
- January 14 – Francis Hawley, 1st Baron Hawley, Politician (d. 1684)
- January 21 – Theaurau John Tany, Christian mystic (d. 1659)
- January 26 – Johannes Heinrich Ursinus (d. 1667)
- January 28 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
- January 30 – John Oxenbridge, English Nonconformist divine (d. 1674)
- February 5 – Gaspar Schott (d. 1666)
- February 6 – António Vieira, Portuguese writer (d. 1697)
- February 12 – Daniello Bartoli, Italian Jesuit priest (d. 1685)
- February 20 – Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (d. 1649)
- February 21 – Elizabeth Barnard, Granddaughter of William Shakespeare (d. 1670)
- March 18 – Paul Ragueneau (d. 1680)
- March 27 – Thomas Rouse, English politician (d. 1676)
- March 28 – Léon Bouthillier, comte de Chavigny, French politician (d. 1652)
April–June
- April 13 – Cornelis Schrevel, Dutch scholar (d. 1664)
- April 14 – Illiam Dhone (d. 1663)
- April 15
- Honoré Fabri, French mathematician (d. 1688)
- John Huddleston, monk of the Order of St (d. 1698)
- April 20 – Edward Rainbowe, English clergyman and preacher (d. 1684)
- April 23 – Thomas Minor, American city founder (d. 1690)
- April 25 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans, third son of King Henry IV of France (d. 1660)
- May 1 – Pieter Post, Architect, Painter and Printmaker (d. 1669)
- May 15 – René Goupil (d. 1642)
- June – Richard Fanshawe, English diplomat (d. 1666)
- June 19 (bapt.) – Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian (d. 1661)
July–September
- July 13 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1657)
- July 14 – George Goring, Lord Goring, English Royalist soldier (d. 1657)
- July 24 – Sir Philip Wodehouse, 3rd Baronet, English Baronet (d. 1681)
- August 4 – John Tradescant the Younger, British botanist (d. 1662)
- August 15 – Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1652)
- August 16 – Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches, German Imperial Field marshal (d. 1682)
- August 20 – Ludovicus a S. Carolo, French monk (d. 1670)
- August 30 – Alonso Perez de Leon, Conquistador/explorer/man of letters (d. 1661)
- September 1 – Giacomo Torelli, Italian stage designer, engineer, and architect (d. 1678)
- September 15 – Niccolò Albergati-Ludovisi, Catholic cardinal (d. 1687)
- September 17 – Cesare Facchinetti, Catholic cardinal (d. 1683)
- September 19 – Alfonso Litta, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (d. 1679)
- September 20
- Luis de Benavides Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena, Spanish general (d. 1668)
- Jean-Jacques Olier (d. 1657)
October–December
- October 3 – Nicole, Duchess of Lorraine, French noble (d. 1657)
- October 15 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist and mathematician (d. 1647)
- October 18 – John Conant, Theologian, clergyman, and academic administrator (d. 1694)
- November 5 – Margareta Huitfeldt, Norwegian-Swedish noble (d. 1683)
- November 9 – Tiberio Fiorilli, Italian actor (d. 1694)
- November 10 – Eleanor of Anhalt-Zerbst, Duchess by marriage of Schleswig-Holstein-Sønderburg-Norburg (d. 1681)
- November 13 (bapt.) – John Desborough, English soldier and politician (d. 1680)
- November 16 – Johann Freinsheim (d. 1660)
- November 23 – Francisco Manuel de Mello, Portuguese writer (d. 1666)
- December 6 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (d. 1670)
- December 8 – Vendela Skytte, Swedish noble (d. 1629)
- December 9 – John Milton, English poet (d. 1674)
- December 15
- Joachim Lütkemann, German theologian (d. 1655)
- John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet, English Earl (d. 1664)
- date unknown
- Thomas Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln, English churchman (d. 1691)
- Eudoxia Streshneva, Tsarina of Mikhail I of Russia (d. 1645)
Deaths
- January 29 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1557)
- February 13 – Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski, Lithuanian prince (b. 1526)
- February 26 – John Still, English bishop (b. c. 1543)
- March 12 – Kōriki Kiyonaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1530)
- April 19 – Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English statesman and poet (b. 1536)
- May 14 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1543)
- June 19 – Alberico Gentili, Italian jurist (b. 1551)
- July 3 – William Barclay, Scottish jurist (b. 1546)
- July 18 – Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1546)
- August 1 – Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (b. 1575)
- August 13 – Giambologna, Italian sculptor (b. 1529)
- October 11 – Giovanni Ambrogio Figino, Italian painter (b. c. 1549)
- October 17
- Luca Bati, Italian composer (b. 1546)
- Laurence Tomson, English Calvinist theologian (b. 1539)
- October 19
- Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (b. 1551)
- Geoffrey Fenton, English writer and politician (b. c. 1539)
- December
- William Davison, secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. c. 1541)
- John Dee, British mathematician, astronomer, and geographer (b. 1527)
- date unknown
- George Bannatyne, collector of Scottish poems (b. 1545)