References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2008 April 30.

1640 January 22 Erasmus Quellinus I Flemish wood carver, dies at about 55. [1] January 25 Robert Burton author (Anatomy of Melancholy), dies. [1] February 4 Hendrick C Vroom Dutch seascape painter, dies. [1] February 9 Murad IV sultan of Turkey (1623-40), dies in Baghdad at 27. [1] March 8 Guillaume van Messaus composer, dies at 50. [1] March 9 Pierre Corneilles "Horace" premieres in Paris France. [1] March 17 Philip Massinger dramatist, dies. [1] April 2 Matthias C Sarbiewski [Sarbievius], Polish jesuit/poet, dies at 45. [1] April 10 Agostino Agazzari Italian composer, dies at 61. [1] Charlotte Flandrina van Nassau daughter of Willem I, dies at 60. [1] April 13 English Short Parliament forms (to May 5). [1] May 3 English Upper house accept Act of Attainder. [1] May 5 English Short Parliament unites. [1] May 12 Uprising against Spanish king Philip IV. [1] May 30 André Duchesne French historian/genealogy, dies. [1] Peter Paul Rubens Flemish painter, dies at 62. [1] December 1 Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule. [1] December 6 Matthijs Elsevier Flemish/Dutch book publisher/merchant, dies at 75. [1] December 9 Settler Hugh Bewitt banished from Massachusetts colony when he declares himself to be free of original sin. [1] December 15 Duke of Bragança crowned King Johan IV of Portugal. [1] December 25 Pierre de Fermat writes to Marin Mersenne about Fermat's church thesis. [1] 1641 January 3 Jeremiah Horrocks English astronomical prodigy, dies at 22. [1] January 11 Franciscus Gomarus [François Gomaer], French theologist, dies. [1] January 14 United East Indian Company conquerors city of Malakka, 7,000 killed. [1] February 16 English king Charles I accept Triennial Act. [1] March 16 General court declares Rhode Island a democracy and adopts new constitution. [1] May 12 Prince Willem II (14) marries English princess Henriette Mary Stuart (9). [1] Thomas Wentworth English viceroy of Ireland, beheaded at 48. [1] June 20 France and Sweden sign the Treaty of Hamburg. Sweden receives increased monetary subsidies from France, and agrees to continue fighting for the duration of the war. [7] October 15 Paul de Chomedy de Maisonneuve claims Montreal. [1] December 1 Massachusetts becomes first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery. [1] December 6 Don Francisco de Mello appointed land guardian of South Netherlands. [1] December 9 Anthonie "Antoon" van Dyck Flemish painter, dies at 42. [1] December 22 Maximilien de Béthune duke of Sully Prime Minister of France, dies at 81. [1] December 25 Emperor Ferdinand III makes appointments with Sweden and France. [1] December 27 François van d'Aerssen ruler of Sommelsdijk/diplomat, dies at 69. [1] 1642 January 4 King Charles I with 400 soldiers attacks the English parliament. [1] January 8 Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist/astronomer, dies at 78 in Arceti, Italy. [1] [5] January 10 King Charles I and family flee London for Oxford. [1] February 24 Marco da Gagliano Italian opera composer, dies at about 66. [1] March 1 Georgeana (York) Maine became the first incorporated American city. [1] March 9 English Queen Henriette Mary arrives in Hellevoetsluis Netherlands. [1] March 12 Abel Tasman is first European in New Zealand. [1] May 6 Frans Francken the Younger, Flemish painter, dies on 61st birthday. [1] Ville Marie (Montréal) forms. [1] May 18 Montréal Canada founded. [1] August 13 Christiaan Huygens discovers Martian south polar cap. [1] September 23 Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, first commencement. [1] November 24 Abel Janzoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). [1] December 4 Armand-Jean Duplessis Richelieu bishop of Luçon, dies at about 57. [1] December 13 New Zealand discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman. [1] December 22 Pope Urbanus VIII publishes degree In eminente. [1] 1643 January 23 Sir Thomas Fairfax takes Leeds for the Parliamentarians. [1] February 25 Dutch US colonists kill Algonquin-Indians. [1] Marco da Gagliano Italian opera composer, dies at 60. [1] March 1 Girolamo Frescobaldi Italian composer/organist, dies at 59. [1] April 4 Simon Episcopius [Bisschop] Dutch theologist, dies at 60. [1] April 20 Christoph Demantius composer, dies at 75. [1] April 27 Tirso de Molina's "Bellaco Sois, Gomez", premieres in Madrid. [1] May 13 Battle at Grantham: English parliamentary armies beat royalists. [1] Heavy earthquake strikes Santiago Chile; kills 1/3 of population. [1] May 14 Louis XIII king of France (1610-43), dies at 41. [1] Louis XIV (4) becomes king of France. [1] May 19 Battle at Rocroi/Allersheim: French army destroys Spanish army. [1] Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Harbor form United Colonies of New England. [1] July 5 First recorded tornado in US (Essex County, Massachusetts). [1] December 8 John Pym English House of Commons member, dies at about 59. [1] December 25 Captain William Mynors founds and names Christmas Island. [5] 1644 January 18 Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston reported America's first UFO sighting. [1] January 24 Battle at Nantwich Cheshire Parliamentary armies win. [1] January 30 William Chillingworth English theologian, Cambridge Platonist, dies. [1] February 5 First US livestock branding law passed, by Connecticut. [1] March 5 Louise Juliana countess of Nassau, dies at 73. [1] March 7 Massachusetts establishes first two-chamber legislature in colonies. [1] March 14 England grants patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island). [1] March 19 200 members of Peking imperial family/court commit suicide. [1] Si Sang last Ming-emperor of China, commits suicide. [1] March 24 Cecilia Renata arch duchess of Austria, dies. [1] March 31 Pope Urbanus VIII and duke of Parma signs Peace of Ferrara. [1] April 29 Farm leader Li Zicheng becomes emperor of China and flees Peking. [1] May 6 Johan Mauritius resigns as Governor of Brazil. [1] May 23 Johan Mauritius van Nassau resigns as head of Civil rights activists. [1] July 2 Battle of Marston Moor; Parliamentary forces defeat royalists. [1] William Gascoigne introduced telescopic sights, is killed at 24. [1] November 19 First Protestant ministry society in New England. [1] December 4 First European peace congress opens in Münster. [1] December 8 Kristina, daughter of the late Swedish King Gustav Adolf, is proclaimed of age on her 18th birthday, and becomes ruling Queen of Sweden. [7] 1645 January 10 William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury is beheaded for treason at 71. [1] March 24 Battle at Jankov Bohemia: Sweden beat Roman Catholic emperor Ferdinand III. [1] April 2 Robert Devereux resigns as parliament supreme commander. [1] April 3 English parliament accept Self-Denying Ordinance. [1] April 7 Michael Cardozo becomes first Jewish lawyer in Brazil. [1] April 19 Anton van Diemen Governor-General (Netherlands East Indies), dies at about 51. [1] William Smith composer, dies at 42. [1] August 13 At Brömsebro, peace is signed between Sweden and Denmark. Sweden gains the islands of Gotland and Ösel, and Halland (for 30 years) from Denmark. Norway cedes to Sweden the northern provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen. Denmark regains Scania and keeps Blekinge. [7] August 30 Dutch and Indians sign peace treaty. [1] 1646 January 6 Elias Hill German architect of Augsburg, dies at 72. [1] February 28 Roger Scott is tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church. [1] March 6 Joseph Jenkes, Massachusetts, receives first colonial machine patent. [1] March 20 Matthew Vossius historian (Annales Holland Zelandiaeque), dies at 35. [1] April 27 King Charles I flees Oxford. [1] May 5 King Charles I surrenders at Scotland. [1] May 30 Spain and Netherlands signs temporary cease fire. [1] December 7 Princess Louise Henriette (19) marries monarch Frederik Henry. [1] 1647 January 19 Johan van Beverwijck physician (Treasurer of Ongesontheyt), dies at 52. [1] January 23 Scottish Presbyterians sell captured Charles I to English parliament. [1] January 30 Scots agree to sell King Charles I to English Parliament for £400. [1] March 14 Frederik Hendrik count of Nassau/prince of Orange, dies at 63. [1] March 25 Cape of Good Hope; tour ship Haerlem stranded in Tafel Bay. [1] April 25 Matthias Gallas Austrian earl of Campo/duke of Lucerna, dies at 62. [1] May 19 Sebastian Vrancx Flemish painter (captain of vigilante), dies. [1] May 21 Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft poet/playwright (Warenar), dies at about 65. [1] May 23 Willem II sworn in as viceroy of Holland. [1] May 26 Massachusetts disallows priest access to colony. [1] May 27 Achsah Young becomes first woman known to be executed as a witch (Massachusetts). [1] June 4 British army seizes King Charles I as a prisoner. [1] June 24 Lord Baltimore's niece ejected requesting vote at Maryland Council. [1] July 7 Thomas Hooker clergyman, father of American democracy, dies. [1] November 11 Massachusetts passes first US compulsory school attendance law. [1] December 31 Giovanni Maria Trabaci composer, dies. [1] 1648 January 14 Casparus Barleaus Flemish theologist/poet (Muiderkring), dies at 63. [1] January 20 Cornerstone of Amsterdam town hall laid. [1] January 23 Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla Spanish poet (Del Rey Abajo), dies at 40. [1] January 30 Spain and Netherlands sign Peace of Münster, ending Tachtigjarige War. [1] February 21 Christian IV king of Denmark/Norway, dies. [1] March 12 Tirso de Molina Spanish author, dies at about 63. [1] April 5 Spanish troops/feudal barons strike down people's uprising in Naples. [1] April 11 Matthaus Apelles von Lowenstern composer, dies at 53. [1] April 12 University of Harderwijk Netherlands solemn opens. [1] April 22 Catharina Belgian van Nassau daughter of Willem, dies at 69. [1] English army claims king Charles I responsible for bloodshed. [1] April 26 Christoph Thomas Walliser composer, dies at 79. [1] May 6 Battle at Zólty Wody-Bohdan Chmielricki's Cossaks beat John II Casimir. [1] May 15 Treaty of Münster: Spain and Netherlands ratified. [1] May 16 Battle at Zólty Wody: Bohdan Chmielricki's cosacks beat John Casimir. [1] May 17 Emperor Ferdinand III defeats Maximilian I of Bavaria. [1] May 20 Wladyslaw IV Wasa King of Poland, dies. [1] May 23 Luis de Nain painter, dies. [1] September 1 Marin Mersenne French mathematician, dies at 59. [1] October 4 Peter Stuyvesant establishes Americas first volunteer firemen. [1] October 14 (1400 hours) At Münster, the final peace treaties of Westphalia are signed, ending the Thirty Years War in Europe. Sweden gains territory controlling mouths of three German rivers: Oder, Elbe, and Weser. The King adds the titles of duke of Bremen-Verden, duke of Pomerania, prince of Rügen, and lord of Wismar. Sweden is now at peace for the first time in fifty years. [7] October 18 First US labor organization forms (Boston Shoemakers). [1] November 2 12,000 Jews massacred by Chmielnicki hordes in Narol, Podlia. [1] November 11 Dutch and French agree to divide Saint Maarten, Leeward Islands. [1] December 6 Pride's Purge: Thomas Pride prevents 96 presbyterians from sitting in English parliament. [1] 1649 January 5 Francesco Cavalli's opera "Giasone" premieres in Venice. [1] January 30 Charles I King of Great Britain (1625-49), beheaded for treason. [1] February 5 Prince of Wales becomes king Charles II. [1] March 11 Treaty of Rueil destroys first Fronde-uprising. [1] March 17 Gerardus Johannis Vossius [Gerrit Vos], Dutch regent, dies at 71. [1] March 26 John Winthrop Puritan and first Governor (Massachusetts), dies. [1] April 5 John Winthrop first Governor Massachusetts Bay Colony, dies at 61. [1] April 21 Maryland Toleration Act passed, allowing all freedom of worship. [1] May 12 Isaac Doreslaer English lawyer/diplomat, murdered. [1] September 12 Drogheda, Ireland falls to Puritan troops; inhabitants massacred. [1] December 4 Outgert Arisz Akersloot Dutch silversmith, dies at about 73. [1]