Count backwards from the present year

1646

Roger Scott was tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church.

May 30: Spain and the Netherlands sign a temporary cease fire in the war.

1645
Battle of Inverlochy. Montrose ravages Argyll. Town of Dundee sacked by
Montrose's army.

1644

Swedish forces invade Denmark early in the year under the command of Count Gustav Horn, breaking a peace that has held since 1613.

June 6 - The invading Manchu army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing, China. This marks the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (also known as the Manchu Dynasty), the last imperial dynasty of China.

July 2 - Battle of Marston Moor, a crushing victory for the Parliamentary side of the English Civil War, ended Charles I's hold on the north of England.

1643
Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman discovered the islands but did not attempt to land because of reports of cannibalism that was rampant in the islands.

1642


On 2nd of September Parliament orders the theatres of London closed, effectively ending the era of English Renaissance theatre.


Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania)

1641
Uprising in Ireland

Lord Strafford executed,

1640

December 1: Portugal regains its independence from Spain and João IV of Portugal becomes king. Spain does not recognize Portugal's independence until 1668.

The first known European coffee house opens in Venice

1639

September 25: 1st printing press in America

November 24: 1st observation of transit of Venus occured (only 2 recorded)

1638 - March 5
The Treaty of Hamburg is signed by France and Sweden

1637: First opera house, Teatro San Cassiona, opens in Venice.

Dec 3, 1636 - founding of the United States National Guard

1635
July - Robert Hooke born
August - Hurricane sweeps coast from Virginia to Connecticut
Lope de Vega died

1634 Dorothe Engelbretsdotter born

1633 - English poet George Herbert dies

1631
Magdeburg falls to Tilly
Tilly defeated at Leipsic