152010 events recorded

April

Culture · April 6
The Painter of Grace Dies

Renaissance master Raphael dies in Rome on his 37th birthday, reportedly of a fever contracted after a night of excess, mourned by all of Italy.

May

Politics · May 20
Suleiman the Magnificent Ascends

Suleiman I became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire following his father's death, beginning a 46-year reign that marked the empire's golden age.

Culture · May 29
Magellan's Fleet Endures Patagonian Winter

Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, wintering at Puerto San Julián, weathered mutiny and starvation before pressing on toward the strait that would bear his name.

June

Culture · June 23
Ships Sight the Strait

Ferdinand Magellan's battered fleet approached the passage at the tip of South America that would soon bear his name, a gateway between two oceans.

July

Politics · July 7
Field of the Cloth of Gold

Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France met near Calais in a two-week spectacle of jousting, feasting, and diplomacy meant to cement peace between rival crowns.

Culture · July 7
Raphael's Final Weeks

Raphael, the great Renaissance master, continued work on his last major commissions in Rome during the summer before his sudden death in April, though records of exact July dates remain limited.

World War II · July 31
Cuitláhuac Named Aztec Emperor

Cuitláhuac was elected the tenth Tlatoani of the Aztec Empire amid smallpox and the chaos following the death of Moctezuma II and the Spanish retreat from Tenochtitlan.

November

Culture · November 20
Magellan Reaches the Pacific

Ferdinand Magellan's expedition emerged from the strait at South America's tip into a vast, unfamiliar ocean he named the Pacific for its calm waters.

Space · November 28
Magellan Enters the Pacific

Ferdinand Magellan's expedition sailed out of the strait bearing his name into a vast, unknown ocean he named the Pacific.

December

Culture · December 10
Aztecs Drive Spanish from Tenochtitlan

During La Noche Triste, Hernán Cortés and his forces fled Tenochtitlan under attack after the death of Moctezuma II, suffering catastrophic losses.