Directory

1618 CE

Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (after some initial calculations, he soon rejects the idea, but on May 15 confirms the discovery). Ferdinand II, a proponent of the Counter-Reformation, is crowned as King of Hungary at a meeting of the Bohemian diet at Pressburg. Residents of Mogilev revolt against Uniate bishop Josaphat Kuntsevych.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • February 18 – Chŏng Inhong becomes the new Chief State Councillor (the Yŏngŭijŏng, similar to a Prime Minister) of the Joseon Kingdom, after being appointed by Gwanghaegun of Joseon.source
  • July 3 – Alonso Fajardo de Entenza becomes the new Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines.source
  • December 11 – Russia and Poland sign the Truce of Deulino.source
  • The Ming Chinese embassy of the Wanli Emperor presents tea to the Russian tsar.source
  • The margraves of Brandenburg are granted Polish approval to inherit the Duchy of Prussia, creating the state of Brandenburg-Prussia.source

Conflict & Security

  • May 23 – The Second Defenestration of Prague – Protestant noblemen hold a mock trial, and throw two direct representatives of Ferdinand II of Germany (Imperial Governors) and their scribe out of a window into a pile of manure, exacerbating a low-key rebellion into the Bohemian Revolt (1618–1621), precipitating the Thirty Years' War into armed conflict, and further polarizing Europe on religious grounds.source
  • September 19 – The Siege of Pilsen begins as the first major battle of the Thirty Years' War, as Bohemian Protestants lay siege to the Bohemian Catholic city and lasts for more than two months.source
  • September 28 – The Battle of Orynin takes place. Polish and Lithuanian Army forces fail to stop an invasion by the forces of the Crimean Khanate, who then proceed in burning villages in Lithuania and enslaving residents.source
  • November 21 – Pilsen falls to Bohemian Protestants led by Ernst von Mansfeld after more than two months of deprivation of food.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 6 – Jahangir, ruler of the Mughal Empire in northern India, gives an audience for the first time to a representative of the British East India Company, receiving Sir Thomas Roe at the capital at Ahmedabad.source
  • April 21 – Spanish-born Jesuit missionary Pedro Páez becomes (probably) the first European to see and describe the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.source
  • July 31 – Lenaert Jacobszoon and the crew of the Dutch East India Company ship Mauritius become the first Europeans to sight what is now the Australian state of Western Australia, landing at the North Cape.source

Religion & Belief

  • February 26 – Osman II deposes his uncle Mustafa I as Ottoman sultan (until 1622).source
  • October 9 – Residents of Mogilev revolt against Uniate bishop Josaphat Kuntsevych.source
  • November 13 – The Synod of Dort has its first meeting.source

Science & Discovery

  • March 8 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (after some initial calculations, he soon rejects the idea, but on May 15 confirms the discovery).source
  • July 20 – Pluto reaches its second most recent aphelion, according to sophisticated mathematical calculations. The next one occurs in 1866, and the following one will occur in 2113.source
  • September 18 – Beginning of the 13th Baktun, in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar (12.0.0.0.0).source

Crime & Justice

  • August 29 – Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Hugo Grotius are imprisoned by Maurice, Prince of Orange.source
  • October 29 – English adventurer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh is beheaded at the Palace of Westminster, for allegedly conspiring treasonably against James I of England in 1603, following pressure from the Spanish government, over his attack on their settlement on the Orinoco, on his last (1617–18) voyage.source

Climate & Environment

  • September 4 – Rodi avalanche: A rock- or snowslide buries the Alpine town of Piuro, claiming 2,427 victims.source

Culture & Society

  • January 6 – Ben Jonson's play Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue is given its premiere performance, presented at the Palace of Whitehall in London.source
  • January 28 – Rules are established for the Ōoku, the section of Edo Castle that housed the Shōgun's consort and his concubines.source
  • June 14 – Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. in Amsterdam (approximate date).source
  • July 1 – Ferdinand II, a proponent of the Counter-Reformation, is crowned as King of Hungary at a meeting of the Bohemian diet at Pressburg.source
  • The 3,000 seat Teatro Farnese, the first permanent proscenium theatre, is built into the Great Hall of the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma, Italy.source

Births

  • January 1 (bapt.) – Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Spanish painter (d. 1682)source
  • February 12 – Olaus Verelius, scholar of Old Norse and Scandinavian studies (d. 1682)source
  • March 19 – Thomas Hinckley, last colonial governor of Plymouth Colony (d. 1706)source
  • April 2 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)source
  • April 9 – Christian, Duke of Brieg, Duke of Legnica (1663–1672) and Brieg (1664–1672) (d. 1672)source
  • July 17 – George Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny, Scottish nobleman and military commander (d. 1642)source
  • July 22 – Johan Nieuhof, Dutch traveler who wrote about his journeys to Brazil (d. 1672)source
  • September 29 – Michiel Sweerts, Flemish painter (d. 1664)source
  • October 8 – Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne, Spanish general and prince (d. 1679)source
  • October 31 – Mariana de Jesús de Paredes, Catholic saint, the first person to be canonized from Ecuador (d. 1645)source
  • November 1 – Sir John Wittewrong, 1st Baronet, English parliamentarian (d. 1693)source
  • November – Simon Arnauld, Marquis de Pomponne, French diplomat and minister of Louis XIV (d. 1699)source
  • December 26 – Elisabeth of the Palatinate, German princess, philosopher, and Calvinist (d. 1680)source
  • December 28 – Catharina Hooft, noblewoman of the Dutch Golden Age (d. 1691)source

Deaths

  • January 6 – Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Ferrara (b. 1564)source
  • February 14 – Paolo Emilio Sfondrati, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1560)source
  • February 20 – Philip William, Prince of Orange, eldest son of William the Silent, by his first wife Anna van Egmont (b. 1554)source
  • February 25 – Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon, English baroness (b. 1552)source
  • February 27 – Anne Lyon, Countess of Kinghorne, Scottish countess (b. 1579)source
  • March 5 – Countess Palatine Barbara of Zweibrücken-Neuburg and by marriage Countess of Oettingen-Oettingen (b. 1559)source
  • March 23 – James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, Scottish politician (b. c. 1575)source
  • April – Powhatan (proper name Wahunsenacawh), Algonquin (indigenous American) leader, father of Pocahontas (b. c. 1547)source
  • June 7 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English Governor of Virginia (b. 1577)source
  • August 7 – Princess Maria Elizabeth of Sweden, Swedish princess (b. 1596)source
  • September 3 – Frederik van den Bergh, Dutch soldier in the Eighty Years' War (b. 1559)source
  • December 6 – Jacques Davy Duperron, French cardinal (b. 1556)source
  • December 7 – Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, Spanish Catholic cardinal, Grand Inquisitor (b. 1546)source
  • December 14 – Anna of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empress (b. 1585)source