Victory in Battle
Apr 25 Battle of Dessau Bridge: Albrecht von Wallenstein at head of Holy Roman Empire forces defeats Danish attempt led by Ernst von Mansfeld's to cross Elbe River (Thirty Years' War)
- May 4 Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherlands
- May 6 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape
- May 30 An explosion at the Wanggongchang Gunpowder Factory in Beijing destroys part of the city and kills 20,000 people
St. Peter's Basilica
Nov 18 St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated, replacing an earlier basilica on the same site and becoming the world's largest Christian basilica
- Dec 1 Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical governor of Jerusalem, driven out
Event of Interest
Dec 20 Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Prince of Transylvania Gabor Bethlen sign Peace of Pressburg (Bratislava)
