- Jan 10 King Charles I and family flee London for Hampton Court fearing for their lives, not to return for 7 years
- Mar 1 Georgeana (York) in Maine becomes the 1st incorporated American city
- Mar 9 English Queen Henriette Maria arrives in Hellevoetsluis, Netherlands
- Mar 27 The sixth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Joseph takes office.
Montreal Founded
May 18 Ville-Marie (later Montreal), Canada, founded by the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal led by Paul de Chomedey
Mars' South Polar Cap
Aug 13 Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovers Mars' southern polar cap
London Theatre Closure
Sep 2 English Long Parliament issues Ordinance ordering closure of London theatres including the Globe theatre, once part-owned by William Shakespeare
- Sep 19 Perpignan surrenders to French troops
- Sep 23 Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1st commencement
- Oct 23 Battle of Edgehill (Warwickshire): King Charles I beat English parliamentarian forces
- Nov 2 Second Battle of Breitenfeld, aka First Battle of Leipzig; victory for the Swedish army under Field Marshal Lennart Torstenson over Holy Roman Empire army under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria
- Nov 13 Battle at Turnham Green outside London: King Charles I vs English parliament
Historic Discovery
Nov 24 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman is the first European to discover Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
- Dec 13 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland [1]
- Dec 18 Abel Tasman's expedition sails around Farewell Spit and into Golden Bay, first sighting local Māori in New Zealand
- Dec 19 4 of Abel Tasman's crew killed at Wharewharangi (Murderers) Bay by Māori; Tasman's ships depart without landing
- Dec 22 Pope Urbanus VIII publishes decree In eminente
Admirals
Aviators
Gangsters
Generals
Industrialists
Suffragists