Events in History
- Feb 14 Emperor Charles V enters Ghent without resistance, executes rebels
- Feb 23 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's expedition sets off from Mexico in search of the 7 cities of Cibola
- Mar 19 Court of Holland names Amsterdam sheriff John Hubrechtsz a "heretic"
- Apr 29 Emperor Charles declares all privileges of Ghent ended
- May 4 Venice and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople
- Jun 3 Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto crosses the Appalachian Mountains, 1st European to do so
- Jun 10 Thomas Cromwell arrested in Westminster
- Jun 24 English King Henry VIII commands his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves, to leave the court
- Jun 29 Former Lord Privy Seal and Chancellor of the Exchequer of England Thomas Cromwell indicted as a heretic
- Jul 23 Turkey recognizes John Sigismund Zápolya as vassal king of Hungary
- More Events in History
Historical Figures Born in 1540
- Jan 25 Edmund Campion, English Catholic Jesuit priest & martyr, born in London, England (d. 1581)
- Jan 28 Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610)
- May 9 Maharana Pratap, Rajput king of Mewar (1572-1597), born in Kumbhargal Fort, Mewar (d. 1597)
- Jun 3 Charles II Archduke of Austria, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1590)
- Jun 11 Barnabe Googe, English poet, born in Alvingham, Lincolnshire (d. 1594)
More Birthdays in History
Historical Marriages
- Mar 4 German Protestant Count Philip of Hessen bigamously marries 2nd wife Margarethe von der Saale, causing a scandal
- Jul 28 English King Henry VIII (49) marries Catherine Howard (16 or 17), his 5th wife
Historical Divorces
- Jul 9 English King Henry VIII annuls his 6 month marriage to his 4th wife Anne of Cleves, on the grounds of non-consummation and her pre-contract to Francis of Lorraine
Thomas Cromwell
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