Year was a Common Year Starting On Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian Calendar .
- January 15 - Elizabeth I Of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey .
- March 23 - Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia, defending his lands against the invasion of Nur Ibn Mujahid , Sultan of Harar , is killed in battle. His brother Menas succeeds him as king.
- April 3 - Peace Of Cateau Cambrésis - France makes peace with England and Spain. France gives up most of its gains in Italy (including Savoy ), keeping only Saluzzo , but keeps the three Lorraine bishoprics of Metz , Toul , and Verdun , and the formerly English town of Calais .
- July 10 - Francis II becomes King of France following the death of his father, Henry II in a jousting accident.
- August - Led by Don Tristán De Luna Y Arellano , a Spanish missionary colony, of 1500 men on 13 ships, arrives from Vera Cruz at Pensacola Bay , founding the oldest European settlement in the mainland U.S. . ( St. Augustine was founded in 1565 .)
- September 19 - Just weeks after arrival at Pensacola , the Spanish missionary colony is decimated by a Hurricane that kills hundreds, sinks five ships, with a Galleon , and grounds a Caravel ; the 1,000 survivors divide to relocate/resupply the settlement, but suffer famine & attacks, and abandon the effort in 1561 .
- December 25 - Pope Pius IV succeeds Pope Paul IV as the 224th Pope .
- February 18 - Isaac Casaubon , French-born classical scholar (died 1614 )
- ---February - Johann Tserclaes, Count Of Tilly , a famous and able Bavarian Mercenary general on the Catholic side, died 1632 from wounds received in battle from forces under the redoubtable Gustavus Adolphus during the Thirty Years War . The novel 1632 gives an account of his death, and several of his battles.
- July 22 - Lawrence Of Brindisi , Italian saint (d. 1619 )
- October 12 - Jacques Sirmond , French scholar and Jesuit (died 1651 )
- November 15 - Archduke Albert Of Austria , Governor of the Low Countries (died 1621 )
- ''date unknown''
- --- Francesco Bassano The Younger , Italian painter (died 1592 )
- --- Catherine De Bourbon , sister of Henry IV Of France (died 1604 )
- --- Charls Butler , English schoolmaster, clergyman, spelling reformer and influential author on diverse subjects including logic, English grammar, theology and natural history
- --- George Chapman , English dramatist (died 1634 )
- --- Ikeda Motosuke , Japanese military commander (died 1584 )
- --- Nurhaci , Chinese founder of the Qing Dynasty (died 1626 )
- --- John Penry , Welsh Protestant martyr (died 1593 )
- --- Honinbo Sansa , Japanese player of Go (died 1623 )
- --- John Spenser , president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (died 1614 )
: ''See also .''
- January 1 - King Christian III Of Denmark and Norway (born 1503 )
- January 25 - King Christian II Of Denmark Norway, and Sweden (born 1481 )
- March 8 - Thomas Tresham I , English Catholic politician
- March 16 - Anthony St. Leger , Lord Deputy of Ireland (born 1496 )
- March 23 - Emperor Gelawdewos Of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (born 1522 )
- March 30 - Adam Ries , German mathematician (born 1492 )
- July 10 - King Henry II Of France (killed in jousting accident) (born 1519 )
- August 18 - Pope Paul IV (born 1476 )
- September 7 - Robert Estienne , French printer (born 1503 )
- September 10 - Anthony Denny , confidant of Henry VIII Of England (born 1501 )
- October 2 - Jacquet Of Mantua , French composer (born 1483 )
- October 6 - William I, Count Of Nassau-Dillenburg (born 1487 )
- November 5 - Kano Motonobu , Japanese painter (born 1476 )
- November 18 - Cuthbert Tunstall , English church leader (born 1474 )
- November 20 - Lady Frances Brandon , claimant to the throne of England (born 1517 )
- ''date unknown''
- --- Realdo Colombo , Italian surgeon and anatomist (born 1516 )
- --- Leonard Digges , English mathematician and surveyor (born 1520 )
- --- Owen Oglethorpe , English priest
- --- Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl Of Tyrone , Irish rebel (born 1480 )
- --- Wen Zhengming , Chinese painter (born 1470 )
: ''See also .''
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