- Jan 19 Francis II, King of France (1559-60) and husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, born in Château de Fontainebleau, France (d. 1560)
- Mar 11 Torquato Tasso, Italian Renaissance poet (Aminta, Apologia), born in Sorrento, Kingdom of Naples (d. 1595)
- May 24 William Gilbert, English physician and physicist (research into magnetism), born in Colchester, England (d. 1603)