New France
Jan 15 King Francis I of France commissions Jean-Francois Roberval to settle the province of New France
1st Jesuit Missionary
Apr 7 Spanish missionary Francis Xavier leaves Lisbon for the Portuguese East Indies as the first Jesuit missionary
- Apr 25 -26) Liege flooded after heavy down pour
A Bible for Every Church
May 6 King Henry VIII orders a bible in English be placed in every church in England
De Soto Discovers the Mississippi
May 8 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his expedition are the first Europeans to discover the Mississippi River
- Jul 9 Estevão da Gama departs Massawa, leaving behind 400 matchlock men and 150 slaves under his brother Christovão da Gama, with orders to help the Emperor of Ethiopia defeat Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi who has invaded his Empire
- Aug 18 A Portuguese ship drifts ashore in the ancient Japanese province of Higo (modern day Kumamoto Prefecture). (Traditional Japanese date: July 27, 1541)
Siege of Buda
Aug 21 Ottoman Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom and go on to dominate central Hungary for 150 years
Cartier's Third Voyage
Aug 23 French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City on his third voyage to Canada accompanied by five ships and 1500 people to establish a colony (colony fails after two years) [1]
- Sep 11 Santiago, Chile, is destroyed by indigenous warriors, lead by Michimalonko
The Last Judgement
Oct 31 Michelangelo Buonarroti finishes painting "The Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
- Nov 23 Queen Catherine Howard. 5th wife of King Henry VIII, stripped of her title and confined in the Syon Abbey in Middlesex, England
- Dec 13 John III succeeds his father as King of Portugal and the Algarves, at age 19; reigns for 36 years, until his death in 1557
- Dec 29 Isabella of Poland and King Ferdinand of Austria sign Treaty of Gyalu
Gregory I
Gregory XIII
Julius II
Julius III
Leo X
Pius V