The 1630s

1639

William Coddington founds Newport, Rhode Island

William Coddington was an early magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and later of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He served as the judge of Portsmouth …

William Coddington founds Newport, Rhode Island

1639

The treaty of Zuhab ends the fifteen year long war between the Ottomans and the Safavids

The Treaty of Zuhab, also called Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin, signed on 17 May 1639 at Qasr-e Shirin in western Iran, ended the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639. It strove to clarify t…

The treaty of Zuhab ends the fifteen year long war between the Ottomans and the Safavids

1639

Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak…

Chennai, also known as Madras, is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. As per th…

Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak…

1639

Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Italian artist (died 1709)

Giovanni Battista Gaulli, also known as Baciccio or Baciccia, was an Italian Baroque painter working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods. He is best known for his grand il…

Giovanni Battista Gaulli, Italian artist (died 1709)

1639

Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, English soldier and noble (died 1665)

Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, was the only son and heir of the 2nd Earl of Portland and Lady Frances Stuart.

Charles Weston, 3rd Earl of Portland, English soldier and noble (died 1665)

1639

(O

Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gr…

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1639

Hans Herr, Swiss bishop (died 1725)

Hans Herr was a Swiss-American Mennonite bishop. He was born in Zürich, Switzerland. In 1710, Herr was among a group of settlers who purchased 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land along P…

Hans Herr, Swiss bishop (died 1725)

1639

William Russell, Lord Russell, English politician (died 1683)

William Russell, Lord Russell was an English Country Party politician. He was a leading member of the Country Party, forerunners of the Whigs, who during the reign of Charles II of…

William Russell, Lord Russell, English politician (died 1683)

1639

Simon van der Stel, Dutch commander and politician, 1st Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (died 1712)

Simon van der Stel was the first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (1691), the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. He was interested in botany, establishing vineyards Groot and Kl…

Simon van der Stel, Dutch commander and politician, 1st Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (died 1712)

1639

Tommaso Campanella, Italian astrologer, theologian, and poet (born 1568)

Tommaso Campanella, baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet.

Tommaso Campanella, Italian astrologer, theologian, and poet (born 1568)

1639

Melchior Franck, German composer (born 1579)

Melchior Franck was a German composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was a hugely prolific composer of Lutheran church music, especially motets, and assisted in…

Melchior Franck, German composer (born 1579)

1639

Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, German general (born 1604)

Bernard of Saxe-Weimar was a duke of Saxe-Weimar and a politically active Protestant general during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). Known as one of the most capable field commande…

Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, German general (born 1604)

1639

Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican actor and playwright (born 1581)

Juan Ruiz de Alarcón was a New Spanish writer of the Golden Age who cultivated different variants of dramaturgy. His works include the comedy La verdad sospechosa, which is conside…

Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Mexican actor and playwright (born 1581)

1639

Martin van den Hove, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (born 1605)

Martin (Maarten) van den Hove (Latinized as Martinus Hortensius (Ortensius)) (1605 – 7 August 1639) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician. His adopted Latin name is a translatio…

Martin van den Hove, Dutch astronomer and mathematician (born 1605)

1639

Martin Opitz, German poet and hymnwriter (born 1597)

Martin Opitz von Boberfeld was a German poet, regarded as the greatest of that nation during his lifetime.

Martin Opitz, German poet and hymnwriter (born 1597)

1639

Johannes Meursius, Dutch historian and scholar (born 1579)

Johannes Meursius was a Dutch classical scholar and antiquary.

Johannes Meursius, Dutch historian and scholar (born 1579)

1639

Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (born 1587)

Stefano Landi was an Italian composer and teacher of the early Baroque Roman School. He was an influential early composer of opera, and wrote the earliest opera on a historical sub…

Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (born 1587)

1639

The Vijayanagara Empire leased a small strip of land in present-day Chennai, the capital of the present-day Indian…

The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnāta Empire, was a late medieval Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I…

The Vijayanagara Empire leased a small strip of land in present-day Chennai, the capital of the present-day Indian…

1638

An army under Bernard of Saxe-Weimar defeats imperial troops at the battle of Wittenweiher.

Bernard of Saxe-Weimar was a duke of Saxe-Weimar and a politically active Protestant general during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48). Known as one of the most capable field commande…

An army under Bernard of Saxe-Weimar defeats imperial troops at the battle of Wittenweiher.

1638

Richard Simon, French priest and scholar (died 1712)

Richard Simon CO, was a French priest, a member of the Oratorians, who was an influential biblical critic, orientalist and controversialist.

Richard Simon, French priest and scholar (died 1712)

1638

Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (died 1709)

Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, PC was an English aristocrat and politician. He held high office at the beginning of the reign of his brother-in-law, King James II.

Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon (died 1709)

1638

David Teniers III, Flemish painter (died 1685)

David Teniers III, also referred to as David Teniers Junior was a Flemish painter and tapestry designer who was mainly active in Antwerp, Madrid and Brussels. He is known for his p…

David Teniers III, Flemish painter (died 1685)

1638

Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani, Italian violinist and composer (died 1693)

Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani was an Italian composer and violinist. He worked in the court at Innsbruck as a violinist at least between 1656 and 1660. Between 1672 and 1676 he was…

Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani, Italian violinist and composer (died 1693)

1638

Nicolas Malebranche, French priest and philosopher (died 1715)

Nicolas Malebranche was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesise the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order t…

Nicolas Malebranche, French priest and philosopher (died 1715)