Jesuit missionary Alexandre de Rhodes publishes in Rome a Vietnamese–Portuguese–Latin dictionary, a milestone in the development of the Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet.
Convicted of high treason, King Charles I is beheaded at Whitehall, London, and England becomes a republic.
The treaties of Westphalia end the Thirty Years' War and lay foundations for the modern concept of state sovereignty.
A series of conflicts between the Royalists of Charles I and the Parliamentarians, ending in victory for Parliament under Oliver Cromwell.
Galileo dies at Arcetri near Florence, where he had been under house arrest since his trial by the Inquisition in 1633.
Isaac Newton, founder of classical mechanics and co-inventor of calculus, is born at Woolsthorpe, England.
The monarchy is restored in England, Scotland and Ireland as Charles II returns to London to take the throne.