Jan Pieterszoon Coen of the Dutch East India Company seizes Jayakarta and founds Batavia (now Jakarta), the hub of Dutch power in Asia.
Beginning with a revolt in Bohemia, the conflict spreads across Central Europe, drawing in the major European powers and causing enormous loss of life.
A protracted war between the Trịnh lords in the north and the Nguyễn lords in the south ends with the country divided at the Gianh River.
Dutch captain Willem Janszoon aboard the Duyfken charted the west coast of Cape York Peninsula, the first recorded European landing in Australia.
The Dutch navigator Abel Tasman became the first known European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand.
Lê–Trịnh forces under Trịnh Tùng recapture Thăng Long from the Mạc, who retreat to Cao Bằng.
The treaties of Westphalia end the Thirty Years' War and lay foundations for the modern concept of state sovereignty.