Lê loyalists led by Nguyễn Kim enthrone Lê Trang Tông, beginning a long civil war between the restored Lê and the Mạc.
Mạc Đăng Dung forces the Lê emperor to abdicate and founds the Mạc dynasty.
Warriors led by the chieftain Lapulapu defeat Ferdinand Magellan's men on Mactan island; Magellan is killed.
Afonso de Albuquerque captures Malacca, ending the Malacca Sultanate and beginning European colonial presence in Southeast Asia.
Nguyễn Hoàng becomes governor of Thuận Hóa, laying the foundations of the Nguyễn lords' realm in the south.
King Bayinnaung of Toungoo Burma captures Ayutthaya, making Siam a vassal within the largest empire in the history of mainland Southeast Asia.
Miguel López de Legazpi takes Manila and makes it the capital of the Spanish Philippines.