Editing 1639 (section)

=== January&ndash;March ===
* [[January 19]] &ndash; [[Hämeenlinna]] ({{langx|sv|Tavastehus}}) is granted [[Privilege (law)|privileges]], after it separates from the [[Vanaja (Finland)|Vanaja]] parish, as its own city in [[Tavastia (historical province)|Tavastia]].<ref>[https://docplayer.fi/amp/810803-Hameenlinna-tavastehus-kaupunkiarkeologinen-inventointi.html HÄMEENLINNA - TAVASTEHUS Kaupunkiarkeologinen inventointi] (in Finnish)</ref>
*c. [[January]] &ndash; The first [[printing press]] in [[British North America]] is started in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], by [[Stephen Daye]].
* [[February 18]] &ndash; In the course of the [[Eighty Years' War]], [[Action of 18 February 1639|a sea battle is fought]] in the English Channel off of the coast of [[Dunkirk]] between the navies of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, with 12 warships, and Spain, with 12 galleons and eight other ships. The Spanish are forced to flee after three of their ships are lost and 1,600 Spaniards killed or injured, while the Dutch sustain 1,700 casualties without the loss of a ship.<ref>C.R. Boxer, ''The Journal of Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp'' (Cambridge University Press, 1930) p.24</ref>
* [[March 3]] &ndash; The early settlement of [[Taunton, Massachusetts]], is incorporated as a town.
* [[March 13]] &ndash; [[Harvard University]] is named for clergyman [[John Harvard (clergyman)|John Harvard]].