Editing 16th century (section)

===[[1550s]]===
[[File:The Adventures of Akbar artillery.jpg|thumb|upright|The Islamic [[gunpowder empires]]: [[Mughal Army]] [[artillery]]men during the reign of [[Akbar|Jalaluddin Akbar]]]]

* [[1550]]: The architect [[Mimar Sinan]] builds the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] in [[Istanbul]].
* [[1550]]: [[Mongols]] led by [[Altan Khan]] invade [[Ming Dynasty|China]] and besiege [[Beijing]].
* [[1550]]–[[1551]]: [[Valladolid debate]] concerning the human rights of the [[Indigenous people of the Americas]].
* [[1551]]: Fifth outbreak of [[sweating sickness]] in [[England]]. [[John Caius]] of [[Shrewsbury]] writes the first full contemporary account of the symptoms of the disease.
* [[1551]]: North African [[Barbary pirates|pirates]] enslave the entire population of the Maltese island [[Gozo]], between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to [[Libya]].
* [[1552]]: Russia conquers the [[Khanate of Kazan]] in central Asia.
* [[1552]]: Jesuit China Mission, [[Francis Xavier]] dies.
* [[1553]]: [[Mary I of England|Mary Tudor]] becomes the first queen regnant of England and restores the Church of England under Papal authority.
* [[1553]]: The [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] found a settlement at [[History of Macau|Macau]].
* [[1554]]: [[Missionary|Missionaries]] [[José de Anchieta]] and [[Manuel da Nóbrega]] establishes [[São Paulo]], southeast [[Brazil]].
* [[1554]]: [[Elizabeth I of England|Princess Elizabeth]] is imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]] upon the orders of [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] for suspicion of being involved in the [[Wyatt's rebellion|Wyatt rebellion]].
* [[1555]]: The [[Muscovy Company]] is the first major English [[Joint stock company|joint stock]] trading company.
* [[1556]]: Publication in [[Venice]] of Delle Navigiationi et Viaggi (terzo volume) by [[Giovanni Battista Ramusio]], secretary of Council of Ten, with plan ''La Terra de Hochelaga'', an illustration of the [[Hochelaga (village)|Hochelaga]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jacquescartier.org/plan-hochelaga/index.html |title=La Terra De Hochelaga – Jaques Cartier a Hochelaga |publisher=jacquescarter.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223154152/http://jacquescartier.org/plan-hochelaga/index.html |archive-date=December 23, 2008}}</ref>
* [[1556]]: The [[Shaanxi earthquake]] in China is history's deadliest known earthquake during the [[Ming dynasty]].
* [[1556]]: [[Georgius Agricola]], the "Father of [[Mineralogy]]", publishes his ''[[De re metallica]]''.
* [[1556]]: [[Akbar]] defeats [[Hemu]] at the [[Second battle of Panipat]].
* [[1556]]: Russia conquers the [[Astrakhan Khanate]].
* [[1556]]–[[1605]]: During his reign, [[Akbar]] expands the Mughal Empire in a series of conquests (in the Indian subcontinent).[[File:1555-56 CE World Map.PNG|thumb|270px|Political map of the world in 1556]]
* [[1556]]: [[Mir Chakar Khan Rind]] captures [[Delhi]] with [[Humayun]].
* [[1556]]: [[Pomponio Algerio]], radical theologian, is executed by boiling in oil as part of the [[Roman Inquisition]].
* [[1557]]: [[Habsburg Spain]] declares bankruptcy. [[Philip II of Spain]]  had to declare four [[National bankruptcy|state bankruptcies]] in 1557, 1560, 1575 and 1596.
* [[1557]]: The [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] settle in [[Macau]] (on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from present-day Hong Kong).
* [[1557]]: The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] capture [[Massawa]], all but isolating [[Ethiopia]] from the rest of the world.
* [[1558]]: [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth Tudor]] becomes Queen Elizabeth I at age 25.
* [[1558]]–[[1603]]: The [[Elizabethan era]] is considered the height of the [[English Renaissance]].
* [[1558]]–[[1583]]: [[Livonian War]] between Poland, Grand Principality of Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.
* [[1558]]: After 200 years, the [[Kingdom of England]] loses [[Calais]] to France.
* [[1559]]: With the [[Peace of Cateau Cambrésis]], the [[Italian Wars]] conclude.
* [[1559]]: Sultan [[Hairun]] of Ternate (in present-day Indonesia) protests the Portuguese's [[Christianity|Christianisation]] activities in his lands. Hostilities between [[Sultanate of Ternate|Ternate]] and the Portuguese.