1626

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File:The Purchase of Manhattan Island.png

May 24: Peter Minuit, the Dutch Governor of New Netherlands, purchases Manhattan Island from the Native American occupiers.

File:Theatrum Europaeum Dessauer Brücke.jpg

April 25: The Battle of Dessau Bridge takes place.

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Events

January–March

January 7 – Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army.
January 9 – Peter Minuit sails from Texel Island for America's New Netherland colony, with two ships of Dutch emigrants.
February 2 – King Charles I of England is crowned, but without his wife, Henrietta Maria, who declines to participate in a non-Catholic ceremony.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
February 5 – The Huguenot rebels and the French government sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the second Huguenot rebellion.
February 10 – Battle of Ningyuan: In Xingcheng in China, after an 8-day battle, Ming dynasty commander Yuan Chonghuan defeats the much larger force of Manchu leader Nurhaci, who dies soon after and is succeeded by Huang Taiji.
February 11 – Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.
March 5 – The Treaty of Monzón is signed between France and Spain to end the Valtellina War and the First Genoese-Savoyard War.
March 7 – Ambrósio I Nimi a Nkanga becomes the new monarch of Kongo (in what is now Angola) after the overthrow of Garcia I Mvemba a Nkanga, restoring the Kwilu dynasty to power.
March 15 – Portugal declares war on Queen Nzinga of the Kingdom of Ndongo, located in what is now Angola.Template:Fact A dam failure causes the sudden flooding of the mining city of Potosí in present-day Bolivia leading to the death of thousands and the massive release of toxic mercury into the environment.<ref name=frances>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

April–June

April 25 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Dessau Bridge – Albrecht von Wallenstein defeats Ernst von Mansfelds army.
May 4 – Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherland, for the Dutch West India Company.
May 24 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan from a Native American tribe (Lenape or Shinnecock) for trade goods, valued at 60 guilders ($1,143 U.S. dollars as of 2020).
May 30 – Wanggongchang Explosion in Beijing, China: a gunpowder factory explosion destroys part of the city and kills 20,000 people.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
June 15 – King Charles I of England dissolves the English Parliament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
June 20 – Nine Jesuit Christian missionaries, six of them Japanese and three from Spain, are executed in Japan, followed by eight Japanese converts to Christianity on July 12.
June 28 – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Lingqiu County, in China, killing 5,200 residents.

July–September

July 4 – The Ottoman Army halts its attempt to retake Baghdad from the Persians, after having lost it in 1624.
July 27 – George II becomes the new Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt upon the death of his father, Louis V.
August 1 – Eighty Years' War: Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz retakes Oldenzaal, forcing Spain to withdraw from Overijssel.
August 27 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Lutter – Tilly defeats King Christian IV of Denmark's army.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
September 30 – Nurhaci, chief of the Jurchens and founder of the Qing dynasty, dies and is succeeded by his son Hong Taiji.

October–December

November 6 (O.S.) – The ship Arms of Amsterdam arrives in Europe from New Netherland (left September 23) with the news: "They have purchased the Island Manhattes [Manhattan] from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders."<ref>From P. Schagen letter dated November 7.</ref>
November 18 – The new St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican is consecrated, on the 1,300th anniversary of the previous church in 326.
December 1 – Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical Governor of Jerusalem, is forced out.
December 20 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and Transylvanian monarch Bethlen Gabor sign the Peace of Pressburg.

Date unknown

1626 influenza pandemic begins in Asia, then spreads into Europe, Africa, North America,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and South America.<ref name=":0" />
The Würzburg and Bamberg witch trials, which will lead to the mass executions of hundreds of people until 1630/31, begin.
Samuel de Champlain decides to build Cap tourmente (Kap toor-mont) Farm to raise livestock to provide food for settlers in Quebec, rather than depending on supplies sent from France.<ref>Champlain describes the construction in one of his journals.</ref>
Establishment of the coastal settlement of Salem, Massachusetts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>