1620

January–March

• January 7 – Ben Jonson's play News from the New World Discovered in the Moon is given its first performance, a presentation to King James I of England. In addition to dialogue about actual observations made by telescope of the Moon, the play includes a fanciful discussion of a lunar civilization a dance by the "Volatees", the lunar race. ^[1]
• January 22 – In France, Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes, and his wife, the Duchess Marie de Rohan, sign a marriage contract on behalf of their one-year-old daughter to be engaged to the year-old son of Charles, Duke of Guise. ^[2]
• January 26 – Karan Singh II becomes the new ruler of the Kingdom of Mewar (in the modern-day state of Rajasthan in India) upon the death of his father, the Maharana Amar Singh I.
• February 4 – Prince Bethlen Gabor secures a peace treaty with Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• March 22 – King Karma Phuntsok Namgyal of Tibet dies of smallpox after a reign of less than two years, after Ngawang Namgyal of Bhutan casts a tantric spell over him. ^[3]
• March 24 – English sailor Owen Fitzpen is captured by Turkish pirates while on a trading voyage in the Mediterranean Sea and sold into slavery. He remains a slave in North Africa for seven years until he and 10 other slaves are able to take over a Turkish ship and sail back to Europe.

April–June

• April 1 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and former King of Bohemia, sends a two-month ultimatum directing King Frederick of Bohemia (who has usurped the throne in the modern-day Czech Republic) to leave Bohemia by June 1. Frederick refuses to depart his capital at Prague.
• April 7 – The earliest recorded earthquake in South Africa occurs at Robben Island.
• April 20 – Mian Shahul Mouhammed Kalhoro begins his reign at Karachi as the king of Sindh, in modern-day Pakistan, and rules until 1657.
• May 17 – The first merry-go-round is seen at a fair in Philippapolis, Turkey.
• June 3 – The oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, is begun at Quebec City in modern-day Canada.

July–September

• July 3
  • Under the terms of the Treaty of Ulm, the Protestant Union declares neutrality and ceases to support Frederick V of Bohemia.
  • Captain Andrew Shilling, on behalf of the English Honourable East India Company, lays claim to Table Bay in Africa.^[4]
• July 25 (July 15 OS) – The armed merchant ship Mayflower embarks about 65 emigrants for New England at or near her home port of Rotherhithe on the Thames east of London; about July 29 (July 19 OS) she anchors in Southampton Water.^[5]
• August 1 (July 22 OS) – The ship Speedwell departs Delfshaven with English separatist Puritans from Leiden bound to rendezvous with the Mayflower; on August 5 (July 26 OS) she anchors in Southampton Water.^[5]
• August 15 (probable date; August 5 OS) – Mayflower and Speedwell depart together from Southampton,^[5] but are forced to put back into Dartmouth, Devon, for repairs to a leak in the latter ship on August 22 or 23 (August 12 or 13 OS).
• August 7
  • The mother of astronomer Johannes Kepler is arrested for witchcraft.
  • In a battle at Les Ponts-de-Cé in France, King Louis XIII defeats troops led by his mother, Marie de' Medici.^[6]
• September 2 (August 23 OS) – Mayflower and Speedwell depart together from Dartmouth; they are well out into the Atlantic when the Speedwell is again found to be leaking.^[5]
• September 7 (August 28 OS)
  • Mayflower and Speedwell return again to England, anchoring at Plymouth; the latter ship is given up as a participant in the voyage and on September 12 (September 2 OS) departs for London, most of her passengers and stores having been transferred to the Mayflower.^[5]
  • The Finnish town of Kokkola (Swedish: Karleby) is founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.^[7][8]
• September 16 (September 6 OS) – Mayflower departs from Plymouth in England on her third attempt to cross the Atlantic.^[9] The Pilgrims on board comprise 41 "saints" (English separatists largely from Holland), 40 "strangers" (largely secular planters from London), 23 servants and hired workers, together with c. 30 crew.
• September 17–October 7 – Battle of Cecora: The Ottoman Empire defeats Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth–Moldavian troops.

October–December

• October 6 – Battle of Amedamit in Gojjam, Ethiopia: The Roman Catholic Ras Sela Kristos, half-brother of Emperor Susenyos, crushes a group of rebels, who are opposed to Susenyos' pro-Catholic beliefs.
• November 3 – The Great Patent is granted to Plymouth Colony.
• November 8 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of White Mountain – Catholic Habsburg forces are victorious over Bohemian rebels two hours from Prague.^[10]
• November 21 (November 11 OS) – The Mayflower arrives inside the tip of Cape Cod (named from the Concord voyage of 1602), at what becomes known as Provincetown Harbor, with the Pilgrims and Planters; 41 Plymouth Colony settlers sign the Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of the colony, on board the ship.^[11]
• November 25 – The wedding of Gustav II Adolf and Maria Eleonora takes place in Sweden.
• December 21 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land near what becomes known as Plymouth Rock, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Date unknown

• "A Dutch Ship, putting in this Year [of 1620, before June], sold 20 Negroes to the Colony [as slaves], which were the first of that Generation, that were ever brought to Virginia."^[12]
• A severe frost in England freezes the River Thames; 13 continuous days of snow blanket Scotland. On Eskdale Moor, only 35 of a flock of 20,000 sheep survive.^[13]
• Witch-hunts begin in Scotland.^{[citation needed]}
• History of submarines: Cornelis Drebbel demonstrates the first navigable undersea boat in the Thames in England.^[14][15]
• The modern violin is developed.^{[citation needed]}
• Juan Pablo Bonet, teacher of deaf children in the Spanish court, creates a sign alphabet.^[16]
• Francis Bacon publishes the Novum Organum (beyond Aristotle's Organon) on logical thinking.^{[citation needed]}
• A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de las Casas and Origin and progress of the disturbances in the Netherlands by Johannes Gysius are re-published in the Netherlands.^[17]
• Shōgun Tokugawa Hidetada begins restoring Osaka Castle in Japan. Its modern-day appearance dates from this remodeling.^[18]

Ongoing

• The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) continues (principally on the territory of modern-day Germany).

January–March

• January 1
  • William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker of England (d. 1684)
  • Robert Morison, Scottish botanist and taxonomist (d. 1683)
• January 5 – Miklós Zrínyi, Croatian military commander (d. 1664)
• January 9 – Anton Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (d. 1666)
• January 17 – Anton Janson, Dutch type founder and printer (d. 1687)
• January 31 – Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck, Dutch general and German field marshal (d. 1692)
• February 1 – Gustaf Bonde, Swedish politician (d. 1667)
• February 3 – Sir James Clavering, 1st Baronet, English landowner (d. 1702)
• February 5 – Paul Barbette, Dutch physician (d. 1666)
• February 13 – Girolamo Casanata, Italian cardinal (d. 1700)
• February 15 – François Charpentier, French archaeologist and man of letters (d. 1702)
• February 16 – Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1688)
• February 23 – Francis Newport, 1st Earl of Bradford, English politician (d. 1708)
• March 10 – Johann Heinrich Hottinger, Swiss philologist and theologian (d. 1667)
• March 13 – Alexander Seton, 1st Viscount of Kingston (d. 1691)
• March 29 – Edward Digges, English barrister and colonist, Colonial Governor of Virginia (d. 1674)

April–June

• April 4 – Bernardino León de la Rocha, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Coria and of Tui (1669–1673) (d. 1675)
• April 15 – Edward Villiers, English politician and military officer (d. 1689)
• April 17 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French Catholic nun, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame (d. 1700)
• April 18 – Winston Churchill (1620–1688), English noble, soldier (d. 1688)
• April 21 – Salvatore Castiglione, Italian painter (d. 1676)
• April 24 – John Graunt, English demographer (d. 1674)
• May 3 – Bogusław Radziwiłł, Polish-Lithuanian noble (d. 1669)
• May 21 – Krsto Zmajević, Montenegrin-born Venetian merchant (d. 1688)
• May 23 – Pieter Neefs the Younger, Flemish painter (d. 1675)
• May 25 – Warwick Mohun, 2nd Baron Mohun of Okehampton, English Member of Parliament (d. 1665)
• June 6 – Sir John Covert, 1st Baronet, English politician (d. 1679)
• June 11 – John Moore (Lord Mayor), Member of Parliament for the City of London (d. 1702)

July–September

• July 20
  • Nikolaes Heinsius the Elder, Dutch scholar (d. 1681)^[19]
  • Camillo Massimo, Italian cardinal, patron of the arts (d. 1677)
• July 21 – Jean Picard, French astronomer and priest (d. 1682)
• July 31 – Juan Ignacio de la Carrera Yturgoyen, Chilean politician (d. 1682)
• August 6 – William Hiseland, English (later British) soldier, reputed supercentenarian (d. 1732)
• August 19 – Johann Just Winckelmann, German writer and historian (d. 1699)
• August 22 – Alexander Rigby (died 1694), English politician (d. 1694)
• August 24 – Thomas Stucley (MP), English politician (d. 1663)
• August 26 – Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ, German Lutheran administrator (d. 1684)
• September 4 – Ernest Gottlieb, Prince of Anhalt-Plötzkau (d. 1654)
• September 6 – Isabella Leonarda, Italian composer (d. 1704)
• September 18 – Albert II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, German prince (d. 1667)
• September 25 – François Bernier, French physician and traveller (d. 1688)
• September 29 – John Louis of Elderen, Bishop of Liege (d. 1694)

October–December

• October 1 – Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes (d. 1683)
• October 4 – François-Henri Salomon de Virelade, French lawyer (d. 1670)
• October 15 – William Borlase (died 1665), English politician (d. 1665)
• October 16 – Pierre Paul Puget, French painter (d. 1694)
• October 20 – Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (d. 1691)
• October 27 – Philip Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Wiesenburg (d. 1689)
• October 31 – John Evelyn, English diarist and writer (d. 1706)^[20]
• November 10
  • Ninon de l'Enclos, French author (d. 1705)^[21]
  • Theodoor Boeyermans, Flemish Baroque painter (d. 1678)
• c. November 20 – Peregrine White, first child born to English settlers at Plymouth Colony (d. 1704)
• December 17
  • Henri Charles de La Trémoille, son of Henry de La Trémoille (d. 1672)
  • Maurice of the Palatinate, 4th son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine (d. 1652)
• December 18 – Heinrich Roth, German Jesuit missionary, pioneering Sanskrit scholar (d. 1668)
• December 23 – Johann Jakob Wepfer, Swiss pathologist (d. 1695)

• probable – Ecaterina Cercheza, princess consort of Moldavia (d. 1666)^[22]

January–March

• January 20 – John Croke, English politician and judge (b. 1553)
• January 26 – Amar Singh I, ruler of Mewar (b. 1559)
• January 28 – Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (b. 1582)
• February 15 – James Archer, Irish Jesuit; played a controversial role in the Nine Years' War (b. 1550)
• February 19
  • Al-Mansur al-Qasim, Imam of Yemen (b. 1559)
  • Roemer Visscher, Dutch writer (b. 1547)
• February 23 – Nicholas Fuller, English politician (b. 1543)
• March 1 – Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (b. 1567)^[23]
• March 5 – Giovanni Francesco Sagredo, Italian mathematician (b. 1571)
• March 17 – St. John Sarkander, Moravian priest (injuries caused by torturing) (b. 1576)
• March 25 – Johannes Nucius, German composer (b. c. 1556)
• March 29 – Hachisuka Yoshishige, Japanese daimyō of the Edo period (b. 1586)

April–June

• April 8 – Angelo Rocca, Italian humanist (b. 1545)
• April 23 – Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, Palestinian-born Kabbalist (b. 1543)
• April 14 – Rascas de Bagarris, French scholar (b. 1562)
• May 16 – William Adams, English navigator and samurai (b. 1564)^[24]
• May 30 – Mathias Hovius, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1542)
• June 17 – Mikołaj Zebrzydowski (b. 1553)

July–September

• July 13 – William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg (b. 1560)
• August 2 – Carolus Luython, Belgian composer (b. 1557)
• August 14 – Katherine Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, wife of Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon (b. 1540)
• August 18 – Wanli Emperor, of China (b. 1563)
• September 13 – Wolfgang Hirschbach, German legal scholar (b. 1570)
• September 26 – Taichang Emperor, fourteenth emperor of the Ming dynasty of China (b. 1582)
• September – Sidonia von Borcke, German noble and alleged witch (b. 1548)^[25]

October–December

• October 7 – Stanisław Żółkiewski, Polish nobleman of the Lubicz coat of arms (b. 1547)
• November 6 – Philip III, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern (1588–1620) (b. 1567)
• November 7 – Robert Hesketh, English politician (b. 1560)
• November 9 – Louise de Coligny, daughter of Gaspard II de Coligny; fourth and last spouse of William the Silent (b. 1555)
• November 11 – Isaac and Josias Habrecht, Swiss watchmaking brothers (b. 1544)
• November 27 – Francis, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, Bishop of Cammin (b. 1577)
• December 3 – Janusz Radziwiłł, Polish noble (b. 1579)
• December 21 – George Fleetwood, English politician (b. 1564)

Date unknown

• Rose of Turaida, legendary Latvian murder victim (b. 1601)
• John Flower, English politician (b. 1535)

Approximate date

• Brianda Pereira, Azorean Portuguese heroine (b. 1550)
• Isabella Parasole, Italian engraver (b. ca. 1570)