1566
| Years: 1563 1564 1565 - 1566 - 1567 1568 1569 | |
| Decades: 1530s 1540s 1550s - 1560s - 1570s 1580s 1590s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century | |
Events
- January 7 - Pius V becomes Pope
- Selim II succeeds Suleiman I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
- Religious rioting in the Netherlands signifies the beginning of the Eighty Years War in the Netherlands.
- The first bridge crossing the Neretva river at Mostar (in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) is completed by the Ottoman Empire. The white marble bridge is now known as Stari Most (or "Old Bridge").
Births
- March 8 - Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer and murderer (died 1613)
- May 26 - Mehmed III, Ottoman Emperor (died 1603)
- June 19 - King James VI of Scotland/James I of England and Ireland (died 1625)
- August 12 - Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain
- September 1 - Edward Alleyn, English actor (died 1626)
- September 18 - King Sigismund III of Poland/Sigismund I of Sweden (died 1632)
- October 13 - Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (died 1643)
- November 10 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, favourite of Queen Elizabeth I of England (died 1601)
- December 11 - (baptised) - Manuel Cardoso, Portuguese composer (died 1650)
- December 20 - Edward Wightman, English Baptist martyr (died 1612)
- Pietro Cerone, Italian music theorist (died 1625)
- Jan Jesenius, Slovak physician (died 1621)
- Michal Sedziwój, Polish alchemist (died 1636)
- James Sempill, Scottish theologian (died 1626)
Deaths
- January 7 - Louis de Blois, Flemish mystical writer (born 1506)
- February 3 - George Cassander, Flemish theologian (born 1513)
- March 9 - David Rizzio, Italian courtier and the private secretary of Mary I of Scotland (born 1533)
- March 26 - Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish composer and organist (born 1510)
- March 28 - Sigismund von Herberstein, Austrian diplomat (born 1486)
- April 25 - Diane de Poitiers, mistress of King Henri II of France (born 1499)
- April 25 - Louise Labé, French poet (born 1525)
- May 4 - Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (born 1490)
- May 10 - Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and a botanist (born 1501)
- July 1 - Nostradamus, French astrologer (born 1503)
- September 5 - Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Emperor (born 1494)
- September 22 - Johannes Agricola, German Protestant reformer (born 1494)
- Jacob Acontius, Swiss jurist
- Charles Dumoulin, French jurist (born 1500)
- Richard Edwards, English poet (born 1523)
- Thomas Hoby, English diplomat and translator (born 1530)
- Kimotsuki Kanetsugu, Japanese samurai (born 1511)
- Kitsuno, concubine of Japanese daimyo
- Calvagh O'Donnell, Irish chieftain
- Guillaume Rondelet, French doctor (born 1507)
- Marco Girolamo Vida, Italian poet (born 1490)
- Taddeo Zuccaro, Italian painter (born 1529)