1585
| Years: 1582 1583 1584 - 1585 - 1586 1587 1588 | |
| Decades: 1550s 1560s 1570s - 1580s - 1590s 1600s 1610s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century | |
Events
- January 12 - The Netherlands adopts the Gregorian calendar
- Beginning of the Eighth War of Religion in France (also known as the War of the Three Henrys)
- August 8 - John Davis enters Cumberland Sound in quest for the North West Passage.
- August 17 - Capture of Antwerp by Spanish forces under the Prince of Parma.
- Chocolate introduced to Europe commercially
- England enters the Eighty Years' War
Births
- January 27 - Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (died 1634)
- March 5 - John George I, Elector of Saxony
- March 16 - Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer (died 1618)
- September 9 - Cardinal Richelieu, French clergyman
- October 9 - Heinrich Schütz, German composer (died 1672)
- October 28 - Cornelius Jansen, bishop of Ypres and the father of the religious revival known as Jansenism (died 1638)
- December 13 - William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet (died 1649)
- Uriel Acosta, Portuguese Jewish philosopher (died 1640)
- John Ball, English puritan divine (died 1640)
- Zachary Boyd, Scottish religious writer (died 1653)
- Jan Brozek, Polish mathematician (died 1651)
- Louis Cappel, French Protestant churchman and scholar (died 1658)
- Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish novelist (died 1638)
- John Cotton, founder of Boston, Massachusetts (died 1652)
- Francesco Fontana, Italian lawyer and astronomer (died 1656)
- Evert Horn, Swedish soldier (died 1615)
- Jacob Le Maire, Dutch mariner (died 1616)
- Krzysztof Radziwill, Polish nobleman (died 1640)
- Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara, Irish soldier (died 1655)
- Lucilio Vanini, Italian free-thinker (died 1619)
- Alexander Whitaker, Virginia Colony religious leader (died 1616)
Deaths
- January 16 - Edward Fiennes Clinton, English admiral (born 1512)
- February 6 - Edmund Plowden, English legal scholar (born 1518)
- February 13 - Alfonso Salmeron, Jesuit theologian (born 1515)
- March 10 - Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (born 1517)
- April 10 - Pope Gregory XIII (born 1502)
- May 15 - Niwa Nagahide, Japanese retainer, samurai, and daimyo (born 1535)
- June 4 - Muretus, French humanist (born 1526)
- July 6 - Thomas Aufield, English Catholic martyr (born 1552)
- August 5 - Yermak Timofeyevich, Cossack leader and explorer of Siberia
- November 23 - Thomas Tallis, English composer (born 1505)
- November 28 - Hernando Franco, Spanish composer (born 1532)
- December 22 - Vittoria Accoramboni, Italian noblewoman (born 1557)
- Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford (born 1527)
- Taqi al-Din, Turkish scientist (born 1526)
- Thomas Goldwell, English ecclesiastic
- Stanislaw Lubomirski, Polish nobleman
- Henry Percy, 2nd/8th Earl of Northumberland (born 1532)
- December - Pierre de Ronsard, French poet (born 1524)