1596
| Years: 1593 1594 1595 - 1596 - 1597 1598 1599 | |
| Decades: 1560s 1570s 1580s - 1590s - 1600s 1610s 1620s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century 1596 state leaders | |
Events
- February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan.
- April 9 - Spanish troops capture Calais
- July 14 - King Dominicus Corea (Edirille Bandara) was beheaded by the Portugese in Colombo Ceylon
- September 17 - The Spanish capture Amiens
- September 20 - Diego de Montemayor founded the city of Monterrey, Mexico.
- First water closet, by Sir John Harrington, is installed in a manor near Kelston in England
- King Zygmunt III Waza moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw.
Births
- January 13 - Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (died 1656)
- March 31 - René Descartes, French philosopher (died 1650)
- June 23 - Johan Banér, Swedish soldier (died 1641)
- June 29 - Emperor Go-Mizunoo of Japan (died 1680)
- July 12 - Michael I of Russia (died 1645)
- August 16 - Frederick V, Elector Palatine (died 1632)
- August 19 - Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia (died 1662)
- September 4 - Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet (died 1687)
- Niccolo Amati, Italian violin-maker (died 1684)
- Moses Amyraut, French protestant theologian and metaphysician (died 1664)
- Jacob van Campen, Dutch artist and architect (died 1657)
- Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano (died 1656)
- Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter (died 1669)
- Bevil Grenville, Royalist soldier in the English Civil War (died 1643)
- Lucas Holstenius, German humanist (died 1661)
- Georg Jenatsch, Swiss political leader during the Thirty Years' War (died 1639)
- Richard Mather, American Congregational clergyman (died 1669)
- Senhime, Japanese noblewoman, daughter of shogun Tokugawa Hidetada
- September - James Shirley, English dramatist (died 1666)
- Horio Tadaharu, Japanese daimyo (died 1633)
- Edward Winslow, American Pilgrim leader on Mayflower (died 1655)
Deaths
- January 28 - Sir Francis Drake, English explorer and soldier (born 1540)
- February 17 - Friedrich Sylburg, German classical scholar (born 1536)
- March 23 - Henry Unton, English diplomatist (born 1557)
- May 6 - Giaches de Wert, Franco-Flemish composer (born 1535)
- November 1 - Pierre Pithou, French lawyer and scholar (born 1539)
- Thoinot Arbeau, French priest and writer on dance (born 1519)
- Jean Bodin, French jurist (born 1530)
- Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (born 1526)
- William Gibson, English Catholic martyr
- Anna the Jagiellonian, daughter of Sigismund I of Poland (born 1523)
- Arima Kihei, Japanese swordsman
- Venerable William Knight, English Catholic martyr
- Leonhard Rauwolf, German physician and botanist (born 1540)
- Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer, diplomat, scientist, and author (born 1523)
- Henry Willobie, English poet (born 1575)