1604
| Years: 1601 1602 1603 - 1604 - 1605 1606 1607 | |
| Decades: 1570s 1580s 1590s - 1600s - 1610s 1620s 1630s | |
| Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century 1604 in topic: | |
Events
- January 14 – Hampton Court conference with James I of England, the Anglican bishops and representatives of Puritans
- September 20 - Capture of Ostend by Spanish forces under Ambrosio Spinola after a three year siege.
- November 1 - At Whitehall Palace in London, the William Shakespeare tragedy Othello is presented for the first time.
- Peace between England and Spain
- The Sikh Holy Scripture Guru Granth Sahib is compiled and edited by Guru Arjun .
- Luis Vaez de Torres is the first European to sail through the Torres Strait.
- France begins settling Acadia, first successful French North American colony
- France begins settling French Guiana.
- Supernova 1604 is observed. As of this writing, this was the last supernova to be observed in the Milky Way.
- England concludes the Treaty of London with Spain, ending its involvement in the Eighty Years' War.
- Peter Blundell founds Blundell's School in Tiverton, England.
- Za Dengel deposed as Emperor of Ethiopia by Za Sellase, who restores his cousin Yaqob.
Births
- April 5 - Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (died 1675)
- May 10 - Jean Mairet, French dramatist (died 1686)
- August 3 - John Eliot, English puritan missionary (died 1690)
- August 4 - François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac, French author (died 1676)
- September 13 - William Brereton, English soldier and politician (died 1661)
- November 3 - Osman II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (died 1622)
- Priscilla Alden, member of Massachusetts's Plymouth Colony (died 1680)
- Isaac Ambrose, English Puritan divine (died 1664)
- Jakob Balde, German Latinist (died 1668)
- Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist (died 1676)
- Nils Brahe, Swedish soldier (died 1632)
- Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist (died 1670)
- Tokugawa Iemitsu, Japanese shogun (died 1651)
- Menasseh Ben Israel, Jewish Rabbi (died 1657)
- Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, Dutch admiral (died 1665)
- Claude Lorrain, French painter (died 1682)
- John Hans Makeléer, English naval officer (died 1666)
- Jasper Mayne, English dramatist (died 1672)
- Giovanni Battista Michelini, Italian painter (died 1655)
- John Maurice of Nassau, count of Nassau-Siegen (died 1679)
- Edward Pococke, English Orientalist and biblical scholar (died 1691)
- Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, general in the Thirty Years' War (died 1639)
Deaths
- March 4 - Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian (born 1539)
- May 5 - Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (born 1533)
- June 24 - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (born 1550)
- August 3 - Bernardino de Mendoza, Spanish military commander
- August 8 - Horio Tadauji, Japanese daimyo (born 1578)
- September 10 - William Morgan, Welsh Bible translator (born 1545)
- October 18 - Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (born 1528)
- Abul-Fazel, Mughal vizier and historian
- Isabella Andreini, Italian actress (born 1562)
- Catherine de Bourbon, sister of Henry IV of France (born 1559)
- Thomas Churchyard, English author (born 1520)
- Za Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia
- George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon (born 1540)
- Toda Kazuaki, Japanese samurai (born 1542)
- Roger Marbeck, English physician (born 1536)
- Seosan, Korean monk (born 1520)
- Thomas Storer, English poet (born 1571)
- Richard Topcliffe, English torturer and sadist (born 1532)
- John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury (born 1530)
- Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (born 1537)