"I discovered another very strange wonder. The star of Saturn is not a single star, but is a composite of three, which almost touch each other, never change or move relative to each other, and are arranged in a row along the zodiac, the middle one being three times larger than the lateral ones, and they are situated in this form: oOo."
--Galileo, writing of his discovery of what we now know to be the Rings of Saturn
In the year AD 1610...
- François Ravaillac, a French Catholic fanatic, assassinates beloved French king Henry IV climbing aboard his coach and stabbing him to death when the coach is caught up in traffic on a Paris street. Henry is succeeded by his son, Louis XIII, with his wife Marie de' Medici serving as regent until 1617.
- The Time of Troubles continues in Russia:
- A massive Polish-Lithuanian army invades Russia and crushes a combined army of Russians and Swedes at the Battle of Klushino, and the Poles capture Moscow and occupy the Kremlin.
- In the wake of the disastrous defeat, Russian tsar Vasili IV is deposed by several of his followers, who hope to replace him with False Dmitri II.
- However the Polish commander, Stanislaw Zolkiewski, has other ideas and seeks to put a Polish prince, Wladyslaw, on the throne. Zolkiewski succeeds in coercing the Seven Boyars to elect Wladyslaw as tsar, but he is never officially crowned, leaving Russia with no crowned ruler for the next three, chaotic years.
- Meanwhile the brief reign of the second False Dmitri comes to an end when he is assassinated by a disgruntled member of his personal guard.
Galileo Galilei continues his exploration of the Heavens using one of the earliest telescopes, discovering, among numerous other major discoveries, the Rings of Saturn.
On his fourth voyage in search of the Northwest Passage, English navigator Henry Hudson discovers the massive body of water now known as Hudson Bay.
In the landmark Dr. Bonham's Case, the great English jurist Sir Edward Coke seemingly rules that English common law takes precedence over the laws of Parliament and even the will of the King.
Korean court physician Heo Jun completes the Dongui Bogam, an exhaustive, 25-volume compilation of traditional Korean medical practice.
French noblewoman Saint Jane Frances de Chantal founds the Congregation of the Visitation, a Roman Catholic religious order for women.
A chess match in Rome between Guilio Cesare Polerio and Domenico is the earliest known usage of the chess opening now known as the Fried Liver Attack.
These people were born in 1610:
These people died in 1610:
- French king Henry IV, stabbed to death by a Catholic fanatic.
- Italian Jesuit priest and early European traveler to China Matteo Ricci.
- Pretender to the Russian throne False Dmitri II, shot in the head at point blank range by a member of his personal guard.
- Japanese painter Hasegawa Tohaku.
1609 - 1610 - 1611
17th century
How They Were Made