1644

It is one of eight years to contain each Roman numeral once +500+100++50)++5) = 1644).

Events

January–March

January 22 - The Royalist Oxford Parliament is first assembled by King Charles I of England.
January 26 - First English Civil War: Battle of Nantwich - The Parliamentarians defeat the Royalists, allowing them to end the 6-week siege of the Cheshire town.
January 30
*Dutch explorer Abel Tasman departs from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies on his second major expedition for the Dutch East India Company, to map the north coast of Australia. Tasman commands three ships, Limmen, Zeemeeuw and Braek, and returns to Batavia at the beginning of August with no major discoveries.
*Battle of Ochmatów: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski secure a substantial victory over the horde of Crimean Tatars under Tugay Bey.
February 2 - Prince of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Transylvania] George I Rákóczi invades Hungary to aid Sweden against the Habsburgs.
February 5 - The first livestock branding law in America is passed in Connecticut.
March 24 - Roger Williams is granted an official grant for his Rhode Island Colony from the Parliament of England, allowing the establishment of a general assembly.

April–June

April 18 - Opchanacanough leads the Powhatan Indians in an unsuccessful uprising against the English at Jamestown. Although 300 of the English colonists are slain, the settlers pursue Opchanacanough, who is imprisoned in Jamestown for the rest of his life. This is the last such Indian rebellion in the region.
April 25 - A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming dynasty, to commit suicide.
May 6 - Johan Mauritius resigns as Governor of Brazil.
May 25 - Ming general Wu Sangui forms an alliance with the invading Manchus and opens the gates of the Great Wall of China at Shanhaiguan Pass, letting the Manchus through towards the capital Beijing.
May 26 - Battle of Montijo: The Kingdom of Portugal is victorious over Habsburg Spain, in the first major action between the two nations during the Portuguese Restoration War.
May 27 - Battle of Shanhai Pass: The Manchu Qing dynasty and Wu Sangui gain a decisive victory over Li Zicheng's Shun dynasty.
June 3 - Li Zicheng proclaims himself emperor of China.
June 6 - The invading Qing army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing in China, marking the beginning of Manchu rule over China proper.
June 11 - During the English Civil War, Prince Rupert and his men take Liverpool Castle. Liverpool is later reclaimed by Sir John Moore.

July–September

July 1 - Torstenson War: Battle of Colberger Heide - The Dano-Norwegian and Swedish fleets fight a naval battle off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. The battle is indecisive but represents a minor success for the Dano-Norwegian fleet.
July 2 - English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor - The Parliamentarians crush the Royalists in Yorkshire, ending Charles I's hold on the north of England.
September 1 - English Civil War: Battle of Tippermuir - Montrose defeats Lord Elcho's Covenanters, reviving the Royalist cause in Scotland.
September 2 - English Civil War: Second Battle of Lostwithiel - Charles I and the Royalists gain their last major victory.
September 15 - Pope Innocent X succeeds Pope Urban VIII, becoming the 236th pope.

October–December

October 1 - The Jews of Mogilev, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, are attacked during Tashlikh.
November 8 - The Shunzhi Emperor, the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, is enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper.
November 23
* Battle of Jüterbog : Sweden's forces defeat those of the Holy Roman Empire.
* Areopagitica, an appeal for freedom of speech written by John Milton, is published in London.
November - The Castle of Elvas in Portugal resists a 9-day siege by the Spanish during the Portuguese Restoration War.
December 8 - As Christina comes of age, she is made ruling queen of Sweden.
December - Bubonic plague breaks out in Edinburgh.

Date unknown

A Spanish officer is murdered in St. Dominic's Church, Macau during mass by colonists loyal to Portugal during the Portuguese Restoration War.
Sigismund's Column is erected in Warsaw to commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who moved the capital of Poland from Kraków to Warsaw in 1596.
Philosopher René Descartes publishes Principia Philosophiae in Amsterdam.
The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice.
The Dutch West India Company displays greater interest in profit than in colonization.

Births

October–December

October 1 - Jean Rousseau, French viol player
October 2 - François-Timoléon de Choisy, French abbé, author and cross-dresser
October 3 - Adriaen Frans Boudewijns, landscape painter
October 12 - Christopher Sandius, Dutch Arian writer
October 13 - Sipihr Shikoh, Mughal Emperor
October 14 - William Penn, English Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania
October 26 - Mathias Steuchius, Swedish archbishop
November 23 - Cornelia van der Gon, Dutch art collector
December 8 - Maria d'Este, Italian noble
December 9 - Robert Kirk, Scottish folklorist, Bible translator, Gaelic scholar
December 23 - Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, Spanish composer, musician and organist
December 25 - Walter Scott, Earl of Tarras, Scottish nobleman
December 29 - Philips van Almonde, Dutch Lieutenant Admiral

Date unknown

Matsuo Bashō, Japanese poet
Pietro Erardi, Maltese chaplain and painter
Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker

Deaths

January 20 - Stefano Amadei, Italian painter
January 30 - William Chillingworth, controversial English churchman
January 31 - Georg II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, German nobleman
February 28 - Guru Har Gobind, the Sixth Sikh Guru
March 15 - Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau, Regent of Bohemia
March 24 - Cecilia Renata of Austria, Queen of Poland
March 29 - Lord John Stewart, Scottish aristocrat, Royalist commander in the English Civil War
April 2 - Diego Salcedo, Spanish bishop
April 10 - Reverend William Brewster, English Pilgrim leader
April 25 - Chongzhen, last Ming Emperor of China
April 28 - Zsófia Bosnyák, Hungarian noblewoman
May 26 - Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena, Italian noble
June 17
* Anne de Montafié, Countess of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, French countess
* John of St. Thomas, Portuguese philosopher
July 4 - Brian Twyne, English archivist
July 7 - Hedwig of Hesse-Kassel, countess consort of Schaumburg
July 16 - Giovanni Biliverti, Italian painter
July 25 - Amar Singh Rathore, Rajput nobleman affiliated with the royal house of Marwar
July 29 - Pope Urban VIII
August 25 - Johann Heinrich Alting, German Lutheran theologian
September 4 - Johannes Wtenbogaert, Dutch leader of the Remonstrants
September 7
* Guido Bentivoglio, Italian statesman and historian
* Ralph Corbie, Irish Jesuit
September 8
* John Coke, English politician
* Francis Quarles, English poet
October 6 - Elisabeth of France, queen of Philip IV of Spain
October 19 - Johann Friedrich, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein
October 30 - Jorge de Cárdenas y Manrique de Lara, Spanish noble
November 6 - Thomas Roe, English diplomat
November 10 - Luis Vélez de Guevara, Spanish writer
November 20 - Nathaniel Foote, American colonist
November 24 - Deodat del Monte, Flemish painter, architect
December 20 - Albert IV, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach
December 23 - Sir Alexander Carew, 2nd Baronet, English politician
December 28 - John Bankes, Attorney General and Chief Justice to King Charles I of England
December 30 - Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist

1644

Events

January&ndash;March

April&ndash;June

July&ndash;September

October&ndash;December

Date unknown

Births

January&ndash;March

April&ndash;June

July&ndash;September

October&ndash;December

Date unknown

Deaths

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December

January–March

April–June

July–September

October–December