Major Events
- Mar 12 Bermuda officially becomes part of the Englisg Colony of Virginia
- Apr 11 Last public burning at the stake in England - Edward Wrightman for heresy in Lichfield
- Aug 18 Pendle Witch trial begins with 10 people accused of witchcraft in Lancaster, England, key witness 9 year-old boy
- Aug 20 9 Pendle witches hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster, England
- Aug 29 Battle of Surat, India: English fleet beats Portuguese
- Oct 28 British King James I appoints musician Robert Dowland court lutenist
- Nov 1 (22 October O.S.) Time of Troubles in Russia: Moscow, Kitai-gorod, is captured by Russian troops under command of Dmitry Pozharsky
- Dec 15 German Astronomer Simon Marius is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
- Dec 28 First observation of Neptune - Galileo observes and records a "fixed star" without realising it is a planet
Born in 1612
- Jan 17 Thomas Fairfax, Lord Fairfax, English Parliamentary general (Commander-in-Chief of New Model Army during English Civil War), born in Denton Hall, Yorkshire, England (d. 1671)
- Jan 31 Henry Casimir I, Dutch count of Nassau-Dietz and Stadholder of Freisland, born in Arnhem (d. 1640)
- Feb 6 Antoine Arnauld, French Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher and mathematician, born in Paris, France (d. 1694)
- Feb 7 Thomas Killigrew, English dramatist and humorist (leader of the King's Men), born in London, England (d. 1683)
- Feb 8 Samuel Butler, English poet and satirist (Hudibras), born in Strensham, England (d. 1680) [date baptized]
More People Born in 1612
Who Died in 1612
- Jan 4 Henric Laurenszoon Spieghel, Dutch Renaissance writer and poet (Hertspiegel), dies at 62
- Jan 20 Rudolf II von Habsburg, Emperor of Germany (1576-1612), dies at 59
- Jan 27 Maarten van Valckenborch, Flemish painter, buried at about 77
- Jan 28 Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar (founder of the Bodleian Library), dies at 66
- Feb 6 Christopher Clavius, German Jesuit calendar reformer, dies (birth date unknown)
More 1612 Deaths
William Shakespeare
James I and VI