Major Events
- Jan 4 Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, laden with gold and jewellery bound for Spain, sinks off the coast of the Bahamas, only 45 of 650 people survive (most eaten by sharks) [1]
- Jan 8 Oldest surviving commercial newspaper, "Weeckelycke Courante van Europa", now known as "Haarlems Dagblad", still in printed circulation begins publication in Haarlem, Netherlands
- Jan 17 Brandenburg & Sweden sign Treaty of Königsberg
- Jan 23 French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal publishes the first of his "Lettres provinciales"
- Jan 24 1st Jewish doctor in North American colonies, Jacob Lumbrozo, arrives in Maryland
- Feb 22 New Amsterdam granted a Jewish burial site
- Mar 13 Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam
- Apr 10 Dutch fleet occupiers Colombo Ceylon
- Jul 1 Siege of Warsaw: Polish King Jan II Casimir recaptures Warsaw from Swedish occupiers
- Jul 11 The first Quakers to land in America (Boston), Englishwomen Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, are arrested and jailed by the Puritan colonial government. After 5 years imprisonment they are deported back to Barbados
- More 1656 Events
Did You Know?
The first Quakers to land in America (Boston), Englishwomen Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, are arrested and jailed by the Puritan colonial government. After 5 years imprisonment they are deported back to Barbados
Edmond Halley
Myles Standish
Fun Fact About 1656
All female jury hears case of Judith Catchpole, accused of killing her child (acquit her) in Patuxent County, Maryland
Famous Weddings in 1656
- Nov 12 English Poet and author of epic "Paradise Lost" John Milton (47) marries 2nd wife Katherine Woodcock
Rembrandt van Rijn
Louis XIV
Oliver Cromwell