1644

Years: 1641 1642 1643 - 1644 - 1645 1646 1647

Decades: 1610s 1620s 1630s - 1640s - 1650s 1660s 1670s

Centuries: 16th century - 17th century - 18th century 1644 in literature 1644 in science

Table of contents

1 Events 1.1 Ongoing events 2 Births 3 Deaths

Events

• February to August - Dutch explorer Abel Tasman's second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia.
• April - A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to commit suicide.
• June 6 - The invading Manchu army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, capture Beijing, China. This marks the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (also known as the Manchu Dynasty), the last imperial dynasty of China.
• July 2 - Battle of Marston Moor, a crushing victory for the Parliamentary side of the English Civil War, ends Charles I's hold on the north of England.
• September 2 - Second Battle of Lostwithiel, the last major victory for Charles I and the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
• September 15 - Pope Innocent X is elected to the Papacy, in Rome.
• November 23 - Areopagitica by John Milton is published.
• The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice. Music by Francesco Cavalli and libretto by Giovanni Faustini.
• Philosopher René Descartes publishes Principia Philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy), written in Latin.

Ongoing events

• English Civil War (1642-1649)

Births

• June 16 - Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland and later Duchess of Orléans
• August 12 - Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Bohemian composer and violinist.
• September 25 - Ole Rømer, Danish astronomer who made the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light.
• October 14 - William Penn, a Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, an English colony that would later become a U.S state.
• Antonio Stradivari, renowned Italian luthier (maker of stringed instruments), best known for his Stradivarius violins.
• Matsuo Basho, a Japanese poet, regarded as one of the great masters and pioneers of haiku.

Deaths

• April - Chongzhen, last Chinese Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, committed suicide.
• April 10 - Reverend William Brewster, a Pilgrim leader who came to the American colonies on the Mayflower.
• July 29 - Pope Urban VIII, the last pope to expand papal territory.
• September 7 - Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal and candidate to succeed Pope Urban VIII.
• September 8 - John Coke, English politician and ally of king Charles I.