WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 17. CENTURY
Find out what all happened in the first half of the 17. century

Tulip mania collapses in the United Provinces (now the Netherlands) as sellers could no longer find buyers for their bulb contracts. (3. February 1637)

Roger Williams emigrates to Boston. (5. February 1631)

The claimant King Charles II of England and Scotland is declared King of Great Britain, by the Parliament of Scotland. This move was not followed by the Parliament of England nor the Parliament of Ireland. (6. February 1649)

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Queen Elizabeth I – the revolt is quickly crushed. (8. February 1601)

Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation. (9. February 1621)

Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia. (11. February 1626)

Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for his trial before the Inquisition. (13. February 1633)

Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor. (15. February 1637)

Dutch forces led by Hendrick Lonck capture Olinda in what was to become part of Dutch Brazil. (16. February 1630)

Battle of Torrington, Devon – the last major battle of the first English Civil War. (16. February 1646)

Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony. (17. February 1621)

Eighty Years' War: Off the coast of Cornwall, England, a Spanish fleet intercepts an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by 6 warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them. (18. February 1637)

The Second Battle of Guararapes takes place, effectively ending Dutch colonization efforts in Brazil. (19. February 1649)

Mikhail I is unanimously elected Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia. (21. February 1613)

Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published. (22. February 1632)

L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance. (24. February 1607)

François de Bassompierre, a French courtier, is arrested on Richelieu's orders. (25. February 1631)

Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea. (27. February 1617)

Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after he led the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci. (27. February 1626)

The Scottish National Covenant is signed in Edinburgh. (28. February 1638)