| January 15 | Battle at Boxum: Spanish troops under Tassis beat state army |
| February 4 | Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, becomes governor of Netherlands |
| March 8 | Johan van Oldenbarnevelt becomes Dutch chief legal advisor |
| June 19 | English colonists sailed from Roanoke Island, North Carolina |
| July 27 | Sir Walter Raleigh brings 1st tobacco to England from Virginia |
| July 28 | Sir Thomas Harriot introduces potatoes to Europe |
| September 22 | Battle at Zutphen: English vs Dutch army |
| October 2 | Battle at Zutphen: English-Dutch army |
| October 14 | Mary Queen of Scots goes on trial for conspiracy against Elizabeth |
| December 3 | Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England, from Colombia |
| December 15 | Laevinus Torrentius, becomes bishop of Antwerp |
