1581

Events

• January 16 - English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism
• April 4 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.
• July 26 - The Northern Netherlands proclaim their independence from Spain in the Oath of Abjuration. They abjure loyalty to Philip II of Spain as their sovereign and become a Republic.
• Russia begins the conquest of Siberia
• Finland becomes a grand duchy.

Births

• January 4 - James Ussher, Anglo-Irish priest and scholar (d. 1656)

Deaths

• August 21 - Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
• September 1 - Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (b. 1534)