The era of
Subscribe1600s
5 recaps across 4 years of the decade. Reconstructed from contemporary coverage, archives, and the public record.
1600Eruption of Thera (Santorini)
The catastrophic volcanic explosion likely destroyed the Minoan civilization and may have inspired the Atlantis legend.
1600Shang-Xia Dynastic Warfare Campaign
The Shang Dynasty's military campaigns against the Xia mark China's earliest documented interstate warfare with detailed oracle bone records of troop movements and casualties.
1602Dutch East India Company Founded
The VOC pioneered joint-stock corporate structure and global maritime trade networks that defined early modern commerce.
1603Edo Period Begins in Japan
Tokugawa Ieyasu's consolidation of power established a stable, centralized shogunate that would govern Japan for 250 years.
1608Invention of the Telescope
Dutch spectacle makers created the optical instrument that transformed astronomy and enabled Galileo's discoveries.
Before
← The 1590s
After
The 1610s →