    __notoc__ 1596 (mdxcvi) was a leap year starting on monday (link will display the full calendar) of the gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on thursday of the 10-day slower julian calendar. == events == === january&ndash;june === * february 14 &ndash; archbishop john whitgift begins building his hospital at croydon. * april 9 &ndash; siege of calais : spanish troops capture calais. * may 18 &ndash; willem barents leaves vlie on his third and final arctic voyage. * june &ndash; sir john norreys and sir geoffrey fenton travel to connaught to parley with the local irish lords. * june 10 &ndash; barents and jacob van heemskerk discover bear island. * june 17 &ndash; barents discovers spitsbergen. * june 24 &ndash; cornelis de houtman arrives in banten, the first dutch sailor to reach indonesia. === july&ndash;december === * july 5 &ndash; an english fleet, commanded by robert devereux, 2nd earl of essex, and lord howard of effingham, sacks cÃ¡diz. * july 14 &ndash; king dominicus corea (edirille bandara) is beheaded by the portuguese in colombo, ceylon. * august - david fabricius discovers the star mira. * september 17 &ndash; the spanish capture amiens. * september 20 &ndash; diego de montemayor founds the city of monterrey, mexico. * october 8&ndash;october 10 &ndash; the union of brest: the ukrainian church west of the dnipro becomes known as the ukrainian rite of catholicism, whereas the east officially renounces the authority of the pope. * october 24&ndash;october 26 &ndash; battle of keresztes: the turks defeat a combined habsburgâtransylvanian army. === date unknown === * elizabeth i of england decrees that all africans should be removed from the british realm in reaction to the food crisis. * the first water closet, by sir john harington, is installed in a manor near kelston in england. * king sigismund iii vasa moves the capital of poland from krakÃ³w to warsaw. * sidney sussex college, cambridge, is founded. * the black death hits parts of europe. * dutch ships, commanded by frederick de houtman, reach sumatra and java for the first time. * the 4th of a 5 year run of poor harvests, largely caused by the weather, a pattern typical of the last third of the century. this causes famine throughout europe, which leads to food riots in britain.{{cite book|title=agricultural records|last=stratton|first=j.m
1596