1542 e.v.

The first contact of Japan with the West occurs when a Portuguese ship, blown off its course to China, lands Fernão Mendes Pinto, Francisco Zeimoto and António Mota in Japan. Toda Kazuaki, Japanese samurai in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, is born (will die in 1604). Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese daimyō, is born (will die in 1611). Kuki Yoshitaka, Japanese naval commander, is born (will die in 1600)
Pope Paul III establishes the Holy Office, with jurisdiction over the Roman Inquisition.
Bartolomé de las Casas completes A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, which will be published in 1552.
Joris Hoefnagel, Dutch painter and engraver, is born (will die in 1601)
Douglas Sheffield, Baroness Sheffield, lover of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, is born (will die in 1608). John Speed, English historian, is born (will die in 1629)
Dosso Dossi, Italian painter, dies (was born in 1490)
Lucas Fernández, Spanish dramatist and musician, dies (was born in 1474)
Lapulapu, Filipino king, dies (was born in 1491)
== January ==
=== 21st ===
Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord, dies (was born in 1491)
== February ==
Nikolaus Federmann, German adventurer in Venezuela and Colombia, dies (was born in 1501)
=== 1st ===
John Scudamore, English politician, is born (will die in 1623)
Girolamo Aleandro, Italian cardinal, dies (was born in 1480)
=== 2nd ===
Battle of Baçente: The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama capture a Muslim-occupied hillfort in northern Ethiopia.
=== 13th ===
Catherine Howard, fifth queen of Henry VIII of England, is executed (was born in 1522)
Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford, English noblewoman, is executed (was born in 1505)
=== 14th ===
Guadalajara, Mexico, is founded by the Spaniards after three previous attempts failed, due to aggressive opposition from local tribes.
=== 22nd ===
Santino Garsi da Parma, Italian musician, is born (will die in 1604)
== March ==
Renyin palace rebellion: A group of Ming Dynasty palace women fail to murder the Jiajing Emperor, and are executed by slow-slicing.
=== 3rd ===
Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, illegitimate son of King Edward IV of England, is born.
=== 8th ===
Antoine Escalin des Eymars, the French ambassador, returns from Constantinople, with promises of Ottoman aid in a war against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
=== 19th ===
Jan Zamoyski, Polish nobleman, is born (will die in 1605)
== April ==
=== 4th–16th ===
Battle of Jarte in Ethiopia: The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama encounter the army of Imam Ahmad Gragn, and inflict upon him two successive defeats.
=== 29th ===
Henry III, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels, is born (will die in 1587)
== May ==
=== 5th ===
Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician, is born (will die in 1623)
=== 11th ===
Jakob Christoph Blarer von Wartensee, Swiss Catholic bishop, is born (will die in 1608)
=== 16th ===
Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman, daughter of Count Philip IV of Hanau-Lichtenberg, is born (will die in 1580)
=== 19th ===
The Prome Kingdom, in modern-day central Burma, is conquered by the Taungoo Dynasty.
=== 21st ===
Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer, navigator and conquistador, is born (will die in 1500)
== June ==
=== 14th ===
Christoph von Scheurl, German writer, is born (will die in 1481)
=== 15th ===
Richard Grenville, English politician, is born (will die in 1591)
=== 19th ===
Leo Jud, Swiss reformer, dies (was born in 1482)
=== 24th ===
John of the Cross, Spanish Carmelite mystic, theologian, poet, is born (will die in 1591)
=== 27th ===
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo mistook California for an island and claimed it for Spain.
== July ==
=== 15th ===
Lisa del Giocondo, Florentine noblewoman, believed to be the subject of the Mona Lisa, dies (was born in 1479)
=== 24th ===
Guelders Wars: Maarten van Rossum leaves Antwerp, having failed to take it by siege.
=== 25th ===
Magnus, Duke of Östergötland, Swedish prince, is born (will die in 1595)
== August ==
Battle of the Hill of the Jews: During the rainy season, Cristóvão da Gama captures a strategic position and many badly needed horses.
=== 18th ===
Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, is born (will die in 1601)
=== 24th ===
Battle of Haddon Rig: Scotland defeats England.
Gasparo Contarini, Italian diplomat and cardinal, dies (was born in 1483)
=== 27th ===
Citizens of Hildesheim in the Holy Roman Empire profess themselves to the Lutheran teachings. As a pledge owner, the city provides for the carrying out of the Protestant Reformation in the city and Peine. Priests from the localities of Clauen, Hohenhameln, Soßmar, Schmedenstedt, Lengede and Rosenthal resume their offices in the interest of the Reformation.
John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania and Protestant Bishop of Cammin, is born (will die in 1600)
=== 28th ===
Battle of Wofla in Ethiopia: Reinforced with at least 600 arquebusiers and cavalry, Imam Ahmad Gragn attacks the Portuguese camp. The Portuguese are scattered; Cristóvão da Gama is captured and executed.
=== 29th ===
Cristóvão da Gama, Portuguese soldier, dies (was born in 1516)
=== 31st ===
Isabella de' Medici, Italian princess, is born (will die in 1576)
== September ==
=== 4th ===
The earliest recorded Preston Guild Court is held in Lancashire, England, in the modern sequence, which lasts unbroken until 1922.
=== 21st ===
Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet, dies (was born in 1490)
=== 25th ===
Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg, sister of William the Silent, is born (will die in 1603)
=== 28th ===
Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo lands in what is now San Diego Bay, and names it "San Miguel"; it will later become the city of San Diego.
== October ==
1st
Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, Spanish explorer, is born (will die in 1595)
4th
Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint, is born (will die in 1621)
=== 7th ===
Cabrillo becomes the first European to set foot on Santa Catalina Island, California.
=== 11th ===
Thomas Wyatt, English poet and diplomat, dies (was born in 1503)
=== 14th ===
Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg, is born (will die in 1602)
=== 15th ===
Akbar, Mughal Emperor, is born (will die in 1605)
=== 18th ===
Giovanni Gaddi, Italian priest, dies (was born in 1493)
=== 31st ===
Henriette of Cleves, Duchess of Nevers, Countess of Rethel, is born (will die in 1601)
== November ==
=== 1st ===
Tarquinia Molza, Italian singer, is born (will die in 1617)
=== 9th ===
Anders Sørensen Vedel, Danish historian, is born (will die in 1616)
=== 11th ===
Scipione Gonzaga, Italian Catholic cardinal, is born (will die in 1593)
=== 24th ===
Battle of Solway Moss: An English army invades Scotland, and defeats a Scottish army.
== December ==
=== 8th ===
Mary, Queen of Scots, is born (will die in 1587)
=== 14th ===
Mary, Queen of Scots, aged six days, becomes queen regnant on the death of her father, James V of Scotland.
=== 16th ===
Thomas Lovett III, High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, dies (was born in 1473)
=== 21st ===
Thomas Allen, English mathematician and astrologer, is born (will die in 1632) 
=== 22nd ===
Hieronymus Łaski, Polish diplomat, dies (was born in 1496) 
== The Symphony That Never Ends ==
Lilith frees the demons and is killed in a joint operation by Uriel and Legion. It is known as the "Green Death" because Uriel spends centuries slaughtering lilim, destroying Freedom's outposts, and generally harassing Lilith before setting her up to be ambushed and killed by Legion this year.
Category:Year
Category:2nd millennium era vulgaris
Category:16th century era vulgaris
Category:1540s era vulgaris