1568

1568 (MDLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday in the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday in the proleptic Gregorian calendar.

Events
January 16 - Álvaro de Mendaña discovers the Tuvaluan island of Nui.
Unknown - The Eighty Years War begins.

Births
 March 9 - Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (d. 1591)
 April 5 - Pope Urban VIII, 236th Pope (d. 1644)
 Unknown - Joris van Spilbergen,  Dutch explorer (d. 1620)

Deaths
 January 26 - Lady Katherine Grey, English noblewoman (b. 1540)
 July 24 - Carlos, Prince of Asturias, oldest son of Philip II of Spain (b. 1545)
 December 31 – Shimazu Tadayoshi, Japanese daimyo (b. 1493)