1496

Events 
 January 3 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
 March 10 – Christopher Columbus leaves Hispaniola for Spain, ending his second visit to the Western Hemisphere.
 July – Spanish forces under Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordoba capture Atella after a siege. Among the prisoners is the French viceroy of Naples, the Comte de Montpensier. Ferrante II is restored to the throne of Naples.
 Jesus College (University of Cambridge) founded.

 Births 
 March 28 – Mary Tudor, queen of Louis XII of France (died 1533)
 May 12 – King Gustav I of Sweden (died 1560)
 October 20 – Claude, Duke of Guise, French soldier (died 1550)
 François Bonivard, Swiss historian (died 1570)
 Edward Fox, English churchman (died 1538)
 Richard Maitland, Scottish poet (died 1586)
 Clément Marot, French poet (died 1544)
 Anthony St Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland (died 1559)
 Menno Simons, Dutch religious leader (died 1561)
 Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester (died 1549)

 Deaths 
 March 4 – Archduke Sigismund of Austria (born 1427)
 September 7 – King Ferdinand II of Naples (born 1469)
 September 25 – Piero Capponi, Italian soldier and statesman (born 1447)
 Piero del Pollaiuolo, Italian painter (born 1443)