16th century

Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova.

These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science.

Galileo Galilei became a champion of the new sciences, invented the first thermometer and made substantial contributions in the fields of physics and astronomy, becoming a major figure in the Scientific Revolution in Europe.

European politics became dominated by religious conflicts, with the groundwork for the epochal Thirty Years' War being laid towards the end of the century.

Iran and Iraq were caught by a major popularity of the Shia sect of Islam under the rule of the Safavid dynasty of warrior-mystics, providing grounds for a Persia independent of the majority-Sunni Muslim world.

The world map by the Italian Amerigo Vespucci (from whose name the word America is derived) and Belgian Gerardus Mercator shows (besides the classical continents Europe , Africa , and Asia ) the Americas as America sive India Nova', New Guinea , and other islands of Southeast Asia , as well as a hypothetical Arctic continent and a yet undetermined Terra Australis . [ 1 ]
Mona Lisa , by Leonardo da Vinci , c. 1503–1506 , one of the world's best-known paintings
Battle of Cerignola : El Gran Capitan finds the corpse of Louis d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours
Afonso de Albuquerque
Martin Luther initiated the Reformation with his Ninety-five Theses in 1517.
Europe at the time of the accession of Charles V in 1519
Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition that circumnavigated the globe in 1519–1522.
Sack of Rome of 1527 by Charles V 's forces (painting by Johannes Lingelbach )
Gun-wielding Ottoman Janissaries and defending Knights of Saint John at the siege of Rhodes in 1522, from an Ottoman manuscript
Spanish conquistadors with their Tlaxcallan allies fighting against the Otomies of Metztitlan in present-day Mexico, a 16th-century codex
Territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman (in red and orange)
Nicolaus Copernicus
Scenes of everyday life in Ming China , by Qiu Ying
The Islamic gunpowder empires : Mughal Army artillerymen during the reign of Jalaluddin Akbar
Political map of the world in 1556
The Mughal Emperor Akbar shoots the Rajput warrior Jaimal during the Siege of Chittorgarh in 1567
Siege of Valenciennes during the Dutch War of Independence in 1567
The Battle of Lepanto
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants
The Irish Gaelic chieftain's feast, from The Image of Ireland
The fall of Spanish Armada
Portuguese fusta in India from a book by Jan Huygen van Linschoten
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak presenting Akbarnama to Mughal Azam Akbar , Mughal miniature
Edo period screen depicting the Battle of Sekigahara
Siege of Fiľakovo castle during the Long Turkish War
The Iberian Union in 1598, under Philip II , King of Spain and Portugal