1579 in science

Exploration

• June 17 – Francis Drake, during his circumnavigation of the world, lands in what is now California, which he claims for Queen Elizabeth I of England as Nova Albion.

  Physiology and medicine

• Hieronymus Fabricius discovers the membranous folds that serve as valves in the veins.

  Births

• January 12 – Jan Baptist van Helmont, Flemish chemist
• July 13 – Arthur Dee, English physician and alchemist

  Deaths

• June 17 – Johannes Stadius, Flemish mathematician and astronomer
• approx. date – Hans Staden, German adventurer