1587
1587 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. As of the start of 1587, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
- February 1 - Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, after Mary is implicated in a plot to murder Elizabeth. Seven days later, on the orders of Elizabeth's privy council, Mary is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle.
- April 29 - Singeing the King of Spain's Beard: On an expedition against Spain, English privateer Sir Francis Drake leads a raid in the Bay of Cádiz, sinking at least 23 ships of the Spanish fleet.
July–December
- July 22 - Roanoke Colony: A group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off of North Carolina, to re-establish the deserted colony.
- August 18 - According to legend, Saul Wahl is named king of Poland.
- August 19
- *According to legend, Saul Wahl is deposed.
- *Polish and Lithuanian nobles elect Sigismund III Vasa as their king.
- August 27 - Governor John White leaves the Roanoke Colony to get more supplies from England.
- October 1 - Shāh ‘Abbās I "The Great" succeeds as Shahanshah of Iran.
- October 18 - Landing of the first Filipinos: The first Filipinos in North America land in Morro Bay, near San Luis Obispo in modern-day California.
- October 20 - Battle of Coutras: Huguenot forces under Henry of Navarre defeat Royalist forces under Anne de Joyeuse, favorite of King Henry; Joyeuse is killed.
- October 31 - Leiden University Library opens its doors, after its founding in 1575.
Date unknown
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi becomes Daijō-daijin of Japan and concludes the Kyūshū Campaign with the Siege of Kagoshima at which most of Kyushu is surrendered to him; he banishes European Christian missionaries from the province.
- A severe famine breaks out in Ming dynasty China.
- The Rose is founded in London by Philip Henslowe.
- The chapbook Historia von D. Johann Fausten, printed by Johann Spies in Frankfurt, is the first published version of the Faust story.
- Everard Digby's De Arte Natandi, the first treatise on swimming in England, is published.
- St. Dominic's Church, Macau is established.
Births
- January 2 - Anders Arrebo, Danish writer
- January 5 - Xu Xiake, Chinese adventurer and geographer
- January 6 - Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish politician
- January 8
- * Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
- * Johannes Fabricius, Frisian/German astronomer
- January 12 - John Winthrop, English Puritan lawyer
- February 1 - Pál Esterházy, Hungarian noble
- February 3 - Dorothea Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst
- February 20 - Emanuel Sueyro, Dutch historian, translator, spymaster
- February 26 - Stefano Landi, Italian composer
- March 17 - David Lindsay, 1st Lord Balcarres, Scottish politician and noble
- April 1 - Sir John Mill, 1st Baronet, English politician
- April 2 - Virginia Centurione Bracelli, Italian saint
- April 18 - Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet, Member of the Parliament of England
- April 26
- * Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, Italian Catholic cardinal
- * Abraham van der Haagen, Dutch painter
- April 28 - Krzysztof Ossoliński, Polish nobleman
- April 29 - Sophie of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania
- April 30 - Éléonore de Bourbon, Dutch princess
- May 7 - Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport, English politician
- May 8 - Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
- May 17 - Esaias van de Velde, Dutch painter
- May 26 - Susan de Vere, Countess of Montgomery, English noblewoman
- June 2 - Willem Bontekoe, skipper in the Dutch East India Company
- June 5 - Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral
- June 11 - Thomas Jervoise, English politician
- June 15 - Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna, Swedish statesman
- June 21 - Kaspar von Barth, German philologist and writer
- June 24
- * William Arnold, American settler
- * Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger, Danish architect
- July 4 - Magdalene of Bavaria, Consort of Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg
- August 16 - Khusrau Mirza, Mughal prince
- August 18 - Virginia Dare, Virginia colony settler
- August 23 - Johann Friedrich, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein
- August 28 - Christian William of Brandenburg, administrator of bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt
- September 1 - Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria, Spanish general
- September 3 - Countess Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg, Landgravine of Hesse-kassel
- September 18 - Francesca Caccini, Italian composer
- September 19
- * Robert Sanderson, English theologian and casuist
- * Mu Zeng, Chinese politician
- October 8 - Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire, English politician
- October 17 - Nathan Field, English dramatist and actor
- October 18 - Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg
- October 19 - Thomas Dacres, English politician
- October 22 - Joachim Jungius, German mathematician and philosopher
- October 23 - Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Harrow on the Hill, English politician
- November 3 - Samuel Scheidt, German composer
- November 17
- * Charles Lallemant, French Jesuit
- * Joost van den Vondel, Dutch dramatist and poet
- November 25 - Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet, English politician
- December 13 - Emmanuel Stupanus, Swiss physician
- December 19 - Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey
- December 30 - Simon VII, Count of Lippe-Detmold
- date unknown
- * William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh
- * Francis Kynaston, English courtier and poet
- * Yun Seondo, Korean politician and poet
- * Song Yingxing, Chinese encyclopedist
- * George Yeardley, English colonial administrator in America
Deaths
- January 31 - Juraj Drašković, Croatian Roman Catholic cardinal
- January - Thomas Seckford, English official
- February 8 - Mary, Queen of Scots
- February 9 - Vincenzo Ruffo, Italian composer
- February 13 - Dorothea of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
- February 22 - Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach, princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach
- February 26 - Magdalene of Lippe, Countess of Lippe by birth, and Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt
- March 15 - Caspar Olevian, German theologian
- March 30 - Ralph Sadler, English statesman
- April 10 - Henry III, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels
- April 11 - Thomas Bromley, English lord chancellor
- April 8 - John Foxe, English author
- April 14 - Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
- April 16 - Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset
- May 9 - Jakob Schegk, German physician
- May 17 - Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia
- June 11 - Ōtomo Sōrin, Japanese Christian daimyō
- June 15 - Frederick II, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
- June 23 - Ōmura Sumitada, Japanese Christian daimyō
- July 7 - Joachim of Zollern, Titular Count of Hohenzollern
- July 28 - Godfried van Mierlo, Dutch Dominican friar and bishop
- August 14 - Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
- August 29 - Vincenzo Bellavere, Italian composer
- September 3 - Henry Cheyne, 1st Baron Cheyne, English politician and baron
- September 19 - Jacobus Pamelius, Belgian bishop
- October 19 - Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
- November 1 - Alfonso d'Este, Lord of Montecchio, Italian nobleman
- November 10 - Abe Motozane, Japanese warlord
- December 13 - Hai Rui, Ming Dynasty "model official"
- December 11 - Andreas Gaill, German jurist and statesman
- date unknown
- * Dudley Fenner, English Puritan divine
- * Jan Tarło, Polish nobleman
- probable - George Whetstone, English writer