1601 in science

Computer science

• January 1 – Retrospectively the epoch reference date from which ANSI dates are counted in COBOL and other computer languages, and the base of file and Active Directory Logon dates in Microsoft Windows.

  Exploration

• August 26 – Olivier van Noort completes his circumnavigation of the world.

  Mathematics

• Johannes Kepler is appointed imperial mathematician to the Habsburg Empire.

  Physiology and medicine

• Giulio Cesare Casseri publishes a treatise on the anatomy of the vocal and auditory organs De vocis auditusque organis historia anatomica in Ferrara.

  Births

• possible date – Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester, English inventor

  Deaths

• October 24 – Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer