1550

Year 1550 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events of 1550

January - June

* July 21 - The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is definitely approved by Pope Julius III.

Undated

* The first grammatical description of the French language is published by Louis Maigret.
* The first book in Slovenian, "Abecedarium", written by Protestant reformer Primoz Trubar, is printed in Tübingen, Germany.
* Nostradamus' first almanac is written.
* Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is founded by Gustav Vasa.
* Iceland becomes fully Protestant.
* Altan Khan besieges Peking.
* The discovery of silver at Zacatecas and Guanajuato in Mexico, and Potosi in Bolivia, stimulates silver rushes (approximate date).

Births

* January 31 - Henry I, Duke of Guise, French Catholic general (d. 1588)
* April 12 - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (d. 1604)
* May 25 - Camillus de Lellis, Italian soldier and nurse (d. 1614)
* June - Pomponio Nenna, Italian composer (d. 1613)
* June 27 - King Charles IX of France (d. 1574)
* July 3 - Jacobus Gallus, Slovenian composer (d. 1591)
* September 10 - Alonso de Guzmán El Bueno, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the Spanish Armada (d. 1615)
* September 17 - Pope Paul V (d. 1621)
* November 6 - Karin Månsdotter, queen of Eric XIV of Sweden (d. 1612)
* December 6 - Orazio Vecchi, Italian composer (d. 1605)
* December 22 - Cesare Cremonini, Italian philosopher (d. 1631)
*"date unknown"
**Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi, author (d. 1625)
**Sarsa Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia (d. 1597)
**John Napier, Scottish mathematician (d. 1617)
**Ralph Sherwin, English Roman Catholic martyr and saint (d. 1581)
**Anselmus de Boodt, Belgian mineralogist and physician (d. 1632)
**Willem Barentsz, Dutch navigator and explorer (d. 1597)
*"probable"
**Robert Balfour, Scottish philosopher (d. 1625)
**Henry Barrowe, English Puritan and Separatist (d. 1593)
**Emilio de' Cavalieri, Italian composer (d. 1602)
**Cornelis Corneliszoon, Dutch inventor of the sawmill (d. c. 1600)
**Philip Henslowe, English theatrical entrepreneur (d. 1616)

Deaths

*March 7 - William IV, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1493)
* March 8 - John of God, Spanish friar and saint (b. 1495)
* April 12 - Claude, Duke of Guise, French soldier (b. 1496)
* May 18 - John, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman (b. 1498)
* May 20 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1511)
*July - Jacopo Bonfadio, historian (b. c. 1508)
* July 30 - Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician (b. 2188)
* October 23 - Tiedemann Giese, Polish Catholic bishop (b. 1480)
* November 6 - Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1487)
*November 7 - Jón Arason, the last Catholic bishop of Iceland (executed)
*December 8 - Gian Giorgio Trissino, humanist writer (b. 1478)
*"date unknown"
**Aq Kubek of Astrakhan, ruler of Astrakhan Khanate
**Jamsheed Quli Qutb Shah, second ruler of Golconda
**Tabinshwehti, King of Burma (b. 1512)
**Lapu-Lapu, Filipino hero