1592 In Holland a windmill is
used to drive a mechancial saw.
In 1558 the Portuguese introduce
Europeans to the habit of taking snuff.
1559
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum is issued by Pope Pius IV, a list of publications not to be read by members of the Roman Catholic Church.
The final list was published in 1948, but the Index was not formally
abolished until 1966.
L1-
1567 the Portuguese establish the city of Rio de Janeiro, so named because when it was first discovered the bay was thought to be the opening to a river (Rio) and the month was Janeiro!
In 1561 tulips come to Western Europe from the Near East and chess playing takes a hold in Spain.
One of the first modern eisteddfods for Welsh
music and literature is held at Caerwys.
1568
1581 sedan chairs come
into general use in
Western Europe.
In 1588 the English cleric Timothy Bright invents the first system of shorthand.
Consisting of straight lines and full and half circles, it was called Charcterie:
an Arte of Shorte, Swifte, and Secrete Writing by Character. It was based to
some extent on a system by the Roman Marcus Tullius Tiro in 63 BC!
1589 William Lee of Cambridge invents the stocking frame, the first knitting machine.
In 1595 the English army finally abandons the bow as a weapon.
In 1596 the first water closet is designed by the courtier and author John
Harington (1560-
the means of flushing the bowl, one is later installed in the Queen's Palace at Richmond.
Itxwas
around this time that the famous Imperial
Spanish Riding School
was founded in Vienna. Famed for its haute
école -
InxVenice the Ponte dei
Sospiri -
1601 The Gobelin family of dyers lend their factory in the Faubourg St. Marcel,
Paris, to King Henry IV. He encourages the immigration of Flemish weavers and
sets up a thriving tapestry industry which still bears the name Gobelin today.
The Oxford University Library,
originally founded by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in 1410, is
restored and enriched by Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-
the Bodleian Library in 1602.
1591 Trinity College, Dublin is founded by Queen Elizabeth.
1568
Alexander Nowell, Dean of
St. Pauls, London, invents
bottled beer.