Curated playlist
1530s births
- Mary ShakespeareFor decades, the wrong farmhouse was shown as Mary Arden's childhood home. Researchers corrected it in 2000.
- Bhagwant DasRaja Bhagwant Das of Amber is remembered for a single act of nerve at the battle of Paronkh. When a shot was aimed at the Mughal emperor Akbar, Bhagwant Das put himself in its path and took it on his chest. That moment of loyalty is the…
- Lady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey was queen of England for only nine days in July 1553. Her own Privy Council then turned on her.
- Germain PilonCatherine de' Medici reportedly fainted at sculptor Germain Pilon's carved figures of the dead.
- James Hepburn, 4th Earl of BothwellBothwell was acquitted of killing Queen Mary's husband, then married her within three months.
- Humphrey GilbertHumphrey Gilbert sat reading a book as his tiny ship sank in a storm. His crew heard him call out about Heaven.
- John ShakespeareBy January 1586, officers said John Shakespeare had nothing they could seize. He had once been Stratford's mayor.
- Martin FrobisherMartin Frobisher hauled home 1,350 tons of ore that proved worthless. He had sailed to find a route to Asia.
- David RizzioArmed men burst into Queen Mary's supper room and stabbed her secretary David Rizzio 57 times.
- Inca Garcilaso de la VegaInca Garcilaso de la Vega was the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess. He grew up speaking Quechua.
- Sofonisba AnguissolaA portrait of King Philip II was long credited to other painters, but Sofonisba Anguissola painted it.