1540s

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	15th century – 16th century – 17th century
Decades:	1510s 1520s 1530s – 1540s – 1550s 1560s 1570s
Years:	1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549
Categories:	Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments

The 1540s decade ran from January 1, 1540, to December 31, 1549.

Events and trends

• 1541 Hernando de Soto was the first known European to see the Mississippi River.
• 1542 The first known contact occurred between Japan and the West occurred, with Portuguese being the first Westerners to contact the Japanese.
• 1542 St. John of the Cross was born.
• 1542 Mary Queen of Scots is born.
• 1543 The invasion of Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi was defeated and thus halted by a joint Ethiopia–Portuguese force.
• 1547 Miguel de Cervantes (Alcalá de Henares), author of Don Quixote, was born on September 29th in Spain.
• 1549 Francis Xavier was the first Christian Missionary to visit Japan. ^[1]

References

1. ↑ Roberts, J: "History of the World.". Penguin, 1994.