January 2 » Reconquista: The Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
January 6 » The Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada at the conclusion of the Granada War.
August 12 » Christopher Columbus arrives in the Canary Islands on his first voyage to the New World.
September 6 » Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.
December 5 » Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
December 25 » The carrack Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch.
July 7 » Jacques Cartier makes his first contact with aboriginal peoples in what is now Canada.
July 24 » French explorer Jacques Cartier plants a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and takes possession of the territory in the name of Francis I of France.
August 15 » Ignatius of Loyola and six classmates take initial vows, leading to the creation of the Society of Jesus in September 1540.
October 17 » Anti-Catholic posters appear in Paris and other cities supporting Huldrych Zwingli's position on the Mass.
December 6 » The city of Quito in Ecuador is founded by Spanish settlers led by Sebastián de Belalcázar.
January 21 » Following the Affair of the Placards, the French king leads an anti-Protestant procession through Paris.
May 19 » French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier had kidnapped during his first voyage).
June 1 » Combined forces loyal to Charles V attack and expel the Ottomans from Tunis during the Conquest of Tunis.
July 6 » Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.
October 2 » Jacques Cartier discovers the present site of Montreal.
October 4 » The Coverdale Bible is printed, with translations into English by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Richard van Beekum, "Family tree van Beekum", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-beekum/I17153.php : accessed January 26, 2026), "Francesco Sforza (1492-1535)".
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