1644 - Definition and Overview

Events

• February to August - Explorer Abel Tasman's second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia.
• April - A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to commit suicide.
• June 6 - The invading Manchu army, with the help of Ming general Wu Sangui, captures Beijing, China. This marks the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (also known as the Manchu Dynasty), the last imperial dynasty of China.
• July 2 - Battle of Marston Moor, a crushing victory for the Parliamentary side of the English Civil War, ends Charles I's hold on the north of England.
• September 1 - Battle of Tippermuir, Montrose defeats Elcho's Covenanters, reviving Royalist cause in Scotland
• September 2 - Second Battle of Lostwithiel, the last major victory for Charles I and the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
• September 15 - Pope Innocent X is elected to the Papacy, in Rome.
• November 23 - Areopagitica by John Milton is published.
• The opera Ormindo is first performed in Venice. Music by Francesco Cavalli and libretto by Giovanni Faustini.
• Philosopher René Descartes publishes Principia Philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy).

Ongoing events

• English Civil War (1642-1649)

Births

• June 16 - Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland and later Duchess of Orléans
• August 12 - Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Bohemian composer and violinist
• September 25 - Ole Rømer, Danish astronomer
• October 14 - William Penn, Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania
• Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker
• Matsuo Basho, Japanese poet, haiku master

Deaths

• April - Chongzhen, last Ming Emperor of China (suicide)
• April 10 - Reverend William Brewster, Pilgrim leader
• July 29 - Pope Urban VIII, last pope to expand papal territory
• September 7 - Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal and candidate to succeed Urban VIII
• September 8 - John Coke, English politician and ally of Charles I