1500 facts for kids

The year 1500 (also written as MD) was a special year. It was a leap year, starting on a Wednesday according to the Julian calendar. However, if we used the Gregorian calendar (which we use today), 1500 would not have been a leap year.

Many Christians in Europe thought the year 1500 would bring the end of the world. This belief came from a phrase in the Book of Revelation about "half-time after the time." They thought this meant the world would end around 1500. This time was also soon after Europeans discovered the Americas in 1492, which added to the feeling of big changes happening in the world.

Important Events of 1500

• About 60 million people lived in Europe.
• January 5 – Duke Ludovico Sforza took back control of Milan. But the French army quickly forced him out again.
• January 26 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was the first European explorer to reach Brazil.
• April 21 – The Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral officially discovered Brazil. He claimed the land for Portugal.
• November 11 – The Treaty of Granada was signed. In this agreement, Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon decided to divide the Kingdom of Naples between them.
• Emperor Go-Kashiwabara became the new ruler of Japan.
• Battle of Hemmingstedt: The army of Denmark tried to conquer the independent farmers of Dithmarschen. But they failed.
• Second Battle of Lepanto – The Turkish fleet, led by Kemal Re'is, defeated the ships of Venice. After this victory, the Turks captured the cities of Modon, Lepanto, and Koron.
• Around this time, the Luo people, who came from what is now Sudan, settled in the Cwezi states. They created the state of Buganda.
• Diogo Dias was the first European to see the island of Madagascar.

Images for kids

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  February 17: Battle of Hemmingstedt

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  Emperor Charles V

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  Leonhard of Gorizia

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  Alfonso of Aragon

See also

In Spanish: 1500 para niños