| Years: 1589 1590 1591 - 1592 - 1593 1594 1595 | |
| Decades: 1560s 1570s 1580s - 1590s - 1600s 1610s 1620s | |
| Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century 1592 state leaders | |
Events
- January 30 - The death of Pope Innocent IX during the previous year had left the Papal throne vacant. Ippolito Aldobrandini is elected Pope Clement VIII.
- Founding of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland's oldest university
- Thomas Kyd publishes The Spanish Tragedy
- Japan invades Korea
Births
- January 22 - Pierre Gassendi, French philosopher and scientist (died 1655)
- March 28 - Comenius, Czech teacher and writer (died 1670)
- April 11 - Sir John Eliot, English statesman (died 1632)
- August 28 - George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (died 1628)
- October 22 - Gustaf Horn, Swedish soldier and politician (died 1657)
- December 6 - William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle (died 1676)
- Richard Bellingham, colonial magistrate (died 1672)
- François le Métel de Boisrobert, French poet (died 1662)
- Étienne Brûlé, French explorer in Canada (died 1632)
- Charles Chauncy, Anglo-American clergyman and educator (died 1672)
- Abraham Elzevir, Dutch printer (died 1652)
- Nicholas Ferrar, English trader (died 1637)
- John Hacket, English churchman (died 1670)
- Pierre d'Hozier, French genealogist (died 1660)
- John Jenkins, English composer (died 1678)
- Henry King, poet (died 1669)
- Mustafa I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (died 1639)
- John Oldham, early Puritan settler in Massachusetts (died 1636)
- Francis Quarles, English poet (died 1644)
- Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, Roman Catholic Archbishop
- Wilhelm Schickard, German inventor (died 1635)
- Peter Stuyvesant, last Dutch Governor of New Netherlands (died 1672)
- Hong Taiji, Emperor of China (died 1643)
Deaths
- February 13 - Jacopo Bassano, Italian painter
- February 29 - Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer (born 1540)
- March 5 - Michael Coxcie, Flemish painter (born 1499)
- July 1 - Marc Antonio Ingegneri, Italian composer (born 1547)
- July 26 - Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron, celebrated French soldier (born 1524)
- September 3 - Robert Greene, English writer (born 1558)
- September 13 - Michel de Montaigne, French essayist (born 1533)
- October 28 - Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Flemish diplomat
- November 27 - John III of Sweden (born 1537)
- November 27 - Nakagawa Hidemasa, Japanese military commander (born 1568)
- Bartolomeo Ammanati, Italian architect and sculptor (born 1511)
- Francesco Bassano the Younger, Italian painter (born 1559)
- Paschal Baylon, Spanish mystic and saint
- Thomas Cavendish, English sailor and explorer (born 1555)
- Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza (born 1545)
- William IV of Hesse, son and successor of the landgrave Philip the Magnanimous
- Girolamo Muziano, Italian painter (born 1528)