1497

Events

• May 10 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World.
• May 13 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola.
• May 20 - John Cabot sets sail from Bristol on his ship the Mathew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
• June 17 - Battle of Deptford Bridge - Forces under King Henry VII soundly defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.
• June 24 - John Cabot lands in North America, either an island or the mainland.
• July 8 - Vasco da Gama begins his expedition to India.

Births

• February 16 - Philipp Melanchthon, humanist and reformer (+ 1560)
• Emperor Go-Nara of Japan
• Pedro de Valdivia, Conquistador of Chile and founder of Santiago, Chile
• Francesco da Milano - Italian composer

Deaths