1498
Years:
1495 1496 1497 - 1498 - 1499 1500 1501Decades:
1460s 1470s 1480s - 1490s - 1500s 1510s 1520sCenturies:
14th century - 15th century - 16th century
Events
- Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama visits Quelimane and Moçambique in southeastern Africa.
- May 20 - Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut (now Kozhikode), India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa.
- May 23 - Girolamo Savonarola, ruler of Florence, is executed for criticizing the Pope.
- July 31 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
- Christopher Columbus lands on the South American continent.
- The Portuguese sail up to the coasts of modern Tanzania and Kenya.
- John Cabot leaves port on an expedition, never to be seen again.
Births
- Andrés de Urdaneta, Spanish Friar (died 1568)
- April 9 - John, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman (died 1550)
- November 15 - Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (died 1558)
- Giorgio Giulio Clovio, Italian painter (died 1578)
- Marten Jacobszoon Heemskerk van Veen, Dutch painter (died 1574)
- Juraj Julije Klovic, Dalmatian miniaturist (died 1578)
- Anna of Masovia, Polish princess
- Meera, Rajput princess (died 1547)
- Andreas Osiander, German protestant theologian (died 1552)
- Sagara Taketo, Japanese retainer (died 1551)
- Pier Paolo Vergerio, Italian religious reformer (died 1565)
Deaths
- March 24 - Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire (born 1470)
- April 28 - Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, English politician (killed in battle)
- April 7 - King Charles VIII of France (born 1470)
- May 23 - Girolamo Savonarola, Italian religious reformer and ruler of Florence (born 1452)
- December 7 - Alexander Hegius von Heek, German humanist
- Johannes Martini, Flemish composer
- Antonio Pollaiuolo, Italian painter
- Domenico Rosselli, Italian sculptor