1497

Centuries: 14th century - 15th century - 16th century

Decades: 1440s 1450s 1460s 1470s 1480s - 1490s - 1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s 1540s

Years: 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 - 1497 - 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502

• May 10 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cadiz 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 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

Deaths