What is 1556?
{{Year nav|1556}} {{Year in various calendars|1556}} '''1556''' ([[Roman numerals|MDLVI]]) was a [[leap year starting on Wednesday]] in the [[Julian calendar]] and a [[leap year starting on Sunday]] in the proleptic [[Gregorian calendar]]. == Events == * [[January 23]] – Most devastating recorded earthquake in [[Shaanxi]], [[China]]. Over 850,000 deaths. == Births == * [[January 8]] – [[Uesugi Kagekatsu]], Japanese samurai and warlord (died [[1623]]) *[[February 21]] – [[Sethus Calvisius]], German calendar reformer (d. [[1615]]) * [[March 7]] – [[Guillaume du Vair]], French statesman and philosopher (died [[1621]]) * [[June 6]] – [[Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche]] (died [[1625]]) * [[November 15]] – [[Jacques-Davy Duperron]], French cardinal (died [[1618]]) * [[Henry Briggs]], English mathematician (died [[1630]]) * [[Margaret Clitherow]], English Catholic martyr (died [[1586]]) * [[Shibata Katsutoyo]], Japanese military commander (died [[1583]]) * [[Nakagawa Kiyohide]], Japanese military commander (died [[1583]]) * [[Ahmad Baba al Massufi]], Sudanese writer and political leader * [[James Melville (1556-1614)|James Melville]], Scottish divine and reformer (died [[1614]]) * [[Maria of Nassau]], second daughter of William the Silent (died [[1616]]) == Deaths == * * [[Category:1556| ]]