Decades: 1530s 1540s 1550s 1560s 1570s - 1580s - 1590s 1600s 1610s 1620s 1630s

Years: 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 - 1584 - 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589

• June 1 - With the death of the Duc d'Anjou, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre becomes heir-presumptive to the throne of France.
• Archangelsk is founded in northern Russia.
• Feodor I succeeds his father Ivan IV as Tsar of Russia

• 16 December - John Selden, English jurist
• William Baffin, explorer (+ 1622)
• Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese swordsman (approximate date)

• June 1 - François, Duke of Anjou, fourth son of King Henry II of France
• July 10 - William the Silent, Dutch statesmen, stadtholder, and general
• Tsar Ivan IV of Russia
• The Confucian scholar Yi I (Yulgok) of Joseon