Editing 1638 (section)

== Events ==
=== January–March === 
* [[January 4]]
**A naval battle takes place in the Indian Ocean off the coast of [[Goa]] in South India as a Netherlands fleet commanded by Admiral Adam Westerwolt decimates the Portuguese fleet.
**A fleet of 80 Spanish ships led by Governor-General [[Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera]] attacks the Sultanate of Sulu in the Philippines by beginning an invasion of [[Jolo]] island, but [[Muwallil Wasit I of Sulu|Sultan Muwallil Wasit I]] puts up a stiff resistance.   
* [[January 8]] – [[Shimabara Rebellion]]: The [[siege of Shimabara Castle]] ends after 27 days in [[Japan]]'s [[Tokugawa shogunate]] (part of modern-day Nagasaki prefecture) as the rebel peasants flee reinforcements sent by the shogun [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]]. 
* [[January 22]] – The Shimabara and Amakusa rebels, having joined up after fleeing the shogun's troops, begin the [[Siege of Hara Castle|defense of Hara Castle]] in modern-day [[Minamishimabara, Nagasaki|Minamishimabara]] in the [[Nagasaki prefecture]]. The siege lasts more than 11 weeks before the peasants are massacred.
* [[February 28]] – The Scottish [[National Covenant]] is signed in [[Edinburgh]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]], in opposition to changes to the [[Church of Scotland]] proposed by [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Lynch |editor-first=Michael |title=The Oxford Companion to Scottish History |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199693054 |page=436}}</ref>
* [[March 3]] – [[Thirty Years' War]]: [[Battle of Rheinfelden]] &ndash; A mercenary army under [[Bernard of Saxe-Weimar]], fighting for France, defeats forces of the Holy Roman Empire.<ref>{{cite book | last = Parrott | first = David | title = Richelieu's army: war, government, and society in France, 1624-1642 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2001 | isbn = 9780521792097 | page=205}}</ref>
* [[March 5]] – [[Thirty Years' War]]: The [[Treaty of Hamburg (1638)|Treaty of Hamburg]] is signed by [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Sweden]], providing the latter with funds.
* [[March 22]]
**[[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Jahan]] and his sons capture the city of [[Kandahar]] from the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavids]]. <ref>G. P. Tate, ''The Kingdom of Afghanistan: A Historical Sketch'' (Times of India, 1911) p. 205</ref>
**[[Anne Hutchinson]] is banished from the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] for [[heresy]] and goes to [[Rhode Island]].
* [[March 28]] – Dutch merchant [[Willem Kieft]] is appointed [[Director of New Netherland]] by the [[Dutch East India Company]] to succeed Wouter van Twiller.<ref>George P. Donehoo, ''Pennsylvania: A History'' (Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1926) p. 31</ref>
* [[March 29]] – Settlers from Sweden arrive on the ships ''[[Kalmar Nyckel]]'' and ''[[Fogel Grip]]'' to establish the settlement of [[New Sweden]] in [[Delaware]], beginning the [[Swedish colonization of the Americas]].

=== April–June ===
* [[April 3]] – Preacher [[John Wheelwright]] is banished from [[Boston]] and founds [[Exeter, New Hampshire]].
* [[April 14]] – The Netherlands colonizes [[Mauritius]], with colonists from the ship ''Dragon'' going ashore after sighting it the day before, an event chronicled by British traveler [[Peter Mundy]].<ref>Peter Mundy, ed. by Lavinia Mary Anstey, ''The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667'' (Hakluyt Society, 1919) p. 343</ref><ref>Jolyon C. Parish, ''The Dodo and the Solitaire: A Natural History'' (Indiana University Press, 2013) p.37</ref>
* [[April 15]] – [[Tokugawa shogunate|Shogunate]] forces defeat the last remnants of the [[Shimabara Rebellion]], in the fortress of Hara. In the aftermath, suppression of Christianity is strictly enforced, Portuguese traders are expelled and Japan enters more than two centuries of isolationism.
* [[April 25]] – Settlement of what will become [[New Haven, Connecticut]] begins.<ref>Laura A. Macaluso, ''Historic Treasures of New Haven: Celebrating 375 Years of the Elm City'' (Arcadia Publishing, 2013)</ref>
* [[May 13]] – Construction begins on the [[Red Fort]] in [[Delhi]] (India) for [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Jahan]] who is transferring his capital there from [[Agra]].
* [[May 23]] – The Kandyan Treaty is signed between [[Sinhala Kingdom|Singhala]] King [[Rajasinha II of Kandy|Rajasimha II]] and the Dutch, to rid [[Ceylon]] of the Portuguese.
* [[June 20]] – [[Eighty Years' War]]: [[Battle of Kallo]] – Spanish troops under [[Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria|Ferdinand of Austria]] defeat a much larger Dutch force, near [[Antwerp]].
* [[June 27]] – [[Cyril Lucaris|Patriarch Cyril of Constantinople]] is deposed for [[high treason]], strangled and thrown into the sea by [[Janissaries]], on [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Sultan]] [[Murad IV]]'s command.

=== July–September ===
* [[July 16]] &ndash; [[Thirty Years' War]]: The [[siege of Saint-Omer]] ends after almost two months as the French-held Flemish city falls after being besieged by Spanish and German troops.
* [[July 20]] &ndash; Scottish [[Covenanter]]s meet at [[Muchalls Castle]] to compose a response to the 14 demands of the [[Bishops of Aberdeen]].<ref>J. P. Edmond, ''The Aberdeen Printers: 1638-1682'' (J. & J. P. Edmond & Spark, 1884) p.65</ref>
* [[July 28]] &ndash; [[Thirty Years' War]]: Swedish Army Field Marshal [[Johan Banér]] begins a destructive campaign against the [[Duchy of Pomerania]], held by the Holy Roman Empire. 
* [[August 15]] &ndash; The Portuguese expedition led by [[Pedro Teixeira]] completes the first ascent of the [[Amazon River]], crossing the Quijos River and arriving at [[Quito]] in [[Ecuador]] soon after (the same trip had been made in the opposite direction, in [[1541]]).
* [[August 22]] &ndash; [[Franco-Spanish War (1635–59)]]: The [[Battle of Getaria]] is fought between the navies of France and Spain, with the French sinking all 17 Spanish Navy ships and killing 2,000 Spanish sailors and officers.<ref>Guy Le Moing, ''Les 600 plus grandes batailles navales de l'Histoire'' (in French)(Marines Editions, 2011) p.309</ref>
* [[August 27]] &ndash; [[Tayyar Mehmed Pasha]] becomes the new [[Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire]] after [[Bayram Pasha]] dies while fighting in [[Baghdad]].
* [[September 6]] &ndash; The Finnish [[mail]] service, predecessor of [[Posti Group]], is established.<ref>"Suomen julkinen postilaitos perustettin 6.9.1638, joloin hyvakayttiin Tukholman-Kakisalmen linjalle postitaksa". Aili Rytkonen Bell and Augustus A. Koski, ''Finnish Graded Reader'' (Foreign Service Institute, 1968) p. 268</ref>
* [[September 21]] &ndash; The [[Treaty of Hartford (1638)|Treaty of Hartford]] is signed, ending the [[Pequot War]] between British American colonists and the Pequot.
* [[September]] &ndash; John Spofford arrives in [[Boston Harbor]], on the ship ''John of London'', and is one of the first people to establish Rowely, [[Essex County, Massachusetts]].

=== October–December ===
* [[October 21]] &ndash; [[The Great Thunderstorm]] in [[Widecombe-in-the-Moor]], England: probable [[ball lightning]] strikes the parish church, killing 4 and injuring about 60.
* [[November 21]] &ndash; The General Assembly of the [[Church of Scotland]] is summoned to Glasgow, by [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]].<ref>James Pagan, ''Sketch of the History of Glasgow'' (Robert Stuart and Company, 1847) p. 35</ref>
* [[November 24]] &ndash; [[New Haven]], the first planned city in America, is founded when local Indians make a deed of Quinnipiac to Theophilus Eaton and other English settlers.<ref>"The New Haven Colony", by Henry White, in ''Papers of the New Haven Colony Historical Society'' (New Haven Colony Historical Society, 1865) p.3</ref>
* [[December 18]] &ndash; [[Cardinal Mazarin]] becomes the first adviser to French potentate [[Cardinal Richelieu|Richelieu]], on the death of [[François Leclerc du Tremblay|Leclerc du Tremblay]].
* [[December 21]] &ndash; The full moon is in total eclipse from 1:12 to 2:47 UT, and the solstice occurs later in the day, at 16:05 UT.
* [[December 25]] &ndash; [[Capture of Baghdad (1638)|Capture of Baghdad]] by the Ottomans under [[Sultan]] [[Murad IV]].

=== Date unknown ===
* Shipwrecked English [[buccaneer]] [[Peter Wallace (buccaneer)|Peter Wallace]], called ''Balis'' by the Spanish, settles near and perhaps gives his name to the [[Belize River]], the [[English settling of Belize|first known European settlement]] in [[Belize]].
* The ''[[Peking Gazette]]'' makes an official switch in its production process of newspapers, from [[woodblock printing]] to [[movable type]] printing (private newspapers in [[Ming dynasty]] China were first mentioned in [[1582]]).