1587

January–June

• February 1 - Queen Elizabeth I of England signs the death warrant of her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, after Mary is implicated in a plot to murder Elizabeth. Seven days later, on the orders of Elizabeth's privy council, Mary is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle.
• April 29 - Singeing the King of Spain's Beard: On an expedition against Spain, English privateer Sir Francis Drake leads a raid in the Bay of Cádiz, sinking at least 23 ships of the Spanish fleet.

  July–December

• July 22 - Roanoke Colony: A group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off of North Carolina, to re-establish the deserted colony.
• August 18 - According to legend, Saul Wahl is named king of Poland.
• August 19
• *According to legend, Saul Wahl is deposed.
• *Polish and Lithuanian nobles elect Sigismund III Vasa as their king.
• August 27 - Governor John White leaves the Roanoke Colony to get more supplies from England.
• October 1 - Shāh ‘Abbās I "The Great" succeeds as Shahanshah of Iran.
• October 18 - Landing of the first Filipinos: The first Filipinos in North America land in Morro Bay, near San Luis Obispo in modern-day California.
• October 20 - Battle of Coutras: Huguenot forces under Henry of Navarre defeat Royalist forces under Anne de Joyeuse, favorite of King Henry; Joyeuse is killed.
• October 31 - Leiden University Library opens its doors, after its founding in 1575.

  Date unknown

• Toyotomi Hideyoshi becomes Daijō-daijin of Japan and concludes the Kyūshū Campaign with the Siege of Kagoshima at which most of Kyushu is surrendered to him; he banishes European Christian missionaries from the province.
• A severe famine breaks out in Ming dynasty China.
• The Rose is founded in London by Philip Henslowe.
• The chapbook Historia von D. Johann Fausten, printed by Johann Spies in Frankfurt, is the first published version of the Faust story.
• Everard Digby's De Arte Natandi, the first treatise on swimming in England, is published.
• St. Dominic's Church, Macau is established.

  Births

• January 2 - Anders Arrebo, Danish writer
• January 5 - Xu Xiake, Chinese adventurer and geographer
• January 6 - Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, Spanish politician
• January 8
• * Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
• * Johannes Fabricius, Frisian/German astronomer
• January 12 - John Winthrop, English Puritan lawyer
• February 1 - Pál Esterházy, Hungarian noble
• February 3 - Dorothea Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst
• February 20 - Emanuel Sueyro, Dutch historian, translator, spymaster
• February 26 - Stefano Landi, Italian composer
• March 17 - David Lindsay, 1st Lord Balcarres, Scottish politician and noble
• April 1 - Sir John Mill, 1st Baronet, English politician
• April 2 - Virginia Centurione Bracelli, Italian saint
• April 18 - Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet, Member of the Parliament of England
• April 26
• * Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, Italian Catholic cardinal
• * Abraham van der Haagen, Dutch painter
• April 28 - Krzysztof Ossoliński, Polish nobleman
• April 29 - Sophie of Saxony, Duchess of Pomerania
• April 30 - Éléonore de Bourbon, Dutch princess
• May 7 - Richard Newport, 1st Baron Newport, English politician
• May 8 - Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy
• May 17 - Esaias van de Velde, Dutch painter
• May 26 - Susan de Vere, Countess of Montgomery, English noblewoman
• June 2 - Willem Bontekoe, skipper in the Dutch East India Company
• June 5 - Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral
• June 11 - Thomas Jervoise, English politician
• June 15 - Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna, Swedish statesman
• June 21 - Kaspar von Barth, German philologist and writer
• June 24
• * William Arnold, American settler
• * Hans van Steenwinckel the Younger, Danish architect
• July 4 - Magdalene of Bavaria, Consort of Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg
• August 16 - Khusrau Mirza, Mughal prince
• August 18 - Virginia Dare, Virginia colony settler
• August 23 - Johann Friedrich, Count Palatine of Sulzbach-Hilpoltstein
• August 28 - Christian William of Brandenburg, administrator of bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt
• September 1 - Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria, Spanish general
• September 3 - Countess Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg, Landgravine of Hesse-kassel
• September 18 - Francesca Caccini, Italian composer
• September 19
• * Robert Sanderson, English theologian and casuist
• * Mu Zeng, Chinese politician
• October 8 - Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire, English politician
• October 17 - Nathan Field, English dramatist and actor
• October 18 - Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg
• October 19 - Thomas Dacres, English politician
• October 22 - Joachim Jungius, German mathematician and philosopher
• October 23 - Sir Gilbert Gerard, 1st Baronet of Harrow on the Hill, English politician
• November 3 - Samuel Scheidt, German composer
• November 17
• * Charles Lallemant, French Jesuit
• * Joost van den Vondel, Dutch dramatist and poet
• November 25 - Sir Gervase Clifton, 1st Baronet, English politician
• December 13 - Emmanuel Stupanus, Swiss physician
• December 19 - Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg Abbey
• December 30 - Simon VII, Count of Lippe-Detmold
• date unknown
• * William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh
• * Francis Kynaston, English courtier and poet
• * Yun Seondo, Korean politician and poet
• * Song Yingxing, Chinese encyclopedist
• * George Yeardley, English colonial administrator in America

  Deaths

• January 31 - Juraj Drašković, Croatian Roman Catholic cardinal
• January - Thomas Seckford, English official
• February 8 - Mary, Queen of Scots
• February 9 - Vincenzo Ruffo, Italian composer
• February 13 - Dorothea of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
• February 22 - Sophie of Brandenburg-Ansbach, princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach
• February 26 - Magdalene of Lippe, Countess of Lippe by birth, and Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt
• March 15 - Caspar Olevian, German theologian
• March 30 - Ralph Sadler, English statesman
• April 10 - Henry III, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels
• April 11 - Thomas Bromley, English lord chancellor
• April 8 - John Foxe, English author
• April 14 - Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
• April 16 - Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset
• May 9 - Jakob Schegk, German physician
• May 17 - Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia
• June 11 - Ōtomo Sōrin, Japanese Christian daimyō
• June 15 - Frederick II, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
• June 23 - Ōmura Sumitada, Japanese Christian daimyō
• July 7 - Joachim of Zollern, Titular Count of Hohenzollern
• July 28 - Godfried van Mierlo, Dutch Dominican friar and bishop
• August 14 - Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
• August 29 - Vincenzo Bellavere, Italian composer
• September 3 - Henry Cheyne, 1st Baron Cheyne, English politician and baron
• September 19 - Jacobus Pamelius, Belgian bishop
• October 19 - Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
• November 1 - Alfonso d'Este, Lord of Montecchio, Italian nobleman
• November 10 - Abe Motozane, Japanese warlord
• December 13 - Hai Rui, Ming Dynasty "model official"
• December 11 - Andreas Gaill, German jurist and statesman
• date unknown
• * Dudley Fenner, English Puritan divine
• * Jan Tarło, Polish nobleman
• probable - George Whetstone, English writer