1602

1602 (MDCII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1602nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 602nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 2nd year of the 17th century, and the 3rd year of the 1600s decade. As of the start of 1602, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	16th century – 17th century – 18th century
Decades:	1570s  1580s  1590s  – 1600s –  1610s  1620s  1630s
Years:	1599 1600 1601 – 1602 – 1603 1604 1605

1602 in other calendars

Gregorian calendar	1602 MDCII
Ab urbe condita	2355
Armenian calendar	1051 ԹՎ ՌԾԱ
Assyrian calendar	6352
Balinese saka calendar	1523–1524
Bengali calendar	1009
Berber calendar	2552
English Regnal year	44 Eliz. 1 – 45 Eliz. 1
Buddhist calendar	2146
Burmese calendar	964
Byzantine calendar	7110–7111
Chinese calendar	辛丑年 (Metal Ox) 4298 or 4238     — to — 壬寅年 (Water Tiger) 4299 or 4239
Coptic calendar	1318–1319
Discordian calendar	2768
Ethiopian calendar	1594–1595
Hebrew calendar	5362–5363
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1658–1659
- Shaka Samvat	1523–1524
- Kali Yuga	4702–4703
Holocene calendar	11602
Igbo calendar	602–603
Iranian calendar	980–981
Islamic calendar	1010–1011
Japanese calendar	Keichō 7 (慶長７年)
Javanese calendar	1522–1523
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 10 days
Korean calendar	3935
Minguo calendar	310 before ROC 民前310年
Nanakshahi calendar	134
Thai solar calendar	2144–2145
Tibetan calendar	阴金牛年 (female Iron-Ox) 1728 or 1347 or 575     — to — 阳水虎年 (male Water-Tiger) 1729 or 1348 or 576

Events

• 3 January – Battle of Kinsale – the battle happened on 3 January 1602 according to the Gregorian Calendar used by the Irish and Spanish forces in the battle, although, for the English who were still using the old Julian Calendar, the date of the battle was 24 December 1601
• February 14 – William Shakespeare First performance of Twelfth Night on Candlemas
• March 20 – The Dutch East India Company is established as The United East India Company by the Dutch States-General
• May 15 – Bartolomew Gosnold becomes the first European to discover Cape Cod.
• June – James Lancaster's East India Company fleet arrives at Achin (now Aceh), Sumatra to deal with the local ruler. Having defeated Portugal's ally, the ruler is happy to do business, and Lancaster seizes a large Portuguese Galleon and loots it.
• November 8 – The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford is opened to the public.
• December 11 – A surprise attack by forces under the command of the Duke of Savoy and his brother-in-law, Philip III of Spain, is repelled by the citizens of Geneva. (This actually took place after midnight, in the early morning of December 12, but commemorations/celebrations on Fête de l'Escalade are usually held on December 11 or the closest weekend.)
• Ben Jonson writes Poetaster
• William Shakespeare writes The Merry Wives of Windsor
• Persia and Spain conclude a defensive alliance and declare war on the Ottoman Empire
• In Praque, Florian Mathias performs the first successful bowel surgery – removes a dagger from stomach
• Jesuit missionary Jeronimo de Angeluin arrives in Japan
• A private trading company is established in Copenhagen, with the monopoly on the trade with Iceland.