is one of the last times that slings are used in European warfare. Supernova SN 1572 is first observed in the constellation Cassiopeia, by Cornelius Gemma. Tycho Brahe, who notes it two days later, will use it to challenge the prevailing view that stars do not change. The supernova remnant remains visible through 1574. December – The Siege of Haarlem is begun by the Duke of Alva, Spanish commander in the Netherlands. Date unknown The Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, Peru, the last independent remnant of the Inca Empire, is conquered by Spain. Girolamo Mercuriale from Forlì (Italy) writes the work ("On the diseases of the skin"), the first scientific tract on dermatology. Imaginary numbers are defined by Rafael Bombelli. Portugal's national epic Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões is first published. Georg Braun begins publication of his urban atlas, Civitates orbis terrarum, in Cologne. Births January 7 – Antoine de Gaudier, French Jesuit writer (d. 1622) January 11 – Elizabeth Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, English countess (d. 1655) January 22 – John Donne (d. 1631) February 1 – Ellen Marsvin, Danish noble, landowner and county administrator (d. 1649) February 14 – William Cooke, English politician (d. 1619) February 27 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632) February 29 – Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon, English viscount (d. 1638) March 4 – István Esterházy, Hungarian noble (d. 1596) March 10 – Tommaso Caracciolo, Field Marshal of Spanish forces in the Thirty Years' War (d. 1631) March 20 – Otto III, Duke of Brunswick-Harburg (d. 1641) April 4 – William Strachey, English writer (d. 1621) April 14 – Adam Tanner, Austrian Jesuit professor of mathematics and philosophy (d. 1632) May 20 – John Davenant, English Anglican bishop (d. 1641) May 25 – Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, German musician (d. 1632) June 8 – Honorat de Porchères Laugier, French writer (d. 1653) June 10 – Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera, Lord of Gera, Lobenstein and Oberkranichfeld (1572–1635) (d. 1635) June 11 – Ben Jonson, English dramatist (d. 1637) July 16 – Teimuraz I, Prince of Mukhrani, Georgian prince (d. 1625) July 25 – Theodorus Schrevelius, Dutch Golden Age writer and poet (d. 1649) August 6 – Fakhr-al-Din II, Ottoman Emir of Chouf (d. 1635) September 11 – Daniyal, Imperial Prince of the Royal House of Timur, Viceroy of Deccan (d. 1604) September 27 – Francis van Aarssens, Dutch diplomat (d. 1641) September