January 8 – Royal Netherlands Navy is formed by decree of Maximillian of Austria.
February 3 – Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, becoming the first known European to travel this far south and entering the Indian Ocean.
February 28 – Choe Bu (1454–1504), the Korean Commissioner of Registers for the island of Cheju, shipwrecks on the southeast coast of China in Taizhou, Zhejiang, during the Ming dynasty. From then until July 12 he and his crew are hosted by Chinese military courier officers to travel along the Grand Canal of China, all the way to Beijing, and then finally back across the Yalu River into Korea. His written commentary on Chinese customs, foreign and domestic trade, and transport in places such as Hangzhou and Suzhou are valuable records of Ming era culture and commerce.
June 11 – Battle of Sauchieburn leads to James IV of Scotland becoming king.
July 28 – Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier: Troops loyal to King Charles VIII of France defeat rebel forces led by the Dukes of Orleans and Brittany in the main engagement of the Mad War.
September 9 – Anne of Brittany becomes Duchess of Brittany at the age of 11. Her marriage to King Charles VIII in 1491 effectively ends Breton independence from France.
Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, takes possession of Cardiff Castle.
Michelangelo Buonarroti becomes apprentice to Domenico Ghirlandaio.
The city of Bikaner in western India is founded by Rao Bika.
Rathbornes Candles established in Dublin; the company will still be trading into the 21st century.
January 6 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German Latin poet (d. 1540)
January 20
John George, Marquess of Montferrat, Italian noble (d. 1533)
Sebastian Münster, German scholar, cartographer, and cosmographer (d. 1552)
March 19 – Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden (d. 1544)
April 16 – Jungjong of Joseon (d. 1544)
April 21 – Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer (d. 1523)
May 1 – Sidonie of Bavaria, eldest daughter of Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich (d. 1505)
May 5 – Lê Uy Mục, Eighth king of the later Lê dynasty of Vietnam (d. 1509)
May 7 – John III of the Palatinate, Administrator of the Bishopric of Regensburg (d. 1538)
June – Heinrich Glarean, Swiss music theorist (d. 1563)
June 29 – Pedro Pacheco de Villena, Catholic cardinal (d. 1560)
July 15 – Juan Álvarez de Toledo, Catholic cardinal (d. 1557)
October 17 – Ursula of Brandenburg, Duchess consort of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1510)
December 1 – Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg, Countess of Wied, German noblewoman (d. 1559)
December 15 – Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria (d. 1550)
date unknown
Rabbi Yosef Karo, Jewish scholar (d. 1575)
Oswald Myconius, Swiss religious reformer (d. 1552)
Jan Tarnowski, Polish nobleman (d. 1561)
Thomas of Villanova, Spanish bishop (d. 1555)
Gustav Trolle, Archbishop of Uppsala (d. 1533)
probable
Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Lord Chancellor of England (d. 1544)
Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier (d. 1525)
Myles Coverdale, English Bible translator (d. 1568)
Lütfi Pasha, Ottoman statesman (d. 1564)
April 14 – Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola and Forli (b. 1443)
June 11 – King James III of Scotland (b. c. 1451)
July 18 – Alvise Cadamosto, Italian explorer (b. 1432)
July 28 – Edward Woodville, Lord Scales (at the Battle of St. Aubin-du-Cormier)
September 9 – Francis II, Duke of Brittany (fell from a horse) (b. 1433)
September 13 – Charles II, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1434)
October 10 – Andrea del Verrocchio, Italian sculptor (b. c. 1435)
date unknown
John II, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1426)
Iizasa Ienao, Japanese swordsman (b. c. 1387)
1488 Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
