1498

January–December

• February - Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama reaches Malindi, in modern-day Kenya.
• March 2 - Vasco da Gama visits Quelimane and Mozambique, in southeastern Africa.
• May
• * John Cabot leaves Bristol on an expedition, never to be seen again.
• * The English Merchant Adventurers are granted a trade monopoly with the Netherlands.
• May 20 - Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut, India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa, thus discovering the maritime route to India. He finds a local Arab merchant who is able to interpret for him.
• May 23 - Girolamo Savonarola, ruler of Florence, is executed for criticizing the Pope.
• June - Niccolò Machiavelli is elected by the Great Council as the second chancellor of the Republic of Florence.
• Summer - The final Welsh revolt of the medieval era breaks out in Meirionnydd, North Wales; Harlech Castle is captured by the rebels before the revolt is suppressed.
• July 31 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit the island of Trinidad.
• August 1 - Columbus discovers the mouth of the Orinoco.
• August 4-12 - Columbus explores the Gulf of Paria.
• September 20 - 1498 Nankai earthquake off the coast of Japan.

  Date unknown

• João Fernandes Lavrador and Pedro Barcelos journey to Greenland; during their voyage, they discover the land which they name Labrador.
• The Wiener Hofmusikkapelle, a forerunner of the Vienna Boys' Choir, is founded by Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
• Probable date at which Leonardo da Vinci completes the painting The Last Supper, on the refectory wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

  Births

• January 31 - Tiberio Crispo
• February 4 - George I of Württemberg-Mömpelgard
• February 21 - Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland, English earl
• February 25 - Francesco of Saluzzo, Marquess of Saluzzo
• April 5 - Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Italian condottiero
• April 9 - Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine, French churchman
• June 1 - Maarten van Heemskerck, Dutch painter
• June 30 - Wilhelm von Brandenburg, Archbishop of Riga
• July 25 - Hernando de Aragón, Spanish Catholic archbishop
• August 23 - Miguel da Paz, Prince of Portugal
• August 24 - John, Hereditary Prince of Saxony, German prince
• November 1 - Giovanni Ricci, Italian cardinal
• November 15 - Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France
• November 30 - Andrés de Urdaneta, Spanish Friar
• December 1 - Giovanni Michele Saraceni, Italian Catholic cardinal
• December 19 - Andreas Osiander, German Protestant theologian
• date unknown
• * Giulio Clovio, Dalmatian miniaturist and illustrator
• * Anna of Masovia, Polish princess
• * Meera, Rajput princess
• * Sagara Taketō, Japanese retainer
• * Pier Paolo Vergerio, Italian religious reformer
• * Felix Manz, leader of the Swiss Anabaptists

  Deaths

• February 4 - Antonio del Pollaiolo, Italian painter
• April 7 - King Charles VIII of France
• May 23 - Girolamo Savonarola, Italian religious reformer and ruler of Florence
• June 7 - Anđeo Zvizdović, Bosnian Franciscan friar and evangelist
• August 17 - John Scrope, 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton, English baron
• August 23 - Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, eldest daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon
• September 14 - Giovanni il Popolano, Italian diplomat
• September 16 - Tomás de Torquemada, Spanish Dominican friar and first Grand Inquisitor
• December 7 - Alexander Hegius von Heek, German humanist
• December 19 - Jeanne de Laval, French noble
• date unknown
• * Tun Perak, Malay general and statesman
• * Domenico Rosselli, Italian sculptor
• probable - Johannes Martini, Flemish composer