The Mayflower, with 102 passengers, among them about 40 Separatists seeking freedom of worship, reached Cape Cod in November 1620, after 66 days at sea, instead of the planned destination of Virginia. Before going ashore, the adult male passengers signed the Mayflower Compact on 11 November (Old Style), an agreement to make laws for the common good by consent. They settled at Plymouth, where half of them died during the first winter, helped in spring by the Wampanoag, including Squanto and Massasoit. The 1621 harvest feast is the origin of the American Thanksgiving tradition.
Before and after
- from 1620 to 1621Polish–Ottoman War of 1620–1621
- 1620Construction of Luxembourg Palace
- from 30 August 1620 to 27 August 1623Palatinate campaign
- from 17 September 1620 to 7 October 1620Battle of Cecora
- November 1620The Mayflower lands the Pilgrims
- from 2 September 1621 to 9 October 1621Battle of Khotyn
- 1622Publication of Othello
- 15 January 1622Birth of Molière
- 1623Publication of Macbeth
More in Wars, politics & history
- 25 September 1555Peace of Augsburg
- from 1683 to 1699Great Turkish War
- from September 1688 to September 1697Nine Years' War
- 26 January 1699Treaty of Karlowitz
- 1713Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
- from 28 May 1754 to 7 October 1763French and Indian War
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 17th century.