1494 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

• January 25 - Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
• May 3 - Christopher Columbus first spots Jamaica.
• May 31 - Natives of the island of Tenerife, known as Guanches, defeat invading Spanish forces at the First Battle of Acentejo.
• June 7 - Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the two countries.
• October 22 - Ludovico Sforza becomes Duke of Milan.

Unknown dates

• Start of the Italian Wars.
• The University of Aberdeen is founded by the bishop of Aberdeen.
• Amda Seyon II succeeds his father Eskender as Emperor of Ethiopia.
• Oktoih, the first book produced in Serbian language in Cetinje.
• Na'od succeeds his nephew Amda Seyon II as Emperor of Ethiopia.
• Aztec forces conquer and sack Mitla.

Births

• February 2 - Bona Sforza, queen of Sigismund I of Poland (died 1557)
• April 20 - Johannes Agricola, German protestant reformer (died 1566)
• May 24 - Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
• September 5 - Hans Sachs, German Meistersinger (died 1576)
• September 12 - King Francis I of France (died 1547)
• November 6 - Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan (died 1566)
• Purandara Dasa, Indian poet and composer (died 1564)
• Saito Dosan, Japanese warlord (died 1556)
• John Sutton, 3rd Baron Dudley (died 1554)
• Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Spanish philosopher and theologian (died 1573)
• Ambrosius Holbein, German painter (died 1519)
• Lucas van Leyden, Dutch engraver and painter (died 1533)
• Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, Spanish explorer and cartographer (died 1519)
• Hans Tausen, Danish religious reformer (died 1561)
• Qiu Ying, Chinese painter (died 1552)

Deaths

• January 11 - Domenico Ghirlandaio, Italian artist (born 1449)
• January 25 - King Ferdinand I of Naples (born 1423)
• September 24 - Poliziano, Italian humanist (born 1454)
• November 17 - Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian humanist (born 1463)
• December 20 - Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet
• Eskender, Emperor of Ethiopia (born 1472)
• Amda Seyon II, Emperor of Ethiopia
• Hans Memling, Flemish painter

1494

1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494년 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494 | 1494年