Tulip mania
A single tulip bulb costs more than a decade of wages
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In the winter of 1636–37 the Dutch traded tulip bulbs still in the ground through contracts signed in taverns, and prices for rare varieties soared. In February 1637 the market collapsed within days — though modern historians doubt it ruined many people.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 17th century
Did you know
In 1637 a single tulip bulb could cost more than ten years of a skilled craftsman's wages. That was the peak of Dutch tulip mania — the market crashed that same February. Share →
The word "tulip" comes from "turban". The flower reached Europe from the Ottoman Empire, its name from a Persian word for turban — and the Ottomans had their own Tulip Period some 80 years after the Dutch mania. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1612 Minin and Pozharsky liberate Moscow — 25 years earlier
- 1613 Election of Michael Romanov as Tsar — 24 years earlier
- 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement — 17 years later
Africa
- 1624–1663 Nzinga becomes Queen of Ndongo — 13 years earlier
- 1662 Last sighting of the dodo — 25 years later
Asia
- 1632–1653 Building of the Taj Mahal — 5 years earlier
- 1644 Fall of the Ming, rise of the Qing — 7 years later
Alive at the time
- Galileo Galilei (aged 73)
- René Descartes (aged 41)
- Rembrandt (aged 31)
- Nur Jahan (aged 60)
- Ferdinand II (aged 59)
- Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba (aged 54)
- Shah Jahan (aged 45)
- Michael I (aged 41)
- Oliver Cromwell (aged 38)
- Charles I (aged 37)