The terrible eruption of the Huaynaputina volcano, which occurred on February 19, 1600 in the central Andes, led in 1601–1603 to cold winters; for several years in a row the summers were rainy and harvests failed.
The Great Three-Year Famine and the frosty summer of 1604 marked the beginning of the period that in Russian history is called the "Time of Troubles." According to various historians, the Troubles lasted about 10–14 years. The state was rocked by uprisings, natural disasters, and wars with the Poles and the Swedes. All of this ultimately resulted in a severe economic and political crisis.
Until 1613, the Russian state was continually shaken, as if in a fever. The Troubles were remembered for a series of tsar assassinations (including Godunov himself, who died under suspicious circumstances), the emergence on the historical stage of several False Dmitrys, and enormous human and territorial losses for Russia.
In two wars, the state also lost vast territories—the coast of the Gulf of Finland (ceded to the Swedes, later recaptured by Peter I).
The economy of the huge country fell into complete decline. Arable land decreased twentyfold. Some accounts say that about 75% of the peasants died out, fled to bandit gangs, were killed in wars, or went missing. Russia took a long time to recover from the consequences of those events.
March 25 — founding of Tomsk. Boris Godunov sent the Cossack commander Gavrila Pisemsky from Surgut and the streltsy commander Vasily Tyrkov from Tobolsk with the task of founding a fortress on the bank of the Tom River, in Tatar land, in order to protect the river crossing.
August 25 — False Dmitry I, with an army of Polish and Ukrainian mercenaries, began a campaign on Moscow.
October 17 — German astronomer Johannes Kepler began observing the supernova (SN 1604), later named after him.
November 1 — William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was first performed at Whitehall Palace in London.