Dutch Whaling Peaks off Spitsbergen
1644
Dutch whaling fleets processing bowhead whales on the icy shores of Spitsbergen reached a peak of two hundred ships and eighteen thousand men. Whale oil lit European cities, lubricated wool combs, and softened leather. The industrialized hunting of marine mammals had its first boom, and its first signs of overexploitation.
In context
Also in 1644 (4 other events on record)
- Ming Dynasty Falls · East Asia · Politics
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Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Politics
Era
Renaissance (1501–1650), one of 715 events from that era on Saeculum.