1451
| Years: 1448 1449 1450 - 1451 - 1452 1453 1454 | |
| Decades: 1420s 1430s 1440s - 1450s - 1460s 1470s 1480s | |
| Centuries: 14th century - 15th century - 16th century | |
- April 11 - Celje acquires market-town status and town rights by orders from the Celje count Frederic II.
- June 30 - French troops under the Comte de Dunois invade Guyenne and capture Bordeaux
- August 20 - The French capture Bayonne, the last English stronghold in Guyenne
- Mehmed II succeeds Murad II as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
- Foundation of the University of Glasgow
- Nicholas of Cusa invents concave lens spectacles to treat myopia
- Roger van der Weyden paints his Last Judgement
- April 22 - Princess Isabella of Castile, later Queen of Castile.
- October 30 (or another late-summer/early-fall date) - Christopher Columbus as "Cristoforo Colombo," in the independent Italian republic of Genoa. Another possible date is the Feast Day of St. Christopher, July 25
- John Cabot (probable date)
- Ludovico Sforza ruler of Milan
- Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset