The year 1560 in science and technology included a number of events, some of which are listed here.

• The first scientific society, the Academia Secretorum Naturae, is founded in Naples by Giambattista della Porta.^[1][2][3]

• August 21 – A total solar eclipse is observable in Europe.

• The Old Botanical Garden, Zurich, originates as Conrad Gessner's private herbarium.

• January 17 – Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (died 1624)
• June 25 – Wilhelm Fabry, German surgeon (died 1634)
• undated – Charles Butler, English beekeeper (died 1647)
• approx date
  • Thomas Harriot, English ethnographer, astronomer and mathematician (died 1621)
  • Hugh Myddelton, Welsh-born goldsmith and hydraulic engineer (died 1631)

• William Shakespeare's grandfather; Richard Shakespeare died from natural causes, on 23 April.
• November 15 − Domingo de Soto, Spanish priest and philosopher.