The Houghton line can be traced for 18 generations in England, going back as far as William the Conqueror, but it is unknown exactly how John is tied to this family. It is also unknown if John (1624-1684) and Ralph Houghton (born 1623 or 1625) who also came to New England, were cousins or brothers. John's parents may have been Thomas\Henry (?1540-1589) and Anne Keighley (?1540-1624) of Keighley, England.

Historical
1573: Spain, Netherlands - Siege of Haarlem, after heavy losses on both sides, the Spanish gain a victory
1574: Netherlands, Spain - After a siege of four months the Siege of Leiden ends in a comprehensive Dutch victory
1574: Spain, Netherlands - In the Eighty Years War the capital of Zeeland, Middelburg declares for the Protestants
1575: Japan - Oda Nobunaga finally captures Nagashima fortress in Japan
1576: Spain, Netherlands - Sack of Antwerp by badly paid Spanish soldiers
1577-1580: globe - Francis Drake circles the world
1578: Netherlands, Spain - Battle of Alcazarquivir, King Sebastian of Portugal is killed
1579: Netherlands, Spain - The Union of Arras unifies the southern Netherlands, a foundation for the later states of the Spanish Netherlands, the Austrian Netherlands and Belgium
1579: Netherlands - The Union of Utrecht unifies the northern Netherlands, a foundation for the later Dutch Republic
1580: Netherlands, Spain - Royal reception after his attacks on Spanish possessions, influences Philip II of Spain to build up the Spanish Armada, English ships in Spanish harbours are Impounded
1580: Spain, Portugal - Spain unifies with Portugal under Philip II, the struggle for the throne of Portugal ends the Portuguese Empire, the Spanish and Portuguese crowns are united for 60 years, ie until 1640
1582: Italy - Pope Gregory XIII Issues the Gregorian calendar, It took several centuries before being adoped by most all non-Catholic countries but It is still in use world wide today
1582: Russia - Yermak Timofeyevich conquers the Siberia Khanate on behalf of the Stroganovs
1584-1585: Netherlands - After the Siege of Antwerp, many of Its merchants flee to Amsterdam
1585-1604: Spain, New World - The Anglo-Spanish War is fought on both sides of the Atlantic
1585: United States - in Roanoke, Virginia, the first English colony in America, is born the first white baby, Virginia Dare
1587: England - Queen Elizabeth authorizes the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, for allegedly plotting against her
1588: England, Spain - England (with help from the weather) defeats the Spanish Armada
1589: Spain, England - Spain repulses the English Armada
1590: United States - Roanoke, Virginia "disappears", becoming "The Lost Colony"
1591: Morocco, Mali - In Mali, Moroccan forces of the Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur led by Judar Pasha defeat the Songhai Empire at the Battle of Tondibi
1591: Poland, Russia - Gazi Giray leads a huge Tatar/Tartar expedition against Moscow
1592-1593: England - John Stow reports 10,675 plague deaths in London, a city of approximately 200,000 people
1592-1598: Korea, China, Japan - Korea, with the help of Ming Dynasty China, repels two Japanese Invasions
1593-1606: Austria, Turkey - The Long War between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Turks
1598-1613: Russia - Russia descends into anarchy during the Time of Troubles
1598: France - The Edict of Nantes (one of the coolest names ever!) ends the French Wars of Religion
1600: Italy - Giordano Bruno is burned at the stake for heresy in Rome
1600: Japan - Battle of Sekigahara in Japan, end of the Warring States period and beginning of the Edo period
1601-1603: Russia - The Russian famine of 1601-1603 kills perhaps a third of Russia
1601: Ireland - Battle of Kinsale, one of the most Important battles in Irish history, fought
1601: Romania, Austria - Michael the Brave (first unificator of Romania), voivode of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, is assassinated by the order of the Habsburg general Giorgio Basta at Campia TurzII
1602: Netherlands - Dutch East India Company founded, Its success contributes to the Dutch Golden Age
1603-1623: Iran, Turkey, Portugal - After modernizing his army, Abbas I expands the Persian Empire by capturing territory from the Ottomans and the Portuguese
1603: England, Scotland - Elizabeth I of England dies and is succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England
1603: Japan - Tokugawa Ieyasu seizes control of Japan and establishes the Tokugawa Shogunate which rules the country until 1868
1605: England - Gunpowder Plot failed in England
1605: Turkey, Hungary - The fortresses of Veszprem en Visegrad in Hungary are retaken by the Ottomans
1606: Netherlands, Australia - Captain Willem Janszoon and his crew aboard the Dutch East India Company ship Duyfken becomes the first recorded Europeans to sight and make landfall in Australia
1606: Turkey, Austria - The Long War between the Ottoman Empire and Austria is ended with the Peace of Zsitvatorok
1607: Ireland - Flight of the Earls (the fleeing of most of the native Gaelic aristocracy) occurs from County Donegal in the west of Ulster in Ireland
1607: United States - Jamestown, Virginia, is settled as what would become the first permanent English colony in North America
1608: Canada - Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain in New France (present-day Canada)
1609: Germany - Maximilian of Bavaria establishes the Catholic League
1609: Netherlands, Spain - The Netherlands and Spain agree to a Twelve Years Truce in the Eighty Years War
1609: United States - Pedro de Peralta, a later governor of New Mexico, establishes the settlement of Santa Fe
1610: France - King Henry IV of France is assassinated and is succeeded by his nine year old son, King Louis XIII who rules until 1643
1610: Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden - Battle of Klushino, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth army defeats combined Russian-Swedish forces and conquers Moscow
1612: England - King James version of the Bible is published
1613-1617: Poland, Lithuania - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is Invaded by the Tatars (or Tartars) dozens of times
1613: Russia - The Time of Troubles in Russia ends with the establishment of the House of Romanov which rules until 1917
1613: United States - Pochahontas marries John Rolfe
1616: England - William Shakespeare dies
1616: Spain - The last remaining Moriscos (Moors who had nominally converted to Christianity) in the Spain are expelled
1618-1638: Germany - The Bohemian Revolt precipitates the Thirty Years War which devastates Europe in the years 1618-1648
1618: China - The Manchus start Invading China, their conquest eventually topples the Ming Dynasty
1618: Romania - Bethlen Gabor, Prince of Transylvania, joins Protestant Rebels