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Sep 27, 1485
1485 Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field was the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses and is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages. -
Sep 27, 1492
1492 Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
was an explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the process of Spanish colonization, which foreshadowed the general European colonization -
Sep 27, 1503
c.1503 Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait of a woman by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world. -
Sep 26, 1516
1516 Thomas More's Utopia is published
is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More published in 1516. English translations of the title include A Truly Golden Little Book, No Less Beneficial Than Entertaining, of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia (literal) and A Fruitful and Pleasant Work of the Best State of a Public Weal, and of the New Isle Called Utopia (traditional). The book, written in Latin, is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society an -
Sep 27, 1543
c.1543 With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France. Henry VIII is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. -
Sep 27, 1558
1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth was born September 7, 1533 and died March 24, 1603. She became Queen Novenber 17, 1558. -
Sep 26, 1564
1564 William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
Strictly speaking, a bard is an exalted national poet, and the "Bard of Avon" remains for millions the greatest English playwright and poet of all time, penning 37 plays and 126 sonnets. Some scholars believe he was incapable of writing the majestic prose and poetry, arguing Christopher Marlowe, Sir Francis Bacon or even good Queen Bess herself penned the plays and poems. -
1599 Globe Theatre is built in London
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. -
1605-1606 Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
The sympathetic nature of a protagonist in a Shakespearean Tragedy exposes itself through a character whose humanity readers sympathize with. Sympathetic characters are characters whose flaws and shortcomings the reader can relate to. They are characters who make mistakes or immoral decisions but who also have some redeemable quality which presents itself in a way which gives the reader the opportunity to believe that the characters' moralities are somewhat intact and accessible. -
1607 First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown Settlement is a name used by the Commonwealth of Virginia's portion of the historical sites and museums at Jamestown. Jamestown was the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America.Named for King James I of England, Jamestown was founded in the Colony of Virginia on May 14, 1607. -
1609 Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare's sonnets are a collection of 154 sonnets, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality, first published in a 1609 quarto entitled shakespeare's sonnets Never before imprinted. (although sonnets 138 and 144 had previously been published in the 1599 miscellany The Passionate Pilgrim). The quarto ends with "A Lover's Complaint", a narrative poem of 47 seven-line stanzas written in rhyme royal. -
1611 King James Bible is published
The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible, AV, KJB, or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. First printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker, this was the third official translation into English. The first was the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second was the Bishop's Bible of 1568. -
1620 The Mayflower lands at Plymoth Rock, Massachusetts
Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. It is an important symbol in American history. The Rock, or one traditionally identified as it, has long been memorialized on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts. -
1621 Newspapers are first published in London
52 London papers and over 100 other titles. As stamp, paper and other duties were progressively reduced from the 1830s onwards (all duties on newspapers were gone by 1855) there was a massive growth in overall circulation as major events and improved communications developed the public's need for information. The Daily Universal Register began life in 1785 -
c.1658 John Milton begins Paradise Lost
It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, changed into twelve books (in the manner of the division of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification -
1660 Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. After the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I, the republic's existence was initially declared by "An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth" adopted by the Rump Parliament, on 19 May 1649.
