Literary Events/ Political and Social Events

By Tessa Marin
  • Sep 27, 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 in England.
  • Sep 27, 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 of what b
  • Sep 27, 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.
  • Jan 1, 1516

    Thomas More's Utopia is published

    First published in 1516, Saint Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism.
  • Sep 27, 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

    Elizabeth I becomes queen of England

    Elizabeth was born September 7, 1533 and died March 24, 1603. She became Queen Novenber 17, 1558.
  • Apr 26, 1564

    William Shakespheare, the Bard of Avon, is born

    William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".

  • Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth 1605-1606

    King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The Tragedy of Macbeth (commonly called Macbeth) is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies.

  • 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 SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS.: Never before imprinted. (although sonnets 138 and 144 had previously been published in the 1599 miscellany The Passionate Pilgrim).

  • king james bible is published

    First printed 400 years ago, it molded the English language, buttressed the “powers that be”—one of its famous phrases—and yet enshrined a gospel of individual freedom. No other book has given more to the English-speaking world.

  • The Mayflower lands at Plymouth 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.

  • Newspapers are first published in London

    In the beginning of the 17th century the right to print was strictly controlled in England. This was probably the reason why the first newspaper in English language was printed in Amsterdam by Joris Veseler around 1620.

  • John Milton begins Paradise Lost

    Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.