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Nov 9, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. -
Nov 9, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Columbus led his three ships - the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria - out of the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492. His objective was to sail west until he reached Asia (the Indies) where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited. -
Nov 9, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait of a woman by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about -
Nov 8, 1516
Thomas More’s Utopia is published
Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More in latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs -
Nov 9, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Henry's demand for a male heir led him to marry six different women. Two of them he beheaded. -
Nov 9, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
She was a princess but declared illegitimate through political machinations. She eventually claimed the throne at the age of 25 and held it for 44 years. Was know as "the virgin Queen". -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist -
Globe Theatre is built in London
Globe Theatre, famous London theatre in which after 1599 the plays of William Shakespeare were performed. -
1605-1606 Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequests to two of his three daughters. Macbeth dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
The settlement was located within the country of Tsenacommacah, which was administered by the Powhatan Confederacy, and specifically in that of the Paspahegh tribe -
Shakespeare’s sonnets are published
Shakespeare's Sonnets is the title of a collection of 154 sonnets by William Shakespeare, which covers themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. He addresses the first 126 sonnets to a young man; the last 28 to a woman. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Version of the Bible was authorized by King James in order to have as accurate a translation as possible, which could be printed and widely circulated. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
In the landmark Mayflower Compact of 1620, the Pilgrims decided that they would rule themselves, based on majority rule of the townsmen. -
Newspapers are first published in London
Thomas Archer, a printer in London, was arrested for distributing corantos without a license, and his printing press was shut down. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
Under invitation by leaders of the English Commonwealth, Charles II, the exiled king of England, lands at Dover, England, to assume the throne and end 11 years of military rule.
