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Feb 6, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field. -
Feb 6, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Columbus' voyages led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of European exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for several centuries -
Feb 6, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
"the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world." -
Feb 6, 1516
Thomas More’s Utopia is published
Utopia is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. -
Feb 6, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Henry's struggles with Rome led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and his own establishment as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. -
Feb 6, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born into the royal succession, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half years after her birth, with Anne's marriage to Henry VIII being annulled, and Elizabeth hence declared illegitimate -
Feb 6, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
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
Built by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. -
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Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
The title character in King Lear descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. Set in Scotland, Macbeth dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfil the ambition for power. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 24, 1607 and considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610, it followed several earlier failed attempts -
Shakespeare’s sonnets are published
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. -
King James Bible is published
English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
The Mayflower was the Pilgrim ship that in 1620 made the historic voyage from England to the New World. The ship carried 102 passengers in two core groups – religious Separatists coming from Holland and a largely non-religious settler group from London. -
Newspapers are first published in London
In the beginning of the 17th century, the right to print was strictly controlled in England. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
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
The term Restoration is used to describe both the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and the period of several years afterwards in which a new political settlement was established.It is very often used to cover the whole reign of Charles II and often the brief reign of his younger brother James II.
