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1485
Richard lll is killed in battle
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death at 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 Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. -
1492
Columbus reaches the Americas
A Spanish-based transatlantic maritime expedition led by Christopher Columbus encountered the Americas, continents which were largely unknown in Europe and were outside the Old World political and economic system. The four voyages of Columbus began the Spanish colonization of the Americas. -
1503
Da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The “Gioconda” or Mona Lisa, probably the most famous portrait in the world, was painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1514 and is on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris. ... He locked himself in a storeroom overnight and left the museum next morning with the painting under his coat. -
1516
Utopia by Thomas More is publsihed.
Utopia is a work of fiction and social-political satire.The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries. -
1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry Vll proclaims himself head of Church of England
The Act of Supremacy of 1534 confirmed the King's status as having supremacy over the church and required the nobility to swear an oath recognizing Henry's supremacy. By 1536, Henry had broken with Rome, seized the church's assets in England and declared the Church of England as the established church with himself as its head. -
1558
Elizabeth l becomes the queen of England
Elizabeth l was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death on 24 March 1603. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. -
1564
William Shakespeare, The Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both 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" -
Globe Theatre is built
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. -
Period: to
Shakespeare's Writings
In this time span Shakespeare wrote King Lear and Macbeth.King Lear is a tragedy. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom by giving bequests to two of his three daughters egged on by their continual flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. Macbeth is also a tragedy. It dramatizes 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
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.It sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world. -
Sonnets are Published
Shakespeare's sonnets are poems that William Shakespeare wrote on a variety of themes. 154 sonnets were published. Among those were, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and Love's Labour's Lost. -
King James Bible is published
Precisely 451 years after the June 19, 1566, birth of King James I of England, one achievement of his reign still stands above the rest: the 1611 English translation of the Old and New Testaments that bears his name. -
The Mayflower Lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
Mayflower set sail from England in July 1620, but it had to turn back twice because Speedwell, the ship it was traveling with, leaked. After deciding to leave the leaky Speedwell behind, Mayflower finally got underway on September 6, 1620. -
Newspapers are First Published
"Corante" is published in London. The earliest of the seven known surviving copies is dated 24 September 1621, and the latest is dated 22 October that year. Corante was the first private newspaper published in English. As a result of a 1586 edict from the Star Chamber Offsite Link, it carried no news about England. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse. The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men". -
Puritan Commonwealth Ends, Monarchy is restored with Charles ll
The Commonwealth was the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were ruled as a republic following the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I.
