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Jan 1, 1485
RIchard III is killed in battle.
Richard III was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty -
Jan 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus reacges the Americas.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer, citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean -
Jan 1, 1503
Leonardo de Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer -
Jan 1, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published.
Sir Thomas More, venerated by Roman Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. -
Jan 1, 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 assumed the Kingship, of Ireland, and continued the nominal claim by English monarchs to the Kingdom of France. -
Jan 1, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England.
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, the childless Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. -
Jan 1, 1564
William Shakespaere, 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.
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, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son. -
Shakespeare writes Kng Lear and Macbeth.
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The titular character descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all.
Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, and is considered one of his darkest and most powerful works. Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfill the ambition for power. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
Some 100 English colonists arrive along the west bank of the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. -
Shakespeares sonnents 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 Shakespeares Sonnents. -
King James Bible is published.
The King James Version, commonly known as the Authorized Version or King James Bible, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachussetts..
The Mayflower was the ship that transported mostly English Puritans and Separatists, collectively known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth in England to the New World. -
Newspapers are first published in London.
The Daily Courant, first published on 11 March 1702, was the first British daily newspaper. It was produced by Elizabeth Mallet at her premises next to the Kings Arms tavern at Fleet Bridge in London. -
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.
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War.
