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Aug 22, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
richard was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field -
Sep 26, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus (Italian: Cristoforo Colombo; Spanish: Cristóbal Colón; before 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy.[2][3][4][5] 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. -
Jan 1, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
Historians agree that Leonardo commenced the painting of Mona Lisa in 1503, working on it for approximately four years and keeping it himself for some years after. Supposedly this was because Mona Lisa was Leonardo's favourite painting and he was loathe to part with it, however it may also have been because the painting was unfinished. -
Sep 26, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
More coined the word "utopia" – a name he gave to the ideal and imaginary island nation, the political system of which he described in Utopia, published in 1516. He opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church and refused to accept the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England, a title which had been given by parliament through the Act of Supremacy of 1534. -
Apr 21, 1543
Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) 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 was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII. -
Sep 26, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth was the first-born child of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife. In 1536, while Elizabeth was 2 years old, her mother was executed due in large part to her inability to bear Henry a son. -
Apr 26, 1564
William Shakespeare, Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616)[nb 1] was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist -
Globe Theatre is built in London
It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.[4] A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642.[5] -
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.
Macbeth is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. -
First English settlement in America Jameston, Virginia
Jamestown[1] was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 (O.S., May 24, 1607 N.S.),[2] it followed several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jamestown served as the capital of the colony for 83 years (from 1616 until 1699). -
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. -
King James Bible is published
King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611.[3] First printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker,[4][5] this was the third official translation into English. The first was the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second was the Bishop's Bible of 1568 -
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. There are no contemporaneous references to the Pilgrims' landing on a rock at Plymouth. -
Newspapers are first published in London
1621 In London, the newspaper Corante is published and was founded by Samuel Buckley. -
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; monarch is restored with Charles II
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. 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
