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Aug 22, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last He is king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. He is the subject of an eponymous play by William Shakespeare. -
Jan 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches America
Columbus was not the first to 'discover' or even 'explore' the Americas. However, he was the first to create extended interest in the Americas and make it a centerpiece of colonization efforts by first the Spanish and then the French and the English -
Jan 1, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The painting is a half-length portrait of a woman by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world." -
Jan 1, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism. Through the voice of the mysterious traveller Raphael Hythloday, More describes a pagan, communist city-state governed by reason. -
Jan 1, 1543
Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Henry VIII is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry's struggles with Rome led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England -
Nov 17, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
One of her first moves as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. Sometimes called "The Virgin Queen", "Gloriana", or "Good Queen Bess", Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty -
Apr 26, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William is an english poet and playwright, widely regarded as 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 in Lodon
The Theatre was the most magnificent theater that London had ever seen and built in 1597 -1598.This theatre could hold several thousand people! The Globe Theatre didn’t just show plays. It was also reputed to be a brothel and gambling house. It was situated on the South bank of the river Thames in Southwark. -
Shakespeare writres King Lear and Macbeth
The play, King Lear, is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king. It has been widely adapted for the stage and motion pictures. Macbeth was the play that dramatizes the corroding psychological and political effects produced when its protagonist, the Scottish lord Macbeth, chooses evil as the way to fulfill his ambition for power. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established
Jamestown was the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America. Named for King James I of England. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
The sonnets being published in 1609, no doubt without authorization, by the unsavory Thomas Thorpe, described as "a publishing understrapper of piratical habits" who "hung about scriveners' shops"; in order to pinch manuscripts. -
King James Bible is published
This bible was England's authorized version of the Bible translated from the original Hebrew and Greek languages into English at the request of King James I of England. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymoth Rock, Massachusetts
It is an important symbol in American history. There are no contemporaneous references to the Pilgrims' landing on a rock at Plymouth, and it is not referred to in Edward Winslow's Mourt's Relation.The first written reference to the Pilgrims landing on a rock is found 121 years after they landed. -
Newspapers are first published in London
London claims to be the oldest surviving English newspaper and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the UK -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
This is an epic poem written in blank verse, telling the story of Satan and his expulsion from heaven, and his temptation of Adam and Eve, and their being cast out of the Garden of Eden. Milton writes in the style of a Greek dramatist, reworking a story already familiar to his audience but adding a new twist. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored
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.