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Jan 6, 1485
Richard lll is killed in battle
Richard was struck down in this conflict, making him the last English king to die in battle on home soil since Harold II was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. -
Jan 6, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Though Columbus was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas (having been preceded by the Norse expedition led by Leif Ericson in the 11th century[3]), his 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. -
Jan 6, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
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 6, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. -
Jan 6, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry Vlll proclaims himself head of Church of England
The Act of Supremacy was an Act of the Parliament of England under King Henry VIII declaring that he was "the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England" -
Jan 6, 1558
Elizabeth l becomes queen of England
Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, the childless Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. -
Jan 6, 1564
William Shakespeare, 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
Built in 1599 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. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site and closed in 1642. -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
1605-1606
The tragedy of King Lear is particularly noted for its probing observations on the nature of human suffering and kinship.
Macbeth is considered one of his darkest and most powerful works. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
Late in the 19th century, Jamestown became the focus of renewed historical interest and efforts at preservation. In 1893, a portion of the island was donated to Preservation Virginia (formerly known as The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) for that purpose. -
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. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Version (KJV), commonly known as the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Bible (KJB), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
The Plymouth Rock had sat at the foot of Cole's Hill from generation to generation until the century after the Pilgrims' landing in 1620. -
Newpapers are first published in London
When the English started printing their own papers in London, they reverted to the pamphlet format used by contemporary books. The publication of these newsbooks was suspended between 1632 and 1638 by order of The Star Chamber. After they resumed publication, the era of these newsbooks lasted until the publication of the Oxford Gazette in 1665. -
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 ll
The Commonwealth, or Commonwealth of England, was the period from 1649 onwards when England, along later with Ireland and Scotland, was ruled as a republic following the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I.
