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Oct 1, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
He was the King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. -
Oct 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
He completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the Spanish colonization of the New World. -
Oct 1, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The painting, thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, is in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. -
Sep 30, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia was published
The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. -
Oct 1, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
was responsible for the English Catholic church breaking away from the authority of the Roman Catholic Church after the Pope excommunicated Henry in 1533 over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. -
Oct 1, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. -
Sep 30, 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
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
- Macbeth is set mainly in Scotland, the play illustrates the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.
- King Lear is a tragedy play. It depicts the descent into madness of the title character after he disposes of his kingdom between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all.
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First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.1605-1606
begins the American frontier -
Shakespeare’s sonnets are published
Shakespeare's Sonnets is the title of a collection of 154 sonnets. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Version, also known as the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Bible (KJB), 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, Massachusetts
Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. -
Newspapers are first published in London
They followed the style established by Veseler's earlier Dutch paper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. However, when the English started printing their own papers in London, they reverted to the pamphlet format used by contemporary books. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
- Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse
- The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification.
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Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy 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.
