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1485
Richard lll is killed in battle.
Richard III was King of England from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. -
1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Columbus left Spain with three ships, and after a stopover in the Canary Islands made landfall in the Americas.His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani; its exact location is uncertain. -
1503
Leonardo Da Vinci Paints he "Mona Lisa."
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci that has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world". -
1516
Thomas More's "Utopia," is published.
Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535) published in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries. -
1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry Vlll proclaims himself as head of Church of England.
Henry VIII was King of England. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII. He appointed himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated. Henry is also known as "the father of the Royal Navy"; he invested heavily in the Navy, increasing its size greatly from a few to more than 50 ships. -
1558
Elizabeth l becomes Queen of England.
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. -
1564
William Shakespeare, The Bard of Avon, Is Born.
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both 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". Some of his works, include approximately 39 plays, and 154 sonnets. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. -
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, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site and closed by an Ordinance issued. -
Period: to
Shakespeare Writes "King Lear," and "Macbeth."
King Lear is a tragedy depicting the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom by giving bequests to two of his three daughters egged on by their continual flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. Macbeth is a tragedy dramatizing the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. -
First English settlement in North America.
After unsuccessful attempts to establish settlements in Newfoundland and at Roanoke, the famous "Lost Colony," off the coast of present-day North Carolina, England established its first permanent North American settlement, Jamestown. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published.
Shakespeare's sonnets are poems that William Shakespeare wrote on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare’s sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609; however there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote and included in the plays Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and Love's Labour's Lost. -
King James Bible is published.
The books of the King James Version include the 39 books of the Old Testament, an intertestamental section containing 14 books of the Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts.
The Mayflower was an English ship that famously transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth, England, to the New World. There were 102 passengers, and the crew is estimated to have been about 30, but the exact number is unknown. The ship has become a cultural icon in the history of the United States. -
Newspapers first published in London
William Caxton had introduced the first English printing press in 1476 and, by the early 16th century, the first 'news papers' were seen in Britain. They were, however, slow to evolve, with the largely illiterate population relying on town criers for news. The first regular English daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, was launched with the reign of Queen Anne in 1702. -
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, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time.
