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Jan 26, 1485
1485 Richard III is killed in battle
On August 22, 1485, he lost his life in the Battle of Bosworth; he was defeated by Henry Tudor, who would later become King Henry VII. -
Jan 26, 1492
1492 Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
His first voyage into the Atlantic Ocean in 1476 nearly cost him his life. Columbus participated in several other expeditions to Africa. 1492, Columbus left Spain in the Santa Maria, with the Pinta and the Niña along side. He has been credited for opening up the Americas to European colonization. -
Jan 26, 1503
c. 1503 Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa [Credit: The Print Collection—Heritage-Images]
oil painting on a poplar wood panel by the Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most-famous painting. It was painted sometime between 1503 and 1506, when Leonardo was living in Florence, and it now hangs in the Louvre, in Paris, where it remains an object of pilgrimage in the 21st century. -
Jan 25, 1516
1516 Thomas More’s Utopia is published
First published in Louvain, Belgium, in 1516, Utopia was an immediate sensation. Set as a dialogue in Antwerp between More and a voyager returned from newly discovered lands, the complexity of the work ensured that it would have nearly as many interpretations as readers. Utopia broadly satirises European society for its short-sighted love of gain, its lack of Christian piety and charity, and its unreasonableness, and attacks injustices in the English criminal code. -
Jan 26, 1543
c. 1543 With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
The Act of Supremacy (1534) required an oath affirming Henry's headship of the Church and, with other acts preventing appeals to Rome and cutting off the flow of annates and Peter's Pence, completed the break. -
Jan 26, 1558
1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
In 1558, Elizabeth took the reins of her country after the death of her sister. She inherited a number of problems stirred up by Mary. The country was at war with France, which proved to be a tremendous drain on the royal coffers. -
Jan 25, 1564
1564 William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. From roughly 1594 onward he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men company of theatrical players. Written records give little indication of the way in which Shakespeare’s professional life molded his artistry. All that can be deduced is that over the course of 20 years, Shakespeare wrote plays that capture the complete range of human emotion and conflict. -
1599 Globe Theatre is built in London
The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre, The Theatre, which had been built by Richard Burbage's father, James Burbage, in Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbages originally had a 21-year lease of the site on which The Theatre was built but owned the building outright. -
1605-1606 Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
version of the play published in quarto in 1608 as M. William Shakspeare: His True Chronicle Historie of the life and death of King Lear and his three Daughters. With the unfortunate life of Edgar, sonne and heire to the Earle of Gloster, and his sullen and assumed humor of Tom of Bedlam. First Folio (1623), as The Tragedie of Macbeth. -
1607 First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
On May 14, 1607, a group of roughly 100 members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River. Famine, disease and conflict with local Native American tribes in the first two years brought Jamestown to the brink of failure before the arrival of a new group of settlers and supplies in 1610. -
1609 Shakespeare’s sonnets are published
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, likely composed over an extended period from 1592 to 1598. In 1609 Thomas Thorpe published Shakespeare's sonnets, no doubt without the author's permission, in quarto format, along with Shakespeare's long poem, The Passionate Pilgrim. The sonnets were dedicated to a W. H., whose identity remains a mystery, although William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke, is frequently suggested because Shakespeare's First Folio (1623) was also dedicated to him. -
1611 King James Bible is published
Examination of the 1611 King James Bible shows clearly that its translators were influenced much more by the Geneva Bible, than by any other source. The Geneva Bible itself retains over 90% of William Tyndale's original English translation. The Geneva in fact, remained more popular than the King James Version until decades after its original release in 1611! The Geneva holds the honor of being the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims. -
1620 The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
The 102 travellers aboard the Mayflower landed upon the shores of Plymouth in 1620. This rock still sits on those shores to commemorate the historic event. -
1621 Newspapers are first published in London
Corante: or, Newes from Italy, Germany, Hungarie, Spaine and FranceOffsite Link was published by the printer Nathaniel ButterOffsite Link in London. The earliest of the seven surviving copies is dated September 24, 1621, but it is thought that this single page news sheet began publication earlier in 1621. Corante was the first private newspaper published in English. As a result of a 1586 edict from the Star ChamberOffsite Link, it carried no news about England. -
c.1658 John Milton begins Paradise Lost
in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, -
1660 Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
In 1660, in what is known as the English Restoration, General George Monck met with Charles and arranged to restore him in exchange for a promise of amnesty and religious toleration for his former enemies. On May 25, 1660, Charles landed at Dover and four days later entered London in triumph.
