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Aug 22, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
On 22 August 1485, in marshy fields near the village of Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire, Richard III led the last charge of knights in English history. As Richard made a heroic charge against his enemy, his own ally orded his men to charge into the rear of Richards forces, cuting off his escape and eventaully ending his life. -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
With his three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the flagship, the Santa Maria, Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in an attempt to reach the lands of China and India, opening all kinds of trade routes. However, during his landing on what would later be named San Salvaldor, Christopher Columbus actually found the Americas. -
Jan 1, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
This famous painting, often thought to be a variety of people and gender still has some people wondering what she is smiling about. Is she a lover of da Vinci? Or is it a weird looking boy figure. Many today still spectulate who Mona Lisa truly is. -
Jan 1, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
In this book, Thomas More describes the "perfect" place to live, no war, no poverty, and there is peace everywhere. But one thing that More does not mention is travel restricions and uniforms that have to be worn at all times. There are alot of radical ideas involed in this book for its time. -
Jan 1, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Chruch of England
Henry clung to the papal authority for so long that Pope Leo X granted Henry the title Defender of the Faith after he attacked Martin Luther by authoring the work "Assertio Septem Sacramentorum". But after woman troubles, Henry decided being in a church that didn,t agree with his life style could cramp his style so he formed and new church to fit his style. -
Jan 1, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
This Queen is spot on.
After inheritng a bankrupt nation, torn by religious discord, a weakened pawn between the great powers of France and Spain, she ruled with the love of the people and is regarded as one of the best monarchs England has ever had. -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare begains his life on this day. He will go on to write some of the most influential peices of writing that has been writen in the threater world. With grooundbreaking word phrasing and indepht detail, he would go on and still have his plays preformed in countries he would never hear of. -
Globe Theatre is built in London
Shakespeare's company erected the storied Globe Theatre circa 1599 in London's Bankside district. It was one of four major theatres in the area, along with the Swan, the Rose, and the Hope. The open-air, polygonal amphitheater rose three stories high with a diameter of approximately 100 feet, holding a seating capacity of up to 3,000 spectators. The rectangular stage platform on which the plays were performed was nearly 43 feet wide and 28 feet deep. This staging area probably housed trap doors -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth 1605-1606
Two of Shakespeare's greatest peices (or at least well known) are very close in writing. Both have main characters that are kings that slowly descend into madness and both are very tragic in the end. But no spoilers here. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is establihed at Jamestown, Virginia.
Oh Boy! Jamestown!
Jamestown was setteled by a group of London entrepreneurs, the Virginia Company, in the mindset of one thing, make money.
Jamestown had a rough start to it. Famine and other illnesses made living in this small fort, horrorable. But after much conflict with the natives and leadership issues, Jamestown made it as a sucessful operation to the British. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare’s sonnets are very different from Shakespeare’s plays, but they do contain dramatic elements and an overall sense of story. Each of the poems deals with a highly personal theme, and each can be taken on its own or in relation to the poems around it. The sonnets have the feel of autobiographical poems, but we don’t know whether they deal with real events or not, because no one knows enough about Shakespeare’s life to say whether or not they deal with real events and feelings, so we te -
King James Bible is published
The commissioning of the King James Bible took place in 1604 at the Hampton Court Conference outside of London. The first edition appeared in 1611. The King James version remains one of the greatest landmarks in the English tongue. It has decidedly affected our language and thought categories, and although produced in England for English churches, it played a unique role in the historical development of America. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
After two miserable months at sea, the ship finally reached the New World. There, the Mayflower’s passengers found an abandoned Indian village and not much else. They also found that they were in the wrong place: Cape Cod, where they had landed, was located at 42 degrees north latitude, well north of the Virginia Company’s territory. Technically, the Mayflower colonists had no right to be there at all. -
Newspapers are first published in London
Following the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, control over the press
(which had been relatively lax during the previous 20 years) was reasserted. The
Printing Act of 1662 specified that every work must be licensed before it could be
printed. The Oxford Gazette was established as a government "newsbook" in 1665, and
succeeded by the London Gazette in 1666. Its format as a single sheet, printed on both sides, earned it a description as the first English newspaper. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
John Milton's book "Paradise Lost" is a break down of how and why Satan in Milton's point of view decived Adam and Eve into falling into temptation and sinning by eating the forbiden fruit of the Gardan of Eden. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
