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1485
Richard III is killed in battle
Was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. -
1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus encountered the Americas, a continent which was largely unknown in Europe and outside the Old World political and economic system. -
1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints 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". -
Jan 1, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia
is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More published in 1516 in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. -
1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
King Henry VIII declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England to divorcee his wife. -
1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two-and-a-half years after Elizabeth's birth. -
1564
William Shakespeare, The Bard of Avon, is born
An English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as 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". -
Globe Theatre is built in London
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 on 29 June 1613. -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
A tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom. Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
Carolina, first permanent English settlements in the late 1600s nearly a century after the failed Roanoke Colony -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Is the title of a collection of 154 sonnets by William Shakespeare, which covers themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty. -
King James Bible is published
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
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 in 1620 -
Newspapers are first published in London
Newes from Italy, Germany, Hungary, Spain and France were the first newspaper printed in England. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Is an epic poem 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. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with charles II
The Puritans were a group of English Reformed Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to "purify" the Church of England from its "Catholic".
