-
1485
Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485. He died in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. -
1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Columbus led the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria which were his ships out of the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492. His objective was to sail west until he reached Asia where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited. His first stop was the Canary Islands where the lack of wind left his expedition. -
1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa a 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 1519, 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. -
1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
Thomas More was the first person to write of a 'utopia', a word used to describe a perfect imaginary world. More's book imagines a complex, self-contained community set on an island, in which people share a common culture and way of life. He coined the word 'utopia' from the Greek meaning 'no place' or 'nowhere'. -
1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himslef head of Church of England
By the Parliament of England. It granted King Henry VIII of England and monarchs Royal Supremacy, such that he was declared the supreme head of the Church of England. Royal Supremacy is specifically used to describe the legal sovereignty of the civil laws over the laws of the Church in England.The act declared that the king was "the only supreme head on Earth of the Church of England" -
1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last monarch of the House of Tudor.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. Anne's marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. -
1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was an English playwright, actor and poet also known as the “Bard of Avon” and often called England’s national poet. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. Written records give little indication of the way in which Shakespeare’s professional life molded his artistry. -
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. It was destroyed by a fire in June 1613. -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatizes the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequests to two of his three daughters based on their flattery of him, bringing tragic consequences for all. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virgina.
The founding of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English colony, in Virginia in 1607. Which was 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts. The government, language, customs, beliefs and aspirations of these early Virginians are all part of the United States’ heritage today.The colony was sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, a group of investors who hoped to profit from the venture. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Although the entirety of Shakespeare's sonnets were not formally published until 1609 an allusion to their existence appeared eleven years earlier, in Francis Meres' Palladis Tamia (1598), in which Meres commented that Shakespeare's "sugred Sonnets" were circulating privately among the poet's friends. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. 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 landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement served as the capital of the colony and developed as the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of the modern state of Massachusetts. -
Newspapers are first published in London
At the beginning of the 17th century, the right to print was strictly controlled in England. This was probably the reason why the first newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam by Joris Veseler around 1620. This followed the style established by Veseler's earlier Dutch paper. The publication of these newsbooks was suspended between 1632 and 1638 by order of Star Chamber. -
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, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. 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. The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
The Restoration of the English monarchy took place during the Stuart period. It began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under the Stuart King Charles II. It followed the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The term Restoration is used to describe both the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and the period of several years afterwards in which a new political settlement was established.
