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Aug 22, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, -
Oct 22, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Columbus led his three ships - the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria - out of the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492. His objective was to sail west until he reached Asia (the Indies) where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited. However they discovered the Americas. -
Oct 22, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci
The Mona Lisa is a half painting of a woman and is what Leanardo is best known for. The painting, thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. -
Oct 21, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is Published.
Thomas More the English humanist publish this book which was his idea of an ideal society where crime, injustice, and poverty did not exist.This book, is written in the form of a dialogue, pointedly contrasts the simplicity of life in Utopia with contemporary Europe's class divisions. -
Oct 22, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself as head of Church of England.
The Act of Supremacy of 1534 confirmed the King's status as having supremacy over the church and required the nobility to swear an oath recognising Henry's supremacy. -
Oct 22, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born into the royal succession, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half years after her birth, -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. He became a great writer that would affect the world for years to come.He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, -
Globe Theatre is built in London
Before this time plays were performed in the courtyard, or sometimes, in the houses of noblemen or on open ground. After the Theatre, further open air playhouses opened in the London area, including the Rose Theatre and the Hope Theatre. The most famous Elizabethan theater was the Globe Theatre built by the company in which Shakespeare had a stake - now often referred to as the Shakespearean Globe. -
Shakspeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
The play King Lear is a tradgety in which the title character descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. Also the play Macbeth is set in Scottlans and shows the cpolitical and ming effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfil the ambition for power. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
On May 14, 1607, a small company of
settlers landed at a point on the James River
in Virginia and established the settlement of
Jamestown. It was the first permanent
English settlement in the New World. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets which were collected together and published in 1609. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Version, commonly known as the King James Bible , is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. This was the third translation into English to be approved by the English Church authorities. -
Newspapers are first publised in London
Britain's press can trace its history back more than 300 years, to the time of William of Orange. Berrow's Worcester Journal, which started life as the Worcester Postman in 1690 and was published regularly from 1709, is believed to be the oldest surviving English newspaper. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell -
Puritians Commonwealth ends; monarchy restored with Charles II
The Restoration of the English monarchy began when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. On 4 April 1660, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda, in which he made several promises in relation to the reclamation of the crown of England. Monck organised the Convention Parliament. On May 8th crowned him King. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
Plymouth Rock is where William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620 landed. The first written reference Pilgrims landing on a rock is found 121 years after they landed. The Rock, or one traditionally identified as it, has long been memorialized on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
