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Oct 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. Richard III led the last charge of knights in English history. King Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle. Richard III was probably killed by one of two injuries to the skull according to a study of his skeleton by researchers. -
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. He was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa. He completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the Spanish colonization of the New World. -
Oct 22, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait of a woman by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It was acquired by King Francis I of France and is now the property of the French Republic, on permanent display at The Louvre museum in Paris since 1797. The title of the painting that is known in English as Mona Lisa stems from a description by Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari. -
Oct 22, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. A frame story is a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story. The frame story leads readers from a first story into another, smaller one within it. -
Oct 22, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of the Church of England
The first Act of Supremacy was a piece of legislation that granted King Henry VIII of England Royal Supremacy, which means that he was declared the supreme head of the Church of England. It is still the legal authority of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Supremacy Act was an Act of the Parliament of England under King Henry VIII declaring that he was "the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England". -
Oct 22, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called "The Virgin Queen", "Gloriana" or "Good Queen Bess", Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born into the royal succession. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama. -
Oct 22, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". -
Globe Theatre is built in London
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre. It was built by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son. -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. 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. Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, and tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Both these tragedies do not end very well. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 24, 1607 and considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610, it followed several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jamestown served as the capital of the colony for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare's sonnets are a collection of 154 sonnets, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. The sonnets are almost all constructed from three four-line stanzas and a final couplet composed in iambic pentameter. This is also the meter used extensively in Shakespeare's plays. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Version (KJV),commonly known as the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Bible (KJB), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. King James's Bible is used as the name for the 1611 translation. The original printing of the Authorized Version was published by Robert Barker, the King's Printer, in 1611 as a complete folio Bible. It was sold looseleaf for ten shillings, or bound for twelve. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
Plymouth Rock the landing place of the Pilgrims in 1620. Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. It is an important symbol in American history. The first written reference to the rock's existence is recorded is in 1715, when it is described in the town boundary records as "a great rock."[3] The first written reference Pilgrims landing on a rock is found 121 years after they landed. -
Newspapers are first published in London
First titled newspaper, Corante, published in London.
Corante: or, Newes from Italy, Germany, Hungarie, Spaine and France was published by the printer Nathaniel Butter 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. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608-1674). Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men". -
Puritan Commonwealth ends, monarchy is restored with Charles II
The Restoration of the English monarchy began when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II. 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.
