-
Nov 9, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, 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. He is the subject of the historical play Richard III by William Shakespeare -
Nov 9, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the European colonization of the New World. -
Nov 9, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait of a woman by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, which has been acclaimed as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world". he painting, thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, is in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. -
Nov 9, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More published in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries -
Nov 9, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Supreme Head of the Church of England was a title held by the kings Henry VIII and Edward VI, signifying their leadership of the Church of England.
The title was created for him who was responsible for the English Catholic church breaking away from the authority of the Roman Catholic Church after the Pope excommunicated Henry in 1533 over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. By 1536, Henry had declared the Church of England as the established church with himself as its head. -
Nov 9, 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, the childless Elizabeth was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era. The period is famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake. -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was 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". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. -
Globe Theatre is built in London
The Globe Theatre, in London, associated with William Shakespeare. It was built by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed by an Ordinance issued in 1642. A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in 1997 approximately 750 feet from the site of the original theatre. -
Period: to
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into 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. Derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king.
Macbeth dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
Jamestown was established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" and was 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.
Mortality at Jamestown itself was very high due to disease and starvation, with over 80% of the colonists perishing in 1609–1610 in what became known as the "Starving Time". -
Shakespeare’s sonnets are published
They were a collection of 154 sonnets by William Shakespeare, which covers themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. The first 126 are addressed to a young man; the last 28 to a woman. The sonnets were first published in a quarto with the full stylized title: SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS.The quarto ends with "A Lover's Complaint", a narrative poem of 47 seven-line stanzas – though some scholars have argued convincingly against Shakespeare's authorship of the poem. -
King James Bible is published
Also known as the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England. The books 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.
It was first printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker and was the third translation into English, approved by the English Church authorities. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
The second part of the voyage was stormy, but finally, the ship anchored off of Cape Cod. The members of the Mayflower spent over six weeks exploring different location to find an appropriate one to settle. On December 21st the Pilgrims made their first landfall at Plymouth Harbor. The Pilgrims established a settlement at what had been an abandoned Indian village known as Patuxet. -
Newspapers are first published in London
Corante was published by the printer Nathaniel Butter. 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. As a result of a 1586 edict from the Star Chamber it carried no news about England. -
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. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification. 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. -
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 after 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. It is often used to cover the whole reign of Charles II and the brief reign of his younger brother James II.
