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1485
Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III was King of England from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. In one of William Shakespeare's history plays, he's the protagonist. -
1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. He also led the first European expeditions to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, initiating the permanent European colonization of the Americas. -
1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci that has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, and the most parodied work of art in the world". It's one of the most valuable paintings in the world. -
Jan 1, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535) 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. -
1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 until his death. Henry is best known for his six marriages. His disagreement with the Pope on the question of such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He proclaimed himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, he was later cut off. -
1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
"Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare", is a great art that was rediscovered in the modern world. Drama had been forgotten since the days of ancient Greece, until it reemerged in Elizabethan London with the building of the first modern theater. -
Globe Theatre is built in London
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London. It was built 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 June 29, 1613. -
Period: to
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
King of Lear depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom by giving bequests to two of his three daughters egged on by their continual flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. While Macbeth is a tragedy that is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatizes the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on everyone who seeks power for their own sake. Both plays were written by Shakespeare. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" in 1607 O.S., and was considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610. It followed several attempts that failed. Jamestown served as the capital of the colony of Virginia for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare's sonnets are poems that William Shakespeare wrote, with a variety of themes. There are 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609; however there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote and included in the plays Romeo and Juliet, Henry V and Love's Labour's Lost. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Version, or the King James Bible, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, it was started in 1604 and completed in 1611. The books of this bible 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 lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachesetts
The Mayflower was an English ship that transported the first English Puritans, or the Pilgrims, from Plymouth, England, to the New World, otherwise known as America, in 1620. There were 102 passengers, and the crew is estimated to have been about 30, but the exact number is unknown. The ship has become a cultural icon in the history of the United States. -
Newspapers are first published in London
This plaque in London marks the publication in 1702 of The Daily Courant as London's first daily newspaper. There were 12 London newspapers and 24 provincial papers by the 1720s. The Public Advertiser was started by Henry Woodfall in the 18th century. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is a 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. -
Puritans Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland where his reign lasted from 1649 until his deposition in 1651. He restored the monarchy in Scotland and Ireland from 1660 until his death.
