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Period: Jan 1, 1485 to
Political and Social Events
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Aug 22, 1485
Richard III is Killed in Battle
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1485 until his death in 1485 during 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 the Battle of Bosworth Field was the decisive battle of the War of the Roses and is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England. -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus Reached the Americas
During his first voyage in 1492, instead of reaching Japan as he had intended, Columbus landed in the Bahamas archipelago, at a locale he named San Salvador. Over the course of three more voyages, Columbus visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venzuela and Central America, claiming them for the Spanish Empire. -
Sep 26, 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, 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."
The painting thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, is in oil on a poplar panel, and is believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506. -
Period: Jan 1, 1516 to
Literary Events
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Sep 26, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is Published
Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More published in 1516.
The book, written in Latin, is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. -
Sep 26, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself Head of Church of Engand
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. Royal Supremacy is specifically used to describe the legal sovereignty of the civil laws over the laws of the Church in England. -
Nov 17, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England
In 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. -
Apr 23, 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 is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon".
His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. -
Glove 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, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth 1605-1606
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character decends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his daughter, based on their flattery, bringing on tragic consequences.
Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare and his considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. The play is believed to be written between 1603 and 1607, and is most commonly dated 1606. -
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 14, 1607. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
A collection of 154 sonnets, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty, and mortality, first published in 1609 quarto entitled SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS. -
King James Bible is Published
The Authorized Version King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
The Mayflower was the ship that transported English and Dutch Separatists and other adventurers referred to by the Separatists as "the Strangers" to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. -
Newspapers are First Published in London
In 1621 the newspaper "Corante" is published in London. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse. -
Puritan Commonweath ends; Monary is restored with Charles II
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
