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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. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. -
1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. He is credited with the opening of the Americas for conquest and settlement by Europeans. -
1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci that has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about... work in the world" -
1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535) 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. -
1543
Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII. Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering into England the theory of the divine right of kings. -
1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland until her death on 24 March 1603. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. -
1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Shakespeare was often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon." -
Globe Theatre built in London
The Globe Theatre is associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, It was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613, but rebuilt in 1614. -
Period: to
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
King Lear is a tragedy depicting 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.
Macbeth is a tragedy dramatizing 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
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the east bank of the Powhatan River, southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. William Kelso writes that Jamestown "is where the British Empire began". -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto, however there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote. -
King James Bible is published
the King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, it begun in 1604. The books of the King James Version 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 Plymoth Rock, Massachusetts
The Mayflower was an English ship that famously transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth, England, to the New World in 1620. -
Newspapers first published in London
William Caxton had introduced the first English printing press in 1476 and, by the early 16th century, the first 'news papers' were seen in Britain. They were, however, slow to evolve, with the largely illiterate population relying on town criers for news.The first regular English daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, was launched with the reign of Queen Anne in 1702. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by John Milton . The first version consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, is arranged into twelve books. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
The Commonwealth was the period from 1649 to 1660 when England and Wales, later along with Ireland and Scotland, were ruled as a republic following the end of the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I.
