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1485
Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III was King of England 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. 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 protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history plays. -
1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The ships later made landfall—not in Asia, as Columbus assumed, but on one of the Bahamian islands. -
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, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world".
The subject's expression, which is frequently described as enigmatic,the monumentality of the composition, and other things were novel qualities that have contributed to the continuing fascination and study of the work. -
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
With the Supremacy ACT, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
The Acts of Supremacy are two acts of the Parliament of England, which established King Henry VIII of England and subsequent monarchs as the supreme head of the Church of England. Prior to the Acts, the supreme head of the English Church was the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church -
1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of Englad
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII of England and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. ... Elizabeth's half-brother, Edward, became King Edward VI of England. He died age 15. Mary succeeded him, and after Queen Mary's death, Elizabeth became Queen. -
1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both 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". Some of his works, include 39 plays, 154 sonnets. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright -
Globe Theatre is built in London
The Globe Theatre was a 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 inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire. A second Globe Theatre was later built on the same site but was closed by an Ordinance. -
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, bringing tragic consequences for all. Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, it dramatizes the damaging effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright's relationship with his sovereign. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
The founding of Jamestown, America's first permanent English colony, in Virginia 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts – sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare's sonnets are poems that William Shakespeare wrote on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare’s sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto. 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 (KJV), also known as the King James Bible (KJB) or simply the Authorized Version (AV), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England. 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 Plymouth 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. There were 102 passengers, and the crew is estimated to have been about 30, but the exact number is unknown.The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Harbor, after first stopping near today's Provincetown. According to oral tradition, Plymouth Rock was the site where William Bradford and other Pilgrims first set foot on land. -
Newspapers are 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 the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The first version consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) 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 Commonswealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
Restoration, Restoration of the monarchy in England. It marked the return of Charles II as king, following the period of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth. The bishops were restored to Parliament, which established a strict Anglican orthodoxy. The Restoration of the English monarchy took place in the Stuart period. It began when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under King Charles II. This followed the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
