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Oct 22, 1485
Richard lll is killed in battle
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 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 decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of the play Richard III by William Shakespeare. -
Oct 24, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus born between October 31, 1450 and October 30, 1451 was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the Spanish colonization of the New World. -
Oct 24, 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 is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. -
Oct 21, 1516
Thomas More's Utopia is published
Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. A frame narrative is a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story. It leads readers from a first story into another, smaller one (or several ones) within it. -
Oct 24, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry Vlll proclaims himself head of Church of England
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 l becomes queen of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called "The Virgin Queen", "Gloriana" or "Good Queen Bess", In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. In religion she was relatively tolerant, avoiding systematic persecution. -
Apr 26, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
William Shakespeare was considered to be one of the greatest playwrites ever. He wrote many tragedies, comedies, and histories. Some of his more famous plays were Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and many others. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". -
Globe Theatre is builty 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. It was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613. A second Globe Theatre was built on the same site by June 1614 and closed in 1642. A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare's Globe", opened in 1997. -
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
King Lear and Macbeth are two of Shakespeare's tragedies that he wrote. Macbeth is considered one of his darkest and most powerful tragedies. Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfil the ambition for power. In King Lear, The title character descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
Jamestown was the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America. Named for King James I of England, Jamestown was founded in the Colony of Virginia on May 13, 1607. The colonists chose Jamestown Island for their settlement largely because the Virginia Company advised them to select a location that could be easily defended from attacks by other European states. -
Shakespeare's sonnets are published
Shakespeare's sonnets are a collection of 154 sonnets, dealing with themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. The first 17 poems are traditionally called the procreation sonnets. The sonnets include a dedication to one "Mr. W.H.". The identity of this person remains a mystery and, since the 19th century, has provoked a great deal of speculation. -
King James Bible is published
The King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England. The translation was done by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England. It began in 1604 and was completed in 1611. -
The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. It is an important symbol in American history. The first written reference to the rock's existence is recorded is in 1715, when it is described in the town boundary records as "a great rock." -
Newspapers are first published in London
During the 17th century, there were many kinds of publications, that told both news and rumours. Among these were pamphlets, posters, ballads etc. The definition for 17th century newsbooks and newspapers is that they are published at least once a week. These newspapers were published in London in 1621. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, changed 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 the work helped to solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles ll
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 very often used to cover the whole reign of Charles II.
