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Aug 22, 1485
Richard III is killed in battle
The last king of the Plantagenet dynasty faced his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field on Aug. 22, 1485, only two years after ascending the throne. The battle was the deciding clash in the long-running Wars of the Roses, and ended with the establishment of Henry Tudor as the new English monarch. -
Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
[Columbus’s] four transatlantic voyages (1492–93, 1493–96, 1498–1500, and 1502–04) opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas. -
Nov 8, 1503
Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by the Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most-famous painting. The sitter’s mysterious smile and her unproven identity have made the painting a source of ongoing investigation and fascination. -
Nov 8, 1516
Thomas More's "Utopia" is published
Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More published in 1516 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. -
Jan 15, 1543
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England
With the Supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself head of Church of England. The Act of Supremacy had been passed in November 1534 and came into force in February 1535. -
Jan 15, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England on 15 January 1559. Elizabeth's 45-year reign - referred to as the Elizabethan era or the Golden Age of Elizabeth - was one of the more constructive periods in English history: literature bloomed through the works of Spenser, Marlowe and Shakespeare; Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh were instrumental in expanding English influence in the New World; Elizabeth's religious compromise laid many fears to rest and de-fused a potential powder keg. -
Apr 23, 1564
William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, Saint George's Day. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholar's mistake, has proved appealing to biographers, because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616. He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. -
Globe Theatre is built in London
The Globe, built by carpenter Peter Smith and his workers, was the most magnificent theater that London had ever seen and built in 1599. This theatre could hold several thousand people! The Globe Theatre didn’t just show plays. It was also reputed to be a brothel and gambling house. It was situated on the South bank of the river Thames in Southwark. -
Period: to
Shakespeare writes King Lear and Macbeth
Macbeth is by William Shakespeare, it is thought to have been first performed in 1606. A Scottish general, Macbeth, receives a prophecy that one day he will become King.Spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders the King and takes the throne for himself. King Lear is by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the character, after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequests to two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragedy for all. -
First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
The colony was sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, a group of investors who hoped to profit from the venture. Chartered in 1606 by King James I, the company also supported English national goals of counterbalancing the expansion of other European nations abroad, seeking a northwest passage to the Orient, and converting the Virginia Indians to the Anglican religion. -
Shakespeare’s sonnets are published
The first 17 poems, traditionally called the procreation sonnets, are addressed to the young man urging him to marry and have children in order to immortalize his beauty by passing it to the next generation. Other sonnets express the speaker's love for the young man; seem to criticize the young man for preferring a rival poet; express ambiguous feelings for the speaker's mistress; and pun on the poet's name. The final two sonnets are allegorical treatments of Greek epigrams referring to Cupid. -
King James Bible is published
It was first printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker and was the third translation into English, approved by the English Church authorities. The King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England completed in 1611. 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 arrived in Plymouth Harbor in 1620, 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. Bradford was the governor of Plymouth Colony for 30 years and is credited with establishing what we now call Thanksgiving. -
Newspapers are first published in London
The first newspaper in English language was printed in Amsterdam by Joris Veseler around 1620. This followed the style established by Veseler's earlier Dutch paper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. However, when the English started printing their own papers in London, they reverted to the pamphlet format used by contemporary books. -
John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is a series of arguments put forth by the characters, which in turn ultimately expresses Milton’s personal truth. It is, in that sense, a Puritanical work. The poem is in blank verse, that is, non-rhyming verse.Paradise Lost is composed in the verse form of iambic pentameter. By the time he began writing Paradise Lost in the late 1650’s, Milton had become blind. He dictated the entire work to secretaries. -
Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
Restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660. It marked the return of Charles II as king (1660–85) following the period of Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth. The bishops were restored to Parliament, which established a strict Anglican orthodoxy.
