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Jan 1, 1485
richard III 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 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 Wars of the Roses and is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England -
Jan 1, 1492
Christopher colombus reaches the americas
Christopher colombus was an explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa, in what is today northwestern Italy.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. -
Jan 1, 1503
Leonardo da vinci paints the mona lisa
da vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination" -
Jan 1, 1516
Thomas more's utopia is published
In 1516 the English humanist Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) published Utopia, his description of an ideal society where crime, injustice, and poverty did not exist. Writing just twenty-four years after Columbus's first voyage to the Caribbean, More located his perfect society in the Western Hemisphere. More's book, which is written in the form of a dialogue, pointedly contrasts the simplicity of life in Utopia with contemporary Europe's class divisions. In Utopia, property is held in common, gold i -
Jan 1, 1543
with the supremacy act, Henry vIII proclaims himself head of church of england
Besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry's struggles with Rome led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Yet he remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, even after his excommunication from the Catholic Church -
Jan 1, 1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel,[1] and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first moves as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement later evolved into today's Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir so as to continue the Tudor line. She never did, however, despite numerous courtship -
Jan 1, 1564
1564 Willaim shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, is born
Bard of Avon A title given to William Shakespeare, who was born and buried in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. A bard is a poet -
1599 Globe Theatre is built in London
The globe theater was three stories high; it had three galleries which were protected from rain and sunlight by a roof. The stage was raised 5 feet from ground level and was 43 feet in width and 27 in length and had a roof supported by pillars. In front of the stage was a roof less yard where people paid a penny to stand through the performance under a hot sun or threaten clouds. On the top of the globe was a white flag it would be raised when a play was on that day. -
1605-1606 Shakespeare writes king lear and Macbeth
Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear is a detailed description of the consequences of one man's decisions Macbeth was the bravest soldier and the honorable Thane of Glamis. His rank and nobility are of great value -
first permanent english settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown Settlement is a name used by the Commonwealth of Virginia's portion of the historical sites and museums at Jamestown. 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 14, 1607 -
Shakespeares sonnets are published
The sonnet form used by Shakespeare, composed of three quatrains and a terminal couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg. -
king james Bible is published
King James's Bible is used as the name for the 1611 translation (on a par with the "Genevan Bible" or the "Rhemish Testament") in Charles Butler's Horae Biblicae (first published 1797). Other works from the early 19th century confirm the widespread use of this name on both sides of the Atlantic: it is found both in a "Historical sketch of the English translations of the Bible" published in Massachusetts in 1815, -
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. -
Newspapers are first published in London
The Illustrated London News, founded in 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper. Mason Jackson was its art editor for thirty years -
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 -
Puritan commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.[1] After the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I, the republic's existence was initially declared by "An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth"[2] adopted by the Rump Parliament, on 19 May 1649.