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543
c.1543nWith the supremacy Act, Henry VIII proclaims himself ahead of Church of England
Act of Supremacy of 1534 confirmed the King's status as having supremacy over the church and required the nobility to swear an oath recognizing Henry's -
1485
1485 Richard III is killed in battle
Richard III died in the thick of battle after losing his helmet and coming under a hail of blows from vicious medieval weapons. -
1492
1492 Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas
Columbus led his three ships - the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria - out of the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492. His objective was to sail west until he reached Asia where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited. -
1503
c.1503 Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci is thought by some to have begun painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy. -
1516
1516 Thomas More's Utopia is published
Utopia is a work of fiction and socio-political satire 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. -
1558
1558 Elizabeth I becomes queen of England
Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last monarch of the House of Tudor. -
1564
1564 William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon. is born
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist -
1599 Globe Theatre is built in London
It was built in 1599 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 on 29 June 1613. -
1605-1606 shakespeare writes King Lear and Mcbeth
In the years leading up to 1606, Shakespeare’s great productivity had ebbed. But that year, at age forty-two, he found his footing again, finishing a play he had begun the previous autumn King Lear. -
1607 First permanent English settlement in North America is established at Jamestown, Virginia
It was established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 (O.S.; May 14, 1607 N.S.), and was considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610. -
1609 Shakespeare's sonnets are published
The sonnets were first published in a 1609 quarto with the full stylized title: SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS. Never before Imprinted. -
1611 King James Bible is published
An English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. -
1620 The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
William Bradford and his fellow Mayflower passengers made no written references to setting foot on a rock as they disembarked to start their settlement on -
1621 Newspapers are first published in London
was published by the printer Nathaniel Butter Offsite Link in London. The earliest of the seven surviving copies is dated September 24, 1621, but it is thought that this single page news sheet began publication earlier in 1621. -
c.1658 John Milton begins Paradise Lost
Milton composed the ten books of Paradise Lost between 1658 and 1663. -
1660 Puritan Commonwealth ends; monarchy is restored with Charles II
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.
