21 January 1535 - Henry VIII ordered the Visitation of the Monasteries.

In 1533 Henry VIII broke from Rome proclaiming himself Head of the Church of England. However the many hundreds of religious houses in England and Wales still owed allegiance to Rome. King Henry ordered a Visitation or inspection of every one to report on the number of clergy resident, the moral condition of said clergy and, most importantly, the value of the House. 

He appointed Thomas Cromwell Vicar General of England on New Year's Day 1535 and three weeks later issued the order for a comprehensive Visitation.

The result was a foregone conclusion. The Visitations took place in 1535-36 and reported on the dire state of the Church of Rome in Henry's realm. In 1536 he authorised the complete Dissolution of the Monasteries with the proceeds going to the Crown beginning with those valued at under £200. By 1540 all had been dissolved. 

As an example the Augustinian Priory of St Mary in my home town was valued at £119 and was one of the first to be dissolved in November 1536.  

21 January 1535 - Henry VIII ordered the Visitation of the Monasteries.

In 1533 Henry VIII broke from Rome proclaiming himself Head of the Church of England. However the many hundreds of religious houses in England and Wales still owed allegiance to Rome. King Henry ordered a Visitation or inspection of every one to report on the number of clergy resident, the moral condition of said clergy and, most importantly, the value of the House. 

He appointed Thomas Cromwell Vicar General of England on New Year's Day 1535 and three weeks later issued the order for a comprehensive Visitation.

The result was a foregone conclusion. The Visitations took place in 1535-36 and reported on the dire state of the Church of Rome in Henry's realm. In 1536 he authorised the complete Dissolution of the Monasteries with the proceeds going to the Crown beginning with those valued at under £200. By 1540 all had been dissolved. 

As an example the Augustinian Priory of St Mary in my home town was valued at £119 and was one of the first to be dissolved in November 1536.  

So it was about $ from both church & government? Not much changed eh?

The Dissolution of the Monasteries was dressed up as a religious reformation, but it was really about money and power, as you say. A few monks who resisted were executed but the vast majority were simply turned out, but with a pension.

In my home town once the Crown had taken everything of value, including the lead from the roof, the remaining structure was sold, the actual church itself survived as the parish church until it collapsed in 1749, by then it was over 600 years old. The secular buildings were never converted into a home as some were, instead the buyer William Crompton carried away most of the stonework to build himself a new house a mile or so away. Bits of stonework can still be seen in buildings at that end of town as what was left after Crompton had finished the demolition was quickly used by town residents to build walls or patch up their own homes.  

It got into the news in 2011 when the Priory seal was unearthed in Surrey, it's thought that once the Priory closed it was taken to a sister house in Surrey and lost when that too was dissolved a year or two later. It is on display inside the church built on the site in the 1750s.

I regret to say that the Augustinians where I live were also involved in a religious "scam" but not as bad as displaying or selling fake relics. 

They invented the story that the town of Stone was so named because two early Christian saints, Princes of Mercia, were martyred by their pagan father King Wulfhere in the locality in the 650s and their bodies buried under a cairn of stones, hence the town's name. This brought in pilgrims to visit the scene of the saints' martyrdom. It was all fake though, the two martyrs never existed.  

I regret to say that the Augustinians where I live were also involved in a religious "scam" but not as bad as displaying or selling fake relics. 

They invented the story that the town of Stone was so named because two early Christian saints, Princes of Mercia, were martyred by their pagan father King Wulfhere in the locality in the 650s and their bodies buried under a cairn of stones, hence the town's name. This brought in pilgrims to visit the scene of the saints' martyrdom. It was all fake though, the two martyrs never existed.  

Augustinians were the communists of the day. 

22 January 1879 - The Battles of Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift.

The two famous battles of the Zulu War. 

The British forces advanced into Zululand in three columns in mid January. The centre column, with which the expedition commander the Earl of Chelmsford travelled, reached Isandhlwana on 20 January. On the morning of the 22nd around 3000 men under Chelmsford left heading east to follow up reports of a Zulu army several miles away. The reports were wrong, the main body of 20,000 Zulus was lying in wait just to the north and in the early afternoon 16,000 of them descended on the camp where 1774 British, white South Africans and native levies found themselves unprepared for a defence of the site.

Within two hours it was all over, the Zulus overran the camp killing most of the British soldiers (only 34 escaped) several hundred native levies fled as did a few dozen white South Africans. Of the 1774 in camp that afternoon 1277 were killed. 

The 4000 Zulus who took no part in the battle moved on to the border post and field hospital at Rorke's Drift where 139 men, including civilians and the sick, held the strategic position. They had been forewarned of the Zulu advance by survivors from Isandhlwana fleeing for the border, so were able to build two rings of defences. The attack came in the late afternoon and carried on until the early hours. The outer defences were breached but the hospital site held firm until a relief column arrived, by which time 17 defenders had been killed.

The Zulus that day lost around the same number of dead. 14 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the men from the two battles; 11 to survivors at Rorke's Drift plus three (two posthumous) at Isandhlwana.

I am sure Prince Harry would have stood his ground with the rest, outlined in his pretty red costume & hair. 

Two did, but they were attempting to carry the colours to safety and were killed as they tried to cross the Tugela River a few miles away. 

Three Officers present at the battle survived, but none from the infantry - Lt Henry Curling Royal Artillery, Lt Horace Smith-Dorrien and Capt Edward Essex both Transport Officers attached to Lord Chelmsford's army. 

And no doubt laying a claim to his fortune should it ever be found. 

23 January 1570 - James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland 1567-70, assassinated.

Illegitimate son of James V, King of Scots and therefore half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots. Chief advisor to Queen Mary upon her return to Scotland in 1561 after her 13 year absence in France. She created him Earl of Moray in 1562. However her ill-advised marriage to Lord Darnley in 1565 forced him into an abortive revolt after which he sought safety in England. Pardoned the following year he returned only to flee for a second time in 1567 shortly before Darnley was murdered. He was absent throughout the tumultuous events of the summer - Mary's marriage to her husband's suspected killer Lord Bothwell, the uprising against her and her abdication in favour of her 13 month old son James.

Moray returned to Scotland in August to be appointed Regent for the infant King James VI. Mary escaped from captivity in 1568 but was defeated in battle with Moray's forces after which it was her turn to flee, she sailed to England never to return. 

Scotland remained in a state of near civil war, the principal rebels being the Clan Hamilton who, after the child King James VI, were heirs to the Throne. Moray led an army north in 1569 to put down the Hamilton rebellion, thus earning him their everlasting animosity.

Moray met his death whilst riding through Linlithgow. James Hamilton lay in wait in an upstairs room of his uncle the Archbishop of St Andrews' house. As Moray rode past he fired at him with a carbine fatally wounding him. Several members of the Clan Hamilton, including Archbishop John of St Andrews were executed for their part in the plot, but the assassin himself fled to France where he died in 1581. 

Moray was one of the first people to be assassinated by a firearm.

23 January 1570 - James Stewart, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland 1567-70, assassinated.

Illegitimate son of James V, King of Scots and therefore half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots. Chief advisor to Queen Mary upon her return to Scotland in 1561 after her 13 year absence in France. She created him Earl of Moray in 1562. However her ill-advised marriage to Lord Darnley in 1565 forced him into an abortive revolt after which he sought safety in England. Pardoned the following year he returned only to flee for a second time in 1567 shortly before Darnley was murdered. He was absent throughout the tumultuous events of the summer - Mary's marriage to her husband's suspected killer Lord Bothwell, the uprising against her and her abdication in favour of her 13 month old son James.

Moray returned to Scotland in August to be appointed Regent for the infant King James VI. Mary escaped from captivity in 1568 but was defeated in battle with Moray's forces after which it was her turn to flee, she sailed to England never to return. 

Scotland remained in a state of near civil war, the principal rebels being the Clan Hamilton who, after the child King James VI, were heirs to the Throne. Moray led an army north in 1569 to put down the Hamilton rebellion, thus earning him their everlasting animosity.

Moray met his death whilst riding through Linlithgow. James Hamilton lay in wait in an upstairs room of his uncle the Archbishop of St Andrews' house. As Moray rode past he fired at him with a carbine fatally wounding him. Several members of the Clan Hamilton, including Archbishop John of St Andrews were executed for their part in the plot, but the assassin himself fled to France where he died in 1581. 

Moray was one of the first people to be assassinated by a firearm.

Assassination by firearm, a trend to be repeated over & over throughout history. Were there any attempts to assassinate James Hamilton while he was living in France? 

Not that I know of. He was never on good terms with the Hamilton's, but it was only after his suppression of their revolt in 1569 that they determined to kill him. 

24 January 1795 - The French captured the Dutch Fleet at Texel.

One of the great stories from the French Revolutionary Wars, but one in which the truth is slightly less exciting than the myth.

In the winter of 1794-95 the French swept into The Netherlands entering Amsterdam in mid January overthrowing the Dutch Monarchy and proclaiming the Batavian Republic. However elements of the Dutch Navy remained loyal to the House of Orange and there was a fear among the French that they would sail for England where Prince Willem had sought refuge. That winter was an extremely cold one and a Dutch Fleet of 14 ships lay frozen in the ice off the island of Texel. 

According to legend a squadron of French cavalry rode out across the ice in the early hours of 24 January to capture the defenceless fleet. The story was immortalized in French literature and art, but the reality is a little different. The Dutch fleet was under orders to surrender being unable to free itself from the ice, a French officer and a few men did ride out across the ice to accept the surrender not hundreds of men and horses.  

The incident portrayed in art.

They couldn't have been looking very hard, Guam is only 210 sq miles.

They couldn't have been looking very hard, Guam is only 210 sq miles.

Well Mark, like they say, "here today Guam tomorrow."

25 January 1616 - The first rounding of Cape Horn.

Cape Horn, the southernmost point of the Americas, lies on Hornos Island, one of the many islands south of Tierra del Fuego. 

Prior to 1616 the few ships that made the passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific found a route through the many channels between the multitude of islands that lie south of the mainland.

In January 1616 a Dutch East Company ship the Eendracht commanded by Willem Schouten was searching for an alternate route to the Far East. They sailed south of the known channels until the only land they could see lay to the north before heading north themselves. Schouten named to headland Kaap Hoorn after his home town in The Netherlands. 

Apart from Antarctic cruises and adventurous yachtsmen I can't imagine anything sailing round the Horn anymore, unless it's one of those huge container ships.