How was the English Reformation the same as and different from the Continental European Reformation with Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin? Now, pretending you had to explain this to a family member who was unfamiliar with church history or diverse Christian traditions, how would you explain the significance of this?

The Reformation was a sixteenth-century religious, theological, and political movement in which the majority of the churches in Europe renounced the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, which is the biggest Christian church and oldest institution in the world. The fact that both the English Reformation (which took place in England) and the Protestant Reformation (which took place in the rest of continental Europe) broke away from the Pope and the Catholic Church and the fact that both movements were promoted by (in)famous, influential, political individuals are the two main similarities between the English and the Protestant Reformation.
The English Reformation grew out of politics, not religion or spirituality. In England, King Henry VIII severed ties with the papacy for two personal reasons: He wanted to gain power over the English Church (and he achieved this with the dissolution of the monasteries), and he wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. The Catholic Church, however, did not permit divorces, and Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage between Henry and Catherine. Thus, Henry VIII broke all connections with the Pope. Since the king now had full authority over both the English Church and the country, his subjects had no choice but follow him and accept his decisions.
In contrast, the Protestant Reformation had a more theological character. Prominent reforming figures such as Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin put the Pope's power and sovereignty into question and casted doubt on the interpretations and explanations of religion, faith, and Christianity made by the Catholic Church.
Martin Luther was an Augustine professor, theologist, priest, and monk who was the leading figure in the Protestant Reformation. He did not believe that the people should be punished for their sins, and he wrote ninety-five theses (“Ninety-Five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”) against the Pope’s views on salvation, penance, and indulgences.
The Catholic Church, naturally, did not agree with him, and he was forced to go into hiding. However, his theses and his opinions were starting to spread among the elites, and many political figures started to share his beliefs. Thus, Lutheranism became the state religion in Germany, Scandinavia, and the Baltics. French pastor and theologian John Calvin (Calvinism) and Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli were the other two important figures in the Protestant Reformation, and their beliefs were not that different from Luther’s beliefs. Unlike Henry VIII, Luther, Zwingli and Calvin used faith and “logical reasoning” to persuade their leaders into accepting Protestantism.
The Catholic Church did respond to the Reformation with a movement which is known in history as the Counter-Reformation (a.k.a. the Catholic Reformation). During this period, the church became more educated and devotional, and the Spanish and Roman inquisitions were restructured in order to fight Protestantism across the entire continent.
Both the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation had a huge impact on the world's socio-economic, religious, and political climate; they gave birth to modern capitalist ideology, they paved the way for the scientific revolution, and they improved the lives of countless people around the European continent by making them more literate and educated. However, they also destroyed old, traditional beliefs and values and caused massive political and religious chaos.