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King Aethelwulf ( 839 - 856 )
Coat of Arms 839 - Aethelwulf succeeds his father Egbert as King of Wessex
841 - Vikings raid Kent and East Anglia, and establish a settlement at Dublin
842 - Many die in London and Rochester during Viking raids
Great Britain 844 - Kenneth MacAlpine, King of the Scots, conquers the Picts; founds a unified Scotland
845 - Vikings are defeated by a Saxon force at the River Parrett
851 - Vikings forces enter Thames estuary and march on Canterbury
855 - Aethelwulf goes on a pilgrimage to Rome accompanied by his son Alfred
858 - Aethelwulf returns but finds his son Aethelbald has taken control of Wessex
858 - Aethelwulf dies at Steyning in Sussex. His son Aelthelbald becomes king.
860 - Aethelbert becomes King of Wessex following the death of his brother Aethelbald
860 - Winchester sacked by the Danes
865 - The Viking 'Great Heathen Army' commanded by Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless lands in East Anglia and sweeps across England
866 - Vikings take York (Jorvik) and establish a North British Kingdom
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869 - Edmund King of East Anglia resists the Vikings and is killed
870 - Aethelred defeated by the Danes (Vikings) at Reading
871 - Aethelred and his brother Alfred defeat the Danes at Ashdown
871 - Battle of Meretun, Hampshire. Aethelred is mortally wounded and dies.
871 - Alfred becomes King of Wessex following the death of his brother Aethelred
872 - London falls to Viking raiders
875 - After persistent attacks by Vikings the monks of Lindesfarne travel through Northumbria and
Galloway with the Lindesfarne Gospels.
878 - Guthrum's Danish army invades Wessex, and Alfred takes refuge on the isle of Athelney. Alfred
defeats Guthrum at the battle of Ethandune (Edington) in Wiltshire.
878 - Treaty of Wedmore divides England into two. Guthrum accepts baptism as a Christian and agrees
to leave Wessex and settle in East Anglia.
884 - Alfred defeats the Danes at Rochester
885 - Alfred imposes rules on South Wales
886 - Alfred takes London from the Danes. Danelaw - the territory occupied by the Danes in East Anglia
is recognised by Alfred
890 - Guthrum dies. Alfred establishes a permanent army and navy
891 - Anglo Saxon Chronicle, source of much early British History, begun
893 - Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, completes his book The Life of Alfred the Great
894 - Northumbrian and East Angles swear allegiance to Alfred, but promptly break the truce attacking South West England.
896 - Naval victory over the Danes in the Solent
899 - Alfred dies and is buried at Winchester. His son Edward becomes king.
924 - Athelstan becomes King of Wessex and Mercia on the death of his father Edward the Elder.
926 - Athelstan annexes Northumbria, and forces the kings of Wales, Strathclyde, the Picts, and the
Scots to submit to him
926 - Athelstan marries his sister to Sihtric the Viking King of York to cement his ties with the North
934 - Athelstan invades Scotland
937 - Battle of Brunanburh: Athelstan defeats alliance of Scots, Celts, Danes, and Vikings, and takes the
title of King of all Britain
940 - Athelstan dies at Gloucester and is buried at Malmesbury.
940 - Edmund becomes King. Scandinavian forces from Northumbria overrun the East Midlands.
942 - Edmund re-establishes control over Northumbria and rules a united England.
943 - Edmund extends his rule into southern Scotland,
945 - Dunstan becomes abbot of Glastonbury Abbey
945 - Edmund conquers Strathclyde, but Cumbria is annexed by the Scots.
946 - Edmund murdered at a party in Pucklechurch
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959 - Edgar King of Mercia and Northumbria becomes King of all England.
965 - Westminster Abbey is founded
973 - Northern Kings submit to Edgar at Chester
975 - Edgar dies at Winchester
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978 - Aethelred, son of Edgar, becomes King of England following the murder of his half brother Edward
980 - Danes renew their raids on England attacking Chester and Southampton
985 - Sweyn I, Forkbeard, rebels against his father Harold Blue-tooth and deposes him
991 - Battle of Maldon: Byrhtnoth of Essex is defeated by Danish invaders; Aethelred buys off the Danes
with 10,000 pounds of silver (Danegeld)
992 - Aethelred makes a truce with Duke Richard I of Normandy
994 - Danes under Sweyn and Norwegians under Olaf Trygvesson sail up river Thames and besiege
London; bought off by Aethelred
1002 - Aethelred orders a massacre of Danish settlers. After the death of his first wife Elfleda he marries
Emma of Normandy
1012 - The Danes raid Kent, burning Canterbury Cathedral and murdering Archbishop Alphege
1013 - King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark lands in England and is proclaimed king; Aethelred II the
Unready flees to Normandy
1014 - The English recall Aethelred II the Unready as King on the death of Sweyn at Gainsborough
1015 - King Canute II of Denmark & Norway again invades England
1016 - Edmund Ironside, son of Aethelred II the Unready of England, becomes King. At the battle of
Abingdon, in Essex, King Canute II of Denmark defeats Edmund. They meet on the Isle of Alney in the
Severn and agree to divide the kingdom into two. Canute takes the land North of the Thames and
Edmund the South.
1016 - Edmund is assassinated a few months later and Canute takes the throne as King Canute of
England.
1017 - Canute marries Emma of Normandy, the widow of Aethelred II. Canute divides England into four
earldoms - Northumbria Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia.
1027 - Canute makes a pilgrimage to Rome to demonstrate his alliance with the Church, and attends the
coronation of the Pope
1028 - In addition to his existing kingdoms Canute becomes King of Norway
1035 - Canute dies at the age of 40, and his huge Northern European empire disintegrates.
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1035 - Canute's illegitimate son Harold Harefoot usurps the throne from his half-brother, Harthacanute,
the rightful heir who is away fighting in Denmark.
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1042 - Harthacanute dies and is succeeded by Edward the Confessor, son of Aethelred II.
1043 - Earl Leofric founds Coventry Abbey. His wife Lady Godiva according to legend rides naked
through the streets of Coventry
1045 - Edward marries Edith daughter of Earl Godwin of Wessex
1051 - Edward quarrels with Godwin and banishes the rebellious Godwin family from England. Edward
promises the throne to William, Duke of Normandy.
1052 - Godwin, Earl of Wessex, returns to England.
1053 - Godwins son, Harold, becomes principal adviser to the King.
1056 - Welsh led by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn attack England and burn Hereford Cathedral
1057 - Edward, son of Edmund Ironside and potential heir to the throne, returns to England but dies
mysteriously
1063 - Harold Godwinson (later Harold II) and his brother Tostig of Northumberland attack Wales.
Gruffydd ap Llewellyn is killed by his own troops.
1064 - Harold visits William of Normandy and swears on oath to support his claim to the throne
1065 - Northumbria rebels against Tostig who is exiled. Harold fails to support his brother and they
become bitter enemies.
1066 - Edward dies and Harold Godwinson is chosen as successor, but William of Normandy declares the throne was promised to him.
1066 - William and his Norman army defeat Harold II and the Anglo Saxons at the Battle of Hastings.
Harold is killed and, after subduing the south of the country William is crowned King of England.
1067 - William suppresses a Saxon revolt in the southwest of England. William's Earls are given lands
driving out the Anglo Saxon lords. Norman French becomes the language of government.
1068 - William puts down a revolt in the northern counties led by Edwin and Morcar and establishes
fortifications. The region is laid waste in an action known as 'Harrying the North'.
1069 - Swen Estrithson of Denmark lands in the Humber and is welcomed by northern English earls who
join him in expelling the Norman garrison at York. William marches north and reoccupies York
1070 - Hereward the Wake leads a revolt against the Normans.
1071 - William defeats the revolt led by Hereward the Wake in East Anglia, thus putting an end to Saxon
resistance to his rule.
1072 - William invades Scotland and compels Malcolm III to pay homage to him.
1073 - Suppresses rebellion in Maine in France
1078 - Work begins on the Tower of London
1079 - William begins the construction of a Norman Cathedral at Winchester.
1079 - Robert, Williams eldest son, leads a rebellion in Normandy, but is defeated by his father at the Battle of Gerberoi and his life is
spared.
1085 - William orders a survey of the shires of England; the information is recorded in the Domesday Book, which is completed the
following year.
1086 - William writes to the Pope that England owes no allegiance to the Church of Rome
1086 - Domesday survey of England completed
1087 - William dies of his injuries after falling from his horse while besieging the French city of Mantes.
1087 - William Il accedes to the throne on the death of his father, William I.
1088 - William crushes a baronial rebellion in Normandy led by his uncle, Odo of Bayeux. Williams
brother, Robert, supports the claims of Normandy to the English throne.
1089 - Ranulf Flambard, leading adviser to William, is appointed Justiciar (the Kings judicial officer). He
begins to levy heavy taxes on the church.
1090 - William leads an invasion of Normandy in an attempt to subdue his brother, Robert.
1091 - William defeats an invasion of England led by Malcolm III of Scotland.
1092 - Carlisle is captured from Scotland and Cumberland is annexed.
1093 - Malcolm III and the Scots invade England again, but they are defeated and Malcolm is killed at the
Battle of Alnwick.
1095 - William suppresses revolt in Northumbria.
1095 - First Crusade begins following a call by Pope Urban II to help free the Holy Land which has been
captured by Muslims.
1098 - William suppresses a Welsh rebellion against the Norman border lords.
1099 - The Crusaders take Jerusalem. The first Crusade ends.
1100 - William is killed by an arrow while out hunting in the New Forest. Supposedly an accident, it has been suggested that he was
shot deliberately on the instructions of his brother Henry
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1154 - Henry II accedes to the throne at the age of 21 upon the death of his second cousin, Stephen.
1154 - Pope Adrian IV (born Nicholas Breakspear) becomes the first English Pope 1154-1159.
1155 - Henry appoints Thomas a Becket as Chancellor of England, a post that he holds for seven years.
1155 - Pope Adrian IV issues the papal bull Laudabiliter, which gives Henry dispensation to invade Ireland
and bring the Irish Church under the control of the Church of Rome.
1162 - On the death of Archbishop Theobald, Henry appoints Thomas a Becket as Archbishop of
Canterbury in the hope that he will help introduce Church reforms.
1164 - Henry introduces the Constitutions of Clarendon, which place limitations on the Churchs
jurisdiction over crimes committed by the clergy. The Pope refuses to approve the Constitutions, so
Thomas a Becket refuses to sign them.
1166 - The Assize of Clarendon establishes trial by jury for the first time.
1166 - Dermot McMurrough, King of Leinster in Ireland, appeals to Henry to help him oppose a
confederation of other Irish kings. In response to the appeal, Henry sends a force led by Richard de
Clare, Earl of Pembroke, thereby beginning the English settlement of Ireland.
1168 - English scholars expelled from Paris settle in Oxford, where they found a university.
1170 - Pope Alexander III threatens England with an interdict and forces Henry to a formal reconciliation with Becket. However, the two
of them quarrel again when Becket publishes papal letters voiding Henrys Constitutions of Clarendon.
1170 - Becket is killed in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December by four of Henrys knights.
1171 - Henry invades Ireland and receives homage from the King of Leinster and the other kings. Henry is accepted as Lord of Ireland.
1171 - At Cashel Henry makes Irish clergy submit to the authority of Rome
1173 - Canonization of Thomas a Becket.
1173 - Eleanor of Aquitaine and her sons revolt unsuccessfully against her husband Henry II.
1174 - Henrys sons Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey lead an unsuccessful rebellion against their father
1176 - Henry creates a framework of justice creating judges and dividing England into six counties
1185 - Lincoln cathedral is destroyed by an earthquake.
1189 - Henry dies at Chinon castle, Anjou, France
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1199 - John accedes to the throne on the death of his brother, Richard I.
1204 - England loses most of its possessions in France.
1205 - John refuses to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury
1208 - Pope Innocent III issues an Interdict against England, banning all church services except baptisms
and funerals
1209 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates John for his confiscation of ecclesiastical property
1209 - Cambridge University founded
1212 - Innocent III declares that John is no longer the rightful King
1213 - John submits to the Popes demands and accepts the authority of the Pope
1214 - Philip Augustus of France defeats the English at the Battle of Bouvines
1215 - Beginning of the Barons' war. The English Barons march to London to demand rights which they
lay down in the Magna Carta.
1215 - John meets the English barons at Runnymede, agrees to their demands, and seals the Magna
Carta which set limits on the powers of the monarch, lays out the feudal obligations of the barons,
confirms the liberties of the Church, and grants rights to all freemen of the realm and their heirs for ever. It
is the first written constitution.
1215 - The Pope decrees that John need not adhere to the Magna Carta, and civil war breaks out
1216 - The barons seek French aid in their fight against John. Prince Louis of France lands in England and captures the Tower of
London
1216 - John flees North and loses his war chest of cash and jewels in the Wash estuary
1216 - John dies of a fever at Newark and is buried Worcester Cathedral
1216 - Henry III is crowned King at the age of nine. England is ruled temporarily by two regents, Hubert
de Burgh and William the Marshal
1217 - The French lose the battles of Lincoln and Dover and are driven back to France
1220 - Building of Salisbury cathedral begun
1222 - De Burgh successfully puts down an insurrection supporting the French king Louis Vllls claim to
the throne
1227 - Henry takes full control of the government of England, but retains de Burgh as his main adviser
1232 - Hubert de Burgh is dismissed as adviser
1236 - Henry marries Eleanor of Provence
1237 - The Treaty of York with Alexander II of Scotland agrees the border between England and Scotland
1238 - Simon de Montfort marries Henrys sister, Eleanor
1240 - Henry's Great Council is called 'Parliament' for the first time
1245 - Henry lays the foundation stone for the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey
1258 - The English barons, led by de Montfort, rebel against Henrys misgovernment. They present a list
of grievances to Henry, who signs the Provisions of Oxford, which limit royal power
1261 - Henry repudiates the Provisions of Oxford
1264 - The Barons War breaks out. De Montfort defeats Henry at Lewes. Henry is captured.
1265 - Simon de Montfort summons the first directly elected English Parliament
1265 - Some of the barons break their alliance with de Montfort and, led by Prince Edward, kill him at the Battle of Evesham
1266 - The Dictum of Kenilworth restores Henry's authority and annuls the Provisions of Oxford
1267 - In the Treaty of Montgomery, Henry recognizes Llewellyn ap Gruffydd as ruler of Wales
1272 - Henry III dies in the Palace of Westminster
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1272 - Edward learns that he has succeeded to the throne on his way home from the Crusade
1274 - Edward is crowned in Westminster Abbey
1282 - Edward invades North Wales and defeats Llewellyn ap Gruffydd the last ruler of an independent
Wales
1284 - Independence of the Welsh is ended by the Statute of Rhuddlan
1290 - Edward's wife Eleanor dies at Harby in Nottinghamshire. Her body is brought back to London and
a cross erected at each stop along the journey - Geddington, Hardingston, Waltham, and the most
famous at Charing Cross.
1292 - Edward chooses John Balliol to be the new King of Scotland
1295 - Model Parliament is summoned
1295 - John Balliol reneges on his allegiance to Edward and signs alliance with King Philip IV of France
1296 - Edward invades Scotland, defeats the Scots at Dunbar and deposes Balliol. He then takes over
the throne of Scotland and removes the Stone of Scone to Westminster.
1297 - Scots rise against English rule and, led by William Wallace, defeat Edward at the Battle of Stirling
Bridge
1298 - Edward invades Scotland again and defeats William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk
1299 - Edward marries Margaret of France
1301 - Edward makes his son Prince of Wales, a title conferred on every first born son of the monarchy ever since.
1305 - William Wallace is executed in London.
1306 - Robert Bruce is crowned King of Scotland
1307 - Edward attempts to invade Scotland again, but dies on his way north
1307 - Edward II accedes to the throne on the death of his father, Edward I.
1308 - Edwards favourite, Piers Gaveston, is exiled for misgovernment.
1309 - Gaveston returns from exile in France.
1310 - Parliament sets up a committee of Lords Ordainers to control the King and improve administration.
The Kings cousin, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, takes control
1312 - Piers Gaveston is kidnapped by the Kings opponents and is put to death.
1314 - Edward and the English army are defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn by Robert Bruce. Scottish
independence is assured
1320 - Welsh border barons, father and son, both named Hugh Despenser, gain the Kings favour,
1320 - The Scots assert their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath
1322 - Barons rebellion, led by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, is crushed at the Battle of Boroughbridge in
Yorkshire.
1326 - Edwards wife, Isabella, abandons him and with her lover, Mortimer, seizes power and deposes
Edward. The Despensers are both put to death.
1327 - Edward is formally deposed by Parliament in favour of Edward III, his son, and is murdered in
Berkeley Castle on the orders of his wife, Isabella.
1327 - Edward III accedes to the throne after his father, Edward II, is formally deposed.
1328 - Edward marries Phillipa of Hanault
1329 - Edward recognizes Scotland as an independent nation
1330 - Edward takes power after three years of government by his mother, Isabella of France, and her
lover, Roger Mortimer. He imprisons his mother for the rest of her life.
1332 - Parliament is divided into two houses, Lords and Commons. English becomes the court language
replacing Norman French.
1333 - Defeat of Scottish army at Halidon Hill.
1337 - French King Philip VI annexes the English King's Duchy of Aquitaine. Edward III responds by
laying claim to the French crown as a grandson of Philip IV though his mother Isabella. This results in the
100 Years War with France.
1344 - Edward establishes the Order of the Garter
1346 - David II of Scotland invades England but is defeated at Nevilles Cross and captured.
1346 - French defeated at the Battle of Crecy.
1347 - Edward besieges and captures Calais.
1348 - -1350 The Black Death, bubonic plague which caused the skin to turn black, kills one-third of the English population. It leaves an
acute shortage of labour for agriculture and armies.
1356 - Black Prince defeats the French at Poitiers capturing King John II of France who is held prisoner for four years. Most of South
Western France is now held by the English.
1357 - David II of Scotland is released from captivity and returns home to Scotland.
1360 - King John II of France is released on promise of payment of a ransom and leaving his son Louis of Anjou in English-held Calais
as hostage.
1364 - Louis escapes and John unable to pay the ransom returns to England where he dies.
1367 - England and France support rival sides in the civil war in Castille
1369 - War breaks out again as the French take back Aquitaine.
1370 - Edward, The Black Prince, sacks Limoges massacring 3,000 people.
1372 - French troops recapture Poitou and Brittany. Naval Battle at La Rochelle.
1373 - John of Gaunt leads an invasion of France taking his army to the borders of Burgundy.
1373 - John of Gaunt returns to England and takes charge of government. Edward and his son are ill.
1375 - Treaty of Bruges. English possessions in France are reduced to the areas of Bordeaux and Calais.
1376 - Parliament gains right to investigate public abuses and impeach offenders; the first impeachment is of Alice Perrers, Edwards
mistress, and two lords.
1376 - Death of Edward, the Black Prince.
1377 - Edward III dies of a stroke at Sheen Palace, Surrey, aged 64 years
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1377 - Ten year old Richard II succeeds his grandfather, Edward III; the kingdom is ruled at first by the
Kings uncles, John of Gaunt and Thomas of Gloucester.
1380 - John Wycliffe begins to translate the New Testament from Latin into English .
1380 - A Poll Tax is levied, a shilling a head for the entire male population
1381 - Poll Tax leads to the Peasants Revolt. Watt Tyler and John Ball march on London.
1382 - Richard promises that the taxes will be repealed, but as the rebels return they are hunted and
executed.
1382 - William of Wykeham founds Winchester College
1387 - Led by the Duke of Gloucester, the Lords Appellant control the government
1388 - Scots defeat Henry Hotspur at the Battle of Otterburn
1389 - Richard takes control of the government; William of Wykeham is Lord Chancellor
1394 - Richard leads English army to reconquer west of Ireland.
1396 - Richard marries Isabella daughter of the King of France and signs a 28 year truce with France.
1397 - Richard takes revenge against Lords Appellant and exiles Henry Bolingbroke
1398 - Richard (Dick) Whittington becomes Lord Mayor of London
1399 - Bolingbroke becomes Duke of Lancaster on the death of John of Gaunt, but Richard seizes his possessions. Bolingbroke
returns from exile to claim his inheritance and seizes the throne.
1399 - Richard, who is away fighting at Leinster in Ireland, returns, but is deposed and imprisoned in Pontefract Castle, where he dies
in 1400
1399 - Henry returns from exile in France to reclaim his estates seized by Richard II; he claims the throne
and is crowned. His coronation was the first since the Norman Conquest in which the King's address was
in English instead of Norman French.
1400 - Richard dies of starvation in Pontefract Castle.
1400 - Death of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer leaving The Canterbury Tales unfinished.
1401 - Owain Glyndwr leads Welsh revolt against English rule
1402 - State visit to England of Manuel II, the Byzantine emperor
1403 - First rebellion by the Percy family from Northumberland defeated at the Battle of Shrewsbury.
1404 - Glyndwr makes a treaty with the French, who send an army in 1405 to support the rebellion
against the English.
1405 - Second Percy rebellion takes place
1406 - Henry contracts a leprosy-like illness
1408 - Third Percy rebellion takes place.
1413 - Henry dies at Westminster, worn out by constant revolts and shortage of money.
1413 - Henry accedes to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of his father, Henry IV
1414 - Henry adopts the claims of Edward III to the French crown
1415 - Henry thwarts the Cambridge plot, an attempt by a group of nobles to replace him on the throne
with his cousin, Edmund Mortisner, Earl of March.
1415 - Henry renews the war against France in order to win back territories lost by his ancestors. After a
five-week siege, he captures Harfleur the leading port in north-west France.
1415 - Battle of Agincourt, at which 6,000 Frenchmen are killed, while less than 400 English soldiers lose
their lives.
1416 - Death of Owain Glyndwr, leader of the Welsh revolt.
1420 - Henry marries Catherine, daughter of Charles VI. Under the treaty of Troyes, Henry will become
King of France on the death of Charles VI.
1421 - Birth of Prince Henry, later Henry VI.
1422 - Henry V dies in France of dysentery before he can succeed to the French throne. King Charles VI
of France dies the following month, leaving Henry VI, Henrys 10-month-old son, as King of France and
England.
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1422 - Henry aged 8 months becomes King of England on the death of his father, Henry V, and then, two
months later, King of France on the death of his grandfather, Charles VI.
1422 - John, Duke of Bedford, is appointed Regent of France; Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, becomes
Regent of England.
1429 - Henry VI is crowned King of England
1429 - The young peasant girl Joan of Arc begins her campaign to expel the English from France. She
inspires the French army which relieves Orleans besieged by English troops.
1431 - The English capture Joan of Arc. She is burned at the stake as a witch and heretic in Rouen on 30
May.
1431 - Henry VI of England is crowned King of France in Paris
1437 - Henry assumes personal rule of England
1440 - Eton college founded giving free education to 70 scholars
1445 - Henry marries Margaret of Anjou
1453 - End of 100 Years War. Gascony and Normandy fall to the French. England retains only Calais and
The Channel Islands.
1453 - Henry becomes mentally ill. Richard, Duke of York, is made Protector during Henrys illness
1453 - Battle of Heworth between supporters of the Neville and Percy families marks the beginning of the feud between the Houses of
York and Lancaster
1454 - Henry regains his senses but disaffected nobles take matters into their own hands. Supporters of the Dukes of York and
Lancaster take sides.
1455 - Beginning of the 'Wars of the Roses'. Duke of York is dismissed. York raises an army and defeats the Kings Lancastrian forces
at the Battle of St. Albans.The Lancastrian leader, the Duke of Somerset, is killed. York takes over the government of England.
1457 - Henry unsuccessfully tries to broker peace between the Yorkists and Lancastrians.
1459 - War is renewed and the Lancastrians are defeated at Blore Heath; the Yorkists are then defeated at Ludford Bridge near
Ludlow. Parliament declares York a traitor and he escapes to Ireland.
1460 - Yorkist army led by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, defeats Lancastrians at the Battle of Northampton. Henry VI is captured
and his wife, Margaret, escapes to Scotland. Richard of York is again Protector.
1460 - Margaret raises a Lancastrian army in the north and defeats and kills Richard of York at Wakefield. Henry VI captured by the
Yorkists at Northampton. Earl of Warwick takes London for the Yorkists.
1461 - Yorkists win Battle of Mortimers Cross. Queen Margaret marches her army South, defeats Earl of Warwick at St Albans, and
frees Henry. Edward, son of Richard of York, defeats Margaret's Lancastrian forces on 29 March at the Battle of Towton - the largest
and bloodiest battle ever on British soil when 28,000 lose their lives. Margaret and Henry flee to Scotland. Henry is deposed by Edward
who declares himself King Edward IV
1462 - Lancastrian revolts are suppressed.
1464 - Warwick defeats Lancastrians at Battle of Hexham; Henry VI is captured and brought to the Tower of London.
1469 - Warwick falls out with Edward IV, and defeats him at Edgecote. They are later reconciled but Warwick is banished. He makes
peace with Margaret, returns to England with an army, and Edward flees to Flanders. Henry VI is restored to the throne.
1471 - Edward returns to England and defeats and kills Warwick at the Battle of Barnet. Margaret is defeated at the Battle of
Tewkesbury; her son Edward, Prince of Wales, heir to the Lancastrian throne is killed in battle.
1471 - Henry is murdered by being stabbed to death in the Tower of London.
1461 - Edward, son of Richard of York, is declared king by the Earl of Warwick following the Yorkist
victory at the Battle of Towton.
1464 - Warwick defeats Lancastrians at Battle of Hexham; Henry VI is captured and brought to the Tower
of London.
1464 - Edward marries Elizabeth Woodville, the widow of a commoner, offending Warwick.
1469 - Warwick falls out with Edward IV, and defeats him at Edgecote. They are later reconciled but
Warwick is banished. He makes peace with Margaret, returns to England with an army, and Edward flees
to Flanders. Henry VI is restored to the throne.
1471 - Edward returns to England from Flanders and defeats and kills Warwick at the Battle of Barnet.
1471 - Margaret is defeated at the Battle of Tewkesbury and the Lancastrian heir, Prince Edward, is killed.
Soon after, Henry VI is murdered in the Tower of London.
1474 - Edward grants privileges to the Hanseatic League of North German trading cities to conduct trade
in England.
1476 - William Caxton sets up a printing press in Westminster, London
1478 - Edward falls out with his brother George, Duke of Clarence, who is then murdered in the Tower,
supposedly in a butt of malmsey wine.
1483 - Death of Edward.
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1483 - On the death of Edward, the crown passes to his 12 year old son, Edward V
1483 - Edward is declared illegitimate and deposed in favour of his uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester.
1483 - Edward and his younger brother Richard of York are imprisoned in the Tower of London. After a
few months the princes are never seen again and are believed to have been murdered.
1483 - Richard III declares himself King after confining and possibly ordering the murder of his two
nephews, Edward V and Richard Duke of York, in the Tower of London
1483 - The Duke of Buckingham is appointed Constable and Great Chamberlain of England
1483 - In October Richard crushes a rebellion led by his former supporter, the Duke of Buckingham.
Buckingham is captured, tried, and put to death.
1483 - At the cathedral of Rheims, Henry Tudor swears a solemn oath to marry Elizabeth of York in the
presence of the Lancastrian Court in exile.
1484 - Richard establishes his military headquarters behind the battlements of Nottingham Castle.
1484 - Death of Richards only son and heir, Edward, aged 9 years.
1484 - A Papal Bull is issued against witchcraft.
1484 - Parliamentary statutes are written down in English for the first time and printed.
1485 - Death of Richards wife, Queen Anne.
1485 - Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, lands at Milford Haven in West Wales in early August and gathers
support as the Lancastrian claimant to the Yorkist-held throne.
1485 - Richard is defeated and killed by Henry Tudors army at Bosworth Field. The Wars of the Roses
and the Plantagenet dynasty come to an end. Richard's body is taken to Leicester where it is buried at Greyfriars Church.
The grave is rediscovered beneath a car park 527 years later in 2012 and his bones reburied in Leicester Cathedral in March 2015.
1485 - Henry becomes King after defeating Richard III of York at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The Wars
of the Roses are ended.
1486 - Henry marries Elizabeth of York, thereby uniting the houses of York and Lancaster.
1487 - Henry crushes a revolt by the Earl of Lincoln on behalf of Lambert Simnel, a claimant to the
throne, at Stoke.
1491 - Henry invades France but at the Treaty of Etaples agrees to withdraw English forces in return for a
large sum of money
1492 - Perkin Warbeck an impersonator who claims he is Richard the younger of the Princes in the Tower
attempts to overthrow Henry, but is defeated and put to death in 1499.
1492 - Christopher Columbus crosses Atlantic and lands in San Salvador, Cuba and Haiti which he calls
the 'West Indies' in the belief that he has sailed around the World to India.
1497 - John Cabot sails west from Bristol on the Matthew and discovers New-found-land. He believed it
was Asia and claimed it for England.
1499 - Perkin Warbeck is hanged in the Tower of London. The Earl of Warwick is also executed.
1501 - Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, marries Prince
Arthur, Henrys eldest son.
1502 - Prince Arthur dies, and Prince Henry (the future Henry VIII) becomes heir to the throne, later marrying Arthurs widow, Catherine
of Aragon.
1503 - Margaret, Henry's daughter marries James IV of Scotland. The marriage gives James' descendants a claim to the English
throne.
1503 - Death of Elizabeth of York, Henrys wife.
1509 - Henry VII dies at Richmond Palace, at the age of 52.
1509 - Henry accedes to the throne on the death of his father, Henry VII.
1509 - Henry marries Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the Spanish King and Queen, and widow of his
elder brother, Arthur
1511 - Henry joins the Holy League against the French. All men under the age of 40 are required to
practise archery.
1513 - The English defeat the Scots at the Battle of Flodden Field. James IV of Scotland is killed.
1515 - Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, becomes Chancellor and Cardinal.
1516 - Catherine gives birth to Princess Mary (later Mary I).
1517 - Martin Luther publishes his 95 theses against the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church.
1518 - The Pope and the Kings of England, France, and Spain pledge peace in Europe
1520 - Henry holds peace talks with Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, but fails to get
support against Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire.
1525 - Hampton Court Palace is completed. William Tyndale publishes The New Testament in English.
1526 - Cardinal Wolsey re-establishes the Council of the North
1527 - Henry seeks permission from the Pope to divorce Catherine of Aragon but is refused.
1529 - Cardinal Wolsey is accused of high treason for failing to get the Pope's consent for the divorce, but dies before he can be
brought to trial.
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1529 - Sir Thomas More becomes Chancellor. Henry starts to cut ties with the Church of Rome.
1531 - The appearance in the sky of Halley's comet causes widespread panic and talk of holy retribution
1532 - Sir Thomas More resigns from the Chancellorship over the erosion of Papal authority.
1533 - Thomas Cranmer is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and annuls Henrys 24-year marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
1533 - Henry marries Anne Boleyn.
1533 - Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) is born.
1533 - Pope Clement VII excommunicates Henry
1534 - The Act of Supremacy is passed, establishing Henry as head of the Church of England.
1535 - Sir Thomas More is executed after refusing to recognize Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England.
1535 - Thomas Cromwell is made Vicar-General and starts plans to seize the Church's wealth.
1535 - First complete English translation of the Bible by Miles Coverdale
1536 - Anne Boleyn is executed and Henry marries Jane Seymour
1536 - The Act of Union between Wales and England.
1536 - Thomas Cromwell begins the dissolution of the monasteries under the 'Reformation'. .
1536 - Great northern rising, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace against the dissolution of monasteries.
1537 - Jane Seymour dies giving birth to Edward (later Edward VI).
1539 - Parliament passes the Act for the 'Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries'. The abbots of Colchester, Glastonbury and Reading
are executed for treason.
1540 - The last of the monasteries to be dissolved is Waltham Abbey.
1540 - Henry marries Anne of Cleves in January but the marriage is annulled in July
1540 - Execution of Thomas Cromwell on a charge of treason.
1540 - Henry marries Catherine Howard.
1541 - Beginning of the Reformation in Scotland under John Knox.
1542 - Catherine Howard is executed for treason.
1542 - James V of Scotland dies and is succeeded by his 6 day old daughter Mary Queen of Scots.
1543 - Henry marries the twice-widowed Catherine Parr, his sixth and last wife.
1543 - Treaty of Greenwich proposes marriage between Henry's son Edward and Mary Queen of Scots. However it is repudiated by
the Scots 6 months later who want an alliance with France.
1545 - Henry's flagship The Mary Rose sinks in the Solent
1546 - Henry becomes increasingly ill with what is now believed to be syphilis and cirrhosis.
1547 - Death of Henry at the age of 55, survived by Catherine Parr
1547 - Edward VI accedes to the throne at the age of nine after the death of his father, Henry VIII.
1547 - Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, uncle of Edward VI, is invested as Duke of Somerset and
Protector of England.
1547 - The English army defeats the Scots at Pinkie Cleugh as part of an attempt to force a marriage
between Edward VI and Mary Queen of Scots.
1548 - The French send over 6,000 troops to prevent the English from gaining control of the Scottish
Borders.
1549 - The First Act of Uniformity is passed, making the Roman Catholic mass illegal. The clergy are
ordered to remove icons and statues of the saints, and whitewash over wall paintings.
1549 - The First Book of Common Prayer is introduced, which changes the Church service from Latin to
English.
1550 - The Duke of Somerset is deposed as Protector of England, and is replaced by John Dudley, Earl
of Warwick, who creates himself Duke of Northumberland.
1552 - The Duke of Somerset is executed
1552 - Archbishop Cranmer publishes the Second book of Common Prayer.
1553 - The Duke of Northumberland persuades Edward to nominate his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey as his heir, in an attempt to
secure the Protestant succession.
1553 - Edward VI dies of tuberculosis at Greenwich Palace.
1553 - Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed Queen by her father-in-law The Duke of Northumberland. After nine
days, Mary arrives in London, Lady Jane Grey is arrested, and Mary is crowned Queen.
1554 - After Mary declares her intention to marry Philip of Spain, Sir Thomas Wyatt leads a revolt to
depose her.
1554 - Wyatts rebellion is crushed. Sir Thomas Wyatt, Lady Jane Grey, and her husband are executed.
1554 - Mary's half-sister Princess Elizabeth is sent to the Tower of London on suspicion of involvement in
Wyatt's rebellion
1554 - Mary marries Philip of Spain heir to the Spanish throne.
1554 - Four months after Mary's accession, Parliament meets to re-establish Catholicism in England
1554 - The persecution of Protestants begins, the heresy laws are revived, and England is reconciled to
Papal authority.
1555 - Protestant bishops are burned at the stake for heresy.
1555 - Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) is released from the Tower of London
1556 - Cardinal Reginald Pole is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
1556 - Thomas Cranmer, former Archbishop of Canterbury, is burned at the stake for heresy.
1556 - Philip becomes King Philip II of Spain; he leaves England, never to return
1557 - Philip II persuades Mary to declare war on France as an ally of Spain.
1558 - Port of Calais, the last English possession in France, is captured by the French.
1558 - Mary dies at St.Jamess Palace, London.
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1603 - James VI of Scotland becomes King James I of England, Scotland, and Ireland after the death of
Elizabeth I uniting the thrones of Scotland and England.
1603 - The Millenary Petition is presented to James I. It expresses Puritan desires for reforms to the
Church of England.
1603 - Plot against James to set his cousin Arabella Stuart on the throne. Sir Walter Raleigh is implicated
and imprisoned.
1604 - The Somerset House Peace Conference results in peace between England and Spain.
1604 - The Hampton Court Conference fails to settle the doctrinal differences between the Anglican
Church and its Puritan critics.
1604 - James proclaims that smoking is harmful to the lungs and imposes a tax on tobacco
1605 - Guy Fawkes and other Catholic dissidents attempt to blow up King and Parliament in The
Gunpowder Plot. They are betrayed and arrested.
1606 - The Gunpowder plotters are executed. 120 colonists sail for America.
1607 - The Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel end their rebellion against English rule of Ireland and flee to
Europe; Ulster is colonized by Protestant settlers from Scotland and England.
1607 - The English Parliament rejects Union with Scotland.
1607 - Common citizenship of English and Scottish persons is granted to those born after the accession of James VI of Scotland to the
English throne.
1607 - Jamestown found in America by the Virginia company
1609 - Scottish and English Protestants are encouraged to settle in Ulster
1609 - Shakespeare completes the Sonnets.
1611 - The King James Authorized Version of the Bible is published.
1611 - Dissolution of the first Parliament of James I.
1611 - Arabella Stuart secretly marries William Seymour. When James finds out Seymour is imprisoned but escapes with Arabella.
They are captured on the way to France and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Arabella starves herself to death there in 1615.
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1612 - Henry, Prince of Wales, dies of typhoid. His younger brother, Charles, becomes heir to the throne.
1612 - Heretics are burned at the stake for the last time in England.
1613 - James' daughter Elizabeth marries Frederick V, Elector of Palatine. Their descendants in House of Hanover will eventually
inherit the British Throne.
1613 - The Globe Theatre in London burns during a performance of Henry VIII
1614 - Second Parliament of James I meets.
1614 - Scottish mathematician John Napier publishes his theory of logarithms simplifying calculations for navigators.
1615 - George Villiers becomes Jamess favourite.
1616 - Playwright William Shakespeare dies.
1616 - Raleigh is released from prison to lead an expedition to Guiana in search of El Dorado
1617 - George Villiers becomes the Earl of Buckingham.
1618 - Raleigh fails in his expedition and on his return is executed for alleged treason at Westminster.
1620 - The Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America in the Mayflower. They land at Cape Cod and found New Plymouth.
1625 - Death of James I, aged 58.
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1714 - George I, the first Hanoverian King, succeeds his distant cousin, Anne.
1714 - A new Parliament is elected with a strong Whig majority led by Robert Walpole.
1715 - The Jacobite rising begins in Scotland intending to place the Old Pretender James Edward
Stuart, heir to James II on the throne. The rebellion is defeated at Sheriffmuir.
1716 - The Septennial Act allows for General Elections to be held
1717 - Townshend is dismissed from the government by George, causing Walpole to resign
1719 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe
1720 - South Sea Bubble bursts, leaving many investors ruined.
1721 - Sir Robert Walpole returns to government as First Lord of the Treasury where he remains in office
until 1742. He is effectively the first Prime Minister.
1722 - Death of the Duke of Marlborough.
1726 - First circulating library in Britain opens in Edinburgh, Scotland.
1726 - Jonathan Swift publishes Gullivers Travels.
1727 - Death of the scientist, Isaac Newton.
1727 - George I dies in Hanover, aged 67.
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1760 - George III becomes king on the death of his grandfather, George II.
1762 - The Earl of Bute is appointed Prime Minister. Bute proves so unpopular that he needs to have a
bodyguard.
1763 - Peace of Paris ends the Seven Years War.
1765 - Stamp Act raises taxes in American colonies.
1766 - William Pitt the Elder becomes prime minister
1768 - Richard Arkwright invents the spinning frame
1769 - Captain James Cooks first voyage to explore the Pacific.
1770 - Lord North becomes Prime Minister.
1770 - James Cook lands in Botany Bay, South East Australia.
1771 - Encyclopaedia Britannica is first published.
1772 - John Harrisons H4 clock allows navigators to accurately measure longitude enabling long distance
sea travel
1772 - Warren Hastings is appointed Governor General of India.
1773 - The worlds first cast-iron bridge is constructed over the River Severn at Coalbrookdale.
1773 - Boston Tea Party. American colonists protest against British taxes.
1775 - American War of Independence begins when colonists fight British troops at Lexington.
1775 - James Watt develops the steam engine.
1776 - On 4 July, the American Congress passes the Declaration of Independence.
1780 - Anti Catholic Gordon riots in London
1781 - Americans supported by the French fleet defeat British at Battle of Yorktown.
1782 - Ireland obtains a short-lived parliament.
1783 - On 3 Sept, The Treaty of Paris ends the American War of Independence. Britain recognizes American independence.
1783 - -1801 William Pitt the Younger serves as Prime Minister.
1783 - Robert (Robbie) Burns publishes his first book of poetry
1788 - George suffers his first attack of porphyria.
1788 - Colony of New South Wales established in Australia
1789 - Outbreak of the French Revolution. Storming of the Bastille.
1791 - Publication of James Boswells Life of Johnson and Thomas Paines Rights of Man.
1793 - King Louis XVI of France executed by guillotine
1793 - - 1802 War between Britain and France.
1798 - Nelson destroys French fleet at the Battle of the Nile
1798 - Wordsworth publishes Lyrical Ballads
1798 - Income Tax introduced
1800 - Act of Union with Ireland unites Parliaments of England and Ireland.
1803 - Beginning of Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon assembles a fleet for the invasion of England.
1805 - Nelson defeats French and Spanish fleets off Trafalgar, but is killed during the battle. Napoleon defeats the Russians at
Austerlitz.
1807 - Slave Trade Act. William Wilberforce is successful in his campaign to abolish slave trade in the British Empire.
1808 - -1814 Peninsular War to drive the French out of Spain.
1809 - British defeat the French at the Battle of Corunna
1810 - Final illness of George III leads to his son becoming Regent in 1811.
1812 - Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is assassinated in the House of Commons by a disgruntled bankrupt
1812 - War of 1812 between the British and Americans. Several naval engagements. American forces stopped from invading Canada.
1813 - Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice is published.
1813 - Monopoly of the East India company is abolished
1814 - Napoleon defeated at Laon and Toulouse. He abdicates but returns from Elba.
1815 - The defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo marks the end the Napoleonic Wars.
1815 - Corn Laws passed by Parliament to protect British agriculture from cheap imports
1818 - The Kings wife, Queen Charlotte, dies.
1818 - Publication of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein
1819 - Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, of political reform campaigners.
1820 - Death of King George Ill, aged 81 years
1820 - George IV accedes to the throne, having spent the last nine years as Prince Regent for his blind
and deranged father.
1820 - A radical plot to murder the Cabinet, known as the Cato Street Conspiracy, fails.
1820 - Trial of Queen Caroline, in which George IV attempts to divorce her for adultery. She has popular
support and the divorce proceedings fail.
1821 - Queen Caroline is excluded from George's coronation.
1821 - Michael Faraday begins his experiments with electromagnetism
1822 - Charles Babbage proposes his difference engine, a mechanical calculator and forerunner or future
computers.
1823 - The Royal Academy of Music is established in London.
1823 - The British Museum is extended and extensively rebuilt to house expanding collection.
1823 - Rugby schoolboy William Web Ellis, while playing football, picks up the ball and runs with it
inventing Rugby Football.
1824 - The National Gallery is established in London.
1825 - Nash reconstructs Buckingham Palace.
1825 - Locomotion No.1, built by George Stephenson, pulls the world's first passenger train for Stockton to Darlington.
1828 - Duke of Wellington becomes British Prime Minister.
1829 - The Metropolitan Police Force is set up by Robert Peel.
1829 - The Catholic Relief Act is passed, permitting Catholics to become Members of Parliament.
1830 - George IV dies at Windsor, aged 67.
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1872 - Henry Stanley finds David Livingstone who had been missing in Africa.
1874 - Disraeli becomes Prime Minister for the second time.
1875 - Suez Canal shares purchased for Britain.
1875 - Thomas Moy demonstrates his Aerial Steamer the worlds first flying machine at Crystal Palace, London
1876 - Victoria becomes Empress of India.
1876 - Scots Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone
1878 - Second Afghan War. British defend the Kyber Pass.
1878 - William Booths Christian movement adopts the name The Salvation Army
1879 - Tay Bridge disaster
1879 - Zulu war, British troops massacred at Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift
1880 - Gladstone succeeds Disraeli as Prime Minister
1880 - - 1881 First conflict with Boers in South Africa
1883 - British occupy Egypt
1884 - Third Reform Act all adult males given the vote.
1884 - Greenwich Meridian and Mean Time adopted
1886 - First Irish Home Rule Bill fails to pass House of Commons. Gladstone resigns as Prime Minister.
1887 - Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee. She has ruled for 50 years.
1887 - Independent Labour Party is founded.
1891 - Free schooling is introduced. 11 years later school attendance becomes compulsory for all children.
1893 - Second Irish Home Rule Bill fails to pass the House of Lords.
1897 - Victoria celebrates her Diamond Jubilee.
1897 - Marconi demonstrates wireless transmission across the Bristol Channel
1899 - -1902 Boer War in South Africa. Siege of Mafeking
1900 - Labour party founded
1901 - Queen Victoria dies, aged 81.
1901 - Edward VII becomes King on the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
1901 - Australia is granted dominion status.
1902 - Arthur Balfour becomes Prime Minister.
1902 - First trans-Atlantic radio transmission
1902 - Edward VII institutes the Order of Merit.
1902 - Empire Day is celebrated for the first time.
1902 - Rudyard Kiplings Just So Stories published.
1903 - Wilbur and Orville Wright of the US make the first manned and controlled aircraft flight.
1903 - The Womens Social and Political Union, demanding votes for women, is founded by Emmeline
Pankhurst.
1904 - Britain and France sign the Entente Cordiale, settling outstanding territorial disputes.
1904 - Sigmund Freud publishes Psychopathology of Everyday Life.
1904 - Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie is published.
1905 - Motor buses are first used in London.
1906 - Construction of HMS Dreadnought
1907 - Edward VII visits his cousin Tzar Nicholas II of Russia
1907 - Taxi-cabs are legally recognized in Britain for the first time.
1907 - Baden-Powell takes the first ever group of boy scouts on holiday to Brownsea island, Dorset.
1907 - Parliament rejects Channel Tunnel scheme.
1907 - New Zealand is granted dominion status.
1908 - Production of Ford motor cars begins.
1908 - Publication of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
1908 - The fourth Olympic Games are held in London.
1908 - Herbert Henry Asquith becomes Prime Minister.
1908 - The Triple Entente is signed between Russia, France, and Britain.
1908 - The Childrens Act establishes separate juvenile courts to try children.
1908 - Old Age Pensions established in Britain for all over 70 years old with an income of less than ten shillings per week.
1909 - The Peoples Budget is introduced by Lloyd George
1909 - The Womens Suffrage movement becomes more militant in their fight for votes for women.
1909 - Introduction of Labour Exchanges
1909 - French airman, Louis Blriot, makes the first cross-Channel flight from Calais to Dover.
1909 - First rugby match to be played Twickenham takes place.
1909 - First Boy Scout Rally is held at Crystal Palace, London.
1910 - Constitutional Crisis is caused by the House of Commons attempt to curb the power of the House of Lords.
1910 - Edward dies of pneumonia at Buckingham Palace.
1910 - George V becomes King and Emperor of India on the death of his father, Edward VII.
1911 - Parliament Act ensures the sovereignty of the House of Commons.
1911 - National Insurance Act provides sickness and unemployment benefits.
1912 - The luxury passenger ship S.S. Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage, drowning more than 1,500
people.
1913 - Suffragette Emily Wilding Davison throws herself under the Kings horse at the Epsom Derby
1914 - Anglican Church in Wales is disestablished.
1914 - The heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire is assassinated. Outbreak of World War I.
1914 - Battles of Mons, the Marne, and Ypres.
1915 - Second Battle of Ypres. Allied Gallipoli expedition fails to remove Turkey from the war.
1916 - Battle of the Somme. Naval Battle of Jutland between British and German fleets.
1916 - Easter Rising in Dublin in support of Irish independence.
1916 - David Lloyd George replaces Asquith as Prime Minister.
1917 - Battle of Passchendale.
1917 - Russian Revolution.
1918 - Czar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra (both cousins of George V) and their royal family are shot in Ekaterinburg.
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1918 - Kaiser Wilhelm II (cousin of George V) abdicates as Germany faces defeat in World War I.
1918 - The end of World War I. Armistice signed on 11 November.
1918 - Reform Act gives votes to women over 30.
1918 - General Election produces landslide victory for Sinn Fein MPs in Ireland, who refuse to take their seats in Westminster and form
their own DalI parliament in Dublin.
1919 - Lady Astor becomes the first woman MP to take her seat in the House of Commons
1919 - Third Afghan War. Afghanistan gains independence from Britain
1919 - A flu-pandemic (known as Spanish Flu) rages around the world killing over 50 million people.
1919 - -1921 Ireland partitioned into the Free State and the province of Northern Ireland.
1920 - Marconi opens first radio broadcasting station in Britain
1920 - A flu epidemic rages around the world killing more than 20 million people.
1922 - The British Broadcasting Company starts radio transmissions
1923 - Prince Albert (later George VI) marries Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
1924 - Ramsay MacDonald becomes Prime Minister of the first Labour Government
1926 - General Strike fails to reverse wage cuts and imposition of longer hours.
1926 - John Logie Baird demonstrates world's first television in London
1927 - British Broadcasting Corporation founded by Royal Charter
1928 - All women over the age of 21 get the vote.
1928 - George V falls seriously ill with blood poisoning of the lung.
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1929 - Beginning of the Great Depression which lasted almost 10 years
1931 - The Statute of Westminster recognizes independence of. the dominions.
1931 - Great Depression leads to the formation of a national government of all three political parties under the leadership of Ramsay
MacDonald.
1932 - George V makes the first annual Christmas broadcast on radio.
1935 - George V celebrates his Silver Jubilee.
1935 - Robert Watson-Watt demonstrates Radar
1935 - Stanley Baldwin replaces Ramsay MacDonald as prime minister
1936 - George V dies at Sandringham.
1936 - George VI accedes to the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII
1937 - Frank Whittle invents the jet engine
1938 - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signs agreement with Adolf Hitler at Munich in an attempt to
stop outbreak of war in Europe
1938 - Nazi Germany annexes Austria
1939 - Germany invades Poland. Outbreak of World War II.
1940 - Retreating British troops evacuated from beaches of Dunkirk as Germans advance.
1940 - Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister.
1940 - Battle of Britain fought in the skies over England between the RAF and German Luftwaffe.
1940 - German bombers blitz London, Coventry and other major cities
1941 - Hitler invades the Soviet Union
1941 - America enters the War after Japanese air raid on US fleet at Pearl Harbour.
1942 - Fall of Singapore to the Japanese
1942 - British victory at El Alamein.
1944 - D-Day landings in Normandy as the Allies begin to push the German forces back across Europe.
1944 - Battle of Arnhem airborne landings
1945 - The defeat of Germany marks the end of World War II in Europe.
1945 - Japan surrenders, after US drops atomic bombs on two cities.
1946 - Start of the 'Cold War'. Churchill speaks of the 'Iron Curtain' separating Western Europe from the Communist Eastern block
1947 - India granted independence. Pakistan declared a separate nation.
1947 - Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) marries Philip Mountbatten
1948 - National Health Service establishes free medical treatment.
1948 - Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated.
1949 - Berlin Airlift relieves the Soviet blockade of Berlin
1950 - -1953 Korean War
1951 - Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister again.
1952 - George VI dies.
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1952 - Elizabeth accedes to the throne on the death of her father, George VI.
1952 - World's first jet airliner passenger service inaugurated by BOAC in Comet I aircraft
1953 - Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest just before Coronation Day
1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson unravel the mystery of DNA
1953 - - 1954 Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip embark on a 6 month world tour including Australia and
New Zealand
1955 - Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Anthony Eden.
1955 - Laws restricting the burning of coal and establishing smokeless zones bring an end to London's
notorious fogs
1956 - Anglo-French forces invade Egypt after the nationalization of the Suez Canal.
1957 - Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister
1957 - The Gold Coast becomes independent as Ghana, the first British colony in Africa to receive its
independence.
1957 - Queen Elizabeth addresses the United Nations and opens the 23rd Canadian Parliament
1959 - Oil is discovered in the North Sea.
1959 - Queen Elizabeth tours Canada and the United States
1960 - Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister makes 'winds of change' speech in South Africa.
1960 - Union of South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth.
1962 - Jamaica gains independence
1963 - Alec Douglas-Hume replaces Harold Macmillan as the Prime Minister.
1963 - The Beatles release their first LP.
1964 - Labour government of Harold Wilson takes office
1966 - Aberfan disaster leaves 116 children dead
1967 - Capital punishment abolished in the UK for murder, and one year later for all crimes
1969 - Prince Charles is invested as Prince of Wales.
1969 - Troubles break out in the North of Ireland
1970 - Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister.
1971 - Decimal currency is introduced.
1973 - Britain joins the European Community.
1974 - Miners strike brings down Heath Government. Harold Wilson returns as Prime Minister.
1976 - Concorde begins first supersonic trans-Atlantic flights
1977 - Celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Queens accession
1978 - The world's first test-tube baby is delivered in Oldham, Greater Manchester
1979 - Margaret Thatcher succeeds James Callaghan, becoming Britains first woman Prime Minister.
1981 - Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in St. Pauls Cathedral.
1982 - Unemployment in Britain tops three million.
1982 - Britain goes to war with Argentina over control of the Falkland Islands
1982 - Pope John Paul II is first reigning pope to visit the UK.
1984 - Miners strike again but is defeated by Thatcher.
1986 - Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 60th birthday.
1988 - PanAm flight 103 bombed and crashes on Lockerbie killing 270
1989 - Poll tax is introduced amid widespread protest.
1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall. End of the 'Cold War'.
1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as Prime Minister after 11 years and is succeeded by John Major.
1991 - The Allied forces liberate Kuwait during the Gulf War.
1992 - Princess Anne and Mark Phillips divorce. Windsor castle suffers severe fire damage.
1993 - European Parliament comes into force
1994 - Opening of the Channel Tunnel between England and France
1996 - Both the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of York divorce.
1997 - Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister and ends 18 years of Conservative government.
1997 - Hong Kong reverts to China after 155 years of British rule.
1997 - Diana Princess of Wales dies in Paris car crash
1998 - Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland
1998 - Scotland and Wales vote for their own Assemblies
1999 - Edward, Earl of Wessex, marries Sophie Rhys-Jones.
2000 - Queen Mother celebrates her 100th birthday.
2001 - Twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York destroyed by Islamic terrorists.
2001 - - 2014. Fourth Afghan War. British and Allied troops in Afghanistan.
2002 - Queen Elizabeth II marks her Golden Jubilee of 50 years of rule. Deaths of Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.
2003 - British and US forces invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein
2005 - Prince Charles marries his second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles and she is given the title Duchess of Cornwall
2006 - Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday.
2007 - Tony Blair resigns as Prime Minister
2007 - Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip celebrate 60 years of marriage
2007 - Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever reigning British monarch
2008 - World wide banking crisis. Government has to bail out two major British banks
2009 - Parliamentary integrity damaged by expenses scandal
2010 - David Cameron becomes Prime Minister
2011 - Prince William marries Catherine Middleton. They become Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
2012 - Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee of 60 years since her accession to the throne.
2012 - Queen opens the London 2012 Olympic Games
2013 - Birth of Prince George, son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
2014 - Scottish voters reject proposal by the Scottish National Party to leave the United Kingdom
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Historical Timeline 18/01/16, 03:15
Front Page | Site Map | Royal Family (849-Present) | Royal Family Tree | Kings and Queens | Line of Succession
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