ENGLISH KINGS AND QUEENS - Historical Timeline II (1483 - 2012 )

1483 - Death of Edward.

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 - 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 Richard’s 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 Richard’s 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 Tudor’s army at Bosworth Field. The Wars of the Roses come to an end.
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, Henry’s eldest son.
1502 - Prince Arthur dies, and Prince Henry (the future Henry VIII) becomes heir to the throne, later marrying Arthur’s 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, Henry’s wife.
1509 - Henry VII dies at Richmond Palace, at the age of 52.


483 - 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


1485 - Henry becomes King after defeating Richard III of York at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The Wars of the Roses are ended.

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 money1492 - 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, Henry’s eldest son.1502 - Prince Arthur dies, and Prince Henry (the future Henry VIII) becomes heir to the throne, later marrying Arthur’s 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, Henry’s wife.1509 - Henry VII dies at Richmond Palace, at the age of 52.1509 - Henry marries Catherine of Aragon, daughter of the Spanish King and Queen, and widow of his elder brother, Arthur1511 - 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 Europe1520 - 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 North1527 - 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.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 retribution1532 - Sir Thomas More resigns from the Chancellorship over the erosion of Papal authority.1533 - Thomas Cranmer is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and annuls Henry’s 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 Henry1534 - 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 Coverdale1536 - Anne Boleyn is executed and Henry marries Jane Seymour1536 - 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 July1540 - 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 Solent1546 - 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 Parr1547 - 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 executed1552 - 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.1554 - After Mary declares her intention to marry Philip of Spain, Sir Thomas Wyatt leads a revolt to depose her.1554 - Wyatt’s 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 rebellion1554 - Mary marries Philip of Spain heir to the Spanish throne.1554 - Four months after Mary's accession, Parliament meets to re-establish Catholicism in England1554 - 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 London1556 - 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 return1557 - 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.James’s Palace, London.1559 - Elizabeth is crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey in January.1559 - Mary Queen of Scots in Paris declares herself Queen of France, Scotland and England when her husband Francis becomes King of France. He dies a year later and Mary returns to Scotland.1559 - Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity restore the Protestant Church in England and make Elizabeth Head of the Church of England.1559 - The Revised Prayer Book of Elizabeth I is issued. It is less extreme than its predecessors1560 - Elizabeth founds Westminster School1562 - Hawkins and Drake make first slave-trading voyage to America.1562 - Elizabeth gives aid to the Protestant Huguenots in the French Wars of Religion. English troops occupy Dieppe and Le Havre. 1563 - John Foxe’s The Book of Martyrs, the story of religious persecution, is published in England.1563 - -1564 17,000 die of the Plague in London which is believed to have been brought back by troops returning from Le Havre.1564 - Peace made between England and France at Troyes.1565 - Sir Walter Raleigh brings potatoes and tobacco from the New World1566 - Elizabeth forbids Parliament to discuss her marriage prospects.1568 - Mary Queen of Scots, flees to England from Scotland and is imprisoned by Elizabeth.1569 - Elizabeth I approves Sunday sports1570 - Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth from the Catholic Church.1577 - - 1580 Francis Drake sails around the world in the Golden Hind.1579 - Francis, Duke of Alencon, secretly comes to England to try and marry Elizabeth.1581 - Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth on the deck of The Golden Hind.1584 - Sir Walter Raleigh founds the first American colony and names it Virginia after Elizabeth the Virgin Queen1584 - Oakham School founded by Archdeacon Robert Johnson1585 - William Shakespeare leaves Stratford for London to become an aspiring playwright1586 - Babington Catholic plot to assassinate Elizabeth I1586 - Mary Queen of Scots, who had fled from Scotland to England, is implicated in the Babington plot and is sent to trial.1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed at Fotheringhay Castle on charges of treason.1587 - Drake attacks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz.1587 - Raleigh's second expedition to New World lands in North Carolina. Drake destroys the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. 1588 - Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and a favourite of Elizabeth, dies.1588 - A Spanish Armada of 130 ships sailing against England is defeated by bad weather and the English fleet under Admiral Drake and John Hawkins using fireships. Many were wrecked trying to return by sailing round the north of the British Isles. The English dominance of the sea leaves the way open for English trade and colonisation of America and India.1588 - Earl of Essex leads an expedition to Ireland.1589 - John Harrington invents the first flushing water closet at his house at Kelston, Bath. He calls it 'Ajax' a pun on the Elizabethan slang word 'Jakes' for a privy. Elizabeth I orders a Harrington WC to be installed at Richmond Palace.1590 - Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream.1593 - 15,000 Londoners die of the Plague. All theatres are closed for one year. Playwright Christopher Marlow is murdered. 1595 - Sir Walter Raleigh makes his first expedition to the South American continent. He explores 300 miles of the Orinoco searching for El Dorado.1599 - Earl of Tyrone leads a rebellion against the English in Ireland.1599 - The Globe Theatre is opened in London.1600 - East India Company founded1601 - Earl of Essex is executed for leading a revolt against Elizabeth.1601 - Poor Law is passed introducing a poor relief rate on property owners.1601 - First performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
1603 - Elizabeth I dies at Richmond Palace, Surrey.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 tobacco1605 - 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 company1609 - Scottish and English Protestants are encouraged to settle in Ulster1609 - 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 1615.1612 - 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 VIII1614 - Second Parliament of James I meets.1614 - Scottish mathematician John Napier publishes his theory of logarithms simplifying calculations for navigators.1615 - George Villiers becomes James’s favourite.1616 - Playwright William Shakespeare dies.1616 - Raleigh is released from prison to lead an expedition to Guiana in search of El Dorado1617 - 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 58.1626 - Parliament attempts to impeach the Duke of Buckingham and is dissolved by Charles.1627 - England goes to war with France, but at La Rochelle the Duke of Buckingham fails to relieve the besieged Huguenots.1628 - The Petition of Right a declaration of the “rights and liberties of the subject" is presented to the King, who agrees to it under protest.1628 - Physician William Harvey demonstrates the circulation of blood in the body1629 - Charles dissolves Parliament and rules by himself until 1640.1630 - The colony of Massachusetts is founded in America1633 - Work begins on Buckingham Palace in London1637 - Charles tries to force new prayer book on Scots, who resist by signing the National Covenant.1639 - Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration1640 - Charles summons the Short Parliament, which he dissolves three weeks later when it refuses to grant him money.1640 - Long Parliament summoned, which lasts until 1660. It can only be dissolved by its members. 1641 - Abolition of the Star Chamber and Court of High Commission.1642 - Charles fails in his attempt to arrest five MPs.1642 - Outbreak of Civil War. Charles raises his standard at Nottingham. The Royalists win a tactical victory the Parliamentary army at the Battle of Edgehill but the outcome is inconclusive.

1643 - Royalists defeat Parliamentary army at Chalgrove Field, and take Bristol. Battle of Newbury is indecisive. 1644 - York is besieged by Parliamentary army until relieved by Prince Rupert. Royalists defeated at Marston Moor.1644 - Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans enforce and Act of Parliament banning Christmas Day celebrations1645 - Parliament creates New Model Army, which defeats the Royalist army at Naseby on 16 June.1646 - Charles surrenders to the Scots, who hand him over to Parliament.1646 - Negotiations take place between King and Parliament. King conspires with Scots to invade England on his behalf.1647 - Charles escapes to the Isle of Wight but is captured. He is tried by Parliament and found guilty of high treason. 1648 - A Scots army supporting Charles is defeated at Preston.1649 - Charles I is executed. There follows 11 years of rule by Parliament as the Commonwealth under Cromwell. 
1659 - Richard Cromwell is forced to resign. The Rump Parliament is restored.1660 - Charles II returns to England from Holland and is restored to the throne.1662 - Act of Uniformity compels Puritans to accept the doctrines of the Church of England or leave the church.1662 - Royal Society for the improvement of science founded1664 - England seizes the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, changing its name to New York. 1665 - Outbreak of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.1665 - The Great Plague strikes London and over 60,000 die.1666 - The Great Fire of London rages for four days and three nights. Two thirds of central London is destroyed and 65,000 are left homeless.1667 - The Earl of Clarendon is replaced by a five-man Cabal.1667 - Paradise Lost by John Milton published1667 - A Dutch fleet sails up the River Medway captures the English flagship The Royal Charles and sinks three other great ships1670 - Secret Treaty of Dover, by which Charles agrees to declare himself a Catholic and restore Catholicism in England in return for secret subsidies from Louis XIV of France.1670 - Hudson Bay Company founded in North America1671 - Thomas Blood caught stealing the Crown Jewels1672 - Outbreak of the Third Dutch War.1673 - Test Act keeps Roman Catholics out of political office.1674 - Death of John Milton1674 - Peace made with the Dutch1675 - Royal Observatory founded at Greenwich1677 - John Bunyan publishes The Pilgrims Progress.1678 - The Popish Plot is fabricated by Titus Oates. He alleges a Catholic plot to murder the King and restore Catholicism. The Government over-reacts, and many Catholic subjects are persecuted.1679 - Exclusion Bill attempts to exclude James, Charles’s Catholic brother, from the succession.1679 - Habeas Corpus act passed which forbids imprisonment without trial1682 - Pennsylvania founded in America by William Penn1683 - The Rye House Plot a conspiracy to kill Charles and his brother James and return to parliamentary rule is uncoverd. 1685 - Charles is received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed.1685 - Rebellion of the Earl of Argyll in Scotland designed to place the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son, on the throne is crushed and Argyll is executed.1685 - The Duke of Monmouth rebels against James, but is defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor in Somerset.1685 - Edict of Nantes allowing freedom of religion to Huguenot Protestants is revoked in France, resulting in thousands of Huguenot craft workers and traders settling in England.1686 - Following their defeat at Sedgemoor, Monmouth and many of the rebels are hanged or transported by the 'The Bloody Assizes' under Judge Jeffreys.1686 - James takes first measures to restore Catholicism in England, and sets up a standing army of 13,000 troops at Hounslow to overawe nearby London.1686 - Edmund Halley draws the first meteorological map showing weather systems1687 - Issac Newton publishes Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy1688 - James, believing his Divine Right as King, issues the Declaration of Indulgence to suspend all laws against Catholics and Non-Conformists and repeal the 1673 Test Act. He seeks to promote his Catholic supporters in Parliament and purge Tories and Anglican clergy . 1688 - James’ wife, Mary of Modena, gives birth to a son and Catholic heir. His daughters Mary, married to Dutch Stadtholder William of Orange, and Anne by his first wife Anne Hyde are Protestant. 1688 - Following discontent over James attempts to control politics and religion, seven leading statesmen invite William of Orange, son-in-law of James, to England to restore English liberties.1688 - The 'Glorious Revolution'. William of Orange lands at Torbay with an army of 20,000 and advances on London. Many Protestant officers in James' army including Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and James' own daughter Anne defect to support William and his wife Mary.1688 - James abdicates and flees to exile in France.1689 - Parliament draws up the Declaration of Right detailing the unconstitutional acts of James II. 1689 - Bill of Rights is passed by Parliament. It stipulates that no Catholic can succeed to the throne, and also limits the powers of the Royal prerogative. The King of Queen cannot withhold laws passed by Parliament or levy taxes without Parliamentary consent.1689 - Jacobite Highlanders rise in support of James and are victorious at Killiekrankie but are defeated a few months later at Dunkeld.1689 - Catholic forces loyal to James II land in Ireland from France and lay siege to Londonderry.1690 - William defeats James and French troops at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland. Scottish Jacobites defeated at Haughs of Cromdale1690 - Anglo-Dutch naval force is defeated by the French at Beachy Head.1691 - The Treaty of Limerick allows Catholics in Ireland to exercise their religion freely, but severe penal laws soon follow.1691 - William offers the Scottish Highlanders a pardon for the Jacobite uprising if they sign allegiance him1692 - Glencoe Massacre. MacDonalds are killed by Campbells for not signing the oath of allegiance1694 - Bank of England founded by William Paterson1694 - Death of Mary. William now rules alone.1697 - Peace of Ryswick ends the war with France.1697 - First Civil List Act passed1701 - The Act of Settlement establishes Hanoverian and Protestant succession to the throne.1701 - James II dies in exile in France. French king recognizes James II’s son James Edward (The Old Pretender) as “James III”.1701 - William forms grand alliance between England, Holland, and Austria to prevent the union of the French and Spanish crowns.1702 - William dies after a riding accident. Stuarts in exile toast 'the gentleman in black velvet' in the belief that his horse stumbled on a mole hill. 1702 - England declares war on France in the War of the Spanish Succession1704 - English, Bavarian, and Austrian troops under Marlborough defeat the French at the Battle of Blenheim and save Austria from invasion.1704 - British capture Gibraltar from Spain.1706 - Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of Ramillies, and expels the French from the Netherlands.1707 - The Act of Union unites the kingdoms of England and Scotland and transfers the seat of Scottish government to London.1708 - Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of Oudenarde. .1708 - Anne vetoes a parliamentary bill to reorganize the Scottish militia, the last time a bill is vetoed by the sovereign.1708 - James Edward Stuart, 'The Old Pretender', arrives in Scotland in an unsuccessful attempt to gain the throne.1709 - Marlborough defeats the French at the Battle of Malplaquet.1710 - The Whig government falls and a Tory ministry is formed.1710 - St Paul's Cathedral, London, completed by Sir Christopher Wren1711 - First race meeting held at Ascot1713 - The Treaty of Utrecht is signed by Britain and France, bringing to an end the War of the Spanish Succession.1714 - Queen Anne dies at Kensington Palace.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 held1717 - Townshend is dismissed from the government by George, causing Walpole to resign1719 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe1720 - 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 Gulliver’s Travels.1727 - Death of the scientist, Isaac Newton.1727 - George I dies in Hanover, aged 67.1729 - Charles Wesley founds the Methodists at Lincoln College Oxford.1732 - A royal charter is granted for the founding of Georgia in America.1732 - Lord Frederick North born1734 - Jethro Tull publishes essays on improving farming including the use of the seed drill. 1737 - Death of George’s wife, Queen Caroline.1738 - John and Charles Wesley start the Methodist movement in Britain.1739 - Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York1739 - Britain goes to war with Spain over Captain Jenkins’ ear, claimed to have been cut off in a skirmish at sea.1740 - -1748 The War of Austrian Succession breaks out in Europe.1742 - Walpole resigns as Prime Minister.1743 - George leads troops into battle at Dettingen in Bavaria.1745 - Charles Edward Stuart, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', lands in Scotland and raises his flag for the restoration of the Stuarts. 2,000 Jacobites enter Edinburgh. Scottish victory at Prestonpans. Charles and his Jacobite army march South into England and reach Derby before turning back. 1746 - Scots defeated at the Battle of Culloden. Duke of Cumberland, the King's 2nd son, ruthlessly represses the rebels and Scottish traditions. 1748 - Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the war of Austrian Succession1751 - Death of Frederick, Prince of Wales. His son, George, becomes heir to the throne.1752 - Britain adopts the Georgian Calendar. 1st January replaces 25 March as the first day of the year. 1757 - Britain declares war against France. Start of the Seven Years’ War.1757 - Robert Clive wins the Battle of Plassey and secures the Indian province of Bengal for Britain.1757 - William Pitt becomes Prime Minister1759 - Wolfe captures Quebec from the French and establishes British supremacy in Canada. 1759 - First botanical gardens laid out at Kew1760 - George II dies.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 minister1768 - Richard Arkwright invents the spinning frame1769 - Captain James Cook’s 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 travel1772 - Warren Hastings is appointed Governor General of India.1773 - The world’s 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 London1781 - 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 poetry1788 - George suffers his first attack of porphyria.1788 - Colony of New South Wales established in Australia1789 - Outbreak of the French Revolution. Storming of the Bastille.1791 - Publication of James Boswell’s Life of Johnson and Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man.1793 - King Louis XVI of France executed by guillotine1793 - - 1802 War between Britain and France.1798 - Nelson destroys French fleet at the Battle of the Nile1798 - Wordsworth publishes Lyrical Ballads1798 - 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 Corunna1810 - 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 bankrupt1812 - War of 1812 between the British and Americans. Several naval engagements. American forces stopped from invading Canada. 1813 - Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is published.1813 - Monopoly of the East India company is abolished1814 - 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 imports1818 - The King’s wife, Queen Charlotte, dies.1818 - Publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein1819 - Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, of political reform campaigners.1820 - Death of King George Ill, aged 81 years1820 - 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 electromagnetism1822 - 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 67.1831 - The new London Bridge is opened over the River Thames.1832 - The First Reform Act is passed, extending votes and redistributing Parliamentary seats on a more equitable basis.1832 - Cholera spreads from Sunderland and runs rampant killing over 20,000 people.1833 - Abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire following a campaign by Quakers and William Wilberforce.1833 - Factory Act passed prohibiting children aged less than nine from work in factories, and reducing the working hours of women and older children.1834 - Poor Law Act is passed, creating workhouses for the poor.1834 - The Tolpuddle Martyrs are transported to Australia for attempting to form a trade union.1834 - Fire destroys the Palace of Westminster.1835 - The Municipal Reform Act is passed, requiring members of town councils to be elected by ratepayers and councils to publish their financial accounts.1836 - Births, marriages and deaths must be registered by law1836 - Dickens publishes Oliver Twist, drawing attention to Britain’s poor1836 - Charles Darwin returns from a five year voyage on HMS Beagle researching natural history1837 - William IV dies at Windsor Castle.1838 - Publication of People’s Charter. Start of Chartism.1839 - First Afghan War. British Forces capture the fortress of Ghazi in Afghanistan.1839 - - 42 First Opium War. Britain gains Hong Kong. 1840 - Victoria marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.1840 - The Penny Post is introduced. First postage stamp is the Penny Black.1840 - First colonist settlement in New Zealand1841 - Sir Robert Peel becomes Prime Minister1842 - End of First Opium War. Britain gains Hong Kong1843 - Launch of SS Great Britain the worlds first all metal ship.1844 - Railway building mania starts. 5,000 miles of track are built in Britain by 1846 1845 - - 1849 Irish Potato Famine kills more than a million people. Many emigrate to America.1846 - Repeal of the Corn Laws1848 - Major Chartist demonstration in London.1848 - Pre-Raphaelite movement begins1849 - Harrods store in London is opened1851 - Great Exhibition takes place in Hyde Park. Its success is largely due to Prince Albert.1852 - Death of the Duke of Wellington1853 - Vaccination against smallpox made compulsory.1853 - Victoria uses chloroform during the birth of Prince Leopold.1854 - -1856 Crimean War fought by Britain and France against Russia.1854 - Charge of the Light Brigade1854 - 10,000 die of cholera from contaminated water in London. 1856 - The Victoria Cross is instituted for military bravery.1856 - David Livingstone discovers the Victoria Falls1857 - -1858 Indian Mutiny against British rule.1858 - Isambard Kingdom Brunel launches The Great Eastern, the largest ship in the world and the first with a double iron hull. 1858 - First trans-Atlantic telegraph service1859 - Publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of the Species.1861 - Prince Albert dies of typhoid1861 - - 65 Civil War in America. Southern states unsuccessfully seek to involve Britain which has sufficient cotton from Egypt and India, but needs the Union North's grain. 1863 - The world's first underground railway is opened in London1863 - Edward, Prince of Wales, marries Alexandra of Denmark1863 - The Salvation Army is founded.1863 - The Football Association is founded.1865 - Slavery is ended in America with Northern Union victory in the American Civil War1867 - The Second Reform Bill doubles the franchise vote to two million.1867 - Canada becomes the first independent dominion in the Empire.1867 - Karl Marx publishes the first volume of Das Kapital1868 - Gladstone becomes Prime Minister for the first time.1869 - The Irish Church is disestablished.1870 - First Education Act. Primary education becomes compulsory.1870 - Death of Charles Dickens1871 - Trade Unions are legalized1872 - Secret voting is introduced for elections.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, London1876 - Victoria becomes Empress of India.1876 - Scots Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone1878 - Second Afghan War. British defend the Kyber Pass. 1878 - William Booths Christian movement adopts the name The Salvation Army1879 - Tay Bridge disaster1879 - Zulu war, British troops massacred at Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift1880 - Gladstone succeeds Disraeli as Prime Minister1880 - - 1881 First conflict with Boers in South Africa1883 - British occupy Egypt1884 - Third Reform Act all adult males given the vote.1884 - Greenwich Meridian and Mean Time adopted1886 - 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 Channel1899 - -1902 Boer War in South Africa. Siege of Mafeking1900 - Labour party founded

1901 - Queen Victoria dies, aged 81.1901 - Australia is granted dominion status.1902 - Arthur Balfour becomes Prime Minister.1902 - First trans-Atlantic radio transmission1902 - Edward VII institutes the Order of Merit.1902 - Empire Day is celebrated for the first time.1902 - Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories published.1903 - Wilbur and Orville Wright of the US make the first manned and controlled aircraft flight.1903 - The Women’s 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 Dreadnought1907 - Edward VII visits his cousin Tzar Nicholas II of Russia1907 - 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 Grahame1908 - 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 Children’s 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 People’s Budget is introduced by Lloyd George1909 - The Women’s Suffrage movement becomes more militant in their fight for votes for women.1909 - Introduction of Labour Exchanges1909 - French airman, Louis Blériot, 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.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 Derby1914 - 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. Czar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra (cousin of George V) and their royal family are shot in Ekaterinburg.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 Commons1919 - Third Afghan War. Afghanistan gains independence from Britain1919 - 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 Britain1920 - A flu epidemic rages around the world killing more than 20 million people.1922 - The British Broadcasting Company starts radio transmissions1923 - Prince Albert (later George VI) marries Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon1924 - Ramsay MacDonald becomes Prime Minister of the first Labour Government1926 - General Strike fails to reverse wage cuts and imposition of longer hours.1926 - John Logie Baird demonstrates world's first television in London1927 - British Broadcasting Corporation founded by Royal Charter1928 - 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 penicillin1929 - Beginning of the Great Depression which lasted almost 10 years1931 - 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 Radar1935 - Stanley Baldwin replaces Ramsay MacDonald asprime minister1936 - George V dies at Sandringham.1936 - Outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.1936 - Germany, under Adolf Hitler, reoccupies the demilitarized left bank of the Rhine.1936 - Britain begins to rearm as political tension increases in Europe and the prospect of military conflict in the region becomes more evident.1936 - Fire destroys Crystal Palace, once the home of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park but now located in Sydenham, south London.1936 - J.M. Keynes publishes his book General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money an internationally influential study of modern economics.1936 - Maiden voyage of luxury ocean liner the Queen Mary takes place.1936 - Jarrow crusade of unemployed marches to London1936 - The BBC inaugurates the world’s first television service at Alexandra Palace in London.1936 - On 10 December Edward signs the Instrument of Abdication over his wish to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson. Witnessed by all his brothers, it is a simple declaration of his intent to renounce the throne for himself and all his descendants. He is subsequently created Duke of Windsor.1937 - Frank Whittle invents the jet engine1938 - Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signs agreement with Adolf Hitler at Munich in an attempt to stop outbreak of war in Europe1938 - Nazi Germany annexes Austria1939 - 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 cities1941 - Hitler invades the Soviet Union1941 - America enters the War after Japanese air raid on US fleet at Pearl Harbour.1942 - Fall of Singapore to the Japanese1942 - 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 landings1945 - 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 block1947 - India granted independence. Pakistan declared a separate nation. 1947 - Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) marries Philip Mountbatten1948 - National Health Service establishes free medical treatment.1948 - Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated.1949 - Berlin Airlift relieves the Soviet blockade of Berlin1950 - -1953 Korean War1951 - Winston Churchill becomes British Prime Minister again.1952 - George VI dies.

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 aircraft1953 - Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest just before Coronation Day1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson unravel the mystery of DNA1953 - - 1954 Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip embark on a 6 month world tour including Australia and New Zealand1955 - 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 fogs1956 - 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 Parliament1959 - Oil is discovered in the North Sea.1959 - Queen Elizabeth tours Canada and the United States1960 - 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 independence1963 - Alec Douglas-Hume replaces Harold Macmillan as the Prime Minister.1963 - The Beatles release their first LP.1964 - Labour government of Harold Wilson takes office1966 - Aberfan disaster leaves 116 children dead1969 - Prince Charles is invested as Prince of Wales.1969 - Troubles break out in the North of Ireland1970 - 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 flights1977 - Celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Queens accession1978 - The world's first test-tube baby is delivered in Oldham, Greater Manchester1979 - Margaret Thatcher succeeds James Callaghan, becoming Britain’s first woman Prime Minister.1981 - Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer in St. Paul’s Cathedral.1982 - Unemployment in Britain tops three million.1982 - Britain goes to war with Argentina over control of the Falkland Islands1984 - 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 2701989 - 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 force1994 - Opening of the Channel Tunnel between England and France1996 - 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 crash1998 - Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland1998 - Scotland and Wales vote for their own Assemblies1999 - 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 - - present. 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 Hussein2005 - Prince Charles marries his second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles and she is given the title Duchess of Cornwall2006 - Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday.2007 - Tony Blair resigns as Prime Minister2007 - Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip celebrate 60 years of marriage2007 - Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever reigning British monarch2008 - World wide banking crisis. Government has to bail out two major British banks2009 - Parliamentary integrity damaged by expenses scandal2010 - David Cameron becomes Prime Minister2011 - 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.

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