Important Dates
h,l,u,v
Date
Events
2200 B.C.
The building of Stonehenge begins.
700
Celtic tribes begin invasion of Britain.
55–54
Britain invaded by Romans led by Julius
Caesar. He introduces chickens to the British
Isles.
450
Angles, Saxons, and Jutes begin invasion of
Britain.
793
Viking raiders destroy the monastery at
Lindisfarne.
937
Athelstan becomes first king of a united
England.
9th century
Kenneth McAlpin declares himself ruler of
both the Scots and the Picts and unites
Scotland north of the Firth of Forth into a
single kingdom.
1017
Canute becomes first Danish king of England.
1050
Edward the Confessor begins building
Westminster Abbey.
1066
William, Duke of Normandy, defeats King
Harold of England at the Battle of Hastings
and becomes the first of the Norman kings.
1135
Civil war breaks out when King Henry I dies
without an heir.
1154
Henry II becomes first Plantagenet King of
England and ruler of Angevin empire. He
introduces system of common law which is
still used in England today.
1170
Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered in
Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry II’s
knights.
1215
Rebellious barons force King John to sign the
Magna Carta.
1249
The first Oxford college, University College,
is founded.
1295
Edward I summons first representative English
parliament.
1337
The Hundred Years’ War with France begins
when English King Edward III claims throne
of France.
1349–1351
The Black Death kills one-third of the
population of England.
1380s
Geoffrey Chaucer begins writing
The
Canterbury Tales
.
1453
The French defeat English at the Battle of
Castillon, which marks the end of the Hundred
Years’ War.
1455
The War of the Roses breaks out between the
houses of Lancaster and York.
1474
William Caxton publishes the first book
printed in England,
The Recuyell of the
Historyes of Troye
.
1497
John Cabot becomes the first English explorer
to visit the New World.
1534
King Henry VIII breaks with the Roman
Catholic Church.
1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen.
1577
Sir Francis Drake embarks on voyage to
317
circumnavigate the globe.
1585
Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the first English
colony in Roanoke, Virginia.
1588
English navy defeats the Spanish Armada.
1592
William Shakespeare’s first play,
Henry VI
, is
performed.
1603
Elizabeth I dies and is succeeded by James I,
first Stuart king and first ruler of a unified
British Isles.
1605
Guy Fawkes and his group of Catholic
sympathizers attempt to carry out the failed
bombing of the House of Lords on November
5th.
1611
The King James Version of the Bible is
published.
1620
Pilgrims set sail in the Mayflower for New
England.
1649
Charles I is executed; period of English
Commonwealth begins under Oliver
Cromwell.
1660
Charles II takes up the throne to begin the
Restoration. He orders the body of Oliver
Cromwell dug up.
1666
Great Fire destroys much of London.
1688
The Glorious Revolution ousts James II and
brings William of Orange and his wife Mary
to the throne.
1714
Queen Anne dies; George I becomes first
Hanoverian king.
1745–1746
“Bonnie Prince Charlie” Stuart is defeated at
Culloden in Scotland. This also marks the end
of the Scottish clan system.
1776
American colonies formally declare
independence from England.
1782
James Watt invents the steam engine,
signaling the start of the Industrial Revolution.
1783
American Revolutionary war ends when
England formally gives up the colonies in the
Treaty of Paris. Last of British troops evacuate
New York, ending British rule in America.
1788
The English establish a colony in Australia.
1801
First British national census is taken.
1813
Duke of Wellington defeats the French under
Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
1829
Sir Robert Peel creates the first English police
force, known as “bobbies,” in his honor.
1833
Slavery is outlawed in the British Empire.
1837
Victoria becomes queen, opening what will
become the longest royal reign in English
history. The British Empire reaches the height
of its power.
1851
Charles Dickens writes
David Copperfield
.
1863
The London Underground (“the Tube”) is
opened.
1870
Education Act establishes first state schools;
schools are made compulsory for all children
to age 11.
1884
Telephones are introduced to Britain.
1888
First football game between Celtic and
Rangers takes place in Glasgow.
1909
Lord Robert Baden Powell forms the “British
Boy Scouts.”
1912
The RMS
Titanic
sinks.
1914–1918
World War I takes place.
1919
The right to vote is given to British women
over the age of 30.
1921
Ireland is divided into the Irish Free State
(later the Republic of Ireland) in the south and
319
Ulster in the north.
1922
First national radio service begins.
1926
Britain’s first-ever strike takes place: a 9-day
walkout in support of the coal miners. The
workers lose.
1928
Vote is given to all men and women over 21.
1931
Great Depression hits England.
1936
First scheduled television service begins.
1939
World War II begins; England declares war on
Germany.
1948
National Health Service is established.
1953
Elizabeth II is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
1963
The Beatles become the world’s most popular
musical group.
1973
England joins the European Economic
Community.
1979
Margaret Thatcher is elected Britain’s first,
and so far only, female prime minister.
1981
Prince Charles of Wales marries Lady Diana
Spencer in a “fairy tale” wedding at St. Paul’s
Cathedral.
1982
England defeats Argentina in a war over
Falkland Islands.
1992
Elizabeth II agrees to pay taxes for the first
time.
1994
The Channel Tunnel (a.k.a. the Chunnel),
under the English Channel, is opened, linking
England and France.
1997
Mad Cow Crisis happens in United Kingdom.
2003
Britain joins the U.S. and other countries in
the “Coalition of the Willing” to invade Iraq,
despite large anti-war protests.
2005
The Civil Partnership Act comes into effect,
allowing same-sex couples to have legal
recognition of their relationships.
2011
Prince William marries Catherine Middleton
in Westminster Abbey.
2012
London becomes the only city to host an
Olympic games three different times.
2014
Scottish citizens vote “Nay” on the
referendum for independence and decide to
keep Scotland a part of the United Kingdom.
Достарыңызбен бөлісу: |