INTERESTING HISTORIC UK DATES

[THE FUGITIVE]

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 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 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.