The Iron Age (780BC to AD42)
It is believed that the Celtic tribes first introduced iron and the metallergy skills needed to start making swords and later other weapons and tools.
Significant events during this period include:
- 776BC: First Olympic Games.
- 450BC: Defensive Developments in Britain.
- 399BC: Death of Socrates, Greek Philosopher.
- 330BC: Pytheus of Massillia‘s Circumnavigation of Britain.
- 54BC: Julius Caesar‘s attempted invasion of Britain.
- 50BC: Gallic revolt.
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Roman Conquest (AD43 to 409)
Roman invasion of Britain finally began in AD43 with Roman commander Aulus Plautius invading across the channel from Bologne in France (or what was then Gaul). He took with him four legions (officially 6,000 per legion but in reality less) and 20,000 support troops. The Romans landed in Kent and swiftly defeated local opposition and then later captured Colchester where Emperor Claudius accepted the surrender of eleven tribal kings. By AD47 they occupied land as far south-west as Cornwall and as far west as Wales.
Significant events during this period include:
- 60-61: Rebellion of the Iceni tribe under Queen Boudicca.
- 83: Conquest of Anglesey anfd northern Britain.
- 122-139: Building of Hadrian‘s Wall.
- 142-144: Building of Antoine‘s Wall.
- 314: Constantine I and Christianity.
- 367: Invasion of Saxons.
- 390: Age of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes.
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The Dark Ages (410 to 1065)
By AD410 Roman forces had all but withdrawn from Britain to defend a much weakened empires elsewhere in Europe, in particular in Gaul and Germania. Roman Britains wrote to Emperor Honorius and asked for help in defeating the constant marauding Saxons and Pict but were told to "look to their own defenses" instead. Recent archaeological and recorded evidence from this period suggests that a Romanised civilisation continued well into the fifth century.
Significant events during this period include:
- 410-1065: Repeated invasions and partial occupations by Saxons, Scots and Scandinavian tribes.
- c. 520: Legend of existence of King Arthur and his kingdom within Britain.
- 597: St Augustine‘s mission.
- 600: Formation of the Kingdom of Mercia.
- c. 847: Unification of Scots and Picts.
- 871: King Alfred and formation of Danelaw.
- 1013: Danish and Scandinavian rule through Swein and Cnut.
- 1018: Unification of Scotland.
- 1040: Reign of Macbeth.
- 1042: Reign of Edward the "Confessor".
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Norman England (1066 to 1215)
One of the most famous events in British history took place in 1066 with the historic invasion of England by Harald Hardrada of Norway at Stamford Bridge in what is modern day Yorkshire and in particular the invasion in the south of England at Hastings by William of Normandy (to pursue his claim to the English thrown). Although King Harold managed to defeat Hardrada‘s army at Stamford Bridge after a long forced march from London he was eventually finally defeated by William at Hastings when Harold was shot in the eye with an arrow from one of the Norman archers. These historic events were recorded in the famous French Bayeux Tapestry (part of which is shown right).
William of Normandy or William the "Conqueror" as he is often known was crowned King of England (1066-87) on Christmas Day in London.
Significant events during this period include:
- 1066: Battle of Hastings.
- 1086: The Doomsday Book.
- 1100: Death of William II.
- 1154: Henry II and murder of Thomas Becket.
- 1174: Treaty of Falaise.
- 1189: Richard I and the Crusades against the Ottoman Turks.
- 1215: King John and the Magna Carta.
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The Middle Ages (1216 to 1347)
Henry II became king in 1216 but it was eleven years before he was old enough to personally take control of the thrown of England. Henry surrendered most of English gains in France at the Treaty of Paris in 1259 and made himself even more unpopular with his financial policies, his commitment to the Papacy and support for his brother.
Significant events during this period include:
- 1216-1217: French invasion of England.
- 1218: Treaty of Worcester.
- 1220: Lawman‘s "History of the British".
- 1225: Legendary time of Robin Hood and his band of thieves.
- 1235: English in Ireland.
- 1236-1307: Beginning of Parliament in England.
- 1237: Treaty of York.
- 1245: Rebuilding of Westminster Abbey.
- 1249-1286: Famous reign of Alexander III of Scotland.
- 1258: Provisions of Oxford.
- 1263: Battle of Largs.
- 1264: Simon de Monfort‘s Revolt.
- 1274: Edward I return from the Crusades.
- 1283: Completion of St Paul‘s Cathedral in London.
- 1290: Expulsion of the Jews from England.
- 1297-1307: William Wallace and Robert I of Scotland.
- 1314: Battle of Bannockburn.
- 1320: Declaration of Arbroath.
- 1337: Start of the Hundred Years‘ War with France.
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Late Medieval (1348 to 1485)
The outbreak of the Bubonic Plague or "Black Death" in 1348 brought devastation firstly across Europe and finally all across Britain. The disease itself was spread through fleas living in the fur of rats. The estimated total number of dead are as many as a tenth to a third of the overall population. Also, during this period the English army under the leadership of King Henry V defeated a much larger French army at the famous Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
Significant events during this period include:
- 1348: First outbreak of the Black Death.
- 1356: The Battle of Poitiers.
- 1377: Reign of King Richard II.
- 1381: The Peasant‘s Revolt.
- 1382: Emergence of Lollardy.
- 1399: Usurption of Henry IV.
- 1400-1416: Welsh uprising.
- 1414: Lollard Revolt.
- 1415: Battle of Agincourt.
- 1424: King James I of Scotland.
- 1436: End of the Hundred Year‘s War against France.
- 1450: Collapse of the House of Lancaster and the start of the Wars of the Roses.
- 1464-1469: Earl of Warwick "the Kingmaker" and Edward IV.
- 1483: Richard III and the famous Princes in the Tower.
- 1485: Defeat of Richard II at the battle of Bosworth.
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The Tudors (1485 to 1603)
The Battle of Bosworth in 1485 marked the start of the Tudor period in England with the death of Richard III and unification of the houses of Lancaster and York with the marriage of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. The most famous King of England during this period was of course Henry Tudor‘s son Henry VIII (who is pictured right).
Significant events during this period include:
- 1488: Battle of Sauchieburn.
- c. 1500: Start of the Renaissance in Britain.
- 1509: Accession of Henry VIII to the thrown.
- 1513: Battle of Flodden and James IV, King of Scotland.
- 1515: Cardinal Wolsey becomes Archbishop of York.
- 1520: Field of the Cloth of Gold in France.
- 1521: Pope makes Henry "Defender of the Faith".
- 1529-1536: Reformation of Parliament.
- 1534: Act of Supremacy.
- 1536: Wales incorporated into England.
- 1536-1540: Dissolution of the Monasteries.
- 1542: Battle of Solway Moss.
- 1547-1553: Edward VI and the Act of Uniformity.
- 1558: Accession of Elizabeth I.
- 1559-1565: Rule of Mary, Queen of Scots and France.
- 1560: Scottish Reformation of Parliament.
- 1578-1580: Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe.
- 1586: Treaty of Berwick.
- 1587: Execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
- 1588: The Spanish Armada.
- 1590: First performance of Shakespearean play in London.
- 1603: Death of Elizabeth I.
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The Stuarts (1603 to 1714)
The period of the Stuarts is characterised by a period of turmoil that includes the Gunpowder plot, the bloody English Civil War, the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. It ends with more slightly more stability with the Act of Union between England and Scotland and the important Treaty of Utrecht.
Significant events during this period include:
- 1605: Gunpowder Plot to assassinate James I.
- 1611: King James Bible is first published.
- 1616: William Shakespeare dies.
- 1620: Pilgrim Fathers sail for America in the Mayflower.
- 1625: James I dies and Charles I accedes to throne.
- 1629: Charles I dissolves Parliament.
- 1642: English Civil War begins at Nottingham.
- 1642: Battle of Edgehill, Worcestershire.
- 1645: Battle of Naseby: Northamptonshire.
- 1646: Charles I surrenders to the Scots.
- 1649: Charles I executed at Whitehall, London.
- 1651: Charles II crowned King of Scotland.
- 1651: Charles II defeated at Battle of Worcester.
- 1653: Oliver Cromwell appoints himself Lord Protector.
- 1660: Charles II is restored to the throne.
- 1665: Great Plague of London starts.
- 1666: Great fire destroys two-thirds of city.
- 1685: Charles II dies and James II accedes to the throne.
- 1689: William of Orange and Mary proclaimed King and Queen.
- 1689: Bill of Rights is confirmed by act of Parliament.
- 1690: William III defeats James II at the Battle of the Boyne.
- 1694: Bank of England first established.
- 1702: William III dies and Anne accedes to throne.
- 1707: Act of Union of England and Scotland is ratified.
- 1713: Treaty of Utrecht ends decade of war in Europe.
- 1714: Anne dies and George I accedes to throne.
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The Georgians (1714 to 1836)
From the loss of colonies in the Americas after the War of Independence to the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the Act of Union in 1801 and the abolition of slavery in 1807, the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo by the Duke of Wellington, George III‘s 60 years as king are some of the most important in British history.
Significant events during this period include:
- 1718: Convicts start being transported to penal colonies overseas.
- 1721: Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister.
- 1727: George I dies and is succeeded by George II.
- 1739: Britain declares war on Spain.
- 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie lands in Scotland to claim British throne.
- 1746: Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil.
- 1756: Seven Years War between France and Britain begins.
- 1760: George III succeeds his grandfather George II.
- 1765: Riots erupt in American colonies after levying stamp taxes.
- 1767: American colonists are taxed on imports.
- 1768: Captain James Cook leads first expedition to Pacific.
- 1771: Factory Age begins with opening of first cotton mill.
- 1772: Slavery effectively outlawed in England.
- 1773: Boston Tea Party heightens tensions in American colonies.
- 1775: American War of Independence begins.
- 1781: Americans defeat British army at Yorktown, Virginia.
- 1787: First fleet of convicts sails to Australia.
- 1788: First edition of The Times of London published.
- 1789: French Revolution begins with storming of Bastille.
- 1793: Britain goes to war with France.
- 1799: Trade Unions are outlawed.
- 1801: Act of Union creates the United Kingdom.
- 1805: French and Spanish fleets defeated at battle of Trafalgar.
- 1807: Britain abolished the slave trade.
- 1815: Duke of Wellington defeats Napoleon at Waterloo.
- 1820: George III dies and is succeeded by Geoge IV.
- 1829: Parliament grants Catholic emancipation.
- 1829: Robert Peel sets up the Metropolitan Police.
- 1830: George IV dies and is succeeded by William IV.
- 1832: Great Reform Act changes parliamentary representation.
- 1833: Factory Act restricts working hours for women and children.
- 1834: New Poor Law reforms social security system.
- 1834: Tolpuddle Martyrs sentenced to transportation.
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The Victorians (1837 to 1901)
The Victorian period is not only characterised by great advances in industry but also advances in social and political reform. The much beloved Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert are often seen as the catalyst for the start of a gentler, fairer and more modern Britain. For the first time travel was much easier and quicker with the advent of the railways.
Significant events during this period include:
- 1837: Victoria comes to throne after death of William IV.
- 1838: Charles Dickens‘ novel Oliver Twist is published.
- 1838: People‘s Charter advocates social and political reform.
- 1838: Slavery abolished in British Empire.
- 1838: London - Birmingham line opens and railway boom starts.
- 1840: Vaccination for poor is introduced.
- 1842: Income Tax is introduced for first time.
- 1845: Irish potato famine begins.
- 1848: Public Health Act aims to reduce death rates.
- 1851: Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in London.
- 1854: Crimean War begins with Russia.
- 1859: Charles Darwin‘s On the Origin of Species is published.
- 1861: Queen Victoria‘s husband Prince Albert dies.
- 1867: Second Reform Act doubles electorate.
- 1868: William Gladstone becomes prime minister.
- 1869: Suez Canal opens linking Mediterranean and Red Sea.
- 1870: Irish Land Act gives rights to tenants.
- 1878: Congress of Berlin aims to settle European disputes.
- 1881: Sir William Armstrong‘s home becomes first to use electric light.
- 1883: Married women obtain right to acquire own property.
- 1884: Third Reform Act gives two-thirds of males the vote.
- 1894: Death duties are introduced.
- 1897: Women‘s suffrage campaign gains momentum.
- 1899: Second Boer War begins in South Africa.
- 1901: Queen Victoria dies and succeeded by Edward VII.
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Early 20th Century (1901 to 1945)
The early 20th century is dominated by two devastating World Wars costing millions of lives. Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the D-Day landings show the great fortitude, spirit and bravery of the British people. Politicians start to dominate the World arena and long term political and strategic alliances start to be formed. Women are finally given the vote in Britain.
Significant events during this period include:
- 1904: Entente Cordial is signed between Britain and France.
- 1906: Royal Navy launches first Dreadnought battleship.
- 1908: Herbet Asquith becomes Liberal prime minister.
- 1908: Olympic Games open at White City in London.
- 1910: Edward VII dies and is succeeded by George V.
- 1912: Royal Flying Corps is established.
- 1912: Titanic sinks with loss of 1503 lives.
- 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo.
- 1914: Britain declares war on Germany after invading Belgium.
- 1914: Battle of Mons opens First World War.
- 1914: First Battle of Ypres.
- 1914: Britain declares war on Ottoman Empire.
- 1915: Allied troops land at Gallipoli.
- 1915: Lusitania is sunk by German submarine.
- 1916: Conscription introduced in Britain.
- 1916: Battle of Jutland results in British fleet victory.
- 1916: Battle of Somme begins.
- 1916: Tanks used for first time at Battle of Flers.
- 1916: David Lloyd George becomes prime minister.
- 1917: Germans declare unrestricted submarine warfare.
- 1917: America declares war on Germany.
- 1917: Gen. Douglas Haig launches Third Battle of Ypres.
- 1917: Bolsheviks and Lenin create revolution in Russia.
- 1918: Limited numbers of women are given vote.
- 1918: German offensives make largest gains since 1914.
- 1918: Massive flu epidemic reaches Britain.
- 1918: British make major advances at Battle of Amiens.
- 1918: World War I ends with Germany signing armistice.
- 1919: Treaty of Versailes imposes harsh reparations on Germany.
- 1919: Lady Astor becomes first woman to take seat in Parliament.
- 1919: Exclusion of women from many jobs made illegal.
- 1920: Women at Oxford allowed to receive degrees.
- 1921: British mandate of Mesopotamia becomes Kingdom of Iraq.
- 1921: Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty signed.
- 1922: Irish Civil War breaks out.
- 1925: Chancellor Winston Churchill returns Britain to Gold Standard.
- 1926: John Logie Baird gives first public demo of television.
- 1927: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is created.
- 1928: All women over age of 21 get the vote.
- 1928: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
- 1929: Wall Street Crash sparks the Great Depression.
- 1934: Scottish Nationalist Party founded.
- 1936: George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII.
- 1936: Edward VIII abdicates to marry Wallace Simpson.
- 1937: George VI is crowned king.
- 1938: Germany occupies and then annexes Austria.
- 1939: Britain declares war on Germany after invasion of Poland.
- 1940: Germany mounts surprise invasions of Norway and Denmark.
- 1940: Winston Churchill becomes prime minister.
- 1940: German invasion of France begins.
- 1940: Thousands of Allied troops are evacuated at Dunkirk.
- 1940: Battle of Britain begins with heavy raids by German Luftwaffe.
- 1940: Blitz begins with daylight raid by Luftwaffe.
- 1941: HMS Hood sunk by German battleship Bismarck.
- 1941: Anglo-American alliance is sealed with Atlantic Charter.
- 1941: America enters war after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
- 1942: British colony of Singapore surrenders to Japanese.
- 1942: Start of RAF‘s thousand bomber raids on German cities.
- 1942: Decisive British victory over German forces at El Alamein.
- 1943: Dambusters Raid by RAF breaches two dams.
- 1943: Germany calls of Battle of the Atlantic.
- 1944: Allied forces land in Normandy on D-Day.
- 1944: Battle of Arnhem signals failure of Operation Market Garden.
- 1945: British troops liberate concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen.
- 1945: Britain celebrates end of war with Victory in Europe Day.
- 1945: Victory over Japan Day marks end of World War Two.
- 1945: United Nations is founded, Britian is founding member.
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