14 Oct 1066: William of Normandy defeats and kills Harold II at Hastings
Harold II met William of Normandy near Hastings. The two armies were evenly matched in numbers, but Harold's men were exhausted after a long march back from the hard-fought Battle of Stamford Bridge. Nonetheless, the battle lasted the whole day. The English defensive shield wall was finally broken by the Norman tactic of using feigned retreats to lure Harold's troops into charging then cutting them down with cavalry. The Norman triumph was total. Harold was killed along with many Saxon nobles.
25 Dec 1066: William of Normandy is crowned king of England
Following his victory at the Battle of Hastings, William of Normandy progressed slowly towards London, his forces depleted by battle and hindered by disease. Some attempts were made to resist him, but he gradually received the submission of many Saxon nobles. He was crowned William I (although is more commonly referred to as William the Conqueror) in Westminster Abbey, the burial place of Edward the Confessor, the king from whom William derived his claim to the throne.
1070: William the Conqueror subdues the north of England
From his base in the south east of England, William imposed Norman rule on the south west, the Midlands and Yorkshire. In 1069, multiple revolts culminated in an invasion by Sven II, King of Denmark. William defeated the rebels and laid waste to the country between Nottingham and York, causing a widespread famine in 1070. In pacifying England, William transformed its social structure. About 4,000 English earls were dispossessed and replaced by about 200 Norman and compliant English barons.
31 May 1076: 'Revolt of the Earls' ends with the execution of Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria
After the Battle of Hastings, Waltheof, a Saxon noble, had submitted to William the Conqueror and was made earl of Bamburgh and Northumbria, as well as being given William's niece, Judith, in marriage. But in 1075 he became implicated in the 'Revolt of the Earls' - an uprising planned by a group of nobles. He went to Normandy to expose the plot and seek mercy from William, but was brought back to England and beheaded near Winchester. The revolt was the last serious uprising against William.
Christmas 1085: Domesday Book is instituted to survey the English lands of William the Conqueror
While at court in Gloucester, William decided to undertake a survey of his English realm. The country was divided into circuits, and groups of commissioners gathered information in the counties of individual circuits. Initial returns were probably completed by the summer of 1086. The information gathered came to be known as the Domesday Book (Domesday meaning 'day of judgement'). It was the most complete record of any country at that time and remains a legally valid document.
29 December 1170: Henry II's soldiers murder Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
Thomas Becket had been Henry's close friend and his chancellor. But when Henry appointed him archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, Becket began to take the side of the Church against the king, and the two quarrelled. Responding to an outburst of frustration by the king against Becket, four knights murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Within a few years of his death, Becket was canonised and Canterbury became a site of pilgrimage.
1174: Fire ravages Canterbury Cathedral
Four years after Thomas Becket's murder, Canterbury Cathedral was ravaged by fire and the eastern end had to be rebuilt. The first master of works was a Frenchman, William of Sens, who planned a structure in the new Gothic style. After an accident on site, Sens was replaced by William the Englishman, who added the Trinity Chapel for the shrine housing Becket's relics. It was a turning point in English cathedral architecture and provided the basis for the greatest shrine in medieval Britain.
15 June 1215: John and his barons sign the Magna Carta
A rebellion by northern barons led to a meeting between John and their leaders at Runnymede on the River Thames. At the meeting, the Magna Carta or 'Great Charter' was signed. It was essentially a list of baronial grievances relating to the king's exploitation of taxation and privileges. More significantly, it represents the first time that defined limitations to royal rights were established in written law.
1245: Henry III begins to rebuild Westminster Abbey
The first abbey at Westminster was built by Edward the Confessor in the 1040s in the Romanesque style. Henry III ordered the rebuilding of the abbey in a Gothic style, with a central shrine to honour Edward the Confessor. Henry was himself very religious, and focusing on a saintly predecessor sanctified his own kingship. Henry was eventually buried in Westminster Abbey.
1258: Rebellious barons create a council to advise Henry III
Henry III had made himself unpopular with the barons, who objected to the cost of his military campaigns and the influence of his foreign relatives and favourites. One of these rebels was Simon de Montfort, who had married Henry's sister. In 1258, de Montfort was one of a group of barons who imposed the Provisions of Oxford on the king. These created a council, selected by the barons, to advise Henry. In 1261, Henry obtained a papal dispensation to extricate himself from the Provisions.
1279: Statute of Mortmain restricts land acquisition by the church
Edward I's Statute of Mortmain exemplifies the struggles of church and state during the Middle Ages. The church owned a great deal of land, and the statute prevented it from acquiring more. Immortal institutions with their 'dead hand', or 'mortmain', did not pass on their estates and thus could not be taxed by the government.
1295: Edward I summons his 'Model Parliament'
This parliament, summoned by Edward I, has been compared to that of Simon de Montfort 30 years earlier. It included a broader range of members than was usual, extending beyond senior clergy and aristocracy to lower clergy, knights of the shire and representatives of towns. Its main aim, for Edward, was to raise money for his wars against France, Scotland and Wales.
1315-1322: Millions die in the Great European Famine
The famine was the product of a cooler and damper climate, coupled with the medieval inability to dry and store grain effectively. Colder winters and wet summers severely affected the harvest. Millions died of starvation. Cannibalism was widely reported from Poland to Ireland and many were trampled to death in bread queues in London.
24 May 1337: Hundred Years' War between England and France begins
The 'Hundred Years' War' is the name historians have given to a series of related conflicts fought over the course of more than a century between England and France. The causes were complex and varied, but included English territorial and dynastic ambitions in France. The war began with Philip VI's confiscation of Gascony, which led Edward III of England to declare himself the rightful heir to the French throne.
07 July 1348: 'Black Death' enters Britain
The disease later known as the 'Black Death' arrived in Europe in 1347. After the first chronicled outbreak on British soil at Melcombe Regis in Dorset, the plague appeared at various points along England's south coast in the summer of 1348, spreading inland. On average, between 30% and 45% of the general populace died, but in some villages 80-90% of the population succumbed. The plague recurred regularly, if less severely, through the second half of the 14th century and into the 15th century.
15 June 1381: Peasants' Revolt is dispersed by Richard II at Smithfield, London
In the aftermath of the catastrophic Black Death, agricultural workers were in demand but landlords were reluctant to pay higher wages or allow migration for work. Coupled with heavy taxation and an unpopular government, it caused an uprising. The rebels converged on London. The Tower of London was stormed and prominent individuals were executed. After rebel leader Wat Tyler was killed, Richard II successfully defused the situation by promising concessions. Reprisals followed instead.
1387: Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' appear
Geoffrey Chaucer was the first great poet of the English language. Before him, most writers used either French or Latin in preference to the more plebeian English. His best-known work is the unfinished 'Canterbury Tales' in which a diverse group of people recount stories to pass the time on a pilgrimage to Canterbury.
June 1540: Jack Cade leads a rebellion against war taxation
In 1450, a rebellion broke out in protest at war taxation. It was led by a man called Jack Cade, who commanded an armed force recruited in Kent and Sussex. Cade marched on London, arriving on 3 July, but his rabble army was forced back at London Bridge and dispersed before it had achieved anything of note. Cade was hunted down and killed on 12 July.
22 May 1455:
Wars of the Roses begin with first Battle of St Albans
By the 1450s, many considered Henry VI's bouts of insanity to have rendered him incapable of rule. In 1453, Richard, Duke of York, was appointed Lord Protector until Henry briefly recovered. York was then driven out by Henry VI's wife, Margaret. York marched on London and defeated Henry's supporters (the Lancastrians) at St Albans. This relatively small battle marks the beginning of a civil war between two branches of the royal family - York and Lancaster - that lasted intermittently until 1485.
29 March 1461: Lancastrians are defeated at Towton and Edward IV is proclaimed king
In six years of civil war, power had shifted backwards and forwards between Yorkists and Lancastrians. Early in 1461, while in control of London, the Yorkists proclaimed Edward (son of the Richard, Duke of York, who had been killed in December 1460) as Edward IV. Edward IV marched north and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Lancastrians at Towton in Yorkshire, the biggest battle thus far in the Wars of the Roses. Henry VI and Margaret fled to Scotland, and Edward was crowned in June 1461.
1477: William Caxton publishes the first printed book in England
William Caxton, a former head of the merchant adventurers in Flanders, published the first printed book in England: 'Dictes of Sayengs of the Philosophres'. He had established his press at Westminster after returning from Bruges in 1476. He subsequently printed some works of the 14th century poets Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower, and chivalric literature including his contemporary Sir Thomas Malory's 'Morte d'Arthur'.
1515: Thomas Wolsey becomes a cardinal and Lord Chancellor
Thomas Wolsey rose from humble origins to become Henry VIII's chief minister. In 1515, the pope made him a cardinal and Henry appointed him lord chancellor. In 1518, Wolsey was made papal legate, making him effectively head of the English church. He was the most powerful man in England after the king. But when Wolsey proved unable to arrange the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, his fall was swift. He was stripped of his offices and died in 1530 on his way to face a charge of treason.
November 1534: Act of Supremacy makes Henry head of the English church
The Act of Supremacy confirmed Henry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England and separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry himself was never a Protestant, but the break with Rome was a huge encouragement to Protestants in England.
07 February 1554: Sir Thomas Wyatt leads a rebellion against Mary
Mary's proposed marriage to Philip of Spain provoked widespread discontent over fears that England would be subjugated by the Spanish. In Kent, there was there a popular rising led by Sir Thomas Wyatt. The rebels marched on London, where a handful of key peers who had remained loyal to Mary crushed the insurrection. The deposed queen, Lady Jane Grey and her father, the Duke of Suffolk, were executed to prevent them becoming a focus for future unrest.
21 March 1556: Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burnt for heresy
Executions for heresy by Mary I's government began in January 1555, the most famous of which were the burnings in Oxford of three leading church figures of the reign of Edward IV. Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were burned on 16 October 1555. Thomas Cranmer, who had approved the divorce of Henry VIII from Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, went to the stake the following March. Their martyrdom only added to the moral authority of the English Protestant church.
1562: English mariners enter into the slave trade
On a voyage to West Africa, Captain John Hawkins, a trader and naval commander, became the first English slave trader. Hawkins captured or purchased a number of people in Africa and sold them on as slaves in the Caribbean. It would be nearly 250 years before an act of parliament banned the trade.
25 February 1570: Papal bull declares Elizabeth I a heretic
Pope Pius V signed the bull 'Regnans in Excelsis', excommunicating Elizabeth I and declaring that her subjects owed her no allegiance. It was an attempt by the papacy to throw its weight behind the rebellion of northern earls in 1569. News of the bull arrived after the rebellion had already been put down. It encouraged Elizabeth to abandon religious toleration and allow the Church of England to become more expressly Protestant.
23 January 1571: Elizabeth I opens the Royal Exchange
Between 1566 and 1569, Sir Thomas Gresham and the Corporation of London had erected a shopping and commercial complex in Bishopsgate. It was modelled on the Antwerp bourse (exchange). In January 1571, Elizabeth visited London and renamed Gresham's building the Royal Exchange, a clever gesture associating the crown with the commercial prosperity of London.
26 September 1580: Francis Drake arrives at Plymouth after circumnavigating the world
Francis Drake was commissioned by Elizabeth I to undertake a secret voyage against Spanish interests in the Americas. He left England on 15 November 1577 in his flagship 'Pelican' - soon renamed 'Golden Hind' - in a five-ship fleet. He returned three years later, with 59 surviving crew, as the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. Elizabeth's share of the booty reputedly equalled the crown's annual expenditure for a year. Drake was knighted the following spring.
08 August 1588: English disperse the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Gravelines
Elizabeth's support for Spain's enemies and persistent English raids on Spanish shipping led to war with Spain from 1585. In 1588, Philip II of Spain sent a huge Armada to invade England. English ships harried the Armada up the Channel, then attacked it as it lay at anchor off Calais, France. The Armada was dispersed and could only return home by circumnavigating the British Isles. The voyage shattered the fleet, with at least 30 ships wrecked on the Scottish and Irish coasts.
31 December 1600: British East India Company receives its charter from Elizabeth I
The purpose of the British East India Company was to form trade links with southern and eastern Asia, and challenge Dutch and Portuguese dominance in the spice trade. The company was to become the major force in British imperial expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its influence was particularly important in establishing British control of the Indian sub-continent.
05 November 1605: Gunpowder Plot to assassinate James I is discovered
In 1604, a group of English Catholics, angered by James I's failure to relax the penal laws against their co-religionists, hatched a plot to blow up the king and parliament by igniting gunpowder barrels concealed in a vault beneath the building. The plot was discovered before it could be carried out. The conspirators, including Guy Fawkes after whom the plot is often known, were either killed resisting arrest, or captured and then executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered.
1611: 'King James Bible' is published
By the end of the 16th century, there were several different English bibles in circulation and the church authorities felt a definitive version was needed. The 'Authorised Version of the Bible' (also known as the 'King James Bible') was commissioned in 1604. It became the most famous English translation of the scriptures and had a profound impact on the English language.
23 April 1616: William Shakespeare dies
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, popular in his time but subsequently regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He wrote numerous sonnets and poems as well as more than 30 plays, including 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Henry V', 'Richard III', 'Romeo and Juliet, 'Macbeth', 'Hamlet' and 'King Lear'.
10 March 1629: Charles I dissolves parliament and begins 11 years of personal rule
Already disillusioned with parliaments, Charles I was outraged when, on 2 March 1629, members of parliament first held the Speaker of the House down in his chair and then passed three resolutions condemning the king's financial and religious policies. Eight days later, Charles dissolved the assembly and embarked on a period of government without parliaments, known as the 'Personal Rule'.
13 April 1640: 'Short Parliament' opens at Westminster
Desperate for money to fight the Scots, Charles I was forced to summon a new parliament - his first after 11 years of personal rule. At first, there seemed a good chance that members of parliament might be prepared to set their resentments of the king's domestic policies aside and agree to grant him money. Yet such hopes proved illusory, and Charles was forced to dissolve the parliament within a month.
02 July 1644: Scottish and Parliamentarian armies destroy Charles I's northern army
Charles I's northern supporters were besieged in York by a joint force of Parliamentarians and Scots, but were relieved by a Royalist army under the king's nephew, Prince Rupert. Triumph quickly turned to disaster for Rupert when his army was destroyed in a pitched battle at Marston Moor on the following day. Thereafter, the north of England was effectively lost to the king.
14 June 1645: Royalists are crushed by the New Model Army at Naseby, Northamptonshire
Confident that his veteran troops would outfight parliament's newly-raised forces, Charles I launched his main field army of around 9,000 men against Sir Thomas Fairfax's army of around 14,000 men at Naseby in Northamptonshire. The result was a disaster for the king. The superb Royalist infantry were lost, and with them, all chance of winning the war.
17-19 August 1648: Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarian troops defeat a Scottish-Royalist Army
In mid-1648, England experienced a further eruption of violence known as the Second Civil War. Rebellions in favour of the king broke out in many parts of England and Wales, and a joint force of Scots and English Royalists rode south but were destroyed at Preston by an army under Oliver Cromwell. This marked the end of the Royalist resurgence.
30 January 1649: Charles I is executed at Whitehall, London
In the wake of the Second Civil War, Oliver Cromwell and the other senior commanders of the New Model Army decided that England could never be settled in peace while Charles I remained alive. Accordingly, the king was charged with high treason, tried, found guilty and beheaded. Charles faced his trial and death with remarkable dignity. His last word on the scaffold was: 'Remember'. The execution of a king was greeted across Europe with shock.
16 December 1653: Oliver Cromwell makes himself Lord Protector
After the execution of Charles I, the various factions in parliament began to squabble amongst themselves. In frustration, Oliver Cromwell dismissed the purged 'Rump' parliament and summoned a new one. This also failed to deal with the complexity of the problems England was now facing. Cromwell's self-appointment as 'Lord Protector' gave him powers akin to a monarch. His continuing popularity with the army propped up his regime.
March 1665: Great Plague of London begins
Towards the end of the winter of 1664-1665, bubonic plague broke out in the poverty-stricken London parish of St Giles-in-the-Fields. Soon the contagion was spreading fast, and over the following months more than 100,000 people died. By the time the epidemic finished in December 1665, a quarter of the capital's inhabitants had perished.
02 September 1666: Great Fire of London destroys two-thirds of the city
The fire broke out in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane in the City of London and spread rapidly. Within four days, two-thirds of the city had been destroyed and 65,000 people were homeless. Despite this, the fire did have some positive outcomes. Within three weeks, an architect called Christopher Wren presented plans for rebuilding much of the city. Although his plans were never fully implemented, Wren was responsible for the rebuilding of more than 50 churches, including St Paul's Cathedral.
September 1678: 'Popish Plot' to murder Charles II is 'revealed'
Disgraced clergyman Titus Oates claimed he had learned of a Catholic and French conspiracy to kill Charles II, replace him with his Catholic brother James, Duke of York, and transform England into a Catholic-absolutist state. Oates's 'revelations' sparked panic and many innocent people were arrested and tried. The plot was little more than an invention. At the height of the furore a second Test Act was passed requiring members of both houses of parliament to make an anti-Catholic declaration.
1694: Bank of England is established to manage mounting debts
England had accrued a considerable national debt on the back of William III's expensive wars. Scottish merchant William Paterson founded the Bank of England to assist the Crown in managing its debt. The Bank became the national reserve, and in 1697 its position of prominence was secured when parliament forbade the formation of any further joint-stock banks in England. The bank has issued bank notes since 1694. A separate Bank of Scotland was established in 1695.
October-November 1720: 'South Sea Bubble' bursts and triggers a financial panic
The South Sea Company was a financial and trading organisation mainly dealing with Spanish America. It received trading rights to the South Seas in return for financing the British government's debt. Shares were issued and unrealistic expectations cultivated. A monopoly of the slave trade was envisaged. When it was discovered that the directors of the profitless company had sold out, it sparked a massive panic and a major financial crash occurred in the City of London. Huge fortunes were lost.
March-April 1733: Excise crisis shakes Sir Robert Walpole's administration
In 1733, British prime minister Robert Walpole tried to shift the burden of taxation on imports away from collection at customs. He devised an 'excise' scheme - a system of bonded warehouses for tobacco, wine and brandy, where imported goods could be lodged until the proper duty, or tax, had been paid. The project was abandoned after widespread political opposition.
23 June 1757: Indian province of Bengal passes into British control after the Battle of Plassey
The Battle of Plassey took place between Siraj Ud Daulah, the last independent ruler of Bengal, and the forces of the British East India Company led by Colonel Robert Clive. The defeat of Daulah, who was backed by the French, led to the entire province of Bengal passing into Company control. This victory, and the enormous wealth of Bengal, are often seen as important factors in establishing eventual British control over all of India.
March 1765: Riots erupt in American colonies after parliament levies 'stamp' taxes
In 1765, British Prime Minister George Grenville's administration passed the Stamp Act to raise extra taxes from the North American colonists. The money was intended to pay for the colonists' own military defence against possible future French incursions. Stamp duties were levied on newspapers and legal documents. Six of the 13 American colonies petitioned against the act and riots broke out. The Stamp Act was repealed in March 1766.
1771: 'Factory Age' begins with the opening of Britain's first cotton mill
The weaving of cotton cloth had become a major industry by the 1760s, with most of the labour being done by people in their homes. In 1771, inventor Richard Arkwright opened the first cotton mill at Cromford, Derbyshire. The spinning of yarn was carried out by his own patented machine, known as a water frame. This was a significant step towards the automation of labour-intensive industries and heralded the beginning of the 'Factory Age' in Britain.
22 June 1722: Slavery is effectively outlawed in England
When the enslaved James Somerset escaped from his owner in London, he was captured and forced on to a ship bound for Jamaica. With the help of abolitionist Granville Sharpe, Somerset's case was taken to court and Lord William Mansfield, the lord chief justice, ruled that Somerset should be freed. This was widely, and mistakenly, believed to mean that slavery was outlawed in England. Slave owners continued to capture their runaway slaves and take them back to the Caribbean, but the case marked a milestone in the struggle to abolish slavery.
18 April 1775: American War of Independence begins
On 18 April 1775, a skirmish between British redcoats and the local militia at Lexington, Massachusetts, led to the fighting that began the American War of Independence. No one knows which side fired the first 'shot heard around the world'. About 15 months after the outbreak of war, colonial leader Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, which argued that the goals of the United States of America were 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. In September 1783, the Treaty of Paris formally ended the war.
December 1783: William Pitt the Younger becomes prime minister
After three brief ministries had failed, the William Pitt the Younger became Britain's prime minister at the age of 23. (His father, William Pitt the Elder had held the office twice, in the 1750-1760s). His critics said that the nation had been 'entrusted to a schoolboy's care'. He successfully curbed the national debt, fought revolutionary France, restructured the government of India and passed the Act of Union with Ireland in 1801. Exhausted and in poor health, he died in 1806.
01 January 1788: First edition of 'The Times' of London is published
Originally founded in 1785 as the 'Daily Universal Register', the publication was re-named 'The Times' three years later. It is Britain's oldest surviving newspaper with continuous daily publication, and for much of its history has been regarded as the newspaper of record. Newspapers have been published in Britain since the early 16th century, but it was not until the early 18th century that regular daily newspapers were produced.
19 April 1791: Parliament rejects William Wilberforce's bill to abolish the slave trade
MP William Wilberforce introduced a bill to abolish the slave trade in May 1789. The bill was stalled and eventually consideration of the question was moved to a select committee. A general election again delayed progress and when the bill eventually came to a vote, it was passed by the Commons but defeated by the Lords. Between 1792 and 1806 a number of further unsuccessful attempts were made to enact parliamentary legislation which would either control or abolish the slave trade.
1792 - 1794: Radical artisans form the London Corresponding Society
The spirit of 'liberty, equality and fraternity' that stemmed from the French Revolution of 1789 had inspired the establishment of radical societies in Britain. In January 1792, the 'London Corresponding Society', the most prominent of these organisations, was formed under the leadership of Thomas Hardy, a Scottish shoemaker. The LCS debated the need for parliamentary reform. It advocated universal male suffrage, a secret ballot and annual parliaments. The government banned the LCS in 1794.
1799-1800: Trade unions are outlawed
William Pitt the Younger's government passed two acts making it illegal for working men to form combinations in which their political rights were discussed. They were among several repressive measures designed to stifle any catalysts for a French-style revolution in Britain. The Combination Acts were repealed in 1824 and 1825.
01 January 1801: Act of Union creates the United Kingdom
Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Ireland were formally joined under the Act of Union to create the United Kingdom in 1801. The Irish parliament in Dublin was dissolved. Despite the Union, Catholics were still unable to vote at general elections or to hold parliamentary and most public offices.
21 October 1805: Royal Navy defeats a French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar
In 1805, the combined fleets of France and Spain faced the Royal Navy in the last great battle of the age of sail, at Cape Trafalgar off the coast of Spain. British naval hero Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson led the daring British attack in HMS 'Victory', but was killed at the height of the battle. It seems likely that the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, had already abandoned his plans for the invasion of England, but the victory nonetheless handed Britain complete control of the seas.
15 March 1807: Britain abolishes the slave trade
In 1806, parliament passed an act to abolish the supply of slaves on British ships to foreign and conquered colonies. This was followed up by the total abolition of the British slave trade in 1807. It ended more than 200 years of slave trading. The Abolition of Slavery Act, passed in 1833, freed all slaves in the British empire and provided for compensation for their owners.
27 September 1825: World's first steam locomotive passenger service begins
The first public steam railway ran between the north eastern towns of Stockton and Darlington. This ushered in the 'Railway Age', with the building of an extensive railway network in Britain providing a fast and economical means of transport and communication.
June 1829:
Robert Peel sets up the Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Act was the brainchild of Home Secretary Robert Peel. It established the first paid, uniformed constabulary for the metropolis, excluding the City of London. Before the police there existed an informal system of watchmen, magistrates, volunteer constables and 'thief takers'. Initially unpopular, the police proved a success and by the late 1830s police forces were being set up in many large British cities.
04 June 1832: Great Reform Act changes parliamentary representation
The third version of the Reform Bill finally received assent from the House of Lords and William IV. Tory peers only backed the bill after William IV said he would create 50 new Whig lords - thereby giving the Whigs a majority from which to vote the issue through. The Great Reform Act made important changes to parliamentary constituencies and extended the franchise (those allowed to vote), but did not introduce parliamentary democracy or a secret ballot.
31 July 1832: Parliament passes a bill to abolish slavery in the British empire
After years of intense anti-slavery lobbying and pro-abolition public meetings around the country (including an abolitionist march on 10 Downing Street) parliament finally voted to end slavery throughout the British empire. Slaves would initially become 'apprentices' for a six-year term, starting in 1834. This was later shortened to four years. MP William Wilberforce, who had represented the abolitionists in the House of Commons, died just days before just before the emancipation measure became law.
20 June 1837: Victoria comes to the throne after the death of William IV
Victoria became queen at the age of 18 after the death of her uncle, William IV. She reigned for more than 60 years, longer than any other British monarch. Her reign was a period of significant social, economic and technological change, which saw the expansion of Britain's industrial power and of the British empire.
17 September 1838: London-Birmingham line opens and the railway boom starts
This line, which connected London to the Midlands for the first time, had been planned since 1833, with sections opened in 1837. The completion of the Kilsby Tunnel enabled the full 112-mile line, designed by the engineer Robert Stephenson, to be opened. London-Birmingham was the first railway line into the capital city, with passengers disembarking in the newly-designed Euston station. The line precipitated the first of the great railway booms.
01 August 1838: Slavery is abolished in the British empire
In 1834, slaves in the British empire started a period of 'apprenticeship', during which they were obliged to work without pay for their former owners. Abolitionists campaigned against the system and in the Caribbean there were widespread protests. When the apprenticeship period ended in 1838, over 700,000 slaves were freed in the British Caribbean. Plantation owners received about £20 million in government compensation for the loss of their slaves. The former slaves received nothing.
1838: Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' is published
Charles Dickens was one of the greatest Victorian novelists. 'Oliver Twist' was, like many of Dickens' other novels, originally published in serial form and brought to public attention contemporary social evils. Dickens' other works included 'The Pickwick Papers', 'A Christmas Carol', 'David Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations'.
June 1842: Income tax is introduced for the first time during peacetime
Income tax was levied for the first time during peace by Sir Robert Peel's Conservative government at a rate of 7d (three pence) in the pound. The tax threshold was an income of £150 per year, thus exempting virtually all the working classes. The tax was not extended to famine-torn Ireland until 1853. Direct taxation was unpopular in Victorian Britain. Many 19th-century finance ministers toyed with the idea of abolishing income tax, but it proved too convenient and too lucrative to lose.
1849: Important artists establish the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of English artists who rejected what they considered as the effete symbolism and lack of reality of paintings dating from the 16th-century European Renaissance. They aimed to revert to what they saw as the directness and sincerity of medieval painting. The most important artists of the movement were Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. They were championed by the art critic and writer John Ruskin.
01 May 1851: The Great Exhibition opens at the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London
This event was the brainchild of Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, and was designed to provide a showcase for the world's most advanced inventions, manufactures and works of art. It was housed in the massive 19-acre Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton. The event attracted almost six million visitors during the five summer months it was open. Many ordinary people travelled to London for the first time on cheap-rate excursion trains.
28 March 1851: Britain and France declare war on Russia and the Crimean War begins
The Crimean War was fought between the Russians and an alliance of the British, French and Turks who feared Russian expansion in the Balkans. Notable battles included those at Sebastopol, Balaclava (which saw the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade) and Inkerman. Russia was forced to sue for peace, and the war was ended by the Treaty of Paris in March 1856. British troops casualties were as much from poor equipment and medical care as from fighting the Russians.
24 November 1859: Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' is published
Charles Darwin's masterwork, which argued that all species evolved on the basis of natural selection, resulted from more than 20 years' research following a five-year journey around Cape Horn in HMS 'Beagle'. The book created an immediate stir, since Darwin's theory appeared to contradict the bible's creation story and call into question ideas of divine providence. Despite the influence of Darwin's work, very few Victorian scientists took up an atheistic position as a result of reading it.
15 August 1857: Second Reform Act doubles the electorate
This Reform Act was passed by a minority Conservative government led by Frederick, Earl of Derby. Its orchestrator was Benjamin Disraeli, who permitted larger extensions to the franchise than the Liberals would have countenanced. It virtually doubled the electorate, enabling one-third of adult males in Britain and one-sixth in Ireland to vote in parliamentary elections. In a few urban constituencies, working men were an electoral majority. A separate act for Scotland was passed in 1868.
17 November 1869: Suez Canal opens, linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea
Britain had opposed the building of the Suez Canal by an international company, but changed its position in 1875 when Benjamin Disraeli's Conservative government bought 40% of the Canal Company's shares. The canal then became of vital strategic interest, particularly as a route to India and the Far East, and was protected by British troops from 1883.
01 January 1883: Married women obtain the right to acquire their own property
The 1870 Married Women's Property Act had been widely criticised for failing to provide sufficient safeguards for married women. A further act provided something approaching equality for women since it allowed women to acquire and retain any property deemed separate from that of their husband's. They also received the same legal protection as husbands if they needed to defend their right to property.
01 April 1889: New local government authorities take up their duties
Under the Local Government Act passed by the Conservatives the previous year, responsibility for poor law relief, roads, bridges and asylum was transferred to newly-created county councils. London had its own county council, while boroughs with populations over 50,000 became 'county boroughs' with the same powers as county councils. Scotland had its own Local Government Act passed on 26 August 1889 and coming into effect in 1890. This established a similar system of county and town councils.
October 1897: Women's suffrage campaign gains momentum
The first organised activity in support of votes for women dates from the 1860s, but pressure grew rapidly in the late 1880s. A turning point was the merger of the National Central Society for Women's Suffrage and the Central Committee for Women's Suffrage into the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. The NUWSS co-ordinated a range of regional activities. Its president, Millicent Fawcett, opposed violence and promoted her organisation as law-abiding and above party politics.
02 July 1897: Guglielmo Marconi is awarded a patent for radio communication
The Italian-born physicist Guglielmo Marconi conducted a number of communication experiments in southern Britain in 1896-1897, and the award of a patent followed his first communication across water from Lavernock Point, South Wales, to Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel. He established the first transatlantic signal in December 1901. His work inaugurated the 'Wireless Age'.
22 July 1901: The 'Taff Vale' case leads to the birth of the Labour party
The Taff Vale Railway Company successfully sued a trade union, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, for the costs of industrial action taken by its members. The Labour Representative Committee, a socialist federation formed in 1900, convinced the trade unions that the political representation of labour was now essential. This organisation later became the Labour party.
27 April 1908: Olympic Games open at White City in London
The 1908 games were originally to be held in Rome, but were reassigned to London at short notice and held at the purpose-built White City stadium. Famously, the marathon ended in dramatic fashion when the race leader, Dorando Pietri of Italy, was disqualified after he collapsed and had to be helped over the finishing line. Widely recognised as the best organised Games to date, they featured 22 nations, 110 events and more than 2,000 athletes.
10 August 1911: House of Lords loses its power of veto over legislation
The Liberals finally forced through House of Lords reform, which had been on the cards for two years. The reforms meant that the Lords could not veto legislation that had passed the House of Commons in three successive sessions, and that parliament itself would be dissolved after five years, not seven. In separate legislation, pay for members of parliament was introduced.
15 April 1912: 'Titanic' sinks with the loss of 1,503 lives
The White Star liner 'Titanic' was the largest vessel in the world at the time of her launch. Her builders and owners claimed that she was 'practically unsinkable', but on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York she collided with an iceberg and sank within hours, with the loss of 1,503 lives. 'Titanic' could carry over 3,500 people, but was equipped with only enough lifeboats to save 1,178, a fact that contributed to the massive loss of life.
04 August 1914: Britain declares war on Germany in response to the invasion of Belgium
When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in July, Serbia's ally Russia mobilised its army. Austria-Hungary's ally, Germany, in turn declared war on Russia. Russia's alliance with France now threatened Germany with war on two fronts. Germany acted to quickly neutralise France by a well-planned surprise invasion through neutral Belgium - the 'Schlieffen Plan'. Britain, as guarantor of Belgian neutrality, told Germany to withdraw. The ultimatum expired on 4 August and Britain duly declared war.
07 November 1917: Bolsheviks, under Vladimir Lenin, create a communist revolution in Russia
In February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate after serious reverses in the war against Germany. A provisional government of liberals and moderate socialists was established, but it also failed on the battlefield and was overthrown in a carefully planned coup by the Bolsheviks, who promised 'peace, bread and land' to the war-weary Russian people. Inspired by the writings of Karl Mar, the Bolsheviks established a government based on the 'soviet' (governing council).
06 February 1918: Limited numbers of women are given the vote for the first time
The Representation of the People Act enfranchised all men over the age of 21, and propertied women over 30. The electorate increased to 21 million, of which 8 million were women, but it excluded working class women who mostly failed the property qualification.
11 November 1918: World War One ends when Germany signs an armistice
By September 1918, Germany was exhausted and saw no prospect of victory. The Allies' terms became progressively harsher as they pressed their advantage on the Western Front, both to ensure the removal of Kaiser Wilhelm II as head of state and to guard against the future renewal of hostilities by Germany. Despite onerous terms, Germany eventually capitulated and signed an armistice that brought the fighting on the Western Front to a halt at 11am on 11 November 1918.
26 January 1926: John Logie Baird gives the first public demonstration of television
John Logie Baird, a Scottish engineer and inventor, gave a demonstration of a machine for the transmission of pictures, which he called 'television'. Around 50 scientists assembled in his attic workshop in London to witness the event. It was not until after the World War Two that televisions became widely available.
19 October 1926: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa are recognised as autonomous
In 1923, a dominion's right to make a treaty with a foreign power had been accepted. The Imperial Conference in London went further towards legally defining a dominion by recognising that the dominions (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) were autonomous and equal in status, a decision that was later affirmed by the 1931 Statute of Westminster.
01 January 1927: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is created
A group of radio manufacturers, including radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, set up the British Broadcasting Company in 1922. In 1927 the company was granted a Royal Charter, becoming the British Broadcasting Corporation under John Reith. Reith's mission was improve Britain through broadcasting, and he famously instructed the corporation to 'inform, educate and entertain'.
07 May 1928: All women over the age of 21 get the vote
The fifth Reform Act brought in by the Conservative government altered the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which had only allowed women over 30 who owned property to be enfranchised. The new act gave women the vote on the same terms as men.
24 October 1924: Wall Street Crash sparks the Great Depression
The crash of the American Wall Street financial markets in 1929 crippled the economies of the US and Europe, resulting in the Great Depression. In Britain, unemployment had peaked just below three million by 1932. It was only with rearmament in the period immediately before the outbreak of World War Two that the worst of the Depression could be said to be over.
July 1935: First Penguin paperbacks go on sale, bringing literature to the masses
Publisher Allen Lane felt there was a need for cheap, easily available editions of quality contemporary writing. The first ten Penguins included works by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie. They cost just sixpence, the same price as a packet of cigarettes, and were available in traditional bookshops, but also in railway stations and tobacconists. Three million Penguin paperbacks were sold within a year. It was a revolution in publishing that massively widened public access to literature.
03 September 1939: Britain declares war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland
On 1 September, German forces invaded Poland. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain still hoped to avoid declaring war on Germany, but a threatened revolt in the cabinet and strong public feeling that Hitler should be confronted forced him to honour the Anglo-Polish Treaty. Britain was at war with Germany for the second time in 25 years.
13 August 1940: Battle of Britain begins with heavy raids by the German Luftwaffe
In July 1940, German leader Adolf Hitler ordered preparations for Operation Sealion - the invasion of Britain. The Luftwaffe (German air force) first had to destroy the Royal Air Force. Vastly outnumbered, the RAF nonetheless consistently inflicted heavy losses on the German squadrons, thanks to excellent aircraft, determined pilots and radar technology. On 17 September, two days after the Luftwaffe sustained its heaviest single day of losses, Hitler postponed the invasion.
07 September 1940: 'Blitz' begins with a massive daylight raid by the Luftwaffe
German bombing raids had already targeted Liverpool and Birmingham during August, but on 7 September the 'Blitz' intensified as 950 aircraft attacked London. It was the start of 57 consecutive nights of heavy bombing. The raid caused some 300 civilian deaths and a further 1,300 serious injuries. By the end of the Blitz, around 30,000 Londoners had been killed with another 50,000 injured.
November 1942: 'Beveridge Report' lays the foundations for the Welfare State
Sir William Beveridge's report gave a summary of principles aimed at banishing poverty from Britain, including a system of social security that would be operated by the government, and would come into effect when war ended. Beveridge argued that the war gave Britain a unique opportunity to make revolutionary changes. Beveridge's recommendations for the creation of a Welfare State were implemented by Clement Attlee after the war, including the creation of the National Health Service in 1948.
08 May 1945: Britain celebrates the end of war on Victory in Europe Day
German forces had been utterly defeated by the end of April 1945. Adolf Hitler committed suicide on 30 April as Soviet forces closed in on his Berlin bunker. The German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz surrendered to Allied General Dwight Eisenhower in France on 7 May. The following day was officially celebrated in Britain as Victory in Europe Day. The entire country came to a standstill as people celebrated the end of war.
15 August 1945: Victory over Japan Day marks the end of World War Two
On 6 August, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the American bomber 'Enola Gay'. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on the port city of Nagasaki. In all, 140,000 people perished. Less than a week later, the Japanese leadership agreed to an unconditional surrender, and the Emperor Hirohito broadcast his nation's the capitulation over the radio. Victory over Japan day also marked the end of World War Two.
24 October 1945: United Nations comes into existence with Britain as a founder member
At the Yalta Conference in early 1945, the 'Big Three' of Britain's Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin agreed to establish a new global organisation - the United Nations. The structure and charter of the organisation were established at another conference in San Francisco. Britain became one of the five 'security council' members, with a power of veto. On 24 October, the UN officially came into existence when its members ratified its charter.
22 June 1948: Post-war immigration from the Commonwealth begins
The liner 'SS Empire Windrush' docked at Tilbury carrying nearly 500 Caribbean immigrants to Britain, many attracted by offers of work. This arrival represented the beginning of significant immigration to Britain from the Commonwealth, particularly the Caribbean, and later the Indian subcontinent.
03 May 1951: Festival of Britain is opened by George VI
The Festival sought to sustain a mood of post-war optimism and confidence - or at least interest - in new solutions. The site chosen for the Festival, on the South Bank of the Thames, London, had been extensively bombed in World War Two. The dominant artistic mood of the Festival was neo-Romantic, apt for the traditionalist 1950s, although the Royal Festival Hall itself was a Modernistic work.
15 April 1953: Watson and Crick publish their discovery of the structure of DNA
Scientists James Watson and Francis Crick were the first to describe the structure of a chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, which makes up the genes that pass hereditary characteristics from parent to child. They received the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, which they shared with another DNA pioneer, Maurice Wilkins. A hugely important discovery, it has since formed the basis for a wide range of scientific advances.
11 February 1956: 'Cambridge spies' surface in Moscow after disappearing in 1951
Two British diplomats, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, were among five men recruited by the Soviet secret service, the KGB, at Cambridge University in the 1930s. The others were Harold (Kim) Philby, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross. All had been involved in passing to the Soviets highly damaging military information, and the identities of British agents. Burgess and Maclean, who had fled Britain five years before, suddenly reappeared in the Soviet Union where they denied being spies.
12 July 1965: Comprehensive education system is initiated
Circular 10/65', issued by the Labour government's education secretary, Anthony Crosland, obliged local education authorities to draw up plans for replacing the existing division between 'grammar' and 'secondary modern' schools in order to create all-inclusive 'comprehensive' schools. It represented the first step towards a comprehensive education system that served all pupils on an equal basis.
08 November 1965: Death penalty is abolished
The abolition of the death penalty for murder - one of the few remaining crimes for which capital punishment could still be handed down - effectively meant the final abolition of the death penalty. This was a major symbolic act in the reduction of the power of the state. The death sentence for treason and piracy with violence remained on the statue books until 1998 when they were abolished by the Crime and Disorder Act.
1967: Abortion and homosexuality are legalized
A number of Acts of Parliament in this period reflected the changing social climate. As well as the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which legalised homosexuality between men over 21, and the 1967 Abortion Act which legalised abortion under certain conditions, there was also the 1969 Divorce Reform Act and the 1970 Equal Pay Act.
01 June 1967: Beatles release 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'
This was the Beatles' eighth album, and is widely recongnised as one of the most influential records ever released. The album was heavily influenced by the group's increasing use of drugs, and enjoyed immediate critical and popular success at the start of the 'psychedelic era'. Peter Blake's collage for the album cover has become iconic.
15 February 1971: Decimalised currency replaces 'pounds, shillings and pence'
The old sterling denominations of pounds, shillings and pennies were phased out over a period of 18 months, and replaced with decimal pounds and pennies. The decimalisation of the pound came to be blamed for an increase in inflation.
01 January 1973: Britain joins the European Economic Community
Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined the European Economic Community (EEC), bringing the total number of member states to nine. The three countries, together with Norway, signed an accession treaty in 1972, but Norwegians rejected the treaty in a referendum. Britain held a referendum on the matter in 1975, after renegotiating its terms of entry, and 67% voted in favour of staying in the EEC.
Winter 1978-1979: Strikes paralyse Britain during the so-called 'Winter of Discontent'
Industrial action by petrol tanker and lorry drivers was followed by hospital ancillary staff, ambulance men and dustmen going on strike. Hospitals were picketed, the dead left unburied, and troops called in to control rats swarming around heaps of uncollected rubbish. The large number of simultaneous strikes, the violence and perceived mean-mindedness of the picketing (which included the turning away of ambulances) created a sense of alarm in the electorate about the decline of British society.
11 April 1981: Racial tensions spark riots in Brixton and other areas
Serious rioting in Brixton following the arrest of a local black man marked the start of violent unrest across England. In London's Southall, Toxteth in Liverpool, Moss Side in Manchester, and to a lesser extent other centres such as Derby, crowds rioted, looted, and fought the police. Many of the riots reflected specific local problems, especially poor relations between predominantly black communities and the police.
26 January 1982: Economic recession leads to high unemployment
Unemployment breached the psychologically significant barrier of three million as manufacturing was hard hit by a deep economic recession.
1989: Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web
In 1989, while working at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory in Switzerland, Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea of the World Wide Web, a new way of using existing internet technology to share information. He wrote the first web browser the following year, and went on to found the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in 1994.
31 March 1990: Introduction of new local taxes sparks 'poll tax' riots in London
The Conservative plans for a 'poll tax', introduced in England and Wales on 1 April 1990, provoked vocal opposition across Britain in the form of anti-poll tax rallies and acts of civil disobedience. A largely peaceful march in London, attended by 70,000 people, degenerated into serious rioting centred on Trafalgar Square. The unpopularity of the tax contributed to the downfall of Margaret Thatcher. Her successor John Major replaced the poll tax with the council tax.
06 May 1992: Channel Tunnel opens, linking London and Paris by rail
The Channel Tunnel provided an unprecedented rail link between London and Paris, something that had been planned for over a century. The tunnel became the longest undersea tunnel in the world, measuring 50km in total, with 39km of it under the sea. Three tunnels - two for trains and one for service - lie an average of 40m below the sea bed.
1994: First women priests are ordained by the Church of England
The decision to ordain women to the priesthood in the Church of England was taken in 1992 and implemented in 1994. It was a controversial step, welcomed by most of the church but rejected by traditionalists, some of whom joined the Catholic Church in protest.
01 May 1997: Labour wins the general election, with Tony Blair as prime minister
Tony Blair had become leader of the Labour Party in 1994 after the sudden death of John Smith. Blair continued the modernisation of the party begun by Smith. Voters responded to 'New Labour' in the 1997 election, giving the party a huge majority of 179 seats. One of the new Labour government's first acts was to give the Bank of England control of interest rates. It also embarked on a programme of far-reaching constitutional reform.
March 2000: Global stock markets tumble as the 'dotcom bubble' bursts
The late 1990s saw a profusion of start-up companies selling products or services either using or related to the internet. There was a speculative frenzy of investment in these 'dotcom' companies, much of it by small investors. The bursting of the 'dotcom bubble' saw the collapse of many of these companies and marked the beginning of a mild yet lengthy recession.
07 July 2005: Suicide bombers kill 52 people on London's transport system
Three men blew themselves up on London Underground trains, while a fourth exploded his bomb on a double-decker bus. Fifty two people were killed and more than 700 injured. On 21 July there were four more attempted suicide bombings in London, but none of the devices exploded. Islamic terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility, but it is thought that the bombers, all British Muslims, acted alone.
