Showing 114 of 114 events
▾ The Tudors & Stuarts
1485–1714
1485
Wars of the Roses end - the Tudor age begins
▾ more
1509
Henry VIII becomes King
1530s
Henry VIII breaks with Rome - Church of England created
1547
Edward VI becomes King
1553
Mary I - 'Bloody Mary'
1558
Elizabeth I becomes Queen
1560
Protestant Church of Scotland established
1564-1616
William Shakespeare
1588
The Spanish Armada is defeated
1603
Union of the Crowns - James VI & I
1605
The Gunpowder Plot
1611
The King James Bible
1642
The English Civil War begins
1649
Charles I executed - England becomes a republic
1653
Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector
1656
Jewish community returns to London
1660
The Restoration - Charles II is crowned
1665
The Great Plague of London
1666
The Great Fire of London
1679
The Habeas Corpus Act
1680-1720
Huguenot refugees arrive from France
1685
James II - a Catholic king
1688
The Glorious Revolution
1689
The Bill of Rights
1690
The Battle of the Boyne
1707
The Act of Union - Great Britain is created
▾ Empire & Industry
1714–1913
1714
George I - the Hanoverians
1721
Sir Robert Walpole - the first Prime Minister
1745
Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion
1746
The Battle of Culloden
18th C.
The Enlightenment
18th-19th C.
The Industrial Revolution
1776
American colonies declare independence
1789
The French Revolution - war with France
1801
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
1805
The Battle of Trafalgar
1807
The slave trade is banned in British ships
1815
The Battle of Waterloo
1832
The (Great) Reform Act
1833
Slavery abolished across the British Empire
1837
Queen Victoria becomes Queen
1846
The Corn Laws are repealed
1851
The Great Exhibition
1853-56
The Crimean War
1854
Florence Nightingale in the Crimea
1853-1913
The great age of emigration
1867
The Second Reform Act
1870 & 1882
Married Women's Property Acts
1872
First tennis club founded
1899-1902
The Boer War
1901
Queen Victoria dies
1902
Motor-car racing begins in the UK
1908
London hosts the Olympic Games (1st time)
▾ War & Upheaval
1914–1945
1914-18
The First World War
1916
The Battle of the Somme
The Easter Rising
11 Nov 1918
The First World War ends
1918
Women over 30 win the vote
1921-22
Ireland is partitioned
1922
BBC radio broadcasts begin
1928
Women win equal voting rights
1929
The Great Depression
1932
The first television broadcast
1933
Hitler comes to power in Germany
1935
The first successful radar test
1939-45
The Second World War
1940
Churchill, Dunkirk & the Battle of Britain
1942
The Beveridge Report
6 June 1944
D-Day - the Normandy landings
1944
The Education Act (the 'Butler Act')
May 1945
Victory - the Second World War ends
▾ Modern Britain
1945–2012
1945
Labour wins - the welfare state begins
1947
Independence for India and Pakistan
1948
The NHS is founded
London hosts the Olympic Games (2nd time)
1949
The Republic of Ireland
1952
Elizabeth II becomes Queen
1953
The structure of DNA is discovered
1954
Roger Bannister: the first sub-4-minute mile
1957
The EEC is formed
1960s
The 'Swinging Sixties'
1966
England wins the football World Cup
1966-67
First solo sail around the world
1967
The first cash machine (ATM)
1969
'The Troubles' begin in Northern Ireland
First non-stop solo round-the-world sail
1972
Direct rule in Northern Ireland
Mary Peters wins Olympic gold
1973
The UK joins the EEC
1976
Concorde carries passengers
1978
The world's first 'test-tube baby'
1979
Margaret Thatcher - first woman PM
1982
The Falklands War
1984
Torvill & Dean win Olympic ice-dancing gold
1984-2000
Steve Redgrave's five Olympic golds
1990
The World Wide Web
1996
Dolly the sheep is cloned
1997
Tony Blair's Labour government
1998
The Good Friday Agreement
1999
Devolution - new parliaments and assemblies
2004
Kelly Holmes & Ellen MacArthur
2007
Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister
2010
Coalition government
2012
London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics
Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France
▾ Recent Britain
2014–2025
2014
Scottish independence referendum
2016
The EU referendum - the 'Brexit' vote
2019
Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister
2020
The UK leaves the European Union
The COVID-19 pandemic
2022
Queen Elizabeth II dies - King Charles III
A year of three Prime Ministers
2023
The Coronation of King Charles III
2024
General election - Labour returns to power