55-54 BC Expeditions of Julius Ceasar. AD 43 Invasion of Britain by Emperor Claudius. c.50 Foundation of London.

1016 Cnut becomes king of England. 1017 Cnut divides England into four earldoms. 1035 Death of Cnut. 1139-1153 Civil war in England. 1154 Accession of Henry II. 1169-1172 English conquest of Ireland begins. 1259 Treaty of Paris between England and France. 1284 Wales brought under English control. 1294 War with France begins. 1296 Edward I invades Scotland. 1315-1316 Great famine. 1321-1322 Civil war in England. 1348 First occurrence of the Black Death (plague) in England. 1512 War with France and Scotland. 1528 War with Spain. 1533 Henry VIII marries Ann Boleyn; birth of Princess Elizabeth. 1534 Act of Supremacy; the King becomes Supreme Head of the English Church.

1549 First Book of Common Prayer. 1624-1630 War with Spain. 1626-1629 War with France. 1629 Charles I dissolves Parliament. 1640 Long Parliament summoned. 1642-1649 Civil War between Royalists Parliamentarians (Roundheads). (Cavaliers) and

1646 Presbyterian Church established in Scotland.

1649

Trial and execution of Charles I; England becomes a Republic (Commonwealth).

1649-1653 The Rump Parliament. 1649-1650 Oliver Cromwell pacifies Ireland. 1650-1652 Oliver Cromwell conquers Scotland. 1653 Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament and becomes Lord Protector.

1655-1660 War with Spain. 1658 Cromwell dies and is succeeded by his son Richard. 1659 Richard is overthrown by the army. 1660 Charles II is restored. 1662 The Royal Society is established. 1665 The Great Plague. 1666 The Great Fire of London. 1679-1681 The emergence of Whig and Tory parties. 1688 1689 1690 Glorious Revolution: William of Orange invades; James II escapes to France; accession of William III. Bill of Rights settles succession to the throne and declares illegal various grievances. James II defeated by William III in Ireland (Battle of the Boyne).

1694 Bank of England is founded. 1701 The War of Spanish Succession begins. 1702 British capture Gibraltar from spain. 1704 Malborough defeats the French at the Battle of Blenheim. 1707 Union of England and Scotland. 1713 Peace Treaty of Utrecht concludes the War of Spanish Succession. South Sea Bubble: many investors ruined after speculation in the stock of the South Sea Company.

1715 Jacobite rebellion in Scotland under Earl of Mar. 1720

1721 Walpole ministry. 1738 John Wesley begins the Methodist movement. 1745 1756 1757 1759 Prince Charles Edward leads a second Jacobite rising in Scotland and is finally defeated at Culloden. Seven Years War: Britain allied with Frederick the Great of Prussia against France, Austria and Russia. Battle of Plassey: British victory of Bengal over the French in India. Capture of Quebec: British victory over the French in Canada.

c.1760s-1830s Industrial Revolution. 1763 Peace of Paris concludes Seven Years War. 1769 James Watts steam engine patented. 1773 1776 1783 Boston Tea Party: American colonists protest against the East India Companys monopoly of tea exports to America. Declaration of American Independence; Adam Smith publishes Wealth of Nations. Peace of Versailles recognizes independence of American colonies.

1796 Vaccination against smallpox introduced. 1801 Union with Ireland. 1802 Prime minister Peel introduces first factory legislation. 1803 War with France. 1805 Battle of Trafalgar: Nelson defeats the French and Spanish fleets.

1811 Luddite disturbances in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. 1813 East India Companys monopoly abolished. Battle of Waterloo: defeat of Napoleon. Congress of 1815 Vienna; peace in Europe. Corn Law passed setting the price of corn at 80s. per quarter. 1819 Peterloo massacre in Manchester. 1825 Stockton-Darlington railway opened. Trade Union

legalized. 1828 Nonconformists allowed to hold public offices. 1829 1832 Roman Catholics are given vote and allowed to hold public offices; organization of the police force by Robert Peele. First Reform Act extends franchise and restructures representation in Parliament. Slavery is abolished in the British Empire. Parish workhouses instituted.

1833 First government grant for education. 1834

1837 Accession of Queen Victoria. 1838 Peoples Charter demands fundamental political reform. 1840 Penny post is instituted. Rochdale Co-operative Society is founded. Royal 1844 Commission on Health of Towns. Potato famine begins in Ireland. 1844-1845 Railway mania. 5,000 miles of tract laid. 1846 Corn Law abolished. 1847 Chloroform is first used as an anaesthetic. 1848 Chartism finally collapses. Public Health Act. 1851 Great Exhibition is held in London at the Crystal Palace. Working Mens College founded in London. The Crimean War, in which Britain and France are engaged with Russia, 1854 and with Florence Nightingale comes to public prominence. 1856 Bessemers new, and cheaper, steel making process is introduced.

Matrimonial Causes Act, setting up divorce courts allowing 1857 men to obtain divorce on the grounds of the adultery of the wife. 1858 Indian Mutiny suppressed. 1859 The Society for promoting the Employment of Women formed. Publication of Charles Darwins On the Origin of

Species. 1862 Limited Liability Act provides accumulation of capital shares. vital stimulus to

1864 First national Trade Union Conference is held. 1865 Irish Fenian movement founded against British rule. 1867 Second Reform Act increases suffrage. 1868 Trades Union Congress meets for the first time. 1869 Labour Representation League founded. Irish Church disestablished.

Forsters Education Act extends the provision of 1870 elementary education. Married Womens Property Act extends the rights of women in marriage. 1872 Ballot Act creates secret voting. 1874 1875 First Trade Union Members of Parliament elected. Disraelis second Conservative government. Disraeli buys Suez Canal shares, gaining a controlling interest for Britain. Agricultural depression deepens. Women are admitted to degree courses at the University of London. Mundellas Education Act introduces compulsory schooling for children between the ages of five and thirteen.

1876 Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India. 1878

1879 British-Zulu war in Africa. 1880

Third Reform Act extends suffrage to virtually all adult 1884 males. A series of explosions in London caused by Fenians. 1886 Gladstones third Liberal government fails to enact first Home Rule Bill for Ireland: Liberal Party splits. Second Home Rule Bill rejected by Lords; election of the first socialist M.P., Keir Hardie.

1892 Three Independent Socialists elected as MPs. 1893

1897 National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies founded.

1899 Boer war in South Africa begins. 1900 Labour Party founded. 1901 Death of Queen Victoria. 1902 Boer War ends. 1904 Anglo-French Entente. 1906 Labour Party wins fifty-three seats in the General Election. 1908 Old Age Pension introduced. 1909 Campaign for female suffrage intensifies. The physicist Rutherford propounds a new theory of the 1911 atom. Parliament curtails power of the House of lords; establishes five-yearly elections. 1914 The Great War (First World War) breaks out. 1915-1916 1918 1922 1924 Dardanelles expedition, ending in British withdrawal from Gallipoli. The Great War finally ends after immense destruction and loss of life. Limited female franchise granted in Britain. Creation of the Irish Free State, following the treaty concluded with Sinn Fein in December 1921. Macdonalds first Labour government. Conservatives return to office under Prime minister Baldwin.

1925 Plaid Cymru, the welsh nationalist party founded. 1926 General Strike (3-12 May). 1929 General election: MacDonald leads the second Labour government. Neville Chamberlain succeeds Baldwin as Conservative Prime Minister. Chamberlain meets Hitler in Munich. Abdication of Edward VIII. Winston Churchill Minister. succeeds Chamberlain as Prime

1935 Government of India Act. 1937 1938

1939 British Empire declares war on Germany (3 September). 1940

1942 Montgomerys victory at El Alamein, North Africa. 1943 Anglo-American armies invade Italy. 1944 1945 D-day invasion of France. Butler Education Act provides for free state education, compulsory to age 15. End of war in Europe (8 May). General election; massive Labour victory; Attlee becomes Prime Minister. Coal and other industries nationalized; end of British rule in India. Establishment of the National Health Service and Welfare State.

1946 National Health Service established. 1947 1948

1949 NATO founded. 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. 1956 Anglo-French invasion of Suez is followed by withdrawal. 1957 National Service (compulsory military service) abolished. 1959 Conservatives win with large majority. 1960 Government announces bid to join the Common Market. 1963 Profumo scandal. Philby is identified as the third Soviet spy in the Burgess and Maclean affair of 1951.

1964 Labour under Harold Wilson win narrow majority. 1965 Capital punishment abolished in Britain. 1966 General election; Labour win with much larger majority. 1967 Devaluation of the pound. Legalisation of abortion and homosexuality.

1969 British troops are sent into Northern Ireland. 1970 Conservatives under Edward Heath returned to office. 1971 Decimal currency replaces pounds, shillings, pence, and farthing.

Prime Minister Heath announces direct rule in Northern 1972 Ireland. Stormont abolished. School-leaving age raised to 16. 1973 Britain enters European Common Market.

1975 Britain begins to exploit North Sea oil. Economic crisis; Britain obtains help from the International 1976 Monetary Fund. Callaghan becomes Prime Minister after Wilsons resignation. 1977 Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. 1978 Winter of Discontent: strikes and shutdowns all over Britain.

1979 Conservatives under Mrs Thatcher elected. 1981 Social Democratic Party founded. 1982 Britain defeats Argentina in war over the Falkland Islands. 1983 General election; Mrs Thatchers Conservative government is returned with massive majority.

1984 Miners strike lasts a year. 1986 Channel Tunnel treaty signed. 1987 1990 General election; Mrs Thatchers Conservative government again returned with a majority of over 100. Mrs Thatcher succeeded as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party by John Major.

1992 Britain signs the Maastricht Treaty on European Union. 1993 The single European market takes effect. Labour Party under the new leader, Tony Blair, abandons its commitment to public ownership of major utilities. 1994 Opening of the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France. 1997 Labour Party elected to power under Tony Blair with a massive majority.