400,000BCE
800,000BCE
Earliest known human presence at Happisburgh
Stone tools and footprints from the Norfolk coast provide some of the earliest evidence for humans in northern Europe.
The timeline
526 moments
Every recorded turning point, from the first footprints at Happisburgh to the present day. Search by name or year, or narrow the ledger to a single era.
Prehistoric Britain
c. 800,000 BCE - AD 43 · 10 events10,000BCE
Britain is resettled after the last Ice Age
6,000BCE
Britain becomes an island
4,000BCE
Neolithic farming spreads into Britain
Farming communities introduced domesticated crops and animals, pottery and more permanent settlement patterns.
3,000BCE
Stonehenge begins to take shape
Communities on Salisbury Plain began constructing the monument complex that later became Stonehenge.
2,500BCE
Bell Beaker culture spreads through Britain
800BCE
Iron Age societies emerge
Ironworking, hillforts and increasingly complex tribal societies became characteristic across much of Britain.
55BCE
Julius Caesar's first expedition to Britain
Julius Caesar crossed the Channel with Roman forces but withdrew after a limited campaign in south-eastern Britain.
54BCE
Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain
Roman Britain
AD 43 - c. 410 · 26 events43
Claudius orders the Roman conquest of Britain
Emperor Claudius sent a major invasion force under Aulus Plautius, beginning permanent Roman conquest.
47
Roman rule reaches Wales and the Midlands
50
Londinium is founded
60
Boudica's revolt begins
Boudica of the Iceni led a large uprising that destroyed Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium.
61
Boudica's revolt is defeated
71
Legio IX establishes a fortress at York
78
Agricola becomes governor of Britain
83
Battle of Mons Graupius
122
Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins
Emperor Hadrian ordered a fortified frontier across northern England.
142
Antonine Wall construction begins
160
Romans withdraw back to Hadrian's Wall
197
Britain is divided into two Roman provinces
208
Septimius Severus campaigns in Caledonia
Emperor Septimius Severus personally led a large army into northern Scotland.
211
Septimius Severus dies at York
286
Carausius declares an independent British empire
293
Carausius is assassinated
296
Roman rule is restored under Constantius Chlorus
306
Constantine is proclaimed emperor at York
313
Christianity gains imperial toleration
314
British bishops attend the Council of Arles
367
The Great Conspiracy strikes Roman Britain
383
Magnus Maximus withdraws troops for an imperial bid
401
Troops are withdrawn for continental wars
407
Constantine III is proclaimed emperor in Britain
410
Roman imperial rule in Britain ends
Emperor Honorius told British communities to look to their own defence as Roman administration ceased.
410
Roman administration disappears from Britain
Kingdoms, Vikings & Unification
c. 410 - 1066 · 66 events429
Germanus of Auxerre visits Britain
446
The Groans of the Britons appeal to Rome
449
Hengist and Horsa arrive in Kent
477
South Saxon settlement expands
491
Fall of Anderitum
500
Battle of Badon
519
Kingdom of Wessex tradition begins
547
Kingdom of Bernicia emerges
563
Columba founds the monastery on Iona
570
Brittonic kingdoms consolidate in Wales
573
Battle of Arfderydd
577
Battle of Deorham
597
Augustine arrives in Kent
Pope Gregory the Great's missionary Augustine landed in Kent and began converting the court of King Æthelberht.
601
Canterbury becomes an archbishopric
604
London and Rochester receive bishops
616
Death of Æthelberht of Kent
625
Sutton Hoo ship burial is created
627
Edwin of Northumbria converts to Christianity
633
Battle of Hatfield Chase
634
Oswald becomes king of Northumbria
635
Lindisfarne monastery is founded
642
Battle of Maserfield
655
Battle of the Winwaed
664
Synod of Whitby
685
Battle of Dun Nechtain
731
Bede completes his Ecclesiastical History
735
York becomes an archbishopric
757
Offa becomes king of Mercia
770
Offa's Dyke is built
787
Papal legates visit England
793
Vikings raid Lindisfarne
Scandinavian raiders attacked the monastery of Lindisfarne, shocking Christian Europe.
795
Viking raids reach Iona
802
Iona is attacked again
851
A large Viking army winters in England
865
The Great Heathen Army invades England
866
Vikings capture York
867
Northumbrian kings are defeated at York
869
Edmund of East Anglia is killed
871
Alfred becomes king of Wessex
876
Danish settlement expands in northern England
878
Battle of Edington
Alfred defeated Guthrum's Viking army after a winter crisis in Wessex.
878
Treaty settlement with Guthrum
886
Alfred occupies London
890
Alfred's educational and legal reforms
899
Edward the Elder succeeds Alfred
910
Battle of Tettenhall
911
Æthelflæd becomes Lady of the Mercians
917
English armies capture major Danelaw towns
918
Death of Æthelflæd
927
Æthelstan takes York
934
Æthelstan invades Scotland
937
Battle of Brunanburh
Æthelstan defeated a coalition of Vikings, Scots and Strathclyde Britons.
954
Death of Eric Bloodaxe ends Viking kingship at York
973
Edgar is crowned at Bath
978
Edward the Martyr is killed
991
Battle of Maldon
994
Sweyn Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason attack London
1002
St Brice's Day massacre
1013
Sweyn Forkbeard conquers England
1014
Sweyn dies and Æthelred returns
1016
Battle of Assandun
1016
Cnut becomes king of England
After Edmund's death, Cnut became sole king and later ruled a wider North Sea empire.
1035
Cnut dies
1042
Edward the Confessor becomes king
1051
Godwin family is temporarily exiled
1063
Harold Godwinson defeats Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
Norman & Medieval Britain
1066 - 1485 · 106 events1066
Edward the Confessor dies
1066
Harold Godwinson is crowned king
1066
Battle of Stamford Bridge
1066
William of Normandy lands in England
1066
Battle of Hastings
William defeated and killed Harold II in a day-long battle in Sussex.
1066
William I is crowned king
1067
Norman castle building accelerates
1068
Rebellions erupt against Norman rule
1069
Harrying of the North
1070
Lanfranc becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
1071
Hereward's resistance at Ely collapses
1072
Treaty of Abernethy
1075
Revolt of the Earls fails
1085
William orders the Domesday survey
1086
Domesday Book is completed
The main Domesday survey was written up and presented to the king.
1087
William the Conqueror dies
1087
William II becomes king of England
1093
Malcolm III of Scotland is killed at Alnwick
1097
Westminster Hall is built
1100
Henry I becomes king
1100
Charter of Liberties is issued
1106
Battle of Tinchebray
1120
The White Ship sinks
1124
David I becomes king of Scots
1128
Holyrood Abbey is founded
1135
Henry I dies
1135
Stephen becomes king
1138
Battle of the Standard
1139
Empress Matilda lands in England
1141
Battle of Lincoln
1141
Rout of Winchester
1153
Treaty of Wallingford
1154
Henry II becomes king
1154
Angevin Empire takes shape
1164
Constitutions of Clarendon
1170
Thomas Becket is murdered
1173
Great Revolt against Henry II
1174
William the Lion is captured at Alnwick
1189
Richard I becomes king
1190
York massacre of the Jewish community
1192
Richard I is captured on return from crusade
1194
Richard I returns to England
1199
King John succeeds Richard I
1204
John loses Normandy to Philip II
1209
England is placed under papal interdict
1213
John submits to the papacy
1214
Battle of Bouvines
1215
Magna Carta is sealed at Runnymede
King John accepted a charter of liberties under pressure from rebel barons.
1215
First Barons' War begins
1216
Louis of France invades England
1216
John dies and Henry III becomes king
1217
Battle of Lincoln
1217
Charter of the Forest is issued
1225
Henry III reissues Magna Carta
1236
Term 'parliament' appears in English political usage
1254
County representatives are summoned to Parliament
1258
Provisions of Oxford
1264
Battle of Lewes
1265
Simon de Montfort's Parliament
1265
Battle of Evesham
1267
Treaty of Montgomery
1272
Edward I becomes king
1277
Edward I invades Wales
1282
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd is killed
1283
Conquest of Wales is completed
1284
Statute of Rhuddlan
1290
Edward I expels Jews from England
1295
Model Parliament
1296
Edward I invades Scotland
1297
Battle of Stirling Bridge
1298
Battle of Falkirk
1305
William Wallace is executed
1306
Robert the Bruce is crowned king of Scots
1307
Edward I dies and Edward II succeeds
1314
Battle of Bannockburn
1320
Declaration of Arbroath
1327
Edward II is deposed
1328
Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton
1332
Commons emerges as a distinct parliamentary group
1337
Hundred Years' War begins
1340
Battle of Sluys
1346
Battle of Crécy
1347
Calais falls to Edward III
1348
Black Death reaches Britain
Plague spread rapidly through England, Wales and Scotland, killing a very large share of the population.
1351
Statute of Labourers
1356
Battle of Poitiers
1362
English becomes an official language of the courts
1376
Good Parliament
1377
Richard II becomes king
1381
Peasants' Revolt
1388
Merciless Parliament
1399
Richard II is deposed
1400
Owain Glyndŵr rebellion begins
1402
Battle of Bryn Glas
1404
Owain Glyndŵr holds a parliament at Machynlleth
1413
Henry V becomes king
1415
Battle of Agincourt
1420
Treaty of Troyes
1422
Henry V dies and Henry VI succeeds
1453
English rule in most of France collapses
1455
First Battle of St Albans
1461
Battle of Towton
Edward of York won a huge and bloody battle against Lancastrian forces.
1470
Henry VI is restored to the throne
1471
Battle of Barnet
1471
Battle of Tewkesbury
1483
Richard III becomes king
Tudor Britain
1485 - 1603 · 53 events1485
Battle of Bosworth Field
Henry Tudor defeated and killed Richard III.
1485
Henry VII founds the Tudor dynasty
1486
Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York
1487
Battle of Stoke Field
1492
Treaty of Étaples
1494
Poynings' Law is enacted in Ireland
1496
Perkin Warbeck's challenge peaks
1497
Cornish rebellion reaches Blackheath
1497
John Cabot reaches North America
1502
Arthur Tudor dies
1509
Henry VIII becomes king
1513
Battle of Flodden
1517
European Reformation ideas begin reaching Britain
1521
Henry VIII receives the title Defender of the Faith
1527
Henry VIII seeks annulment from Catherine of Aragon
1529
Reformation Parliament begins
1532
Submission of the Clergy
1533
Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn
1533
Act in Restraint of Appeals
1534
Act of Supremacy
Parliament recognized Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church of England.
1535
Thomas More is executed
1536
Dissolution of the monasteries begins
1536
Laws in Wales Act begins legal union
1536
Pilgrimage of Grace
1537
Birth of Edward VI
1540
Thomas Cromwell is executed
1542
Henry VIII assumes the title King of Ireland
1542
Mary, Queen of Scots, succeeds as an infant
1544
English invasion of France captures Boulogne
1547
Edward VI becomes king
1547
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
1549
First Book of Common Prayer
1549
Prayer Book Rebellion
1549
Kett's Rebellion
1553
Lady Jane Grey is proclaimed queen
Edward VI's succession plan attempted to exclude his Catholic half-sister Mary.
1553
Mary I becomes queen
1554
Wyatt's Rebellion
1555
Marian persecutions intensify
1558
Calais falls to France
1558
Elizabeth I becomes queen
1559
Elizabethan Religious Settlement
1560
Scottish Reformation Parliament
1561
Mary, Queen of Scots, returns to Scotland
1567
Mary, Queen of Scots, abdicates
1568
Mary, Queen of Scots, enters English custody
1569
Rising of the North
1570
Pope Pius V excommunicates Elizabeth I
1571
Treasons Act targets claims against Elizabeth
1582
University of Edinburgh is founded
1587
Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed
Mary was beheaded after evidence linked her to the Babington Plot.
1588
Spanish Armada fails
Philip II's invasion fleet was defeated by English naval action, weather and logistical problems.
1594
Nine Years' War begins in Ireland
1601
Battle of Kinsale
Stuarts, Revolution & Union
1603 - 1837 · 113 events1603
Elizabeth I dies
1603
Union of the Crowns
James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish crowns as James I.
1603
James promotes the idea of Great Britain
1605
Gunpowder Plot is uncovered
1607
Jamestown is founded
1609
Plantation of Ulster begins
1611
King James Bible is published
1612
Pendle witch trials
1620
Mayflower carries English separatists to New England
1625
Charles I becomes king
1628
Petition of Right
1629
Charles I begins Personal Rule
1633
Charles I is crowned in Scotland
1637
Scottish Prayer Book crisis
1638
National Covenant is signed
1639
First Bishops' War
1640
Short Parliament meets
1640
Second Bishops' War
1640
Long Parliament begins
1641
Irish Rebellion erupts
1641
Grand Remonstrance passes the Commons
1642
Charles I attempts to arrest the Five Members
1642
English Civil War begins
Charles raised his standard at Nottingham and both sides mobilized armies.
1642
Battle of Edgehill
1643
Solemn League and Covenant
1644
Battle of Marston Moor
1645
Battle of Naseby
1645
New Model Army is created
1646
Charles I surrenders to the Scots
1647
Putney Debates
1648
Second Civil War
1648
Pride's Purge
1649
Charles I is executed
1649
Commonwealth of England is declared
The monarchy and House of Lords were abolished and England became a republic.
1649
Cromwell invades Ireland
1650
Battle of Dunbar
1651
Battle of Worcester
1653
Cromwell becomes Lord Protector
1655
Western Design captures Jamaica
1658
Oliver Cromwell dies
1660
Restoration of Charles II
1665
Great Plague of London
1666
Great Fire of London
1673
Test Act
1679
Habeas Corpus Act
1685
James II becomes king
1685
Monmouth Rebellion
1688
Glorious Revolution
1689
Bill of Rights
Parliament set out limits on royal authority and protections for parliamentary privilege.
1689
Claim of Right in Scotland
1690
Battle of the Boyne
1694
Bank of England is founded
1695
Licensing Act lapses
1701
Act of Settlement
1707
Acts of Union create Great Britain
England and Scotland united into the Kingdom of Great Britain with one Parliament at Westminster.
1714
George I succeeds Queen Anne
1715
Jacobite rising of 1715
1716
Septennial Act extends parliamentary terms
1720
South Sea Bubble collapses
1721
Robert Walpole becomes dominant minister
1727
George II becomes king
1739
War of Jenkins' Ear begins
1745
Jacobite rising of 1745
1745
Battle of Prestonpans
1746
Battle of Culloden
1747
Heritable Jurisdictions Act
1751
Calendar reform is adopted
1756
Seven Years' War begins
1757
Battle of Plassey
1759
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
1760
George III becomes king
1763
Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years' War
1764
Spinning Jenny is developed
1765
Stamp Act crisis in the American colonies
1769
Watt patents major steam-engine improvements
1770
James Cook claims eastern Australia for Britain
1773
Regulating Act begins parliamentary control of the East India Company
1775
American Revolutionary War begins
1776
American Declaration of Independence
1778
France enters the American war
1780
Gordon Riots
1781
British army surrenders at Yorktown
1783
Treaty of Paris recognizes United States independence
1787
First Fleet sails for Australia
1788
Settlement at Sydney Cove is founded
1789
French Revolution transforms British politics
1791
Thomas Paine publishes Rights of Man
1792
Popular political societies expand
1793
Britain enters war with Revolutionary France
1794
Habeas corpus is suspended amid radical fears
1797
Spithead and Nore mutinies
1798
Irish Rebellion
1801
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is created
1802
Peace of Amiens temporarily ends war with France
1804
Richard Trevithick demonstrates steam locomotive power
1805
Battle of Trafalgar
1807
Slave Trade Act abolishes British slave trading
1811
Regency begins
1812
Luddite disturbances peak
1815
Battle of Waterloo
1815
Corn Laws impose protection on grain
1819
Peterloo Massacre
1820
George IV becomes king
1824
Trade unions are legalized in a limited form
1825
Stockton and Darlington Railway opens
1829
Catholic Emancipation
1830
Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens
1830
William IV becomes king
1832
Great Reform Act
1833
Slavery Abolition Act
1833
Factory Act limits child labour
1834
Poor Law Amendment Act
1834
Palace of Westminster burns
Victorian Britain
1837 - 1901 · 43 events1837
Victoria becomes queen
Eighteen-year-old Victoria succeeded William IV.
1838
People's Charter launches Chartism
The People's Charter demanded six political reforms including universal male suffrage and secret voting.
1839
Newport Rising
1840
Victoria marries Prince Albert
1842
Mines and Collieries Act restricts underground labour
1845
Irish potato famine begins
1846
Corn Laws are repealed
1847
Ten Hours Act limits factory work
1848
Chartist movement presents its third petition
1848
Public Health Act establishes a national framework
1851
Great Exhibition opens in Hyde Park
The Crystal Palace displayed industrial products and art from Britain and around the world.
1853
Crimean War begins
1854
Charge of the Light Brigade
1856
Treaty of Paris ends the Crimean War
1857
Indian Rebellion begins
1858
Government of India Act transfers rule to the Crown
1859
Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
1861
Prince Albert dies
1863
London Underground opens
1865
Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica
1867
Second Reform Act
Parliament greatly expanded the urban male electorate.
1867
Dominion of Canada is created
1868
Gladstone becomes prime minister
1869
Church of Ireland is disestablished
1870
Elementary Education Act
1871
Trade Union Act gives unions legal recognition
1872
Ballot Act introduces secret voting
1875
Public Health Act consolidates sanitary law
1876
Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India
Parliament authorized a new imperial title promoted by Disraeli.
1878
Congress of Berlin reshapes eastern policy
1880
Gladstone returns to office
1882
Britain occupies Egypt
1884
Third Reform Act widens the county franchise
1885
Redistribution Act redraws constituencies
1886
First Irish Home Rule Bill is defeated
1887
Victoria's Golden Jubilee
1888
Local Government Act creates county councils
1888
Jack the Ripper murders shock London
1889
London County Council begins work
1893
Independent Labour Party is founded
1894
Parish Councils Act expands elected local government
1897
Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
1899
Second Boer War begins
Modern Britain
1901 - Present · 109 events1901
Queen Victoria dies
1901
Edward VII becomes king
1902
Second Boer War ends
1903
Women's Social and Political Union is founded
1904
Entente Cordiale is signed
1905
Liberal government takes office
1906
Labour Representation Committee becomes the Labour Party
1908
Old Age Pensions Act
1909
People's Budget
1910
George V becomes king
1911
Parliament Act limits the House of Lords
1911
National Insurance Act
1912
Third Home Rule Bill is introduced
1912
Titanic sinks
1913
Emily Davison dies at the Epsom Derby
1914
Britain enters the First World War
Britain declared war on Germany after the invasion of neutral Belgium.
1914
British Expeditionary Force fights at Mons
1915
Gallipoli campaign
1916
Easter Rising in Dublin
1916
Battle of Jutland
1916
Battle of the Somme begins
1916
Lloyd George becomes prime minister
1917
Royal House changes its name to Windsor
1918
Representation of the People Act 1918
1918
Royal Air Force is formed
1918
First World War ends
1918
First general election with women voting
1919
Nancy Astor takes her seat in Parliament
1919
Treaty of Versailles
1920
Government of Ireland Act
1921
Anglo-Irish Treaty
1922
Irish Free State is established
1922
BBC begins broadcasting
1924
First Labour government
1926
General Strike
1927
BBC becomes a public corporation
1928
Equal Franchise Act
Women gained the parliamentary vote on the same terms as men at age twenty-one.
1929
Great Depression reaches Britain
1931
National Government is formed
1931
Statute of Westminster
1936
Edward VIII becomes king
1936
Edward VIII abdicates
1936
George VI becomes king
1938
Munich Agreement
1939
Britain declares war on Germany
1940
Dunkirk evacuation
Hundreds of thousands of Allied troops were evacuated from northern France under Operation Dynamo.
1940
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister
1940
Battle of Britain
1940
The Blitz begins
1941
Atlantic Charter
1942
Second Battle of El Alamein
1944
D-Day landings
1945
VE Day
1945
Labour wins a landslide election
1945
VJ Day
1946
Bank of England is nationalized
1947
India becomes independent
1948
National Health Service begins
The NHS opened under Health Minister Aneurin Bevan, providing medical care largely free at the point of use.
1948
Empire Windrush passengers disembark at Tilbury
1948
British Nationality Act
1949
Britain becomes a founding member of NATO
1951
Festival of Britain
1952
Elizabeth II becomes queen
1953
Coronation of Elizabeth II
1956
Suez Crisis
1957
Britain tests a hydrogen bomb
1958
Notting Hill racial riots
1960
Macmillan delivers the 'Wind of Change' speech
1961
Britain applies to join the European Economic Community
1964
Labour returns under Harold Wilson
1965
Race Relations Act
1967
Abortion Act
1967
Sexual Offences Act partially decriminalizes sex between men
1968
Race Relations Act expands anti-discrimination law
1969
British troops are deployed to Northern Ireland
1971
Decimalisation of the pound
1972
Bloody Sunday
1973
United Kingdom joins the European Communities
1975
Referendum confirms European Community membership
1978
Winter of Discontent
1979
Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister
1981
Brixton disturbances
1982
Falklands War
1984
Miners' Strike
1986
Big Bang deregulates the City of London
1990
Margaret Thatcher resigns
1992
Black Wednesday
1997
Labour wins a landslide under Tony Blair
1998
Good Friday Agreement
1998
Devolution legislation creates new institutions
1999
Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly open
2001
United Kingdom joins military operations in Afghanistan
2003
Britain participates in the invasion of Iraq
2005
London bombings
2008
Global financial crisis hits Britain
2010
Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition is formed
2014
Scottish independence referendum
2016
European Union membership referendum
2016
Theresa May becomes prime minister
2017
Grenfell Tower fire
2019
Boris Johnson becomes prime minister
2020
United Kingdom leaves the European Union
The Withdrawal Agreement entered into force and the UK formally ceased to be an EU member state.
2020
COVID-19 lockdown begins
2022
Elizabeth II dies
2022
Charles III becomes king
2022
Rishi Sunak becomes prime minister
2023
Coronation of Charles III
2024
Labour wins the general election
2024
Keir Starmer becomes prime minister
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