England Timeline
England is the largest of the four political divisions that make up the United Kingdom. It is the industrial and trading center of the united Kingdom. England covers about three-fifths of the British Isles. England has played an important role in world history.
6000 BC Scientists believe that Great Britain had become an island. Previous to this time it had been a part of mainland Europe.
Mid 3000s BC The people of England began to grow crops and raise cattle, pigs, and sheep.
Early 1000s BC The people of England mined tin and made bronze tools.
Mid 600s BC A form of Celtic called Brythonic began to be spoken on the British Isles.
55 BC Julius Caesar sailed across the English Channel with a small force to explore England.
54 BC Julius Caesar returned to England and defeated some of the Celts before he returned to Rome.
43 AD Roman Emperor Claudius ordered his armies to invade Britannia. That is what they called the British Isles. The Romans conquered the Celts.
61 AD Boadicea, the queen of a tribe of Britons, led a rebellion against the Romans. The revolt was put down.
80s AD The Romans completed their conquest of the British Isles. They had conquered what is now England and Wales, but they were never able to take over Scotland.
120s BC Hadrian's Wall was built by the people of England. It was to keep out the warlike people of Scotland. It was named after the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
300s AD It is believed that Christianity came to England during this time. Christian symbols dating back to this time have been found in England.
Early 400s The Roman soldiers left England to go defend the empire from invading Germanic Tribes. As a result tribes from Scotland, Ireland, and other Germanic Tribes began to invade England.
Mid 400s The Germanic tribes began to form settlements in England. The first tribe, the Jutes, settled in the area of Kent. The Angles and the Saxons set up kingdoms around England as well.
597 Saint Augustine of Canterbury traveled from France to Kent and converted Ethelbert, the king of the Jutes, to Christianity. After th Germanic tribes had invaded England, Christianity had almost died out.
600s-700s The tribal nations developed into seven main kingdoms called the Heptarchy. It included: East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex, and Wessex. Mercia and Northumbria controlled, in turn, the other six kingdoms.
Late 700s Danish raiders began to attack England.
800s Wessex became the last kingdom to control the Heptarchy under the leadership of King Egbert.
800s The Danes conquered all the Anglo-Saxxon kingdoms except Wessex.
886 Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex, defeated the Danes and forced them to withdraw to the northeastern third of England. The Danes ruled that area which became known as Danelaw.
889 Alfred died.
Early 900s The successors of Alfred re-conquered Danelaw.
Late 900s Danish attacks on England resumed.
1016 Canute, the brother of the king of Denmark, became the king of England.
1042 Edward the Confessor, the last great Anglo-Saxon king ruled England. He built the first church on the site of what is now Westminster Abbey in London.
14 October 1066 The Battle of Hastings occurred between England and the followers of William, Duke of Normandy. They were fighting over the throne of England. William's forces won the battle.
25 December 1066 William was crowned the King of England. He was known as William the Conqueror.
1080s William ordered a survey conducted to determine how much land and other property there was in England, who held it, and what taxes and services the landholders owed the king for their property. It became known as the Domesday Book.
1087 William the Conqueror died.
Late 1000s-Early 1100s A struggle between the kings and the nobles developed. The nobles tried to increase their power, but the king wanted to keep supreme authority over the land.
1135 Stephen, the grandson of William the conqueror, became king. Soon after he came to power civil war broke out. As a result the nobles and the religious leaders became almost independent during the conflict.
1154 Henry II became king. He regained the previously held power of the king and he increased it. Henry sent judges to all areas of England to help administer the same laws throughout the country.
1170 Henry ordered four of his knights to kill Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury. Henry wanted to have control over the Church in England.
1189 Richard I, also called Richard the Lion-Hearted, took the thrown. Most of his reign was spent fighting the Crusades. He left his brother John in charge. It was during this time that the legendry Robin Hood supposedly fought against John's officers.
1199 John became king after Richard died.
1215 During John's reign as king a group of barons and religious leaders rebelled and demanded reform. John was forced to sign the Magna Carta. It placed the king under English law and limited his power.
Late 1200s Parliament became important in England.
1282 Wales was brought under English control.
1296 England brought Scotland under its control.
1297 King Edward I, the grandson of John, agreed not to collect certain taxes without the consent of the realm. He also strengthened the royal court system.
1301 Edward gave his son the title Prince of Wales. Since then nearly all the male heirs to the thrown have been given that title.
1314 During the Battle of Bannockburn Scotland regained its independence.
1337 The Hundred Years' War broke out between England and France. It started after Philip VI of France declared that he would take over the lands held by the Edward III of England in France. Edward in turn formally claimed the French throne.
1346 England won the battle at Crecy, France.
1356 England had another victory over France at Poitiers.
1381 Wat Tyler led a peasants' revolt against forced labor and heavy taxation. Richard II, who was currently the king, used his forces to put down the rebellion.
1390s Richard tried to undermine the power of Parliament. However, his governing abilities were so poor that the country turned against him.
1399 Richard was forced to abdicate the throne. Parliament chose the Duke of Lancaster to rule as Henry IV.
1415 Henry V won a great victory against the French in the Hundred Years War at Agincourt. As a result Henry forced the king of France to accept him as heir to the throne of France.
1422 Henry V died. The French disputed the English claim to the throne.
1428 England swept through northern France.
1429 Joan of Arc of France led an army to victory against England in the Battle of Orleans.
1453 The Hundred Years' War ended. England held only the city of Calais.
1455 The Wars of the Roses began. The House of York and the House of Lancaster fought for control of the English throne.
1461 In this year Edward IV of York won the throne from Henry VI
1470 Henry won back the throne.
1471 Edward defeated Henry and imprisoned him in the Tower of London, where he died.
1483 Edward died. His two sons were still children. His brother, Richard of York, imprisoned the boys in the Tower of London and declared himself King Richard III. Many historians believe that he had the boys murdered. There is no proof of the crime, however, no one knows what happened to them.
1483 Henry Tudor of Lancaster claimed to be heir to the throne.
1485 Henry's forces killed Richard in the Battle of Bosworth Field.
1486 Henry became King Henry VII. He quickly married Edward IV's daughter to unit the houses of Lancaster and York.
1487 Henry won the battle of Stoke which ended the Wars of the Roses.
1509 Henry VIII became king.
1534 Henry VIII had Parliament proclaim the king was the head of the Church in England not the pope. This started the Protestant Reformation in England.
1543 Henry VIII united Wales and England under one government.
1553 Henry VIII's daughter, Mary, became ruler in England. She was a Roman Catholic and reestablished it as the state religion.
1558 Elizabeth I became queen after Mary died. She reestablished the Church of England.
1588 The English navy conquered the Spanish Armada. After this victory, England was considered to have the most powerful navy in the world.
1600 English merchants formed the East India Company.
1603 After Elizabeth died James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne. He was Elizabeth's cousin. England and Scotland became united under his rule, but he ruled each country separately.
1609 English colonists founded James town in the new world.
1628 King Charles I, son of James, agreed to the Petition of Right. It was a document that limited the power of the king. He had no intention of keeping the agreement.
1629-1640 Charles did not call Parliament to session.
1640 After a session of Parliament was finally called by Charles, they legislatures refused to grant the king any fund unless he agreed to limit his power.
1642 Civil War broke out in England. People who supported the king were called Royalists and people who supported Parliament were called Roundheads.
1646 Charles surrendered to Scottish troops.
1647 The Scots turned Charles over to the Roundheads.
1647-1648 More moderate members of Parliament were removed from office.
1649 Charles was beheaded. After his death England became a republic called the Commonwealth of England.
1653 The Commonwealth ended after Oliver Cromwell forcibly disbanded the Parliament. England then became a dictatorship called the Protectorate. Oliver Cromwell was named the lord protector.
1650s During his rule, Oliver Cromwell brought Scotland and Ireland under British Control.
1658 Oliver Cromwell died. His son Richard was named the lord protector. He was a weak ruler.
1660 George Monck, a general who had served under Oliver Cromwell, overthrew the government.
1660 A new Parliament restored the monarchy. Charles II became king.
1685 James II became king. He restored Roman Catholicism and wanted to limit Parliament's powers.
1688 Parliament invited William of Orange, who was married to Mary, the daughter of James, to invade England with Dutch forces to restore English liberties. His victory was called the Glorious Revolution.
1689 William and Mary became joint rulers of England. They accepted the Bill of Rights which guaranteed many basic human rights and it also made it illegal for the king to be Roman Catholic.
1701 The War of the Spanish Succession broke out with England and most other European countries joining forces against France and Spain.
1702 William died. Anne, daughter of James became ruler of England.
1707 The Act of Union joined the Kingdom of England and Wales with the Kingdom of Scotland to for a "united kingdom of Great Britain" From this moment on the history of England became the history of the United Kingdom.
1713 In the peace treaty which ended the War of the Spanish Succession, England won Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the territory around the Hudson Bay from France and Gibraltar and Minorca from Spain.
1714 Anne died. Her second cousin, George, a German prince, became king. He could not speak English very well. He chose his council from the Whig party. Sir Robert Walpole was the chief minister. He took control of the council which began the formation of the British cabinet system. Walpole is considered the first prime minister of the United Kingdom.
1727 George II became king. He also left much of the control of the kingdom to his cabinet.
1754 British and French troops began the French and Indian War in North America. In Europe it was called the Seven Year's war.
1760 George III became king. He wanted to regain some of the kings power.
1763 Britain was triumphant over France. They took over most of the French territory in North America.
1775 The Revolutionary War in the British American colonies broke out.
1783 Great Britain recognized the independence of America and the Revolutionary War ended.
Late 1700s The Industrial revolution began in England.
1793 France and Britain went to war
1801 Ireland joined with Great Britain. The union was called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1803 Napoleon Bonaparte, of France, began to plan to attack Britain.
1805 British Admiral Horatio Nelson won a great victory over the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar. As a result Napoleon's naval power was crushed and ended all his hopes for invading the United kingdom.
1812 The War of 1812 began with the United States and the United Kingdom
1815 Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
1833 Parliament passed the Factory Act, it's first law in regards to working conditions. The Act would allow a child under the age of 9 to work and it also prohibited workers under the age of 18 from working for more than 12 hours a day.
1837 Victoria became queen when she was just 18. She ruled for 63 years which was the longest reign in British history. Under her reign the time period became known as the Victorian Age
1841 Sir Robert Peel, from the Tory party, became prime minister. He ended all export duties and ended or reduced import duties on hundreds of times because he felt it would help the economy
1845-1846 The potato crop in Ireland failed and England had a poor wheat harvest. As a result Peel repealed the Corn Laws and allowed foreign wheat to come into the United Kingdom. This action split the party and ended his career.
1854-1856 The United Kingdom fought in the Crimean War against Russia.
1868-1885 William Gladstone, a Liberal, and Benjamin Direali, a Conservative, alternated as prime minister.
1875 The United Kingdom bought a controlling interest in the Suez Canal.
1876 Queen Victoria was named the Empress of India.
1899-1902 The United Kingdom fought the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa.
1902 The United Kingdom formed and alliance with Japan.
1904 The United Kingdom signed a treaty of friendship with France called the Entente Cordiale.
1906 The Liberals won a great election victory in Parliament. Soon after they passed many new laws which would help the working class.
1907 Russia joined the alliance with France and the United Kingdom and it was called the Triple Entente.
1909 The Liberals introduced a new budget which called for sharply increased taxes. The House of Lords rejected the Budget causing a political struggle to follow.
1911 The struggle between the House of Lords and the Liberals ended when the Lords agreed to a bill which allowed them to delay bills passed by the House of Commons but not veto them.
1914 World War I broke out. The United Kingdom fought with France, Russia, the United States, and other countries against Germany and Austria.
1918 World War I ended. However, it caused an economic crisis because so many men had been killed and much of the British shipping industry had been destroyed. The ending of the war also shook the United Kingdom's position as a world power.
1919 Irish rebels declared Ireland independent.
1920 A depression swept through the United Kingdom.
1921 Southern Ireland agreed to become a British dominion, which meant that they would have their own government but swear allegiance to the crown.
1924 A new party came to power under James Ramsay MacDonald. It was called the Labour Party.
November 1924 The Labour Party lost its control after the Liberal Party withdrew its support. The Conservatives took control.
1929 The Labour Party regained control.
1931 The United Kingdom granted independence to Australia, Canada, the Irish Free State, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and South Africa. They became the first nations to be apart of the Commonwealth of Nations.
1932 By this year about 3 million British Workers had no job as a result of the Great Depression.
1936 King Edward VIII gave up the throne so he could marry an American divorcee. George VI became king.
1937 Neville Chamberlain, a Conservative, became prime minister.
1938 Adolf Hitler, of Germany, seized Austria and then demanded part of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain flew to Munich to confer with Hitler. Chamberlain returned to the United Kingdom and gave his famous speech where he said, "I believe it is peace in our time." As part of the Munich Agreement Hitler was allowed to keep the area of Czechoslovakia that he had taken.
March 1939 Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia.
1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland.
3 September 1939 The United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany beginning World War II.
April 1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.
10 May 1940 Chamberlain resigned. Winston Churchill became prime minister.
June 1940 Germany conquered France. The United Kingdom stood alone against the Nazis.
June 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union which brought them into the war.
7 December 1941 Japan invaded the United States, which brought them into the war.
1945 Germany and Japan were defeated. The United Kingdom helped to establish the United Nations.
1945 Clement Attlee, from the Labour Party, became prime minister. The United Kingdom became a welfare state under his guidance
1947 India and Pakistan became independent nations within the Commonwealth.
1948 Ceylon became an independent Commonwealth country.
1949 The Irish Free State declared itself the Republic of Ireland and left the Commonwealth.
1950s Many people from the Commonwealth (countries and other political units that were once part of the British Empire) began to immigrate to the United Kingdom.
1950s The United Kingdom refused to join the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European Economic Community.
1950-1953 The United Kingdom fought in the Koran War with the United States because they were a part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
1951 Winston Churchill again became the prime minister.
1950s-1960s Many of the British African possessions became independent members of the Commonwealth.
1955 Most wartime rations and controls had ended.
1955 Winston Churchill resigned. Sir Anthony Eden became prime minister.
July 1956 The British and French owned Suez Canal was given to Egypt.
October 1956 Israel invaded Egypt. The United Kingdom and France attacked Egypt to retake the canal. They were not successful and soon after due to pressure from the United Nations they withdrew their forces.
1957 Eden resigned due to criticisms of the invasion of Egypt. Harold Macmillan became prime minister.
1961-1994 South Africa was not allowed to be a part of the Commonwealth because of its racial policies.
1964 The Labour Party returned to power and Harold Wilson became prime minister.
Late 1960s-1970s The Catholics and the Protestants in Northern Ireland had serious clashes with one another.
1969 The United Kingdom began sending troops into Northern Ireland to stop riots and protests there.
1970 The Conservative Party returned to power and Edward Heath became prime minister.
1970s The United Kingdom established direct rule over Northern Ireland.
1974 The Labour Party took control. Harold Wilson returned to office as prime minister.
1976 Wilson retired and James Callaghan succeeded him
1979 The British government allowed the people of Wales and Scotland to vote on whether or not they wanted to have their own legislatures. The vote did not pass.
1979 The Conservatives won the election bringing them to power. Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to hold the position as prime minister.
April 1982 Argentina attacked the Falkland Islands, a part of the United Kingdom. British forces were immediately sent to protect the islands.
June 1982 Argentina surrendered to the United Kingdom.
1985 Thatcher and Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald of Ireland signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement which established an advisory conference for Northen Ireland. Both the United Kingdom and Ireland would have an advisory role in Northen Ireland.
1987 The United Kingdom and France began construction of a railroad tunnel beneath the English Channel.
1990 The economy of the United Kingdom entered a recession.
1990 Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister. John Major succeeded her.
1993 The United Kingdom and several other countries on mainland Europe formed the European Union (EU).
1994 The Channel Tunnel was completed.
1997 The Labour Party returned to power. Tony Blair became prime minister.
September 1997 The first peace talks including all parties in the Northen Ireland conflict began.
April 1998 The Northern Ireland peace talks reached an agreement. Referendums were put into place in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The agreement called for peaceful means to resolve political differences.
1999 Wales and Scotland had their own legislative bodies meet for the first time.
End of 1999 Full implementation for the peace plan in Northern Ireland began.
11 September 2001 During the terrorist attacks on the world trade center in the United States, many British citizens were killed. The United Kingdom helped the United States and several other countries launch an attack on Afghanistan. Blair helped to build international support for the campaign.
Works Cited
Anthony Sutcliffe and Peter Mounfield. "England" and "United Kingdom". Worldbookonline.com.