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alfred the great starts to drive out the vikings by unifying tribes in wessex
1066
norman conquest of England - english became peasant workers
1215
king john signs the magna carta, forever limiting the power of english monarchs
1337
hundred years' war begins between france and england
1348
black death arrives in england - mainly kills the poor
1450
invention of the printing press
1476
william caxton establishes the first printing press in england
1526
william tyndale smuggles the english translation of the bible into england
1604
first of the enclosure acts
1607
jamestown founded
1608
east india company's ships arrive in bengal, india
1611
king james bible is published
1755
samuel johnson's dictionary standardized english spelling
1776
declaration of independence
1788
colonisation of australia begins
1838
first commercial electrical telegraph
1858
government of india act
1870
first education act
1876
alexander graham bell invents the telephone
1880
education is made compulsory for children aged 5 - 10 years old.
1884
the oxford university press begins to produce oed
1914
WWI
1922
BBC is established
1928
equal franchise act
1936
first television broadcast by bcc
1993
launch of the world wide web