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Life in the UK Test - UK History Timeline (copy)

Life in the UK Test - UK History Timeline

Time and Events

50 million years ago

  • The Giant’s Causeway was formed. Located on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland, the Giant’s Causeway is a landformation of columns made from volcanic lava.

Stone Age

  • 8,000 BC (10,000 years ago): Britain became permanently separated from the continent by the Channel.

  • 4,000 BC (about 6,000 years ago): The first farmers arrived in Britain. The ancestors of these first farmers probably came from south-east Europe.

Bronze Age

  • 2,000 BC: People lived in roundhouses, made metal tools, dead are buried in tombs called round barrows.

Iron Age

  • 700 BC: First coin minted, Maiden Castle.

The Romans

  • 55 BC: Roman Julius Caesar tried (failed) to invade Britain.

  • 43: Roman Emperor Claudius successfully invaded (most of) Britain.

  • 60: Boudicca fought against Romans.

  • 122: Emperor Hadrian built Hadrian's Wall.

3rd and 4th centuries

  • The first Christian communities began to appear in Britain.

410

  • The Roman army left Britain to defend other parts of the Roman Empire and never returned.

The Anglo-Saxons

  • by 600: Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established in Britain (mainly in England).

The Vikings

  • 789: The Vikings came from Denmark and Norway. They first visited Britain to raid coastal towns and take away goods and slaves. Then, they began to stay and form their own communities in the east of England and Scotland.

The Middle Ages (or the medieval period) 1066 - 1485

  • 1066: The Norman Conquest led by William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold Godwinson, the Saxon King of England, at the Battle of Hastings (last time England was successfully invaded). Harold was killed in the battle. William became king of England.

  • Start of the Westminster Abbey as the coronation church.

  • The Tower of London was first built by William the Conqueror after he became king.

  • Start of the “middle ages”.

  • By 1200: The English ruled an area of Ireland known as the Pale, around Dublin. Some of the important lords in other parts of Ireland accepted the authority of the English king.

  • 1215: Magna Carta (which means the Great Charter) signed by King John (forced by noblemen).

  • 1284: King Edward I introduced the Statute of Rhuddlan, which annexed Wales to the Crown of England. Huge castles, including Conwy and Caenarvon, were built to maintain this power.

  • 1314: The Scottish, led by Robert the Bruce, defeated the English at the battle of Bannockburn. Scotland remained unconquered by the English.

  • 1334: Start of the "100 years war".

  • 1348: Black Death (a form of plague) comes to Britain.

  • By 1400: In England, official documents were being written in English, and English had become the preferred language of the royal court and Parliament. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote Canterbury Tales. A series of poems in English about a group of people going to Canterbury on a pilgrimage.

  • 1415: Battle of Agincourt: one of the most famous battles of the Hundred Years War. King Henry V’s vastly outnumbered English army defeated the French.

  • 1450s: End of "100 years war".

  • 1455: A civil war, called the Wars of the Roses, between the supporters of House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose), was begun to decide who should be king of England.

  • 1485: The Wars of the Roses ended with the Battle of the Bosworth Field. Henry Tudor, the leader of the House of Lancaster, became King Henry VII after defeating King Richard III (was killed in the battle) of the House of York at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry then married King Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York, and united the two families.

The Tudors and Stuarts

  • 1509, 21 April: King Henry VIII became king of England.

  • 1547, 28 January: Henry VIII died. He was succeeded by his son King Edward VI.

  • 1560: The predominantly Protestant Scottish Parliament abolished the authority of the Pope in Scotland and Roman Catholic religious services became illegal.

  • 1588: English Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada (a large fleet of invading ships). Queen Elizabeth I became one of the most popular monarchs in English history after this.

  • 1603: Elizabeth I dies childless, James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England.

  • 1605: A group of Catholics led by Guy Fawkes failed in their plan to kill the Protestant king with a bomb in the Houses of Parliament.

  • 1606: First union flag created.

  • 1640: King Charles I recalls parliament to ask it for money.

  • 1641: The revolt in Ireland began.

  • 1642: A civil war between the king and Parliament began.

  • 1646: King Charles I’s army was defeated at the Battles of Marston Moor and Naseby.

  • 1649: King Charles I executed by beheading, Oliver Cromwell becomes “Lord Protector”, leader of republic.

  • 1656: The first Jews to come to Britain since the Middle Ages settled in London.

  • 1660, May: Parliament invited King Charles II to come back from exile in the Netherlands.

  • 1665: A major outbreak of plague in London.

  • 1666: A great fire destroyed much of London.

  • 1679: The Habeas Corpus Act became law.

  • 1680 - 1720: Many refugees called Huguenots came from France, they were Protestants being persecuted.

  • 1685: Charles II dies, Catholic King James II becomes King in England, Wales and Ireland.

  • 1688: Important Protestants in England asked King William III (William of Orange) to invade England and proclaim himself King William III.

  • 1689: The Bill of Rights confirmed the rights of Parliament and the limits of the king’s power.

  • 1690: William defeated James II at the battle of the Boyne in Ireland.

  • 1695: Newspapers allowed to operate without government license.

Before the 18th century

  • The Enlightenment began, with few ideas about politics, philosophy, and science.

1707

  • The Act of Union, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1714

  • Queen Anne died.

1721

  • Sir Robert Walpole became the first Prime Minister in British history.

1742

  • End of Sir Robert Walpole position as a Prime Minister.

1745

  • Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) attempts to invade & become king.

1746

  • Charles Edward Stuart was defeated at the Battle of Culloden.

By the 1760s

  • Substantial colonies in North America.

1776

  • 13 American states declare their independence.

1783

  • Britain recognised the American colonies’ independence.

1789

  • France (Napoleon) declares war on Britain.

Late 1700s

  • Agriculture was the biggest source of employment in Britain.

1801

  • Ireland became unified with England, Scotland, and Wales after the Act of Union of 1800.

1805

  • Britain wins Battle of Trafalgar against combined French and Spanish fleets.

1807

  • It became illegal to trade slaves in British ships or from British ports.

1815

  • The French Wars ended with the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

1832

  • The Reform Act of 1832 had greatly increased the number of people with the right to vote.

1833

  • The Emancipation Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.

1837

  • Queen Victoria became queen of the UK at the age of 18.

1839

  • Chartists signed a petition to demand votes for the working class and people without property.

1846

  • Repealing of the Corn Laws.

1847

  • The number of hours that women and children could work was limited by law to 10 hours per day.

1851

  • The Great Exhibition opened in Hyde Park in the Crystal Palace.

1853 - 1856

  • Crimean War: Britain fought against Russia with Turkey and France.

1853 - 1913

  • As many as 13 million British citizens left the country to settle overseas.

1860

  • Florence Nightingale established the Nightingale Training School for nurses.

1867

  • Another Reform Act was enacted; creating more urban seats in Parliament.

1870, 1882

  • Acts of Parliament gave wives the right to keep their own earnings and property.

1870 - 1914

  • Around 120,000 Russian and Polish Jews came to Britain to escape persecution.

1872

  • The first tennis club was founded in Leamington Spa.

1889

  • Emmeline Pankhurst set up the Women's Franchise League, which fought for votes for married women.

1895

  • The National Trust was founded by three volunteers.

1896

  • Films were first shown publicly in the UK.

1899 - 1902

  • Boer War: British vs South Africa.

18th and 19th century

  • The period of the Industrial Revolution in Britain.

19th century

  • British industry led the world, produced more than half of the world's iron, coal, and cotton cloth.

Early 20th century

  • MP get a salary.

1901

  • End of Queen Victoria’s reign, almost 64 years.

1902

  • Motor-car racing started in the UK.

1907

  • Rudyard Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

1913

  • The British government promised “Home Rule” for Ireland.

1914, 28 June

  • Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated. This set off events leading to the First World War (1914-1918).

1916, July

  • The British attack of the Somme, resulted in about 60,000 British casualties on the first day alone.

1916

  • Uprising (the Easter Rising) against the British in Dublin.

1918, 11th November

  • The First World War ended at 11.00 am with victory for Britain and its allies.

1918

  • Women over the age of 30 can vote and stand for Parliament.

1920

  • The Cenotaph, the centre piece of the Remembrance Day service, was unveiled.

1920s

  • Many people’s living conditions in the UK got better.

1921

  • A peace treaty was signed between the British government and the Irish Nationalists.

1922

  • A Northern Ireland Parliament was established.

1923

  • R A Butler became a Conservative MP.

1927

  • The BBC started organising the Proms.

1928

  • Women were given the right to vote at the age of 21, the same as men.

1929

  • The world entered the “Great Depression”.

1933

  • Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany.

1935

  • The first successful radar test took place.

1936

  • The BBC began the world’s first regular television service.

1939

  • Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany.

1940

  • German forces defeated allied troops and advanced through France.

1940s

  • Winston Churchill became Prime Minister.

1941

  • German invasion of the Soviet Union.

1942

  • Publication of the Beveridge Report and the introduction of the Education Act.

1945

  • The Allies defeated Germany.

1947

  • Independence was granted to nine countries, including India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

1948

  • Aneurin Bevan led the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS).

1950 - 1959

1950

  • The UK was one of the first countries to sign the European Convention on Human Rights.

1951 - 1964

  • Britain had a Conservative government.

1951

  • Winston Churchill returned as Prime Minister.

1952

  • The Mousetrap, a murder-mystery play by Dame Agatha Christie, has been running in the West End since 1952.

1953

  • The structure of the DNA molecule was discovered.

1954

  • Sir Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile under four minutes.

1957

  • The European Economic Community (EEC) was formed.

1959

  • Margaret Thatcher was elected as a Conservative MP.

1960

  • Harold Macmillan made the "wind of change" speech about decolonisation.

1964

  • Winston Churchill stood down.

1966/67

  • Sir Francis Chichester was the first person to sail single-handed around the world.

1967

  • The first ATM was put into use by Barclays Bank.

1968

  • The Man Booker Prize for Fiction was awarded for the first time.

1969

  • The Concorde first flew.

1970s

  • Period of serious unrest in Northern Ireland.

1973

  • The UK joined the European Economic Community.

1975

  • Margaret Thatcher was elected as Leader of the Conservative Party.

1976

  • The Concorde began carrying passengers.

1979

  • Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister of the UK.

1980 - 1989

1984

  • Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won gold medals for ice dancing.

1990

  • Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

1990, 25 December

  • Information was successfully transferred via the web for the first time.

1993

  • The European Union formed.

1996

  • Sir Ian Wilmot and Keith Campbell led a team which was the first to successfully clone a mammal, Dolly the sheep.

1997

  • The Labour Party led by Tony Blair was elected.

1998

  • The Good Friday Agreement was signed.

1999

  • The Northern Ireland Assembly was elected and created the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament.

2000 - 2009

2000

  • Mary Peters was made a Dame of the British Empire.

2002

  • The Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended.

2003

  • The Concorde was retired from service.

2006

  • The Welsh Assembly building was opened.

2007

  • The Northern Ireland Assembly was reinstated. Gordon Brown took over as Prime Minister.

2008

  • Forced Marriage Protection Orders were introduced in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

2009

  • British combat troops left Iraq.

2010, May

  • No political party won an overall majority in the General Election.

2011

  • The National Assembly for Wales could pass laws in 20 areas without the agreement of the UK Parliament.

2012

  • Bradley Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France. Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

2020, 31 January

  • The UK formally left the European Union.