Roman Britain Anglo-Saxon Britain Viking Age Norman Britain Medieval Britain Tudor Britain Stuart Britain Georgian Britain Victorian Britain Edwardian Britain World War I Britain Interwar Britain World War II Britain Post-War Britain Contemporary Britain
Elizabethan England
Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister Falklands War begins British forces recapture South Georgia Argentine forces surrender in the Falklands Miners' strike begins Big Bang deregulation in the City of London Poll Tax riots in London John Major becomes prime minister Channel Tunnel opens Tony Blair becomes prime minister Good Friday Agreement National Assembly for Wales opens Scottish Parliament opens 7 July London bombings London hosts the Olympic Games Scottish independence referendum Brexit referendum Article 50 triggered United Kingdom leaves the European Union First COVID-19 lockdown announced Death of Queen Elizabeth II King Charles III accedes to the throne Coronation of King Charles III Labour wins the 2024 general election Keir Starmer becomes prime minister
Orgreave confrontation
Rescript of Honorius Arrival of Anglo-Saxon settlers expands Battle of Mount Badon Kingdom of Kent emerges Augustine becomes first Archbishop of Canterbury Pope Gregory the Great sends Augustine to Kent King Aethelberht of Kent issues law code Battle of Chester Edwin of Northumbria becomes dominant ruler Battle of Heavenfield Kingdom of Northumbria formed Synod of Whitby Theodore of Tarsus becomes Archbishop of Canterbury Bede born King Offa of Mercia begins reign Offa's Dyke constructed
Edward VII becomes king End of the Second Boer War Entente Cordiale agreed Liberal landslide election victory Trade Disputes Act Old Age Pensions Act People's Budget introduced Death of Edward VII George V becomes king National Insurance Act Parliament Act Suffragette campaign intensifies Dublin Lockout Britain enters the First World War First Battle of Ypres Gallipoli campaign Lusitania sunk Easter Rising Battle of the Somme begins David Lloyd George becomes prime minister United States enters the First World War Balfour Declaration Representation of the People Act Armistice ends the First World War
George I becomes king of Great Britain First Jacobite Rising South Sea Bubble Robert Walpole emerges as leading minister George II becomes king of Great Britain War of Jenkins' Ear begins Second Jacobite Rising Battle of Culloden George III becomes king of Great Britain Britain gains Canada after the Seven Years' War American War of Independence begins Captain Cook killed in Hawaii Britain recognises American independence First Fleet reaches Australia French Revolutionary Wars begin for Britain Act of Union creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Battle of Trafalgar Abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire George, Prince of Wales, becomes Prince Regent Battle of Waterloo Peterloo Massacre George IV becomes king of the United Kingdom Catholic Emancipation Act William IV becomes king of the United Kingdom Great Reform Act Slavery Abolition Act New Poor Law Death of William IV
Henry II becomes king of England Assize of Clarendon Thomas Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral Henry II performs penance at Canterbury Richard I becomes king of England Richard I departs on the Third Crusade John becomes king of England Loss of Normandy Pope Innocent III places England under interdict John submits to the papacy Battle of Bouvines First Barons' War begins Magna Carta sealed at Runnymede Death of King John Henry III becomes king of England Battle of Lincoln in the First Barons' War Provisions of Oxford Simon de Montfort's Parliament Edward I becomes king of England Statute of Westminster Conquest of Wales completed Statute of Rhuddlan Model Parliament Edward I invades Scotland Battle of Falkirk Death of Edward I
Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act General election under the expanded franchise Treaty of Versailles signed Government of Ireland Act Parliament of Northern Ireland opens Anglo-Irish Treaty signed Bonar Law becomes prime minister BBC begins broadcasting Stanley Baldwin becomes prime minister for the first time First Labour government takes office General Strike General Strike called off Equal Franchise Act Second Labour government takes office Wall Street Crash National Government formed Statute of Westminster George V Christmas broadcast Edward VIII becomes king Jarrow March Abdication of Edward VIII George VI becomes king Neville Chamberlain becomes prime minister Munich Agreement Britain declares war on Germany
Edward II becomes king of England Battle of Bannockburn Declaration of Arbroath Edward II deposed Edward III becomes king of England Hundred Years' War begins Battle of Crecy Black Death reaches England Order of the Garter founded Statute of Labourers Battle of Poitiers Good Parliament Richard II becomes king of England Peasants' Revolt Death of Wat Tyler Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales Henry IV seizes the throne Owain Glyndwr revolt begins Henry V becomes king of England Battle of Agincourt Treaty of Troyes Henry VI becomes king of England Joan of Arc lifts the siege of Orleans England loses Bordeaux First Battle of St Albans Edward IV becomes king of England Warwick restores Henry VI Edward IV restored to the throne Richard III becomes king of England Battle of Bosworth Field
Battle of Hastings William I crowned king of England Norman castles spread across England Harrying of the North Hereward resistance at Ely Lanfranc becomes Archbishop of Canterbury Tower of London construction begins Domesday survey ordered Domesday Book completed William II becomes king of England Death of William I Coronation Charter of Henry I Death of William II Henry I crowned king of England Battle of Tinchebray White Ship disaster Stephen becomes king of England The Anarchy begins Battle of Lincoln Treaty of Wallingford Death of Stephen
Labour wins the 1945 general election United Nations founded National Insurance Act Empire Windrush arrives at Tilbury National Health Service launched British Nationality Act NATO founded Conservative election victory under Churchill Elizabeth II becomes queen End of sweet rationing Elizabeth II crowned End of meat rationing Winston Churchill resigns as prime minister Suez Crisis Notting Hill race riots Wind of Change speech Britain applies to join the EEC Beatlemania begins Harold Wilson becomes prime minister Death penalty abolished for murder 1966 World Cup final Sexual Offences Act decriminalises homosexual acts in England and Wales Abortion Act Enoch Powell Rivers of Blood speech Troubles begin in Northern Ireland Edward Heath becomes prime minister Decimal Day Bloody Sunday in Derry United Kingdom joins the EEC Three-Day Week introduced Harold Wilson returns as prime minister United Kingdom referendum confirms continued EEC membership James Callaghan becomes prime minister Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II Winter of Discontent
Harold Macmillan becomes prime minister
Capture of Camulodunum (Colchester) Roman invasion of Britain begins London (Londinium) established as major settlement Boudican Revolt Agricola campaigns in Britain Battle of Mons Graupius Construction of Hadrian's Wall begins Antonine Wall constructed Antonine Wall abandoned Septimius Severus campaigns in Britain Death of Septimius Severus in York Carausius declares himself emperor in Britain Roman reconquest under Constantius Chlorus Constantine proclaimed emperor in York Increased barbarian incursions End of Roman rule in Britain
Union of the Crowns James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England Gunpowder Plot King James Bible published Pilgrim Fathers sail on the Mayflower Charles I becomes king Petition of Right Personal Rule of Charles I begins Bishops' Wars Short Parliament Long Parliament begins Irish Rebellion begins Charles I attempts to arrest the Five Members English Civil War begins Battle of Marston Moor New Model Army formed Battle of Naseby Charles I surrenders to the Scots Second Civil War Pride's Purge Execution of Charles I Commonwealth declared Cromwell becomes Lord Protector Humble Petition and Advice offered to Cromwell Death of Oliver Cromwell Restoration of the monarchy Great Plague of London Great Fire of London Test Act Popish Plot panic Monmouth Rebellion James II becomes king Glorious Revolution Bill of Rights Battle of the Boyne Bank of England founded Act of Settlement Queen Anne becomes monarch Act of Union creates Great Britain Treaty of Utrecht Death of Queen Anne
Henry VII becomes king of England Henry VII crowned Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York Pretender Lambert Simnel defeated at Stoke Cabot reaches North America under English commission Henry VIII becomes king of England Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon Battle of Flodden Field of the Cloth of Gold Reformation Parliament begins Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn Act of Supremacy Execution of Thomas More Dissolution of the Monasteries begins Pilgrimage of Grace Birth of Edward VI Edward VI becomes king of England Henry VIII dies Book of Common Prayer introduced Lady Jane Grey proclaimed queen Mary I becomes queen of England Wyatt's Rebellion Mary I marries Philip of Spain Elizabeth I becomes queen of England Elizabethan Religious Settlement Treaty of Edinburgh Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots Defeat of the Spanish Armada Shakespeare's Globe Theatre opens Elizabeth I dies
James I Charles I Interregnum Charles II James II William III & Mary II William III Anne George I George II George III George IV William IV Victoria Edward VII George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II Charles III
Athelstan Edmund I Eadred Eadwig Edgar Edward the Martyr Æthelred II Edmund Ironside Cnut the Great Harold Harefoot Harthacnut Edward the Confessor Harold II William I William II Henry I Stephen Henry II Richard I John Henry III Edward I Edward II Edward III Richard II Henry IV Henry V Henry VI Edward V Richard III Henry VII Henry VIII Edward VI Mary I Elizabeth I
Sweyn Forkbeard Edward IV
Robert Walpole Spencer Compton Henry Pelham Duke of Newcastle Duke of Devonshire Duke of Newcastle Earl of Bute George Grenville Marquess of Rockingham William Pitt the Elder Duke of Grafton Lord North Marquess of Rockingham Earl of Shelburne Duke of Portland William Pitt the Younger Henry Addington William Pitt the Younger Lord Grenville Duke of Portland Spencer Perceval Earl of Liverpool George Canning Viscount Goderich Duke of Wellington Earl Grey Viscount Melbourne Robert Peel Viscount Melbourne Robert Peel Lord John Russell Earl of Derby Earl of Aberdeen Viscount Palmerston Earl of Derby Viscount Palmerston Earl Russell Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli William Gladstone Benjamin Disraeli William Gladstone Marquess of Salisbury William Gladstone Marquess of Salisbury William Gladstone Earl of Rosebery Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith David Lloyd George Bonar Law Stanley Baldwin Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin Neville Chamberlain Winston Churchill Clement Attlee Winston Churchill Anthony Eden Harold Macmillan Alec Douglas-Home Harold Wilson Edward Heath Harold Wilson James Callaghan Margaret Thatcher John Major Tony Blair Gordon Brown David Cameron Theresa May Boris Johnson Liz Truss Rishi Sunak Keir Starmer
Queen Victoria becomes queen People's Charter published Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert The Penny Black issued Mines Act Factory Act Repeal of the Corn Laws Great Exhibition opens in Hyde Park Crimean War begins for Britain Indian Rebellion Government of India Act Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species Death of Prince Albert Second Reform Act Elementary Education Act Ballot Act Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India Telephone demonstrated in Britain Married Women's Property Act Third Reform Act First Home Rule Bill introduced Jack the Ripper murders terrorise Whitechapel Tower Bridge opens Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Second Boer War begins Death of Queen Victoria
Viking raid on Lindisfarne Viking raid on Jarrow Great Heathen Army arrives in England York captured by Viking forces King Edmund of East Anglia killed Alfred becomes king of Wessex Battle of Edington Alfred captures London Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum Edward the Elder begins reconquest of Danish territories Athelstan takes York Battle of Brunanburh King Edgar crowned at Bath Battle of Maldon Sweyn Forkbeard becomes king of England Cnut becomes king of England Edward the Confessor becomes king Westminster Abbey consecrated Death of Edward the Confessor Battle of Stamford Bridge
Evacuation of children from British cities begins National Registration Act Britain declares war on Germany Winston Churchill becomes prime minister Operation Dynamo evacuates Dunkirk Battle of Britain begins Coventry Blitz Lend-Lease support begins Germany invades the Soviet Union Atlantic Charter agreed United States enters the war Fall of Singapore Battle of El Alamein Beveridge Report published Dambusters raid D-Day landings VE Day Labour wins the 1945 general election VJ Day
London's East End heavily bombed The Blitz begins
