life-in-the-uk-test-timeline.txt

Life in the UK test - dates timeline
8,000 BC         (10,000 years ago): Britain became permanently separated from Europe
4,000 BC        (6,000 years ago): First farmers arrived
2,000 BC        (4,000 years ago): Bronze age (people learned to make bronze) 
55 BC                Roman Julius Caesar tried (failed) to invade Britain


43 AD                Roman Emperor Claudius successfully invaded (most of) Britain
410                Romans leave Britain
600                Anglo-Saxons establish in Britain (except much of Wales and Scotland)
789                Vikings first visited Britain, raiding coastal towns to take goods & slaves
1066                Norman William the Conqueror defeated Harold to become
first Norman king of England (last time England was successfully invaded)
-> Start of the “middle ages”


1200                England rules Pale, a small area of Ireland around Dublin
1215                Magna Carta: King John signed - makes the King subject to the law
1284                King Edward I took over Wales (Statute of Rhuddlan)
1314                Robert the Bruce defeated England, Battle of Bannockburn
1334                Start of "100 years war"
1348                Black Death comes to Britain, kills 1/3 of population
<1400                Geoffrey Chaucer wrote Canterbury Tales
1400                English replaces Norman French as preferred language
of the royal court and Parliament
1415                Battle of Agincourt - King Henry V's small army defeats large French army
1450                England "left" France (end of "100 years war")


1455                War of the Roses begins between houses of York and Lancaster
1485                Henry Tudor defeats Richard III to win Battle of Bosworth field
                Becomes Henry VII
-> End of the “middle ages”


1560                Scotland becomes Protestant (abolishes authority of the pope)
                Mary Queen of Scots (Catholic) flees to England
                -> imprisoned for 20 years then executed
1564                Williams Shakespeare born
1588                English Sir Francis Drake defeat Spanish Armada (a large fleet of invading ships)
1603                Elizabeth I dies childless, James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England
1606                First union flag created
1616                William Shakespeare dies
1640                King Charles I recalls parliament to ask it for money
                (After ruling without Parliament’s approval for 11 years)
1641                Irish revolt begins
1642                Civil war begins between Roundheads (Cromwell) and Cavaliers (the King)
1643                Isaac Newton born
1646                King defeated at Battles of Marston Moor and Naseby, civil war ends
1649                King Charles I executed by beheading, Cromwell becomes “Lord Protector”
                Oliver Cromwell brutally suppresses Irish rebellion
1656                First Jews come to Britain
1658                Cromwell dies
1660                “The Restoration”: Charles II instated as king
1680-1720        Huguenots (refugees) arriving from France
1685                Charles II dies, Catholic James II becomes king
1688                William of Orange invades England, becomes William III
1689                Bill of Rights established (limits king’s power)
1690                William defeats James at Battle of Boyne in Ireland
1695                Newspapers allowed to operate without government license


18th century        “The Enlightenment”: new ideas in politics, philosophy and science


1707                Act of Union agreed, creating the Kindom of Great Britain
1714                Queen Anne dies, Parliament chose German George I as king
1721                Sir Robert Walpole becomes first Prime Minister, until 1742
1727                Isaac Newton dies
1732                Richard Arkwright born. Efficiently ran factories. Woop dee doo.
1745                Bonnie Prince Charlie attempts to invade & become king,
supported by Scottish clans
1746                Charlie defeated at Battle of Culloden. Clans lose a lot of power.
1759                Robert Burns born - the Bard, wrote Auld Lang Syne
                Sake Dean Mahomet born in Bengal region in India
1776                13 American states declare their independence
1782                Mahomet came to Britain
1783                American independence from Britain recognised
1786                Mahomet eloped with Irish girl Jane Daly
1789                France (Napoleon) declares war on Britain
1792                Richard Arkwright dies
1796                Robert Burns dies


Late 1700s        Quakers set up anti-slavery groups


1805                Britain wins Battle of Trafalgar against France (Nelson dies)
1815                Britain wins Battle of Waterloo (Duke of Wellington defeats Napoleon)
1807                Slave trading made illegal in British ports
1833                Emancipation act outlaws slave trading throughout British Empire


1810                Mahomet opens Hindoostane Coffee House
introduced “shampooing” head massage
1851                Mahomet dies