| 1582 | | 4 Oct:
The Gregorian calendar is introduced. The next day is October 15th.Britannica UFL |
|
| 1603 | | 24 Mar:
James I Ruler of England 1603-1625. House of Stuart: Son of Mary, Queen of Scots, granddaughter of James IV and Margaret. First to call himself King of Great Britain. This became official with the Act of Union, 1707.HistoricUK |
|
| 1605 | | 5 Nov:
The Gunpowder Plot is foiled. Guy Fawkes is captured, tortured and executed.UKParliament  |
|
| 1605/6 | | 31 Jan:
Guy Fawkes is executed for plotting against Parliament and James I of England.PSU UKNA |
|
| 1620 | |
| 1625 | | 27 Mar:
Charles I. Ruler of England 1625-1649. House of Stuart: Only surviving son of James I; beheaded Jan 30, 1649.HistoricUK |
|
| 1628 | |
| 1638 | | 21 Oct:
The first recorded instance of ball lightning occurs during a thunderstorm in Widecombe-in-the-Moor, England.GoogleBooks ChemEu |
|
| 1649 | | 30 Jan:
Charles I is beheaded.HRP RMG |
|
| | 30 Jan:
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector. Ruler of England 1649-1658. Commonwealth & Protectorate.HistoricUK |
|
| 1658 | | 3 Sep:
Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector. Ruler of England 1658-1659. Commonwealth & Proctorate: 3rd son of Oliver. Resigned May 25, 1659.HistoricUK |
|
| 1660 | | 29 May:
Charles II. Ruler of England 1660-1685. House of Stuart (restored): Eldest son of Charles I, died without issue. De Jure King from Jan 30, 1649.HistoricUK |
|
| 1664 | | 27 Aug:
Four English warships arrive in Nieuw-Amsterdam to claim the colony under the orders of James, Duke of York.13 WDL |
|
| | 31 Aug:
Peter Stuyvesant, governor of Nieuw-Nederland, refuses to accept the terms of surrender to the British.SotS |
|
| |
| 1665 | | 12 Apr:
A bubonic plague outbreak, the Great Plague of 1665, kills around 100,000 people in England.Istria NIH |
|
| 1673 | |
| 1674 | |
| 1679 | | 27 May:
The Habeas Corpus Act, which required a court to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner's detention and thus prevent unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment, was passed by Parliament.AS LI |
|
| 1685 | | 6 Feb:
James II. Ruler of England 1685-1689. House of Stuart (restored): 2nd son of Charles I. Deposed 1688, interregnum Dec 11, 1688, to Feb 13, 1689.HistoricUK |
|
| 1689 | | 4 Nov:
William III and Mary II. Rulers of England 1689-1702. House of Stuart (restored): Son of William, Prince of Orange, by Mary, daughter of Charles I. Mary eldest daughter of James II. She died 1694.HistoricUK |
|
| 1702 | | 8 Mar:
Anne. Ruler of England 1702-1714. House of Stuart (restored): 2nd daughter of James II. Died with no living heirs.HistoricUK |
|
| 1712 | |
Thomas Newcomen patents the atmospheric steam engine.JStor |
|
| 1713 | | 11 Apr:
The Treaty of Utrecht is signed ending the War of the Spanish Succession, also known as Queen Anne's War in North America.CHNC CBC |
|
| 1714 | | 1 Aug:
George I. Ruler of England 1714-1727. House of Hanover: Son of Elector of Hanover, by Sophia, grand-daughter of James I. Proclaimed King under Act of Settlement.HistoricUK |
|
| 1727 | | 11 Jun:
George II. Ruler of England 1727-1760. House of Hanover: Only son of George I, married Caroline of Brandenburg.HistoricUK |
|
| 1733 | | 17 May:
Britain passes the Molasses Act putting high tariffs on rum and molasses imported to the Colonies from anyplace other than Britain and its possessions.GoogleBooks JotAR |
|
| 1752 | | 14 Sep:
The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar.CSL CalWiz |
|
| 1753 | |
| 1754 | |
| 1758 | | 27 Jul:
British and colonial forces defeat French and Canadian forces at the Battle of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia.BB CTHist |
|
| 1760 | | 25 Oct:
George III. Ruler of England 1760-1820. House of Hanover: Grandson of George II, married Charlotte of Mecklenburg.HistoricUK LoC |
|
| 1763 | |
| 1765 | | 22 Mar:
The Stamp Act is passed by the British Parliament - a tax imposed on American colonists on any printed paper.GLIoAH Avalon |
|
| | 1 Nov:
The Stamp Act goes into effect - a tax on the Colonies to fund the British Military in America.CC SAH |
|
| 1769 | | 5 Jan:
James Watt patents his much improved steam engine.ACS WoWE |
|
| 1773 | | 27 Apr:
British Parliament passes the Tea Act.LoC JotAR |
|
| 1774 | | 28 Mar:
British Parliament passes the Coercive Act, better known as the Intolerable Act, in response to the Boston Tea Party.WoWA tCM |
|
| | 1 Aug:
Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen.APS ACS |
|
| 1775 | |
| | 19 Apr:
The first battles of the American Revolution. British troops fight American Minutemen at Lexington, killing eight. The British then move to Concord where they again engage the colonials. By the end of the battle, 93 colonists are dead. The British, having lost 273, retreat to Boston.LoC NPS |
|
| |
| |
| | 31 Dec:
After nearly a month, Continental forces, under command of Montgomery and Arnold, are soundly defeated after attacking Québec.CMoH SIMag |
|
| 1776 | |
| | 3 Apr:
Congress gives to commanders of private ships the authority to capture British ships and cargo.LoC CTDA |
|
| | 7 Apr:
The American warship Lexington captures the first British warship of the American Revolution, the HMS Edward.RW DoD |
|
| | 4 Jul:
The United States is founded when the Second Continental Congress declares its independence from Great Britain.USHistory USNA |
|
| | 10 Aug:
Word of America's Declaration of Independence finally reaches London.TXSAR OSA |
|
| | 27 Aug:
The British defeat the Americans in the Battle of Long Island.BB MtVernon |
|
| | 16 Sep:
George Washington gets his first victory in the Battle of Harlem Heights.MtVernon RW |
|
| | 22 Sep:
Nathan Hale is executed by the British for spying.tAW LoC |
|
| | 28 Oct:
British and Hessian troops under Howe meet Americans under Washington in the Battle of White Plains.MtVernon BB |
|
| | 26 Dec:
Washington gets his first major victory at Trenton.MtVernon BB |
|
| 1777 | | 3 Jan:
Washington defeats the British in the Battle of Princeton.MtVernon BB |
|
| | 15 Jan:
New Connecticut declares its independence from Great Britain and the colony of New York. The name is changed to Vermont in June of that year.History.com UND |
|
| |
| | 17 Oct:
British troops surrender at Saratoga.Saratoga AoC |
|
| 1778 | |
| | 11 Nov:
The Cherry Valley Massacre - Tory and Mohawk forces murder 47 townsfolk, mostly by tomahawk.CN SotS |
|
| 1779 | | 23 Sep:
Capt. John Paul Jones, considered the father of the United States Navy, on board the Bonhomme Richard, defeats the H.M.S. Serapis off the coast of England.OTF MM&P |
|
| 1780 | | 21 Sep:
Treasonous American General Benedict Arnold, believing that he was unrewarded for his military successes, meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British.NCC LoC |
|
| 1781 | | 5 Jan:
Richmond, Virginia is captured and burned by American traitor and British general Benedict Arnold.AMN VAMoH&C |
|
| | 17 Jan:
the American militia, led by Colonel Daniel Morgan, defeat the British under Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton in the Battle of Cowpens.BB fold3 |
|
| | 13 Mar:
British astronomer William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus while surveying the sky with his telescope.
UT EarthSky |
|
| | 28 Sep:
The Siege of Yorktown begins. American and French forces surround British forces.BB MtVernon |
|
| | 19 Oct:
Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown.AoC LoC |
|
| 1783 | |
| 1785 | | 7 Jan:
The first international flight occurs when Blanchard and Jeffries fly a balloon across the English Channel.StratoCat SI |
|
| 1806 | | 7 Oct:
Ralph Wedgwood receives the first patent for carbon paper.W I R E D |
|
| 1807 | |
| 1812 | |
| | 19 Aug:
USS Constitution captures HMS Guerriere in a battle off the coast of Nova Scotia earning the nickname "Old Ironsides".USNavy MM |
|
| 1813 | | 10 Sep:
The U. S. Fleet defeats the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Lake Erie.OHC NPS |
|
| | 26 Oct:
Canadian troops and their Mohawk allies win an important victory over invading American forces in the Battle of the Châteauguay.NPS MC |
|
| 1814 | |
| | 13 Sep:
Francis Scott Key writes the Star-Spangled Banner.SIMag LoC |
|
| |
| 1815 | | 8 Jan:
An American force of 3000 men defeats a British force of around 8000 men in the Battle of New Orleans - even though the War of 1812 was already over with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.HBoNO LoC |
|
| 1816 | |
The previous year, Mt. Tambora erupted producing so much ash and gas the sunlight was blocked from warming the earth causing the "Year Without Summer".USGS |
|
| 1819 | | 22 May:
The first steam powered vessel to cross the Atlantic, the S.S. Savannah, "put to sea with steam and sails" on a historic trip that would take her to England, Sweden and Russia with stops in Norway and Denmark before returning home.AAQ NSSavannah |
|
| 1820 | | 29 Jan:
George IV. Ruler of England 1820-1830. House of Hanover: Eldest son of George III, Prince Regent, from Feb 1811.HistoricUK |
|
| 1824 | |
| 1826 | | 27 Nov:
John Walker invents the modern friction match.TiS BH |
|
| 1830 | | 26 Jun:
William IV. Ruler of England 1830-1837. House of Hanover: 3rd son of George III, married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.HistoricUK |
|
| | 15 Sep:
The first railroad fatality occurs when a member of Parliament, William Huskisson, steps in front of George Stephenson's Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway.AO tNM |
|
| 1831 | | 27 Dec:
The H.M.S. Beagle, with a crew of seventy-three men, sets sail out of Plymouth, England. On board is a young naturalist named Charles Darwin. SA |
|
| 1837 | | 20 Jun:
Victoria. Ruler of England 1837-1901. House of Hanover: Daughter of Edward, 4th son of George III; married (1840) her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who became Prince Consort.HistoricUK |
|
| 1841 | | 20 Jan:
China cedes Hong Kong to Britain which remains in British hands until 1997.History.com HK |
|
| 1843 | | 19 Jul:
The SS Great Britain, the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic, is launched in Bristol, England.Nature ASME |
|
| 1844 | | 6 Jun:
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London.YMCA VCU |
|
| 1851 | | 22 Aug:
The yacht America wins the first America's Cup.LoC NYYC |
|
| 1854 | | 28 Mar:
Britain and France declare war on Russia beginning their involvement in the Crimean War.SLSA HK |
|
| 1859 | | 24 Nov:
Charles Darwin publishes his groundbreaking volume, "On the Origin of Species".Literature.org NSF |
|
| 1861 | |
| 1863 | |
| 1867 | | 1 Jul:
Three British colonies merged to form the country of Canada. CNN |
|
| | 14 Jul:
Alfred Nobel demonstrates dynamite for the first time.GoogleBooks GF&F |
|
| 1884 | | 13 Oct:
The Greenwich meridian is officially adopted globally as the prime meridian, the imaginary north-south line where the longitude is 0 degrees.W I R E D MAA |
|
| | 1 Nov:
Greenwich Mean Time is adopted universally when the International Meridian Conference meets in Washington, DC.GMT OFA |
|
| 1894 | | 14 Aug:
The first wireless transmission of information using Morse code is demonstrated by Oliver Lodge during a meeting of the British Association at Oxford.RSP NS |
|
| 1897 | | 20 Aug:
World Mosquito Day marks the discovery of the malaria parasite.Mosquito EM |
|
| 1898 | | 30 May:
Superman beware, Krypton is discovered.JLab NIH |
|
| 1899 | | 2 Nov:
The Boxer Rebellion, an uprising against foreigners in China, occurs.TW GoogleBooks |
|
| 1901 | | 22 Jan:
Edward VII. Ruler of England 1901-1910. House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Eldest son of Victoria, married Alexandra, Princess of Denmark.HistoricUK |
|
| 1903 | | 18 Jan:
The first two-way transatlantic wireless communication occurs.CapeCod TRC |
|
| 1906 | |
| | 3 Nov:
The distress signal S.O.S. becomes the worldwide standard at the 2nd International Radiotelegraphic Convention.SIMag GA&C |
|
| 1910 | | 6 May:
George V. Ruler of England 1910-1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of Edward VII, married Princess Mary of Teck. Accession, Jan 20, abdication, Dec 10.HistoricUK |
|
| 1912 | |
| | 15 Apr:
The RMS Titanic sinks after striking an iceberg. tGLIoAH |
|
| | 18 Dec:
Piltdown man, a presumed missing link, is unveiled to the world - proved a fake 40 years later.ClarkU AS |
|
| 1913 | |
| 1914 | |
| 1915 | |
| | 7 May:
The RMS Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat.1stWW LoC |
|
| | 6 Sep:
The first military tank rolls off the assembly line.ACA USArmy |
|
| 1916 | | 24 Apr:
Easter Rising - Ireland rises up against British rule and proclaims its independence.B B C IC |
|
| | 15 Sep:
Tanks are introduced into battle for the first time.SA MotAGI |
|
| 1917 | |
| 1918 | | Feb:
The Spanish Flu pandemic kills at least 3% of the World's population.VLib npr |
|
| | 29 Sep:
Allied forces break through the Hindenburg Line.NCDCR AWM |
|
| |
| 1919 | |
| 1922 | |
| | 26 Nov:
Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon enter King Tut's tomb.History.com |
|
| 1927 | | 7 Jan:
The first commercial transoceanic telephone service begins, using radio, between New York and London.EDN USNA |
|
| 1928 | | 28 Sep:
Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.NIH PBS |
|
| 1933 | | 12 Nov:
Hugh Gray takes the first photograph of the Loch Ness Monster.Nessie Hoaxes |
|
| 1936 | | 20 Jan:
Edward VIII. Ruler of England 1936. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Eldest son of George V.HistoricUK |
|
| | 5 Mar:
The prototype of the British Supermarine Spitfire flies for the first time.SI Bonhams |
|
| | 11 Dec:
George VI. Ruler of England 1936-1952. House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): 2nd son of George V, Duke of York; married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.HistoricUK |
|
| 1939 | |
| |
| 1940 | |
| | 10 Jul:
The Battle of Britain begins.FWR |
|
| | 26 Oct:
The P-51 Mustang takes its maiden flight with test pilot Vance Breese.MM DW |
|
| 1941 | |
| | 30 Oct:
FDR approves $1 billion in Lend-Lease aid for the USSR.USState JVL |
|
| 1944 | | 6 Jun:
D-Day - allied forces begin the invasion of continental Europe.USArmy IWM |
|
| | 25 Oct:
Kamikaze are used en masse for the first time against Allied forces in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.NNAM AFMag |
|
| | 12 Nov:
Avro Lancasters of the British Royal Air Force sink the German battleship Tirpitz off Håkøya Island near Tromsø, Norway.KBismarck BCM |
|
| | 16 Dec:
The Battle of the Bulge, a surprise offensive by the German Army pushes Allied forces back through Belgium and Luxembourg.USArmy PBS |
|
| 1945 | | 7 May:
Germany unconditionally surrenders, effectively ending World War II in Western Europe. Soviet surrender terms were signed the next day.DoD USHMM |
|
| |
| |
| | 24 Oct:
The United Nations is established.UN USState |
|
| 1949 | | 4 Apr:
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is founded.USNA Avalon |
|
| | 27 Jul:
The world's first jet-propelled airliner, the British De Havilland Comet, makes its maiden test-flight in England.AFMag CoF |
|
| 1950 | | 24 Sep:
Black Sunday occurs when smoke from forest fires in western Canada makes its way east, darkening the skies in the eastern United States and Canada and as far away as western Europe.BLM WR |
|
| 1952 | | 6 Feb:
Elizabeth II. Ruler of England 1952-present.House of Windsor (name adopted Jul 17, 1917): Elder daughter of George VI, acceded Feb 6, 1956.HistoricUK |
|
| | 15 Jul:
The first transatlantic helicopter flight begins.RH PP |
|
| 1953 | | 28 Feb:
At Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, scientists James D. Watson and Frances H.C. Crick announce that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA.NIH GO |
|
| | 20 Nov:
Piltdown Man is reported to be a hoax in the bulletin of the British Natural History Museum.PBS |
|
| 1954 | | 29 Sep:
The CERN Convention is entered into force.CERN SA |
|
| 1956 | | 25 Sep:
The first transatlantic telephone is opened for business.CBC A-C |
|
| 1964 | | 7 Feb:
The Beatles invade America.PHD TIME |
|
| 1967 | | 17 Sep:
The Who appear on American television for the first time.IMDb RollingStone |
|
| 1969 | | 2 Mar:
The Concorde takes off on its maiden flight.B B C PHYS |
|
| 1970 | | 22 Jan:
Pan Am airlines makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 747.PanAm PM |
|
| | 13 Feb:
Black Sabbath releases their self-titled, first album, what many consider to be the first heavy metal band.DisCogs PE |
|
| 1971 | |
| 1973 | |
| 1977 | | 23 Aug:
The Kremer Prize for the first sustained (mile-long) human-powered flight is claimed by the Gossamer Condor.SI CAOHP |
|
| 1979 | | 12 Jun:
The Gossamer Albatross becomes the first fully human-powered aircraft to cross the English Channel.AVInc SI |
|
| 1982 | | 17 Apr:
Canada becomes fully independent from Britain.CMoH CA |
|
| 1988 | | 21 Dec:
Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.SUA FBI |
|
| 1996 | | 5 Jul:
Dolly the sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal, is born.SA G&S |
|
| 1997 | | 1 Jul:
Britain's 99 year lease of Hong Kong ends.HKFP HRW |
|
| 2001 | | 15 Feb:
The Human Genome Project publishes its results to date in the journal Nature.Genome Nature |
|
| 2003 | | 19 Mar:
The U. S., along with coalition forces, begins its "shock and awe" campaign against Saddam Hussein and Iraq.npr NT |
|
| | 24 Oct:
Concorde completes its last commercial passenger flight, ending three decades of supersonic travel.B B C GIZMODO |
|
| 2005 | | 18 Jan:
The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, is unveiled in France.Airbus AW |
|
Great Britain
