Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chronology of Significant Dates in British History: Companion Website
Chronology of Significant Dates in British History: Companion Website
Chronology of Significant Dates in British History: Companion Website
The websites included in this book are mainly those of public organizations.
Although these may present official and standard views, they are often more
permanent, up to date and informative than many independent websites, which
can quickly change their addresses and content or simply disappear.
The term 'billion' in this book refers to 'a thousand million'.
Early history
Prehistory: British Isles and Ireland originally part of European land mass: warmer
conditions alternated with severe Ice Ages
700,000 BC: butchered animal bones and stone artefacts indicate hominid activity
500,000 BC: earliest human bones found in southern England (Boxgrove Man)
c. 250,000 BC: nomadic Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) peoples arrived
50,000 BC: warmer climate encouraged arrival of ancestors of modern populations
10,000 BC: end of Ice Ages. Population consisted of hunter-gatherers and fishers
5,000 BC: contemporary islands gradually separated from Continental Europe
c. 3,000 BC: New Stone Age (Neolithic) peoples populated the western parts of the
islands. Farming introduced; stone and earth monuments built
c. 1,800 BC: Bronze Age settlers (Beaker Folk) in southeast and eastern England;
traded in gold, copper and tin
600 BC: settlement of the Celts (Iron Age) from western and central Europe
began
c. 200 BC: invasions by Belgic tribes, mainly in eastern England
55—54 BC: Julius Caesar's exploratory expeditions
AD 43: Roman conquest of England, Wales and (temporarily) lowland Scotland
by Claudius began. Christian influences
122-38: Hadrian's Wall built between Scotland and England
400: Gaelic Scots (Scotti) from Ireland colonized western Scodand
c. 409: Roman army withdrew from Britain; wars between the Celts
c. 410: Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) invasions began
c. 450-600: eight Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (the Heptarchy) gradually created in
England. Mainly Celtic peoples in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and
Cornwall
430: existing Celtic Christianity in Ireland later spread by St Patrick (from
-432) and other missionaries in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and northern
England
xviit C h r o n o l o g y of s i g n i f i c a n t d o t e s
1964: the rise of supermarkets: Labour won general election with Harold Wilson as 1998: Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement; endorsed by referendums in both parts of
prime minister Ireland; election of devolved Northern Ireland Assembly
1965: death penalty (by hanging} for serious crimes abolished; comprehensive 1999: devolution structures in Scotland (a Parliament) and Wales (an Assembly)
education system initiated
1965-9: oil and gas discoveries in the North Sea
1966: England won football World C u p
1967: abortion and homosexuality legalized
The twenty-first century
1968: protest and violence erupted in Northern Ireland
1969: vote extended to all persons over 18; Concorde, the world's first supersonic 2000: number of hereditary peers entitled to sit and vote in the House of Lords
airliner, made its first flight reduced From 750 to 92; global stock markets fell as 'dotcom bubble' burst
1970: Conservatives won general election with Edward Heath as prime minister 2001: Labour won general election with Tony Blair as prime minister; foot and
197!: decimal currency introduced; first British soldier killed in Northern Ireland's mouth disease in rural Britain; Northern Ireland Assembly suspended until
'Troubles'; North Sea oil concessions auctioned 2007
1972: direct rule from Westminster in Northern Ireland; 14 killed on Bloody 2003: gains for Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland
Sunday, Londonderry, Northern Ireland; Asians expelled from Uganda with Assembly elections: Britain and coalition forces invaded Iraq
many settling in Britain 2004: 10 new states joined the EU
1973; Britain left EFTA and entered E E C (now EU) 2005: Labour Party achieved third successive victory in general election, with Tony
1974: (February) General election resulted in 'hung Parliament' with Harold Blair as prime minister; Northern Ireland Assembly remained suspended;
Wilson as prime minister; (October) Labour won small majority in general IRA ordered members to cease 'military operations'; international
election with Harold Wilson as prime minister decommissioning body reported that IRA weapons had been 'put beyond
1975: referendum affirmed Britain's continued membership of EEC use'; some Unionist paramilitaries moved to disarm; Kyoto Protocol on
1976: Britain forced to borrow money from International Monetary Fund; Harold climate change came into force; suicide bombers killed 52 people on
Wilson resigned as prime minister and was replaced by James Callaghan London's transport systems
1978-79: Strikes paralysed Britain during 'Winter of Discontent' 2006: Northern Ireland Assembly m e t between May and November for the first
1978: world's first test tube baby born in Oldham time since suspension in 2002; thwarted attempts to blow u p planes between
1979: Margaret Thatcher: Britain's first woman prime minister; Lord Mountbatten UK and USA using liquid explosives
killed by IRA; Wales and Scotland rejected devolution 2007: in Northern Ireland, Assembly restored and Ian Paisley led a new power-
1981: Social Democratic Party (SD P) formed; hunger strikes by Republican sharing government as First Minister, with Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness as
prisoners ended after 10 deaths; Humber Bridge opened, race riots in his deputy; Gordon Brown became prime minister and Labour Party leader
Brixton following t h e resignation of Tony Blair; failed car b o m b attacks in London
1982: the Falklands War with Argentina, economic recession and Glasgow; severe floods in central England caused great damage
1983: Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher re-elected in landslide 2007-09: credit crunch: financial and banking problems; international recession
victory 2008: Labour Party suffered worst local election results in 40 years, finishing behind
1984: Miners' strike over pit closures; IRA bombers attacked Conservative Party the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats with 24 per cent of the national
Conference in Brighton vote 2009; in European elections, on a low turnout of 33 per cent. Labour
1985: Anglo-Irish Agreement gave Irish Republic a part in t h e organization of polled 15.7 per cent of the vote and finished third behind the Conservatives
Northern Ireland (27.7 per cent) and United Kingdom Independence Party (16.5 per cent); in
1986: Major national industries privatized local elections Labour polled its worst ever local result with 23 per cent after
1987: Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher won third general election the Conservatives on 38 per cent and Lib Dems on 28 per cent
1988: SDP merged with Liberal Party; party became the Liberal Democrats 2010: British general election resulted in a hung Parliament and coalition
1989: Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide W e b government between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats
1990: introduction of 'poll tax' provoked riots in London; Thatcher resigned;
replaced by John Major
1991: Liberation of Kuwait; Operation Desert Storm
1992: Conservatives won general election with John Major as prime minister:
withdrawal of pound sterling from ERM on 'Black Wednesday'
1994: Channel Rail Tunnel between France and Britain opened; first w o m e n priests
ordained in Church of England
1997: Referendums on devolution for Scotland and Wales; sovereignty of Hong
Kong transferred to China; Labour won general election with Tony Blair as
prime minister