| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1566 | - 9 Mar 1566: Murder of David Riccio
Murder of David Riccio (or Rizzio) in Holyrood House
|
| 2 | 1567 | - 15 May 1567: Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots
Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
- 24 Jul 1567: Mary Queen of Scots deposed
Mary Queen of Scots deposed and replaced by her 1 year old son James VI
|
| 3 | 1568 | - 13 May 1568: Battle of Langside
Battle of Langside - Mary's flight to England and her imprisonment by Queen
Elizabeth I
|
| 4 | 1569 | - 1569: Elizabeth I approved Sunday sports
Elizabeth I approved Sunday sports
|
| 5 | 1570 | - 25 Feb 1570: Regnans in Excelsis
Pope Pius V issued the papal bull 'Regnans in Excelsis' to excommunicate
Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England
|
| 6 | 1571 | - 1571: Presbyterianism introduced
Presbyterianism introduced into England by Thomas Cartwright
- 1571: Repeal of Act prohibiting lending of money on interest
Repeal of Act prohibiting lending of money on interest - gradual change from
'subsistence economy' to 'cash economy' resulted
- 1571: Legislation against Catholics
Beginning of penal legislation against Catholics in England
- 23 Jan 1571: Opening of the Royal Exchange
Opening of the Royal Exchange in London, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham - this building destroyed in Great Fire of London 1666
|
| 7 | 1577 | - 1577: First theatre in London
James Burbage opens first theatre in London
|
| 8 | 1579 | - 1579: Act of Uniformity
Act of Uniformity in matters of religion enforced
|
| 9 | 1580 | - 1580: Congregational movement founded
Congregational movement founded by Robert Browne about this time
- 1580: Colonisation of Ireland
Colonisation of Ireland
- 6 Apr 1580: Dover Straits earthquake
Dover Straits earthquake, largest in the recorded history of England, mentioned
by Shakespeare - dozens of ships sunk and a tsunami hit Calais
|
| 10 | 1581 | - 1581: English Levant Company
English Levant Company founded to regulate English trade with Turkey and the Levant. A member of the Company was known as a Turkey Merchant.
- 16 Jan 1581: Roman Catholicism
English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism
- 4 Apr 1581: Francis Drake
Francis Drake knighted by Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind after circumnavigating the world
|
| 11 | 1583 | - 1583: University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh founded
- 1583: Cambridge University Press
Foundation of Cambridge University Press by Thomas Thomas
- Aug 1583: Sir Humphrey Gilbert
Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempts to establish English authority at St John's,
Newfoundland
|
| 12 | 1584 | - 4 Jun 1584: first English colony in the New World
Sir Walter Raleigh establishes first English colony in the New World, on
Roanoke Island, Virginia (now in North Carolina) - the so-called 'Lost Colony'
|
| 13 | 1585 | - 1585: Oxford University Press
Foundation of Oxford University Press
|
| 14 | 1587 | - 1587: Introduction of potatoes to England
Introduction of potatoes to England
- 8 Feb 1587: Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots
Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle, near Peterborough
- 19 Apr 1587: Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour
- 11 Aug 1587: Raleigh's second expedition
Raleigh's second expedition to New World lands in North Carolina - first child
born in the New World of English parents was Virginia Dare (Aug 18)
|
| 15 | 1588 | - 1588: Invention of shorthand
Invention of shorthand by Dr Timothy Bright
- 19 Jul 1588: Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada sighted off the Lizard (had set sail from Lisbon in late May)
|
| 16 | 1591 | - 1591: Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin, founded
|
| 17 | 1592 | - 1592: Presbyterian Church formally established
Scotland: Presbyterian Church formally established - all ministers equal - no bishops - secular commissaries appointed by the Crown
|
| 18 | 1593 | - 1593: British statute mile
British statute mile established by law
|
| 19 | 1594 | - 1594—1603: Irish rebellion against English
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, leads Irish rebellion against English rule (-1603)
|
| 20 | 1597 | - 1597: Poor Law Act
Poor Law Act for erection of parish workhouses for the Poor - Poor Rate collection allowed
|
| 21 | 1598 | - 1598: Bishop's transcripts start
Bishop's transcripts of English and Welsh parish registers start - parish records were to be kept in 'great decent books of parchment' and copies or 'Bishop's Transcripts' of new entries were to be sent each month to the diocesan centre
|
| 22 | 1600 | - 1 Jan 1600: Scotland adopts New Year
Scotland adopts New Year beginning 1st January (previously 25th March)
- 31 Dec 1600: British East India Company founded
British East India Company founded
|
| 23 | 1601 | - 1601: Elizabethan Poor Law
Great English Poor Law Act passed
The impotent poor (people who can't work) were to be cared for in almshouse or a poorhouse. The law offered relief to people who were unable to work: mainly those who were "lame, impotent, old, blind"
The able-bodied poor were to be set to work in a House of Industry. Materials were to be provided for the poor to be set to work
The idle poor and vagrants were to be sent to a House of Correction or even prison.
Pauper children would become apprentices.
- 1601: Scurvy
First use of fruit juice as a preventative for scurvy by James Lancaster
|
| 24 | 1602 | - 20 Mar 1602: Dutch East India Company founded
Dutch East India Company founded
- 8 Nov 1602: Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library at Oxford University opened to the public
|
| 25 | 1603 | - 24 Mar 1603: Death of Elizabeth I
Death of Elizabeth I: union of Scottish and English crowns - under King James
VI of Scots and I of England (d. 1625)
- 25 Jul 1603: Coronation
Coronation - James VI of Scotland is crowned first king of Great Britain
|
| 26 | 1604 | - 1 Nov 1604: Shakespeare
Shakespeare: Othello' first presented
|
| 27 | 1605 | - 5 Nov 1605: Gunpowder plot
Gunpowder plot at Westminster (Guy Fawkes, etc)
|
| 28 | 1606 | - 1606: The London Company chartered to colonise Virginia
The London Company chartered to colonise Virginia: the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery leave England on 19th De c taking 144 days to reach America
- 1606: Episcopacy established in Scotland
Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
- 31 Jan 1606: Guy Fawkes
Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators executed
- 12 Mar 1606: Adoption of Union Flag
Adoption of Union Flag as the flag of Great Britain' (the term Union Jack is
used officially only when the Union Flag is flown from the Jack Mast of a Royal Naval vessel)
|
| 29 | 1607 | - 14 May 1607: Jamestown, Virginia settled
Jamestown, Virginia settled - to become the first permanent British colony in
North America
|
| 30 | 1608 | - 1608: First use of telescope by Galileo
First use of telescope by Galileo - he observed the moons of Jupiter two years later in Jan 1610
|
| 31 | 1610 | - 1610: Episcopal Church
James VI & I established the Episcopal Church in Scotland - Prebyterians persecuted and many of their records lost
|
| 32 | 1611 | - 1611: King James Bible
Authorised (King James) Version of Bible in Britain
- 22 May 1611: Baronet
James VI & I created the title of baronet
|
| 33 | 1613 | - 1613: Copper Farthing
A copper farthing was produced, as a silver coin would be too small
- 29 Jun 1613: The Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre in London burns during a performance of Henry the Eighth
(finally pulled down in 1644)
|
| 34 | 1616 | - 23 Apr 1616: Shakespeare
Tuesday Apr 23 (Julian calendar): Death of Shakespeare
|
| 35 | 1618 | - 29 Oct 1618: Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded for allegedly conspiring against James I
|
| 36 | 1619 | - 4 Dec 1619: Thanksgiving
(Nov 24 old style): Colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in
Virginia and give thanks to God (considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the
Americas)
|
| 37 | 1620 | - 1620: Coke
Manufacture of coke (the fuel, not the drink!) patented by Dud Dudley
- 21 Dec 1620: Mayflower
(Dec 16 old style): The Mayflower reaches America - founds Plymouth, New
England (had initially set sail from Southampton on Aug 5)
|
| 38 | 1621 | - 1621: Chimneys
Chimneys to be made of brick and to be four and a half feet above the roof
|
| 39 | 1622 | - 1622: The Weekly News
First English newspaper appeared - Weekly News'
|
| 40 | 1624 | - 1624: Monopoly Act
Monopoly Act in England: patents protected
- 1624: Edmund Gunter
Edmund Gunter introduces the surveyor's chain (measurement of length)
|
| 41 | 1625 | - 1625: Bricks
The size of bricks standardised in England around this time
- 27 Mar 1625: King James
Death of King James VI & I
|
| 42 | 1628 | - 1 Mar 1628: Charles I
Writs issued by Charles I that every county in England (not just seaport towns)
pay ship tax by this date
|
| 43 | 1629 | - 10 Mar 1629: Parliament dissolved
Parliament dissolved by King Charles I - did not meet for another 11 years
|
| 44 | 1633 | - Jun 1633: Galileo
Galileo summoned by Inquisition for publishing in favour of Copernican theory
|
| 45 | 1635 | - 1635: Flintlock small arms
Flintlock small arms invented around this time (replaces matchlock)
|
| 46 | 1636 | - 1636: Hackney Carriages
Hackney Carriages in use by now in London
|
| 47 | 1638 | - 1638: revival of Presbyterian Church
King Charles regarded protests against the prayerbook as treason - forced Scots to choose between their church and the King - a 'Covenant' swearing to resist these changes to the Death was signed in Greyfriars Church Edinburgh and was accepted by hundreds of thousands of Scots (revival of Presbyterian Church)
|
| 48 | 1639 | - 1639: Act of Toleration
Act of Toleration in England established religious toleration
|
| 49 | 1640 | - 3 Nov 1640: The Long Parliament
Charles I forced to recall Parliament (the 'Long Parliament') due to Scottish
invasion
|
| 50 | 1641 | - 1641: Charles I
Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England
- 1641: English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church
Charles I and the English Parliament acknowledge the Prebyterian Church in Scotland
- 23 Oct 1641: Ulster uprising
50,000 Irish killed in an uprising in Ulster
|
| 51 | 1642 | - 1642: English theatres closed
English theatres closed by Puritans (till 1660)
- 22 Aug 1642: First Civil War in England
Charles I raises his standard at Nottingham - First Civil War in England (to
1649)
- 13 Nov 1642: Battle of Turnham Green
Battle of Turnham Green - Royalist forces withdraw in face of the
Parliamentarian army and fail to take London
- 24 Nov 1642: Discovery of Van Diemen's Land
Abel Janszoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania)
- 18 Dec 1642: First European to set foot in New Zealand
Abel Janszoon Tasman first European to set foot in New Zealand
|
| 52 | 1643 | - 13 Dec 1643: Battle of Alton
Battle of Alton - victory for Parliamentarians - Sir Richard Bolle killed in St Lawrence's church
|
| 53 | 1644 | - 29 Jun 1644: Battle of Cropredy Bridge
Battle of Cropredy Bridge - Royalists beat the Parliamentarian forces
- 2 Jul 1644: Battle of Marston Moor
Battle of Marston Moor, near York - Parliamentarian forces beat the Royalists
|
| 54 | 1645 | - 1645: Scots Militia
Scotland: Each county and burgh ordered to raise and maintain a number of foot soldiers, according to population, to serve as militia - population of Scotland estimated at 420,000
- 1645: Plague
Plague made its last appearance in Scotland
- 14 Jun 1645: Battle of Naseby
Battle of Naseby: Parliament's New Model Army crushes the Royalist forces
- 13 Sep 1645: Battle of Philiphaugh
Battle of Philiphaugh in Scotland (near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The Royalist army of the Marquess of Montrose was destroyed by the Covenanter army of Sir David Leslie, restoring the power of the Committee of Estates.)
|
| 55 | 1646 | - 5 May 1646: Charles I
Charles I surrenders to the Scottish Army at Newark
- 20 Jun 1646: Royalists surrender
Royalists sign articles of surrender at Oxford
|
| 56 | 1648 | - 1648: Society of Friends founded
Society of Friends (Quakers) founded by George Fox
- 1648: First practical thermometers
First practical thermometers made
|
| 57 | 1649 | - 1649: Cromwell's Irish campaign
Cromwell's Irish campaign starts
- 1649: King Charles II
King Charles II proclaimed King of Scots and England in Scotland
- 6 Jan 1649: 'Rump' Parliament
'Rump' Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial
- 30 Jan 1649: King Charles I
King Charles I executed
- 19 May 1649: Commonwealth declared
Commonwealth declared
- 20 Dec 1649: Theatres banned
Theatres banned by Cromwell
- 20 Dec 1649: Christmas banned
Christmas banned by Cromwell
|
| 58 | 1650 | - 1650: Coffee
Coffee brought to England about this time
|
| 59 | 1651 | - 1651: English Civil War
The second English Civil War (1651-1652)
- 1651: Scottish prisoners
Scottish prisoners transported to the British settlements in America
- 3 Sep 1651: Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
|
| 60 | 1653 | - 1653: Commonwealth registers
Commonwealth registers start
- 1653: Act of Settlement
Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land
- 1653: Provincial probate courts abolished
Provincial probate courts abolished - probates granted only in London
- 20 Apr 1653: Rump Parliament
Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament
- 16 Dec 1653: Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England,
Scotland and Ireland
|
| 61 | 1657 | - 1657: Post Office
Post Office established by Act of Parliament [others say 1660]
- 1657: Jews
A few Jews permitted to settle in England
|
| 62 | 1658 | - 1658: Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) Lord Protector (-1660)
- 3 Sep 1658: Oliver Cromwell
Death of Oliver Cromwell
|
| 63 | 1659 | - 1659: Temperature records
Start of national meteorological Temperature records in the UK
- 6 Feb 1659: 1st bank cheque
Date of first known bank cheque to be drawn
|
| 64 | 1660 | - 1660: Commonwealth registers ended
Commonwealth registers ended, Parish Registers resumed
- 1660: Provincial Probate Courts
Provincial Probate Courts re-established
- 1660: Clarendon code
Clarendon code restricts Puritans' religious freedom
- 1660: Composition of light discovered
Composition of light discovered by Newton
- 1660: Honourable East India Company
Honourable East India Company founded by British
- 1 Jan 1660: Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys starts his diary
- 29 May 1660: Restoration of monarchy
Restoration of British monarchy (Charles II) - 'Oak Apple Day' - theatres
reopened
- 17 Oct 1660: Ten Regicides are executed
Ten Regicides are executed at Charing Cross or Tyburn
- 28 Nov 1660: Royal Society formed
Twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir
Robert Moray decide to found what is later known as the Royal Society
- 8 Dec 1660: First actress plays in London
First actress plays in London (Margaret Hughes as Desdemona)
|
| 65 | 1661 | - 1661: Restoration of Episcopacy
Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland
- 1661: Board of Trade
Board of Trade founded in London
- 1661: Hand-struck postage stamps
Hand-struck postage stamps first used
- 1661: Corporation Act
Corporation Act prevents non-Anglicans from holding municipal office
- 30 Jan 1661: Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell formally 'executed', having been dead for over two years!
|
| 66 | 1662 | - 1662: Hearth Tax
'Hearth Tax' introduced - until 1689 (1690 in Scotland)
- 1662: Poor Relief Act
Poor Relief Act or Act of Settlement' - gave JPs the power to return any wandering poor to the parish of origin (repealed 1834)
- 1662: Tea introduced to Britain
Tea introduced to Britain
- 24 Aug 1662: Act of Uniformity
Act of Uniformity - Acceptance of Book of Common Prayer required - About 2,000 vicars and rectors driven from their parishes as nonconformists (Presbyterians and Independents) - Persecution of all non-conformists - Presbyterianism dis-established - Episcopalian Church of England restored
|
| 67 | 1664 | - 29 May 1664: Oak Apple Day
Oak Apple Day - the birthday of Charles II and the day when he entered London at the Restoration; commanded by Act of Parliament in 1664 to be observed as a day of thanksgiving. A special service (expunged in 1859) was inserted in the Book of Common Prayer and people wore sprigs of oak with gilded oak-apples on that day.
- 27 Aug 1664: New York
Nieuw Amsterdam becomes New York as 300 English soldiers under Col. Mathias Nicolls take the town from the Dutch under orders from Charles II. The town is renamed after the King's brother James, Duke of York
|
| 68 | 1665 | - 1665: Great Plague of London
Great Plague of London (July-October) kills over 60,000
- 1665: Five-mile Act
Five-mile Act restricts non-conformist ministers in Britain. It was one of the English penal laws that sought to enforce conformity to the established Church of England
- 7 Nov 1665: London Gazette
The 'London Gazette' first published - one of the official journals of record of the United Kingdom government and the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United Kingdom
|
| 69 | 1666 | - 1666: Semaphore signalling
Use of semaphore signalling pioneered by Lord Worcester
- 1666: Newton
Newton formulated Laws of Gravity
- 2 Sep 1666: Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London, after a drought beginning 27 June (2-6 Sep)
|
| 70 | 1668 | - 1668: British East India Company
British East India Company obtains control of Bombay
- 1668: Reflecting telescope
Newton constructs reflecting telescope
|
| 71 | 1669 | - 31 May 1669: Last entry in Pepys's diary
Last entry in Pepys's diary
|
| 72 | 1670 | - 26 May 1670: Secret Treaty of Dover
King Charles II and King Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover. The Treaty was a treaty between England and France signed at Dover on June 1[1] in 1670. It required France to assist England in the king's aim that it would rejoin the Roman Catholic Church and England to assist France in its war of conquest against the Dutch Republic.
|
| 73 | 1671 | - 9 May 1671: Crown Jewels
Thomas Blood caught stealing the Crown Jewels
|
| 74 | 1672 | - 1672: High Court of Justiciary
High Court of Justiciary established in Scotland
- 1672: War with Holland
War with Holland (to 1674) - British Army increased to 10,000 men
|
| 75 | 1673 | - 1673: First Test Act
First Test Act deprives British Catholics and Non-conformists of Public Office
|
| 76 | 1674 | - 10 Nov 1674: Treaty of Westminster
Treaty of Westminster - Netherlands cedes New Netherlands (on the eastern
coast of North America) to Britain
|
| 77 | 1675 | - 1675: Whig party
Beginning of Whig party under Shaftsbury
- 1675: Rebuilding of St Paul's
Rebuilding of St Paul's started by Wren (completed 1710)
- 4 Mar 1675: Astronomer Royal
John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England
- 10 Aug 1675: Royal Greenwich Observatory
Building of Royal Greenwich Observatory started
|
| 78 | 1676 | - 1676: Compton Census
Compton Census, named after its initiator Henry Compton, Bishop of London, was intended to discover the number of Anglican conformists, Roman Catholic recusants and Protestant dissenters in England and Wales from enquiries made in individual parishes
|
1566 - 