Important Dates in British History - a timeline
Here are events from London that have shaped Britain and its peoples and affected its history. If you feel we have left something out please don't hesitate to let us know.
More dates from British history
On this day:
Benjamin Franklin Arrives in London - 1724, First Bomb Dropped on English Soil - 1914
Famous historic dates from London
19th of April 1012 : Archbishop of Canterbury Martyred by Vikings
28th of December 1065 : Westminster Abbey consecrated
6th of January 1066 : Harold crowned King of England
25th of December 1066 : William the Conqueror crowned
17th of October 1091 : Great London Tornado
19th of December 1154 : Henry II Crowned at Westminster Abbey
12th of July 1212 : Great Fire of London 1212
28th of October 1215 : First Lord Mayor’s Show
20th of January 1265 : First English Parliament Held
23rd of August 1305 : William Wallace is hanged, drawn and quartered
15th of June 1381 : The Peasants' Revolt ends
17th of April 1397 : Chaucer gives 1st recital of Canterbury Tales
13rd of October 1397 : Dick Whittington Elected Mayor of London
5th of July 1450 : Battle of Southwark
18th of November 1477 : Caxton Prints 1st Book in England
18th of February 1478 : Duke of Clarence Drowned in a Butt of Malmsey Wine
26th of June 1483 : Richard III becomes king of England
26th of March 1484 : Caxton Prints his version of Aesops Fables
18th of January 1486 : Wedding of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
17th of June 1497 : Battle of Blackheath
30th of April 1527 : England & France sign treaty of Westminster
25th of January 1533 : Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn
6th of July 1535 : Thomas More is executed
19th of May 1536 : Anne Boleyn Beheaded
6th of January 1540 : Henry VIII Marries Anne of Cleves
13rd of February 1542 : Execution of Catherine Howard
28th of January 1547 : Edward VI succeeds to throne
7th of February 1554 : The Battle of Fleet Street
12th of February 1554 : Lady Jane Grey Executed
17th of November 1558 : Death of Mary Tudor
15th of January 1559 : Elizabeth I crowned
11th of January 1569 : Worlds 1st National Lottery starts
23rd of January 1571 : The Royal Exchange opens in London.
18th of June 1583 : 1st British Life Insurance Policy
20th of September 1586 : Executions of Babington Plotters Begin
30th of May 1593 : Murder of Christopher Marlowe
12th of June 1599 : Globe Theatre Opens
30th of November 1601 : Elizabeth’s Golden Speech
25th of July 1603 : James VI of Scotland crowned James I of England.
1st of November 1604 : First Known Performance of Othello
5th of November 1605 : The Gunpowder Plot
27th of January 1606 : Trial of Guy Fawkes begins
31st of January 1606 : Guy Fawkes hanged, drawn and quartered
1st of November 1611 : The Tempest First Performed
29th of June 1613 : Original Globe Theatre Burns Down
29th of October 1618 : Walter Raleigh is executed
5th of May 1640 : Charles I disbands the Short Parliament
4th of January 1642 : Charles I arrests parliamentarians and starts civil war
12th of November 1642 : Battle of Brentford
13rd of November 1642 : Battle of Turnham Green
28th of October 1647 : Putney Debates Begin
20th of January 1649 : Charles I Goes on Trial
30th of January 1649 : Charles I beheaded
29th of September 1650 : Worlds 1st Dating Agency opens
1st of January 1660 : Pepys’ First Diary Entry,
25th of September 1660 : First Recorded Cuppa (and Tea Break)
17th of October 1660 : Regicides Executed
28th of November 1660 : Royal Society Founded
8th of December 1660 : First Actress on British Stage
30th of January 1661 : Cromwell’s Corpse Executed
23rd of April 1661 : Charles II is crowned
7th of May 1663 : Theatre Royal Drury Lane Opens
19th of September 1665 : Great Plague of London at its Height
2nd of September 1666 : Great Fire of London begins
19th of February 1674 : Treaty of Westminster signed
10th of August 1675 : Royal Observatory Founded
4th of November 1677 : Marriage of William of Orange and Mary
11th of April 1689 : William III and Mary II crowned as joint rulers of Britain
2nd of December 1697 : Wrens St Pauls Opens
4th of January 1698 : Palace of Whitehall Burns
23rd of May 1701 : Captain Kidd Hanged for Piracy
11th of March 1702 : Worlds 1st regular daily paper 'The Courant' published
23rd of October 1707 : First Parliament of Great Britain
1st of March 1711 : First Edition of The Spectator
20th of October 1714 : Coronation of King George I
7th of December 1732 : Covent Garden Theatre Opens
13rd of April 1741 : Royal Military Academy established
28th of May 1742 : First indoor swimming pool opens
28th of September 1745 : British national anthem 'God Save The King' sung for the first time
18th of June 1746 : Johnson Contracts to Produce His Dictionary
30th of July 1746 : Bloody Retribution in Kennington
9th of April 1747 : Last Beheading Execution in Britain
15th of January 1759 : British Museum Opens
16th of May 1763 : Boswell First Meets Dr Johnson
5th of January 1766 : First Christies Sale
23rd of June 1775 : First Regatta on the Thames
7th of June 1780 : Gordon Riots - Day of Death
3rd of November 1783 : Last Tyburn Hanging
18th of March 1789 : Last execution by burning in Britain
24th of August 1795 : British Cleric Patents Corkscrew
26th of February 1797 : First £1 Note Issued
15th of May 1800 : George III survives 2 assassination attempts
26th of July 1803 : The First Public Railway Opens
7th of March 1804 : RHS Founded
9th of January 1806 : Nelson's State Funeral
28th of January 1807 : Pall Mall – First Street Lit with Gas
18th of September 1809 : Theatre Royal Covent Garden Re-Opens
11th of May 1812 : Prime Minister Spencer Perceval Assassinated
17th of October 1814 : London Beer Flood
22nd of October 1814 : First Plastic Surgery in Britain
2nd of December 1816 : Spa Fields Riot
25th of September 1818 : First Human Blood Transfusion
20th of March 1819 : Opening of the Burlington Arcade
23rd of February 1820 : Cato Street Conspiracy Exposed
1st of August 1820 : Regent’s Canal Opens
14th of June 1822 : Babbage Proposes Proto-Computer
4th of March 1824 : RNLI founded
16th of June 1824 : RSPCA formed
11th of February 1826 : London University Founded
4th of July 1829 : 1st regular bus service
28th of June 1830 : First Met Officer Killed on Duty
5th of October 1830 : First Bathing Suit on Sale
7th of June 1832 : The Great Reform Act changes Parliamentary constituencies
24th of August 1833 : Factory Act
16th of October 1834 : The Houses of Parliament burn down
20th of July 1837 : Euston opens as 1st London Station
9th of April 1838 : National Gallery Opens
28th of June 1838 : Queen Victoria crowned
25th of January 1839 : Fox Talbot Shows First Photos
10th of February 1840 : Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert
12th of September 1846 : Barrett and Browning Marry in Secret
21st of February 1848 : Marx publishes The Communist Manifesto
11th of July 1848 : Waterloo Station Opens
17th of December 1849 : 1st Bowler Hats go on sale
1st of May 1851 : Great Exhibition opens
14th of February 1852 : Great Ormond Street Hospital Opens
29th of January 1856 : Victoria Cross Created
22nd of June 1857 : Beginnings of the V&A
15th of May 1858 : Opening of the Royal Opera House
30th of June 1858 : The Great Stink at its Worst
23rd of July 1858 : Law passed allowing Jews to serve in parliament
20th of October 1858 : Big Ben Winched into Place
11th of July 1859 : Big Bens First Strike
23rd of March 1861 : 1st Trams operate in London
24th of May 1862 : Westminster Bridge Opens
10th of January 1863 : The London Underground opens
28th of September 1864 : The First International Meets in London
4th of July 1865 : Alice in Wonderland Published
23rd of July 1866 : Great Reform Demo
15th of January 1867 : Regent’s Park Ice-Skating Disaster
26th of May 1868 : The Last public hanging
10th of December 1868 : First Traffic Signals in Britain
26th of January 1871 : Rugby Football Union Formed
29th of March 1871 : Albert Hall Opens
16th of March 1872 : 1st FA Cup Final
9th of July 1877 : 1st Wimbledon tennis tournament
25th of May 1878 : HMS Pinafore Opens
3rd of September 1878 : Princess Alice Disaster
18th of April 1881 : Opening of the Natural History Museum
2nd of September 1882 : The Ashes Legend Begins
10th of March 1883 : First electric trams begin running in London
14th of March 1883 : Karl Marx Dies in London
21st of July 1884 : First Lord’s Test Match
13rd of October 1884 : World adopts Greenwich Meantime
10th of March 1886 : 1st Crufts Dog Show
31st of August 1888 : Jack the Ripper’s First Victim
8th of September 1888 : Jack the Ripper’s Second Murder
30th of September 1888 : Jack the Ripper Kills twice in one Day
9th of November 1888 : Jack the Ripper claims last victim
23rd of March 1889 : Woolwich Ferry Opens
27th of June 1890 : 1st World Championship Bout by Queensbury Rules
26th of July 1892 : First Asian MP Elected
15th of November 1892 : Lambeth Poisoner Hanged
15th of February 1894 : First international terrorist attack on Britain?
26th of April 1895 : Trial of Oscar Wilde begins
10th of August 1895 : First Prom Concert
17th of August 1896 : First Pedestrian Killed by Car
18th of May 1897 : Bram Stoker Publishes Dracula
22nd of June 1897 : Victorias Diamond Jubilee
10th of September 1897 : Worlds 1st Drunk Driver Caught
8th of December 1897 : RAC Established
27th of February 1900 : Formation of the Labour Party
2nd of October 1900 : Keir Hardie becomes 1st Labour MP
2nd of February 1901 : Queen Victorias Funeral
18th of February 1901 : Churchill’s Maiden Speech
5th of August 1901 : Britains 1st Cinema Opens
23rd of December 1903 : First London Number Plate
10th of February 1906 : Royal Navy launches the first 'Dreadnought' battleship
26th of May 1906 : Prince of Wales Opens Vauxhall Bridge
13rd of February 1907 : Suffragettes Storm Westminster
27th of February 1907 : Old Bailey Opens
13rd of July 1908 : White City Stadium Opens
18th of July 1908 : British Cops’ 1-2-3 in Olympic Tug o’ War
23rd of January 1909 : The Tottenham Outrage
15th of March 1909 : Selfridges Opens
29th of April 1909 : Lloyd George’s People’s Budget
4th of September 1909 : 1st Scout Rally
2nd of October 1909 : First Game at Twickenham
10th of May 1910 : First UK Air Display
22nd of October 1910 : Crippen convicted at Old Bailey
23rd of November 1910 : Crippen hanged
26th of October 1912 : Woolwich Tunnel Opens
26th of May 1913 : First Female Magistrate Appointed
31st of May 1915 : First Zeppelin Air Raids on London
19th of January 1917 : The Silvertown TNT Plant Explosion
13rd of June 1917 : Deadliest WWI Raid on London
18th of January 1919 : Bentley Motors Formed
11th of November 1919 : First Two-Minute Silence
17th of March 1921 : Marie Stopes Opens First Clinic
15th of May 1921 : British Legion Formed
18th of October 1922 : BBC Formed
14th of November 1922 : BBC begins Broadcasts
28th of April 1923 : 1st Wembley FA Cup Final
23rd of April 1924 : First Broadcast by British Monarch
5th of July 1925 : Giant Hailstone Hits Plumstead
1st of December 1925 : Locarno Treaty Signed
26th of January 1926 : John Logie Baird gives first demonstration of television
15th of January 1927 : First BBC Sporting Commentary
22nd of January 1927 : BBC Broadcasts 1st live Football Commentary
26th of April 1928 : Tussauds Finally Reopens after Fire,
30th of September 1928 : The discovery of penicillin
4th of February 1929 : First Green Belt land approved
30th of September 1929 : BBC begins TV Transmissions
27th of January 1930 : Mick the Miller Wins his Second Greyhound Derby
12th of November 1931 : Elgar opens Abbey Road recording studios
19th of December 1932 : BBC World Service Begins
30th of July 1935 : First Penguin Paperbacks
4th of October 1936 : The Battle of Cable Street
2nd of November 1936 : BBC Television begins broadcasting
30th of November 1936 : Crystal Palace destroyed by fire
21st of June 1937 : BBC’s First Wimbledon Broadcast
8th of July 1937 : First 999 Call
30th of September 1938 : Chamberlain Proclaims Peace for our Time,
13rd of May 1940 : Churchill forms Wartime Coalition Government
7th of September 1940 : The Blitz begins
14th of October 1940 : Balham Blitz Tube Disaster
29th of December 1940 : Worst night of The Blitz
15th of August 1941 : Last Execution in The Tower
2nd of March 1943 : Bethnal Green Tube Disaster
13rd of June 1944 : First V1 Rocket hits London
8th of September 1944 : First German V2 rocket lands on London
17th of August 1945 : Animal Farm Published
3rd of January 1946 : 'Lord Haw-Haw' hanged
1st of March 1946 : Bank of England Nationalised
12th of January 1948 : First British Supermarket Opens
28th of July 1948 : The Battle of London Airport
29th of July 1948 : Opening Ceremony of 1948 Olympics
3rd of May 1951 : The Festival of Britain opens
26th of February 1952 : Churchill Announces British Atom Bomb
8th of October 1952 : Harrow Rail crash
25th of November 1952 : The 'Mousetrap' opens
5th of December 1952 : Start of the Great Smog
2nd of June 1953 : Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
13rd of July 1955 : Ruth Ellis Hanged
22nd of September 1955 : Launch of ITV
4th of December 1957 : Lewisham Train Crash Kills 90
17th of March 1958 : CND’s Inaugural Public Meeting
10th of July 1958 : Launch of the Parking Meter
13rd of October 1958 : Paddington Bear is Published
21st of October 1958 : First Women Peers Enter Lords
19th of September 1960 : First Traffic Wardens in London
2nd of April 1962 : Panda Crossing Launched
6th of June 1962 : Beatles audition for George Martin
12th of July 1962 : Debut of the Rolling Stones
20th of April 1964 : Launch of BBC2
16th of August 1964 : Fred Trueman First Test Bowler to 300 Wickets
22nd of August 1964 : First Edition of Match of the Day
24th of January 1965 : Winston Churchill dies
8th of July 1965 : Ronnie Biggs Escapes Prison
26th of October 1965 : Beatles Receive MBEs
3rd of March 1966 : BBC starts to broadcast in colour
20th of March 1966 : World Cup Stolen
1st of May 1966 : Last UK Concert by Beatles
21st of May 1966 : Cooper Floors Ali
3rd of July 1966 : Anti Vietnam Protest at American Embassy
30th of July 1966 : England win the World Cup
22nd of October 1966 : George Blake Escapes from Wormwood Scrubs
9th of November 1966 : Lennon Meets Yoko
25th of June 1967 : Worlds First Live Satellite Broadcast
27th of June 1967 : Barclays opens Britains 1st cashpoint
30th of September 1967 : Radio 1 goes on air
5th of November 1967 : Hither Green Rail Disaster
29th of May 1968 : Man Utd Win 1st English European Cup
4th of September 1968 : Beatles Record Last TV Appearance Together
30th of January 1969 : Beatles Rooftop Finale
4th of March 1969 : Kray Twins found guilty of murder
7th of March 1969 : Victoria line opens
18th of September 1970 : Jimi Hendrix dies in London
14th of November 1973 : Princess Anne and Mark Phillips Marry
23rd of September 1974 : BBC launches the world's first Ceefax teletext service.
1st of October 1974 : 1st McDonalds opens in London
7th of November 1974 : Lord Lucan disappears
28th of February 1975 : Moorgate Tube Train Disaster
5th of November 1975 : Sex Pistols play 1st ever gig
11th of December 1975 : End of the IRA Balcombe Street siege
21st of January 1976 : First Concorde flight
16th of March 1976 : Harold Wilson Resigns
25th of October 1976 : Queen Opens National Theatre
1st of July 1977 : Wade wins Jubilee Wimbledon
16th of September 1977 : Marc Bolan dies in car crash
18th of October 1977 : First Brit Awards
25th of March 1978 : Cambridge Sink In Boat Race
7th of September 1978 : The Umbrella Murder
30th of March 1979 : Airey Neave assasinated
23rd of April 1979 : Death of Blair Peach
30th of April 1980 : Terrorists seize Iranian Embassy in London
5th of May 1980 : The SAS storms the Iranian embassy in London
18th of January 1981 : Deptford Fire Kills 13
24th of February 1981 : Prince Charles & Lady Diana Spencer announce engagement
26th of March 1981 : SDP Created
29th of March 1981 : First London Marathon
11th of April 1981 : Brixton Riots
13rd of June 1981 : Fantasy Assassin Targets the Queen
29th of July 1981 : Wedding of Charles and Diana
17th of June 1982 : Robert Calvi Gods Banker found dead
5th of May 1983 : 1000th Top of the Pops
26th of November 1983 : Brinks Mat Robbery
17th of December 1983 : IRA bomb Harrods
8th of May 1984 : Thames Barrier Opens
23rd of November 1984 : Oxford Circus Tube Fire
24th of November 1984 : Band Aid Single Recorded
1st of January 1985 : First UK Mobile Phone Call
13rd of July 1985 : Live Aid
28th of September 1985 : Brixton riots again
6th of October 1985 : Broadwater Farm Riots
23rd of July 1986 : Prince Andrew marries Sarah Ferguson
18th of November 1987 : Kings Cross Fire
12th of December 1988 : Clapham rail disaster
20th of August 1989 : Marchioness Disaster
31st of March 1990 : Poll Tax Riots
13rd of November 1990 : Geoffrey Howes resignation speech
22nd of November 1990 : Margaret Thatcher Resigns
7th of February 1991 : IRA Fires Mortar at 10 Downing St
24th of April 1993 : Bishopsgate Bombing
7th of August 1993 : Buckingham Palace Opens for Tourists
31st of May 1994 : Blair-Brown Granita Pact
9th of February 1996 : Canary Wharf bombed by IRA
19th of February 1996 : Cocker's Contempt for Jackson at Brits
1st of May 1997 : Tony Blairs 'New Labour' sweeps to power
6th of May 1997 : Bank of England Given Independence
30th of July 1997 : Cool Britannia Party at 10 Downing Street
6th of September 1997 : Funeral of Princess Diana
19th of September 1997 : Southall Train Crash
26th of April 1999 : Death of Jill Dando
30th of April 1999 : Soho pub bombing
5th of October 1999 : Paddington Rail Crash
10th of October 1999 : London Eye Erected
1st of May 2000 : Millennium May Day Protests
10th of June 2000 : Millennium Bridge Opens – and Closes
18th of July 2000 : First UK Broadcast of Big Brother
27th of November 2000 : Damilola Taylor Stabbed to Death
4th of March 2001 : Real IRA bombs BBC TV Centre
15th of February 2003 : Huge Stop the War Demo
17th of February 2003 : Congestion Charge introduced to Central London
24th of October 2003 : Last Commercial Concorde Flight
15th of May 2004 : Arsenal Become Invincibles
7th of July 2005 : Four terrorists explode bombs on London Transport system
22nd of July 2005 : Death of Jean Charles de Menezes
21st of May 2007 : Cutty Sark Ablaze
6th of October 2007 : First Human-Powered Circumnavigation Ends
2nd of April 2009 : 1st G20 Summit held
19th of May 2009 : Speaker Announces Resignation
11th of May 2010 : First Coalition Government since WWII
4th of July 2010 : George Michael Crashes into Snappy Snaps
27th of July 2012 : London 2012 Opening Ceremony
11th of March 2013 : Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce Jailed
22nd of May 2013 : Murder of Lee Rigby
Recommended Books:
A Picture of Britain |
Ashes Fever |
Coast |
Churchill |
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